A desert of desserts

As sickness prevented me from mingling with the regulars at last month’s fusion blog party I was determined to do better this time. Stephanie had set the theme as desserts as I immediately conjured up plans of dinky little lemon meringues pies, miniature custards tarts and a soupçon of mousse and I even went as far as sourcing some teeny muffin baking trays and canapé moulds. But no, yet again the dreaded lurgy struck and this month again I’ve been fighting the urge to actually become a full-time professional cougher and to cap it all then there was a small flood in my bathroom to finish the month off. The flood waters have subsided and been reduced to a persistent drip (thanks to MC for invaluable advice about isolating errant radiators – I’m sure hitting the valve repeatedly with a pair of pliers was the winning trick!) and I am determined to force my befuddled brain to record a few offering in the dessert line. My ambitious plans being unavoidably scaled back I resorted to curer of all maladies – chocolate.
So here I am puffing and panting through the door after the party has already started bearing my seasonally festive chocolate titbits scattered on silver star-shaped plates (actually candle plates than have been reengineered) but hopefully some will still be able to make some room for chocolate.
The first are tiny melting middle puddings courtesy of those clever folks at M&S, they actually work very well as canapés though the molten centres means they’re a tad hot so handle with care everyone. When I saw these mini yule logs I thought they also make an attractive nibble. Little did I know how much they’d resist slicing into coin sized nuggets? Every attempt to finely slice them resulted in a shattering of the chocolate coating and covering everything in chocolaty shards. In the end I realised I was being too hesitant and my annoyance meant that I sliced the remaining couple with more haste and to my surprise I seemed to have snuck up on the chocolate outer jacket before it realised my cunning plan. And no self respectively chocolate themed dessert party could pass without a chocolate martini. When I received the fabulous plump goodie bag from the Hotel Chocolat evening of indulgence there were some enticing jars of liquid chocolate and when I consulted their delicious site for inspiration I discovered a recipe for chocolate martini – perfect!
So festive felicitations to you all! I hope that Father Christmas will note whether you’ve been naughty or nice and treat you accordingly. I am kind of hoping for a new respiratory system, I think I’ve battered my current one in the last few weeks, but failing that perhaps a little something scrummy from Nigella’s Liquorice range!