The British are famous for their dry humor; they even apply it to naming foods. Here are a delicious dessert and a heart-warming beverage cleverly named and easily made.
The British Isles have long been renowned for the odd phrases they often use. “Sorry. Didn’t hear you; must be my cloth ears,” is one. If you think about it, you’ll realize that stuffed animals have cloth ears, and they can’t hear. In similar manner, they have named some of their more delectable Christmas treats. Here are two to make your cloth ears perk up and listen, and tickle your sweet tooth, as well.
Tipsy Cake is so named not because it can cause a tad of drunkenness (although it does contain spirits), but because it may appear to lean when fully assembled. It may look, in the British idiom, tipsy.
You'll need these ingredients to make a Tipsy Cake:
A tipsy cake is not so much created as assembled. To assemble the cake:
Take care not so use so much liquid that the cake gets sodden.
A close-fitting Trifle dish may keep the tipsy cake from toppling; any other vessel will probably help your cake live up to its name.
You might want to serve the dessert with some Lambs Wool. The beverage originated in the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the roasted apple that floats to the top of the punch bowl. While there are many recipes, a simple one, adapted for American tastes by an American-British cook, is this one:
You will need:
4 soft eating apples, preferably not Macintosh
Several whole cloves
"Winter spices" on hand, including ground ginger, nutmeg, allspice
Cinnamon stick broken into pieces
Brown sugar
6 U.S. pints dark ale
To make:
In England, the mugs are very large and the apple piled on quite thickly, with little spoons provided for eating the apple. You may want to be more 'ceremonial' about that, however, using the 'wool' as a garnish. In the Middle Ages, when the drink and others like it developed, the apple would have been an important portion of the sustenance needed to see people through a long, cold, "fruit-challenged" winter.
(1995) A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Favourite Christmas Recipes: Traditional Seasonal Fare. (Undated) Sevenoaks, England; Salmon Press.
Woman’s Own Cook Book. (1964) London, England: George Newnes Ltd.