Pudding Club and Other News

This week has been another exciting and busy week for me here at Inside Out Chef and this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down, write something and reflect on the experiences of the week, as well as a chance to thank those who’ve helped me out this week or attended the inaugural Pudding Club.

Afternoon Tea

At the start of the week, I had an afternoon tea to organize for a local company that has decided to use my Afternoon Tea to reward their staff. Normally for someone living in Edinburgh I would happily deliver, though in this case the recipient lives in Drem, North of Stirling, so her boss collected a cool bag and a picnic hamper full of goodies and vintage china, the feedback I got was that she felt very spoiled. The lady in question was very excited and kindly her boss sent me a photo of her enjoying her treat.

Pudding Club

The preparations for the Pudding Club kicked off on in the middle of the week with a delivery of supplies. I started off by writing a check list of what had to be done, and wrote down the exact time to start cooking or making each pudding. The buzz on Twitter from prospective attendees was building. First the first Pavlovas were made and allowed to ‘sleep’ in the oven overnight.

Next day it was the turn of the Pomegranate Jelly and Panna Cotta, and in the evening, the second Pavlova was made and allowed to ‘sleep’ overnight in the oven.

Thanks to Lea Harris – @Bakersbunny – she kindly loaned me her ice-cream maker, no need to freezer bowls just make, chill and freezer so an afternoon of ice-cream making.

Reinforcements were needed the day before the event, so my mum came over the help- she cleaned and set the tables, polished glasses and made my lunch, a nice treat for me. That same afternoon, the chocolate mousse was made, along with the baked cheesecake and the fridge cheesecake.

At 1pm I was joined by Paul Johnston from CopperMango – Paul was coming to take some professional shots of my pudding for my website.

I had decided to make individual Sticky Toffee Puddings – topped with toffee sauce.

Paul took some wonderful shots of the trio of starters, the baker Rum and Raisin Cheesecake and the sticky toffee pudding.

Early to bed, so I could make the most of Saturday, the last item on my check-list was to make the Pink lemonade – the pink colour came from Raspberries.

Toffee sauce and custard made, quick change and my first guest texted to say due to excitement they where early and would it be OK to come in, this was lovely and so I went to let them in. I had said on the email to everyone that the starter would be at 7.20 by 7.10pm the crowd was gathered. They took their seats and the Club started.

Above are the trio of starters- panna cotta, pomegranate jelly and chocolate mousse. Here was the last course – a trio of home-made ice-creams and a shortbread biscuit. The flavours were coconut and ginger, key lime piece and red berry ripple.

What Others Said

I am so delighted that several of the guests kindly wrote their own blog posts to describe their experiences- I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and each seemed to have their own favourite pudding- you can read what they have said below and a huge thank-you to each of them for taking the time to share their thoughts and the pictures they took.

I really enjoyed planning and arranging the Pudding Club and it will not be a one off- I have promised to do another one later in the Summer though perhaps with a twist; subscribe to my mailing list through this website so as not to miss out when the tickets become available and to find out more on what the next one will be.