I find myself becoming more and more British. When I first arrived last fall, I made an apple pie using apples from the backyard tree. The pie was delicious and I proudly served it to my English "family" but then they asked for the cream or custard.
"Cream or custard?" I asked, perplexed. "Don't you just eat the pie?"
I worked for two years as a server at Baker's Square, so I know how to serve pie. I am a pie-cutting expert, and I can serve it warm, cold and even a la mode. What on earth could be missing from my apple pie masterpiece?
But then David explained that dessert will--almost always--come with custard or cream to pour on top or alongside.
Yesterday we had a gala feast at my house to celebrate David's successful completion of phase I (basic training) in the Royal Navy, my successful completion of the Discipleship Year program at Trent Vineyard and three new jobs in the family.
We gather for drinks, nuts, olives and cheese sticks in the garden before heading indoors for a full roast dinner, pudding and a fruit and cheese course. After this soporific feast, we managed to wake up again by playing croquet out in the garden. So very English. Here my former housemate David and I grin proudly over our joint achievements.
"Don't we have any cream?" asked "English sister" Julia as she piled her plate high with desserts. I suddenly remembered that yes, indeed, we had cream (left over from a fruit salad the previous week) and, by golly, I agreed that a nice serving of double cream would make these desserts taste even better.
I poured the cream over my tarts and chocolate roulade without batting an eye, just as I poured the cream over the West Country strawberries I'd enjoyed the previous week. And, I've learned, an apple tart enjoyed in the winter is ever so much nicer when accompanied by hot custard.
Now that it's summer (well, sort of...it's been so cold I had to turn the gas fire on while watching a movie last Saturday night), the British dessert is, of course, strawberries and cream, most famously enjoyed at Wimbledon, though eating them at home is pretty tasty, too, especially when they come from a neighborhood garden. Much as I adore strawberries, however, fresh raspberries have always been my favorite summer fruit (cherries and blueberries are also high on the list), so I loved this article comparing the merits of the fruit in today's Daily Mail newspaper.
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