Poshish puds?

[BroccoliSpears]

I've got the inlaws coming for Sat supper and (light) Sun lunch.

Doing Moroccan on Sat. Baked ham Sun.

What shall I do for pud?

DP's family take their puddings seriously. Sat night should prob be cakish so I can put candles on.

Nothing too too fiddly. Something vaguely effortful and impressive though (...because, y'see, MIL, having spent the last decade hating me, will have one spoon of posh pudding and leap to her feet, pull me to her bosam and declare me the daughter she never had. Pudding can do that, right?)

Bosam?

Pavlova?

some sort of tart effort? I like those.

I had an upside down pear and polenta pudding with home made ginger ice cream that was absolutely divine at a dinner thing.

this will make her clasp her to her bosom

easy, can he done in advance and you will get a gazillion DIL brownie points

i serve mine with a wee bit of vanilla ice-cream and some raspberries or red fruits

Oooh, pear. I like pear.

Am doing homer simpson noise at those molten chocolate things.

A crumble. Your son is safe in the arms of a woman who can make a decent crumble.

eton mess, whatever that is. sounds posh

they have that effect on my DH, Brocolli

here it is yummy

pears in red wine with either cream or chocolate sauce. Very sophisticated and very easy.

What about a strawberry creme patissiere type thing for sun. It proves that you can make pastry and custard. (am I right in believing that this is a pudding to demonstrate your skills as a wife)

tiramisu?

I have a nice recipe if you want, just holler

actually, not sure that was the exact recipe. It was a London restaurant bloke's recipe book but not someone I'd heard of (err not veyr helpful...)

Isn't Eton Mess fruit and cream and smashed up meringues. Trouble with that or pavlova is that my meringues are rubbish. Sad but true.

Fox - that sounds delicious. And not too fiddly.

Oooh, ooh, with regard to impressing MIL re food, I forgot to mention one teeny, tiny salient point... she's French.

I would do a nice trifle for Sat night - banana and caramel, or chocolate and orange or just chocolate - serve it with sparklers on the top.

For Sunday I would do a citron tart - the one from the River Cafe Cookbook cannot be beaten imho

French! Could you possibly try and impress her with your other qualities.

Message withdrawn

lol Alice. My other qualities like my always perfectly coiffed hair and perfect manicure? Or my impeccable taste in shoes, bags and underwear? My opinions on modern philosophy? Oh god I'm beyond doomed.

Are they staying with you too?

Bread and butter pudding, make it with the best ingredients, including at least half cream instead of just milk. If cooked right, it is a country version of souffle.

Good lord no, not staying!

We don't have enough bathrooms. Apparently.

I was going to suggest a creme brulee, even though it can be quite difficult to get right, then I read that your MIL is french.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO A FRENCH PUDDING OF ANY DESCRIPTION

Why not do two puddings? One fruit salad, with nice fruit etc for the health conscious. That's very easy. Then a harder pudding. What about Jamie's chocoloate fondant things? Impressive but not impossible ...

Saturday, do a Nigella-esque tower of brownies which you can stud with candles? Otherwise, go for a cake - Nigells'a clementine and almond? - might fit in with the Moroccan main?

Sunday, something lightish...maybe a trifle, Eton mess, fruit salad? Saw a recipe recently for lemon possett with hot fruits, might do the job?