Sunday 3 June 2012

Jubilee Tiramisu

"Bunting" is a strange word
It's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - 60 years on the throne - and it's being celebrated with a 4 day weekend.

I'm a bit conflicted over the whole thing, really.

The country is in a very bad way at the moment and the combination of the Jubilee and the Olympics feels very bread and circuses to me. Obviously when the country won the bid to host the Olympics we didn't know that we were going to be in a massive recession, but at the same time it feels like a very expensive distraction technique. Plus, while I like Elizabeth II's fashion sense and think she's probably a lovely lady, I find the notion of a hereditary head of state pretty obnoxious.

On the other hand... 4 day weekend! Lots of shops are running tenuously-linked sales! (although wouldn't you think that a Diamond Jubilee sale would have to be 60% discount?) Friends are having barbecues! Street parties! There is bunting! Yay! Rule Brittania!

Lots of lovely berries. In the background is a sponge cake, decorated beautifully with blueberries and raspberries, but as the person who made it is only 13, you don't get to see how much nicer her dessert looks than mine. My blog, my rules.
 Yesterday we went to a Jubilee barbecue. Massive amounts of booze and food and red, white and blue themed stuff and no embarrassing shows of patriotism or monarchist fervour. Perfect! And very, very British, as it ended with all of us huddled under a gazebo with blankets wrapped around us while the rain pelted down.

I had to consult a picture for the positioning of the crosses on the Union Jack, which was a bit disgraceful
My contribution was a berry tiramisu. Basically this recipe from Jill Dupleix, but with blueberries as well as strawberries. I went through a period about 6 years ago when I made this dessert quite often, but I'd shelved it for no good reason - I'm pleased to be reminded of it! I use marsala as my "sweet dessert wine", and I think for the first time ever I was a bit too sparing with it. It certainly wasn't dry, but it didn't have quite the luscious, creamy, boozy punch that I remember from the last time I made this. I might pour a little extra slosh of marsala over the leftovers. It'll help preserve them. Much like Her Majesty's mother and the gin.

I wanted a picture of me showing my awesome hair and excellent t-shirt, along with the dessert, but by the time I convinced Paul to wield the camera we'd missed the light and the dessert was mangled and it all lacks the charm I was aiming for.

10 comments:

Suelle said...

The dessert looks delicious, and the party sounds suitably British - it wouldn't do to be too warm!

Mary Bergfeld said...

How festive. They are a perfect choice for the celebration. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Alicia Foodycat said...

Suelle - there was no danger of that! Most people were wearing fleeces under the blanket!

Mary - thank you!

Ben - it's a very good reason to celebrate!

~~louise~~ said...

Looks charming to me, Alicia and that Tiramisu looks luscious!

Thanks for sharing and Have FUN!!!

mscrankypants said...

That t-shirt is awesome! Great pic :-).

I'm not a royalist but I think the Queen wears nice clothes and some lovely hats. I wonder if the royal family makes more for the UK in tourism dollars than it costs?

Alicia Foodycat said...

Louise - thank you!

Cranky - according to this http://blog.cgpgrey.com/the-true-cost-of-the-royal-family/ she is a money-spinner for the country. And apparently most of the flotilla pageantry was privately funded, with taxpayer funding for the security.

Barbara said...

I've been watching and reading about the royal family and the Diamond Jubilee. You can't help it, it's fun to see.
Really like your red white and blue tiramisu! Going to out it in my 4th of July file!

Caroline said...

Great t-shirt. Love the dessert - looks very seasonally appropriate! Hmm, had to look up 'bread and circuses' but definitely a phrase I will try and incorporate into my life more often!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Barbara - that's a great idea! I might make it again in July.

Caroline - it seems to be a very popular mechanism for controlling the people!

Rachel said...

I think you have much better fashion sense than any of the Royals. Plus you belly dance, so you're way cooler. Bread and circuses, oh yeah.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...