Enjoying a Tipsy Parson

Pumpkin pie is one of the traditional Thanksgiving desserts, but I made a pumpkin pie for Sweetie days before Thanksgiving, so I was open to another soft dessert. In one of the recipe collections that seem to land in my email box frequently, I found just the recipe - tipsy parson, a variation on the traditional Christmas trifle.


Although they said that you could use sponge cake ladyfingers, they also said that pound cake would work, so I made one from a mix, adding lemon zest because I like lemon. When the cake was cooled, I cut it into cubes, which went into the bottom of the serving dishes.

The last of the Gravenstein apples were peeled and cored and sliced, then cooked with a bit of apple juice and some cinnamon until soft...after all a soft dessert is what I'm looking for.

I made a half batch of the Pouring Custard HERE, then let it chill in the fridge.

I made a simple syrup by boiling water and brown sugar. When mostly cool, I added rum to make a syrup to lightly soak the bread cubes with. This is the tipsy part.

Now all of the parts of the dessert were ready! The syrup went over the cubed cake, the apples went over that, then the custard went over that. A sprinkle of cinnamon added to the looks and flavor. The tipsy parson was ready for tasting. Sweetie really liked the combination and I enjoyed the flavor and the soft texture. It made a great seasonal Thanksgiving treat thanks to the spiced apples. I made the desserts in individual dished, but you can also make it in one dish and serve it out into individual dessert dishes.

You can adapt this recipe quite a lot. The cake can be sponge, ladyfingers, unfrosted Bundt cake and pound cake. It's fine to use purchased cake. Angel food cake wouldn't work because it doesn't soak up the spirited syrup the same way. You can use any liquor or whiskey that has flavor compatible with what you are topping the dessert with. For instance, you could use kirsch, cherries, and a chocolate sponge with chocolate or vanilla pudding and some whipped cream on top for a Black Forest type dessert. In summer using Amaretto for the soak, stone fruit and vanilla custard would be delicious! How about rum in the brown sugar simple syrup, bananas cooked in brown sugar and vanilla pudding for a Bananas Foster flavored dessert? It's OK to use pre-made pudding like Kozy Shack instead of making your own, but the pouring custard is really delicious and not that hard to make...choices, choices.

Tipsy Parson
from My Recipes, Stacey Ballis
6 servings

Pouring Custard (follow link) or pre-made pudding
1 (3-oz.) package ladyfingers, split or cake cut into cubes
1/4 cup sherry (I used 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, boiled together for a minute, cooled and 1/4 cup rum added)
Strawberries(I had about two cups cooked, cinnamon spiced apples slices)

Sprinkle 12 ladyfinger halves with sherry. Let stand 5 minutes. Line sides of a 1-quart souffle' dish with soaked ladyfingers; pour in custard, then top with remaining ladyfingers. Chill completely. Garnish with strawberries. Spoon into individual serving bowls.

Proper Pouring Custard

My friend Anne Marie has been binge watching the Great British Baking Show on Netflix. I didn't even know this until we went to dinner at her house and found that we were on the same wavelength. I had brought baked apples, but also a pouring custard using a recipe of Mary Berry, one of the hosts of the show. It was called a Proper Pouring Custard, which in British-speak means it's the one to make and use to embellish the 'pudding' course, also know as dessert time. Since it was a Mary Berry recipe it was surely authentic.

A little over a year ago we were dining with our Irish cousins. The pudding was a lovely plum tart and it was served with an amazing custard sauce. Barbara said that it was a mixture of a pouring custard and whipped up heavy cream. Since the Irish have some of the best dairy products to be had, you can imagine how delicious that sauce was. I have to imagine, too, since I can no longer tolerate dairy. I'm going by the exclamations of delight, especially by Sweetie, as the sauce was devoured.

This time I made four baked apples using the recipe HERE. I used Jonagold apples because they have enough tartness to stand up to the filling and the sauce, but also because they hold their shape after being cooked. For the sauce to go with the baked apples, I used non-dairy soy creamer instead of whole milk and cream. I suspect that it meant a thinner sauce, but it was still delicious. Of course the thinner sauce might have been created by whisking in about 3 tablespoons of good bourbon. Hard to say.

I had wanted to add whipped cream for the sauce for the other diners, but I made the sauce too late in the day and it was still pretty hot when we left the house. Any whipped cream I added then would have just melted. Might try it again some other day to see if it in any way comes close to the Irish standard. Even without the whipped cream, it was smooth, delicious and took the baked apples to another level...a higher one. There will likely be leftover sauce, but it is fine over brownies, pound cake, gingerbread, fruit compote...you get the idea. Would probably also be a great sauce over pancakes or waffles, especially if you included some fruit in or over the baked breakfast goodies.

Proper Pouring Custard
Mary Berry's with some substitutions of mine
makes about 2 1/2 cups

1 pint (2 cups, 570 ml) milk (I used plain soy creamer) 
2 oz heavy cream ( 55 ml) (I just used more of the soy creamer) 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cornstarch / cornflour
1 oz (30 grams) granulated sugar / caster sugar
4 egg yolks

In a small pot, over very low heat, heat the milk, cream and vanilla until it just starts to simmer.

While the milk is heating, whisk the sugar and the cornstarch together in a small bowl. Add the egg yolks and whisk until well blended.

When milk has just started to simmer, scoop about a half cup of it out of the pot and whisk it into the egg mixture, then pour the egg mixture into the hot milk, whisking all the while. Once the two mixtures are thoroughly blended, stir with a wooden spoon, constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5-8 minutes. Don't let the mixture boil.

Once thickened, pour into a bowl or serving jug and cover the top surface with plastic wrap / clingfilm to keep a skin from forming as the sauce cools.

Optional: after sauce has cooled a bit, remove the plastic wrap and whisk in 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup bourbon or Irish whiskey until blended. Replace the plastic wrap and continue to let the sauce cool.