Leftovers

 

Countrywomen

 

  ~ Katherine Mansfield

 

These be two
Countrywomen.
What a size!
Grand big arms
And round red faces;
Big substantial
Sit-down-places;
Great big bosoms firm as cheese
Bursting through their country jackets;
Wide big laps
And sturdy knees;
Hands outspread,
Round and rosy,
Hands to hold
A country posy
Or a baby or a lamb--
And such eyes!
Stupid, shifty, small and sly
Peeping through a slit of sty,
Squinting through their neighbours' plackets.

***

How to use the last two packets of savoiardi biscuits?  Fascinating dilemma, I know.  But I'm always bothered by the extra leftover egg white or half a container of sour cream.  Or my favourite challenge, the remaining 200mls in can of condensed milk after making a batch of coconut ice from the Family Circle Kid's Party Book  > Enter Caramel Slice by Janelle Bloom.  I could do with a single recipe book that includes additional recipes for the rest of the packet/can and other leftover ingredients rather than have to go hunting for one.  Perhaps there's an idea for an App.

Below is the answer to the challenge of the what to do with the excess sponge fingers from a tiramisu by Claudia Rodin in The Food of Italy.

Chocolate savoiardi with berry cream

Ingredients (serves 6)

200g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, finely chopped
12 savoiardi biscuits
500g fresh or frozen hulled strawberries or raspberries
300mls thickened cream
1 tab icing sugar

Method

Place the chocolate in a medium heat-resistant bowl and stir over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate has melted and is smooth. Remove from heat. Dip one end of each of the savoiardi biscuits into the melted chocolate to coat well. Place on a foil-lined tray and stand in a cool place until chocolate is set.

Lightly mash half the strawberries or raspberries. Beat the cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Add the mashed berries and gently fold them through the cream mixture with a metal spoon until just combined. Spoon into a serving bowl or smaller individual bowls.

Serve the chocolate-coated savoiardi biscuits with the berry cream.

Was there any morsel left to spare in the making of that wonderful cake display in the Hopetoun Tearooms in Block Arcade in Melbourne, I wonder?

No cakes at our house.  The pantry is positively spartan.  Some leftover Easter eggs somewhere I believe.