I won’t lie. When I saw this recipe, all 18 pages of it I wasn’t happy. I may have even sworn. December is a busy enough time as it is without making a dish that has 6 elements to it. There was absolutely no way I could make this before Christmas with my packed schedule so I shelved this for a New Year’s Eve celebration. A few days before NYE I made it with some help from Angela from A Spoonful of Sugar who coaxed me off the window ledge so to speak. She also gave me the inspiration for the Ispahan themed buche.

I should have taken the opt out option for this one in hindsight but the idea of an Ispahan buche was too tempting. What I didn’t count on was the mousse part, usually a fairly easy item to make causing a lot of trouble. I used the 1/3 cup specified and it turned into something like scrambled eggs. I then asked on the website and someone else said that 1/3 of a cup worked fine but I just can’t see how what I had would have worked in any way. I made another version of the ganache but I don’t think this was ideal so I can’t comment on the ganache insert recipe below as I didn’t try it.

Another element that I had trouble with was the icing. I didn’t have any gelatine leaves left (and I certainly wasn’t in the mood to track down some more) so I wasn’t sure how to follow the recipe to use powder even though the recipe specified that powder could be used. I dissolved the gelatine into the almost boiling milk and glucose syrup (I didn’t want to dissolve it in water in case it introduced too much water into the icing) but by the time the gelatine powder had dissolved, the milky mixture was too cold to melt the chocolate and butter so it had to go back on the stove. I also waited until it coated the back of a spoon but it was still too runny then too.

Then there was the drama about the acetate, I wanted a dome shaped buche so I read that you simply line the loaf tin with the acetate and that’s all you need to do. Apparently not, as mine turned out as a loaf shape and whilst I tried lining the sides, some mousse seeped out (as well as some raspberry puree). This was exacerbated by the mousse being runnier than normal as I’d tried to save it from the recipe error before.

Would I recommend making it? Sadly, probably not. Well I think most of the elements are delicious by themselves, especially the feuillete which I could happily eat by itself in bucketloads but the overall production was it was far too stressful for me to wholeheartedly recommend, especially if you don’t have the help of a dishwasher (I did 6 sinkfuls of dishes for this). However it is spectacular looking I will admit (well other people’s buches are anyway) so I’d save this for when you a) have 2 days in which to prepare it and b) when you have someone helping you out. And when you have a lot of patience. A few days after I tried this and I found that when thawed, the log was divine, ambrosial, perfection. So does this mean there’s another version coming up next year? Who knows…time has a way of dulling memories

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Ahh Coconut Ice. That stalwart of school fetes and fairs where mums, busy with working along with everything else were expected to whip up something for their kids to sell. I remember lots of hundreds and thousands coated toffees in those white patty pans (they always stuck and I always have a memory of toffee and wax paper), Honey Joys, Chocolate Crackles and of course Coconut Ice. Made because it was relatively easy and produced a lot but was still pretty to look at and easy to portion out to sell.

I’ll admit this version isn’t quite suited to school fetes as it would melt in the hot sun but for a bit of a trip down memory lane I decided to make a Coconut Ice version of Ice Cream. My husband has been crying out for me to make some more ice cream as the climbing temperatures meant that when I recently asked him what he wanted for Christmas he simply bleated out plaintively “Ice Cream”. That was all he asked for. After all he was given a slew of Christmas Joy crushing gifts for Christmas as a child (ranging from rocks to toilet cleaning products). Which led me to think, what sort of Christmas wishlist do I have? I have very specific and admittedly peculiar tastes and I feel sympathy for those buying me presents.  So in case any of you dear friends or family are reading, this is just a random list of out loud thoughts on my Santa list:

If I’ve been very good I’d like:

1. Chanel Kaleidoscope nail polish

2. Wicked Umbrella from the London show (in the shape of a witch’s hat)

3. A nice big box for all of my cookie cutters (and I mean a big box)

4. Diptyque candle in Baies Noir

5. A box of Zumbo cakes and macarons

6. A blue MJ Stam (from hubby, I don’t imagine anyone else would buy me this!)

7. A gift voucher for Berkelouw books

8. Nigella Christmas book

9. TV show DVDs (Seinfeld Season 9, Girls Next Door: Playboy Mansion and Monk Season 6)

10. Sparkly Louboutins in 36.5 please (why can’t Jessica Seinfeld gift me with these? OK that’s right, I’m not Oprah…)

So tell me dear reader, what’s on your Christmas wishlist?

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I’m not one for gadgetry. I couldn’t really care less what kind of phone that I use (although admittedly I expressed a brief interest in the Prada LG phone until I realised that it was not 3G-imagine that with the price tag!). But that was more due to the brand lust than any sort of interest in the gadget itself (yes call me a Fashion Victim). My husband and many of his gender are gadget mad, marveling at the latest and newest of anything (Playstation, Nintendo, video games, Wii) whilst I go the other way, searching for antiques and vintage items.

One exception to this are certain kitchen products. I don’t mean the clutter that you may amass of useless gadgets but rather items that allow you to reproduce store-bought or restaurant quality items at home. The ice cream maker is a case in point. I was given a Cuisinart ice cream maker to road test by the  people at Kitchenware Direct. I was a bit hesitant when I was told that it was one of those bowls that you froze, I didn’t have a lot of success with another one that we got for our wedding a couple of years ago. Indeed I was so scarred that I also have a gift with purchase  Kitchenaid ice cream bowl that remains untouched, not even removed from the box and it currently sits in the cupboard way up high where I can’t reach it.

But of course when the weather quickly turns to Summer, I was convinced. I flicked through their recipe booklet and my eyes zeroed in on the Dark Chocolate Sorbet. It’s an item I’ve had in many a high end restaurant which of course is precisely why I liked this gadget in the first place. The recipe is incredibly easy to do, the only thing you would need to watch is that your freezer is at least -18c and that you freeze the bowl for at least 12 hours at this temperature which is pretty much the only vital part of it.

I bought some Valrhona cocoa powder in Tokyo during my last holiday and it was itching to be used. I also used some deliciously dark Cocolo Organic Fairtrade chocolate (once I wrenched it out of my husband’s hands) and a bit of whisking and a bit of refrigeration and I was ready.

I could have partnered these with tuiles but given my last stressful experience with them, I paired it with sour cherries, those gorgeous cherries that remind me of strudel.

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