Pete Fred

The World's Best Rice Pudding* by Stéphane Jégo at L'Ami Jean in Paris... * I've no idea who bestowed this particular honour, but that's how it's usually described on French sites. (Maybe it was Presidents Clinton or Obama, who seemingly indulged and are usually mentioned when the chef talks about it.) Hype aside, it's really just a standard rice pudding that has whipped cream folded through, then served with salted butter caramel and caramelised nuts. But it is good: the rice is very light and airy, the nuts add a nice textural dimension, and the caramel cream rocks. It all comes together rather splendidly. There's a version in the NYT, and Milk Street did their take, but this English/French one is probably best for any purists who might be curious.

When I made a St Louis gooey butter cake a couple of years ago I was not particularly taken with it. Of the two broad types, I went with the bready kind over the cream cheese version. (I should've followed up on @Kim Shook's comment at the time. Oops.) So when one appeared in Cake Zine I thought it was worth a punt... OK, now I'm on board. Welcome to St. Louis. These were good, and certainly delivered on the gooeyness. My homemade tulip liners were a touch too small for the quantity of batter, so maybe next time I'll make larger liners or slightly smaller cakes. Or maybe not. I quite like the visual of exploded gooeyness.

I've never taken much interest in my medlar tree... The French name for the fruit is cul de chien (dog's arse), hopefully for their appearance rather than flavour... My reticence was mainly down to the 'bletting' process being a bit Ye Olde England, and processing the flesh looked like too much effort. But this year I decided to harvest them and give it a go... I gathered about 6 kg (13 lbs) in total and, after a lot of hard work, ended up with 3 kg of pulp... I can see how this was a welcome treat for our medieval ancestors at the beginning of winter, but I was underwhelmed. I didn't mind eating the odd one out of hand (seed disposal is a little, errrrr, inelegant), especially when they had a bit of tang, but a big bowl of pulp was nothing to write home about. I had some quince poaching syrup leftover from a few weeks back, so sweetened a portion with that, along with some spices (cinnamon, clove)... It was fine. Once the novelty wore off I froze most of it, maybe to be used as a side-blob for a tart or slice of cake in the future. Whilst looking around for things to do with the rest of the pulp, a medlar tart popped up in my feed (with lots more info about medlars if you're curious). I didn't end up making that one, but decided that a tart would definitely make a dent in my medlar mountain. Given that the medlar mush was a bit like pumpkin purée, I went in that direction, ultimately settling on a sweet potato pie by Claire Saffitz (YouTube) as the template, but mostly winging it in terms of sweeteners (a mix of dark brown sugar, cassonade, golden syrup, black treacle). Despite all of that and the spices, the filling was still lacking, so I threw in some Grand Marnier and lemon juice/zest hoping they would give it a lift. I'm not usually this experimental, tending to stick to a recipe, but mediocre medlar calls for desperate measures. I cooked it gently for a relatively soft set, and bruléed a slice to distract from the unrelenting brownness of it all. It was... fine. Think of it as a 'Meh'-dlar Tart. I will not be submitting it for inclusion in the next edition of Larousse Gastronomique. Going back to the tart I skipped over earlier, there was a link to a recipe for ma'amoul cookies that made use of the medlar flesh... Medlar and walnut on the left; date a orange flower on the right. You will be shocked - shocked! - to learn that I didn't think much to the medlar version, but I did like the dates. I've made ma'amoul a couple of times before, quite a while ago, but forgotten that I was a fan.

Hmmmm. Possibly. Several years ago I did a side-by-side with four or five takes on STP, out of which came my 'default'. I think it was basically the Hawksmoor recipe with a couple of tweaks from elsewhere. But I recall thinking there wasn't really much in it, and that if the recipe is from a decent source then you really can't go wrong. Everybody's drinking from the same well. Since then I've made a few 'cheffy' versions from the likes of Tom Kerridge, Ashley Palmer-Watts, and this one from Tommy Banks. They were all good, and they were all... Sticky Toffee Pudding. It pretty much is what it is. I think most of the bang in a STP buck comes from the sauce. I've always liked the addition of some black treacle, and now this splash of acid, but it might not be for everyone.

I only need the flimsiest of excuses to road test another sticky toffee pudding recipe... On this occasion the excuse was simply the addition of a splash of vinegar to the toffee sauce. I suppose I could've just made the sauce on its own, but where's the fun in that? Here's the recipe. The chef is known for his preserving/foraging/fermenting so it wouldn't surprise me if his vinegar of choice is made from an obscure herb that can only be picked on one weekend a year in a remote part of the enchanted forest. At night. Barefoot. Here, however, he uses Sarson's malt vinegar, which is your bog-standard vinegar that gets splashed on fish and chips in the UK. I am only speculating here, but this addition may be due to the large brown evelope stuffed with cash that Sarson's slid across his office desk. I had neither Sarson's nor nocturnal nonce leaf so used balsamic instead. And... it was good! Just enough sharpness to brighten it up and offset the sweetness a touch. I liked the cake, too; a bit denser than other sponges, with chunks of date for added texture. So overall it was a winner.

I can't believe I only today learned of Ferran Adria's "La tortilla de patatas chips"... I thought it might be a bit gimmicky, but was pleasantly surprised. Obviously it doesn't compare to the real deal, but as a quick 'hack' I thought it delivered. (The late, great Anna N, however, was not impressed).

@ElsieD In the description below the video.

Claire Saffitz's Dirt Bombs (YouTube)... She describes them as a cross between a muffin and a cake donut (hole). They're remarkably light and fluffy, so much so that the first one I dunked in butter disintegrated (hence only five in the bowl). I let the others cool a little more, but they were still fragile. They're nutmeg flavoured, but the cinnamon sugar coating dominates. I could taste the bicarb (baking soda) but that might just be down to the crème fraîche I used (instead of sour cream) not being acidic enough to neutralise. The Dirt Bombs were good. Recommended.

Steamed chocolate pudding (recipe)... The cake was disappointingly dry and crumbly. I didn't have cake crumbs so used breadcrumbs instead, but I doubt that was the issue given it's similar to the one a couple of posts back and by the same chef. Even a lake of custard failed to rescue things, so it must've been poor.

A couple of friends just tried some and liked it a lot. And, to be fair, I was a little more disposed towards it, so I'll probably make it again next time I'm staring at a bottle of maple syrup and wondering what to do.

@ElsieD Nice job. I just rub my moulds inside and out with kitchen paper while they're still hot but handleable. Any bits of crust get scratched off with my thumbnail or a toothpick, but it's minimal. They've never seen water or soap. I only use beeswax now to coat, but I don't remember it being any different when I used 50:50 clarified butter. I can't speak to anything oil-based. The info that came with mine says "To restore the luster of your copper molds, do not hesitate to rub their outer surface with a mixture of flour, egg white and white vinegar." I've never tried it, though.

Maple butter glazed loaf cake by Benjamina Ebuehi (recipe)... Eaten warm, as suggested, it was nicely buttery, but not particularly maple-y. Maybe it'll transform overnight. If not, I can't see there being a revisit..

@TdeV Adapted from a Christophe Felder recipe... Translations for our North American listeners: pâte brisée = pie dough or non-sweetened shortcrust; caster sugar = superfine or regular granulated; cornflour = cornstarch; clingfilm = plastic wrap; oven temperatures are 450°F and 500°F; size-wise, this is for a pie just a touch smaller than 9-inch x 2-inch.

Flan parisien... I go creamy; others prefer firmer. There are no wrong answers when it comes to flan.

NYT Cooking recently featured a cheesy potato gratin... The potatoes weren't particularly large, and the dish was a touch too shallow, so I had leftover cream (halfway up the potatoes, as directed). Next time I'll chuck in some more for extra 'sauce' in the bottom. A meal in itself. That missing wedge is exactly what I ate, and I make no apologies.