Crème Caramel

I'm afraid that I will have to disappoint you, dear reader, that this blog post is not a recipe, but merely another review. I have not yet mustered the willpower to get through cooking a meal for one (or cooking more than one portion and eating the same thing over a few days), given that the British summer this year has been unusually pleasant and I would like to enjoy myself just like you. Do be patient with me; with autumn not too far away I should be able to find the time and energy to cook again.

In the meantime though, I have been doing substantial background reading on the main topic of this blog. Amongst other things, I have chanced upon Dooyoo, which had plenty of people submitting reviews for various Sainsbury's Basics products. The one that caught my attention though is for the Crème Caramel (for the uninitiated, a creamy set custard drenched in caramel), which made mention of a tab at the bottom of the cup. Its purpose is to drop the pudding upside-down onto a plate, as the caramel usually sinks to the bottom of the cup.

I was intrigued by this, since I have a penchant for contraptions and it did sound like an unlikely extra feature on an otherwise simple Sainsbury's Basics product. Indeed, a trip to my local store revealed a couple of interesting facts: Sainsbury's does not seem to stock any other brand of creme caramel other than its housebrand and Basics, and; the Basics Creme Caramel containers are identical to the own brand ones, which probably makes sense for Sainsbury's to not invest in the design of cheaper packaging for very similar products.

I don't remember Sainsbury's ever clarifying the veracity of their Basics taglines, so I was rather amused to see them put a footnote on the packaging of the Basics Creme Caramel.

Preparing one for my afternoon snack, as I let one out of its packaging I began to see how ingenious the whole thing was. The tab basically seals a hole at the bottom of the cup that when exposed, would allow air to rush into the vacuum at the bottom, which would then cause the pudding to be pushed out of the cup and onto the plate.

The creme caramel itself was pleasant, though I certainly have had better. At 45p for 4 it is certainly not something to be sniffed at, and despite its name is surprisingly low in fat. Personally I would not worry about the total sugars; that can be easily walked off.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Crème Caramel	£0.45	4	+£0.30	More cream, more caramel

Tiramisu

With February comes Valentine's Day, and with that come the joys and perils of courtship and romance. During this period, the sharing of gifts and food is just as common as the sharing of affections, and desserts often feature heavily. I fondly remember in particular my ex-flatmate, who, in the run-up to 14th February, made tiramisu repeatedly so that he can perfect his recipe and technique for his then-girlfriend. Needless to say, the entire household benefitted from all the tiramisu prototypes lying around. Given the timing of this post, I thought that it would be appropriate to attempt tiramisu.


One of the key components of tiramisu is Savoiardi biscuits (known as sponge fingers in the UK), soaked in a blend of espresso and Marsala wine. As none of these are available from the Sainsbury's Basics line however, we are going to have to make do with shortbread fingers, instant coffee and brandy.

In a region where people are very serious about their coffee, I've always been surprised that a product like instant coffee can thrive here. Sainsbury's Basics only recently introduced their version of instant coffee very recently, but would be handy to people like the final year medical students in my flat, who are currently studying for their final exams and would probably appreciate preparing a hot caffienated drink for cheap. The coffee itself is nothing yo write home about though, and from a cook's perspective, would be more useful in chilli con carne and stews than in desserts, where the ingredients get more attention.

As noted earlier, Sainsbury's do not have Basics sponge fingers, so I decided to use Shortbread Fingers instead. Other than being similar in shape, they also are richer than most biscuits, and hence share cake-like characteristics with the thing that they replaced.

I was planning to get Basics dark rum in place of Marsala wine, since fermented molasses sounded like a good substitute for sweet wine. However, it appears that Sainsbury's has discontinued both dark and white versions of the Basic rums. An empty shelf with a tag saying "Sale: While stocks last" stands where the white rum used to be. The only other spirit that I know is used in desserts is Brandy, so I grabbed a plastic bottle of the Basics version. Just as well, since in my opinion it is closer in refinement to Marsala wine than rum.

In making this Tiramisu I followed a recipe from the BBC by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi from the programme Return to Tuscany, with the ingredient substitutions made above, along with Basics soft cheese in place of mascarpone. I also merged it with information from Cooking for Engineers, specifically the part involving making Zabaglione, to avoid food poisoning from consuming raw eggs.

So I started by beating three egg yolks, saving the whites for later. I then added 100g of sugar and about 85ml of the Basics French Brandy.

The mixture was then heated on a hot water bath until thick and smooth. 125g of cream cheese was then  beaten and added in.

About 125ml (use less if you're attempting this) of double cream was then whipped and added. The mixture was constantly kept warm and whisked frequently until thickened. If the mixture starts becoming lumpy it's being overdone, the result of which you can see in the final photo.

Prepare a cup of coffee using 3 teaspoons of Sainsbury's Basics Instant Coffee, and another 85ml of Brandy. Dip one packet of Basics Shortbread Fingers, biscuit by biscuit, and make them form the first layer. Cover that layer with the cheese/eggs/cream mixture, and repeat for one more layer.

Store in the fridge overnight.

I have very high hopes for this and will write back tomorrow on the outcome. Initial sampling of the cream cheese mixture has been very positive, and the substitution of the ladyfingers and mascarpone has turned out much better than expected. If this works well, this would be a very cheap way to make a very impressive dessert, especially with the soft cheese now costing 75p for a large 300g tub.

(Back to Sainsbury's Basics accepts no responsibility for any adverse effect this recipe or blog post might have on your marriage, engagement or relationship. Use at your own risk.)

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Shortbread Fingers	£0.37	160g	+£0.31 for 200g	Not known but probably not much
Instant Coffee Granules	£1.64	100g	+£0.30	Stronger coffee
Brandy	£9.29	700ml	+£1.20	Not known

Pineapple Tarts

Lunar New Year is almost upon us, but it has been almost seven years since I have actually spent it back home. Amongst other things, I miss the festive snacks and tidbits, though my friends do bring some up to the UK every year or so, such that I have an ample supply. This year, my friend's fiancee was baking pineapple tarts, and given feedback from a reader to do something festive, I decided to join in, albeit a few thousand kilometres away. Since Sainsbury's has all the ingredients in their Basics range, right down to pineapple pieces, I can take the liberty of documenting my experience here.

Pineapple tarts consist of a shortbread topped with a pineapple conserve. Based on that knowledge and experienced cook would have been able to make this without any guidance, but as I am relatively inexperienced with baking I had to look up the recipe on the Net. I managed to find one at Rasa Malaysia, the Southeast Asian culinary blog that has made the rounds in the States. I will refrain from publishing the instructions here other than adding my own comments as we go along. If using one can of Sainsbury's Basics pineapple, halve all quantities listed on the blog (You will need half a block of Sainsbury's Basics salted butter, and no salt). I also have some suspicions about the liberal amounts of sugar used, so reduce where appropriate.

Making the pineapple conserve. Pineapple after blending....

... and after cooking and turning into a conserve.

Simple shortbread pastry making. I overestimated the flour to be used here, but then again, I don't have any weighing scales in the kitchen.

They may not look pretty, and certainly nothing like pineapple tarts found on other blogs, but they certainly are palatable. The Sainsbury's Basics Pineapple pieces were very suitable for making jams and conserves from, so like most of the other Basics products, they will help where presentation does not matter.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Pineapple pieces in juice	£0.20/kg	227g	+£0.41	Not known. slices is +£0.28 from basics pieces.

Chocolate Wafer Biscuits

While stocking up on snacks that I might want to have for my flight out of London for the holidays last month, I came across these Sainsbury's Basics Chocolate Wafer Biscuits. I bought myself a pack, thinking that I would be able to kill two birds with one stone, having something to eat and featuring it on this blog. Given that the length of this blog post will not amount to much though, I thought I might as well write about it while everybody is away on holiday, and save the meatier material for after the festive season.

For its price, the chocolate coating is decent and is light enough to not spoil your main meals even if you eat these close to dinner or lunch time. At the same time, have a couple of these and you would be able to last for a bit. As with the Bourbon Creams reviewed some time ago, these are really good so it's probably safe to assume that quality across the Basics biscuits range is on par with their regular own-brand counterparts.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Milk Chocolate Coated Wafer Biscuits	£0.42	6	+£0.58 for 9	Not known

Mince Puffs and other Christmas sweets

Christmas is upon us, and with that comes the usual festive dinners and general eating. We are in the midst of a eurozone crisis however, as the states that make up continental Europe have put various austerity measures into effect. Since Europe is the UK's largest trading partner, it's no surprise that people here would feel it too, but nonetheless it was rather surprising to have come across so many more Christmas-themed items in the Sainsbury's Basics range than the Basics Christmas Pudding I spotted in 2010. Seeing that this is the run up to Christmas I thought I should interrupt my usual publishing to write this so that you may know what is currently available.

I can't buy them all though, since I didn't want to spend all of winter eating them myself, so I decided to make do with the Basics Mince Puffs. These particularly amuse me, as about 3 Christmases ago, Sainsbury's actually did a Basics version of Mince Pies, as reviewed on Terrific Horrific. I have failed to spot them last year though, and given that mince-related items come out around this time of year, I'm guessing this is the substitute.

The puffs contain 42% mince, and as you can tell from the pic below, they fail to take up the generous space offered by the pastry. While they are not unpleasant, and are pretty cheap, I believe they are relatively poor value, and are no substitute for proper mince pies that are one of the key things that make a Christmas dinner.

I will be taking a break from writing to commemorate Christmas, and I'm sure that you would be enjoying yourself over the next few weeks or so. Have a blessed Christmas and a fruitful New Year!

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Mince Puffs	£0.63	8	+£0.37 for 6	Actual mince pies. Recommended.
Christmas Pudding	£0.98	454g	+£1.52	Higher fruit content, healthier
Iced Rich Fruit Cake	£1.90	400g	+£0.25	Higher fruit content, healthier

Taste Test: Bourbon Creams

A while ago I had the chance to talk to two people who worked in the groceries sector. Through our conversations they got to know that I ran this blog and asked me certain queries about their own value line, specifically my attitude towards it, so that they could understand what their consumers want. I noted that while most people I know treated value lines as a way to reduce expenditure on frequently used essential items, I have noticed that there is another demographic distinct from this - that of university student societies and clubs.

Some memories came back of eating Sainsbury's Basics crisps and other such tidbits while attending various meetings held by the societies I participated in. A thought occurred to me if what they were doing was just a way to stretch out of extreme necessity the club's budget for as long as it can hold out, or if they were really on to something.

Where I work now, it is customary for a member of the team to bring something to snack on for our weekly team meetings. I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for me to bring along two lines of Sainsbury's Bourbon Creams, one Basics, one own-brand, and arrange for a blind taste test. With that in mind, I got to the office early that morning, piled the biscuits into two separate plates and set them before my colleagues to sample from. Surprisingly it was difficult to tell them apart, as they tasted the same. That is, until somebody spotted a visual difference in the biscuits themselves.

The photograph you see below is a poor attempt at showing that difference. The Sainsbury's Basics Bourbon Cream on the left has less chocolate cream compared to the regular own-brand one on the right. To be honest, as noted above, none of us at the workplace could tell the difference, so considering the savings of almost 50%, if you are buying biscuits in bulk for the next gathering of any sort, do give the Bourbon Creams a try.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Bourbon Creams	£0.45	400g	+£0.38	Thicker chocolate filling.

Bananas - The One-Ingredient Ice Cream

My research for material sometimes involves me looking at recent food-related trends on the Internet. It is quite interesting to see what a random person has discovered that quickly catches on in the section of the blogosphere devoted to culinary misadventures. A very good example of this would be the one-ingredient ice cream recipe that The Kitchn came up with, which has since been re-posted by a good many people over the span of two years.

The idea seems simple enough - freeze some overripe bananas, peeled and sliced, for a number of hours so that they partially solidify. Toss them into a blender and blend, letting the heat and mechanical processing from the blades liquify the bananas into a lovely goo with the texture of soft-serve. Refreeze to get the consistency you would find in regular ice-cream.

Most of the blogs who have re-posted the recipe from The Kitchn don't seem to heed the re-freezing step, so I thought that this might be an interesting opportunity to recreate it as pictured in the original post. I also added some melted dark chocolate into the blend to provide a contrast against the bananas.

Due to some technical difficulties, the resulting ice-cream I made was more icy than what I was hoping for, but nevertheless, this is an undeniably fun way to enjoy (or get your children to enjoy) bananas. Given that bananas are pretty cheap at supermarkets I can see this being a dessert that students can prepare when they have guests around, and a healthy and cheap alternative to the Ben & Jerry's regularly offered at a discount at Sainsbury's. The only drawback is having to put down money for a good food processor or blender - mine in particular cost £30, but would provide returns for as long as it lasts.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Bananas	£1.15	8	+£0.22	Not much.

Peanut Butter Cups

A regular reader of mine sent in this link, asking if I could try doing this with Basics ingredients. Oddly enough, I do miss eating peanut butter cups, which are readily available in the States and back where I come from, but are difficult to find in the UK. And I'm not alone. My housemates and their friends are all pretty fond of the confectionery, and I have to keep that in mind when I buy some to take back with me. Indeed, once when a group of Americans asked me why I was buying a sizable supply of Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups in New York, I simply pointed out the lack of availability where I was based. They nodded understandingly and approvingly.

I would need some form of paper cups to put my chocolate in though. Luckily, my local Sainsbury's stocks Petit Four cases, available in packs of 100, for under a pound. It's unlikely I would be needing this very often, so I'm glad that I didn't have to pay too much for this.

The recipe was originally sourced from Epicurious, which in turn cited it from the December 1990 issue of American food magazine Bon Appetit. While following the recipe I made some improvisations and mistakes, detailed below.

Make the peanut butter blend according to the recipe instructions. The recipe called for sour cream and whipping cream to be blended into the peanut butter, but not wanting to buy a tub of each for the express purpose of making confectionery, I improvised and made the blend from one tablespoon of peanut butter and a splash of semi-skimmed milk. The effect achieved was similar, a smooth peanut butter filling.

Leave the peanut butter filling to cool for a few hours in the fridge.

 A couple of hours later, start up a steam bath and proceed to melt some chocolate.

Use a teaspoon to pick up a dollop of melted chocolate and drop it into the centre of a paper case. Use the back of the teaspoon to then line the walls of the paper case with chocolate, as shown above. Leave to cool in fridge for 20 minutes, and do not do as I did, which was to proceed to the next step without the fridging.

Drop a dollop of the peanut butter filling into each case, and seal off with chocolate. Leave to cool at room temperature before packing into a box for further cooling in the fridge.

It was good being able to bite into something that I have started to miss when my supply of Reese's ran out. I'm guessing that this would probably be most useful to the sizable population of Americans, particularly the youth, who are currently based in the UK for one reason or another, and miss peanut butter cups but are unwilling to pay the price charged by some places here for the privilege of eating them. In the meantime, I suppose this experience may come in handy when entertaining guests in future.