Summer is here, the sun is shining and the schools are off. Summer is a…
Lemon and Raspberry Possets – Celebrating Shakespeare
Lemon and Raspberry Possets are mousse like desserts which capture the taste of summer in a glass.
This year is the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, the English playwright. Over his life he produced many plays and poems. Even if you have never read Shakespeare you are bound to be familiar with some of the quotes from his plays. I first encountered Shakespeare when visiting my Grandparents. I discovered a small leather bound book of Hamlet and found it fascinating reading.
When I did O-levels, which are now GCSE’s, we had to learn one of Shakespeare’s plays in depth for English Literature. We read Twelfth Night which is one of his comedies. The twists and turns of the play were ingenious and well thought out.
Recently Viking got in touch with me and asked if I would like to get involved in a craft project to help celebrate Shakespeare’s anniversary. They would send me some crafting supplies and writing instruments so that I could create something crafty. I was happy to get involved but I don’t think that they realised I am not the most crafty person in the world. The only stipulation was that it should feature one of Shakespeare’s quotes.
Viking sent me a nice selection of craft supplies to get started on my project, a beautiful calligraphy set worthy of the bard himself, a selection of paper and card, some sharpies, a gold and silver pen and a mini easel. My first thought was I could do a quote on the mini easel and decorate it in some way. I had a go, practising on paper.
I chose a quote from Hamlet and practised with my pen, but soon realised it was not going to work that well. It looked a little bit like a spider crawling across the page. In the end I cheated and printed the quote on some paper which I stuck to the easel. It looked fine but it really did not meet the criteria of the challenge.
I then had a thought, the craft challenge had not mentioned that I needed to use paper specifically. Cooking is also a craft. Maybe I could create a recipe from a Shakespeare play. I soon came across the mention of possets in the Scottish play, Macbeth. In the play Lady Macbeth uses poisoned possets to knock out the guards outside Duncan’s chamber. I decided to make some possets, minus the poison.
In Shakespeare’s time a posset was a hot drink of milk that was curdled with wine or ale and then had spices added to it. More recently it evolved to become a dessert more like a mousse or a syllabub. I decided to try making a lemon and raspberry posset. I still have a freezer full of raspberries that I am using up from the glut of them last summer. I have many recipes that use them from a tomato and raspberry soup to a chicken and raspberry salad. A lemon and raspberry posset seemed a good way to use up some more raspberries. It also gave me a chance to practice my calligraphy skills and write out the quote from Macbeth as a warning.
The posset was reasonably simple to make. It was made in two parts, the posset itself was made by boiling cream and sugar and then adding lemon juice. This then set into a mousse. The raspberry sauce was made by simply boiling together raspberries and sugar with a little lemon juice. The two parts were left to cool and then combined to make a lovely dessert.
Lemon and Raspberry Posset Recipe
Lemon and Raspberry Posset
Ingredients
- 560 ml double cream
- 150 g caster sugar
- 3 lemons
- 250 g raspberries
- 125 g sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Zest and juice the lemons.
- Add the cream and sugar into a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes.
- Stir in the lemon juice and zest
- Chill in the fridge
- To make the raspberry sauce add the raspberries, sugar and 2 tsp lemon juice to a pan
- Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring well until the sauce thickens.
- Pass though a sieve to remove the seeds.
- Add half the sauce into the bottom of the serving dishes and chill.
- Fold the remaining raspberry sauce into the lemon posset mixture when nearly set. Place onto of the raspberry mixture in the dishes and chill for another hour.
You may also be interested in my orange mousse with raspberry sauce recipe.
Linking up with ReadCookEat over on Chez Maximka as the recipe is from a book
I was sent the items from Viking in order to create a craft project, my craft is entirely my own work.
Eileen Teo says
What a great way to celebrate Shakespeare. Your dessert looks so delicious and creamy!
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
Thank you, it was really nice.
Galina V says
You clever girl! What a lovely challenge! Love the delicious posset, and the calligraphy set is beautiful too.
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
Thank you. It was a great challenge. I am going to have to work on my craft skills though
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
This looks like a lovely summer dessert. I can’t get enough raspberries at the moment.
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
I am trying to clear my freezer as I suspect I am going to have loads more raspberries this summer
jenny paulin says
i have never tried a posset before, but it sounds like something i would enjoy. I love how creative you have been with this Shakespeare inspired recipe. great idea and photos x
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
Thank you, they were really nice.
Honest Mum says
So delicious and dreamy to look at. Want one now. Thanks for linking up to #Tastytuesdays x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
What a deliciously creative way to celebrate Shakespeare. I’ve made lemon posset before and it’s so delicious, but your addition of the raspberry sauce really takes it to a new level,
Angela x