Sugar Baskets

Easter is on the way, and hopefully warmer weather.  We're still waiting to move house.  The move is so overdue, these last few weeks are really dragging by.  The maintenance guys have tried to fix the cigarette smoke that seeps constantly into our apartment from the one below, but nothing seems to work, so we just have to put up with it until we can move out, thankfully it's only days now.  I'm still busy trying to occupy my time in between the packing and clearing out with other mindless, fun stuff...  like cooking! I thought it would be fun to make sugar spun baskets for Easter.  I've not worked much with sugar, and believe me it's not as easy as it looks, especially when you're trying to do it without a candy thermometer!

My first attempt was a bit clumsy, and I burnt the sugar, however the baskets took me so long to make I decided to serve them anyway and just tell everyone to eat the filling and leave the baskets.

I filled the base of each basket with a thin layer of dark chocolate, then piled lovely blackberries on top and a large dollop of mascarpone cheese that was mixed with blackberry jam and a splash of Disaronno.

It turned out that the sweetness of the blackberries and cream, with the bitterness of the sugar and chocolate was a delightful gastronomic experience, and Bob said I shouldn't change a thing it worked perfectly. 

I've since perfected the art of making the caramel for the baskets, but Bob still says he prefers it when the sugar is slightly burnt.

I'm still working on the final recipe's for my book, bearing in mind all my recipes are aimed at the boating community, ie, simple stuff to make on board in tight conditions and sweltering heat, sadly I don't think the sugar baskets quite qualify.  OH well, they were fun to make (on land)