Syllabub

"I bet you're going to write about this in your blog."
How to respond to this? On the one hand, it's a challenge. On the other, there's a temptation to rebel, to say, "No way! I'm not blogging about this!"

On with the show. It's hard to resist a challenge. I made syllabub for Christmas dessert. There was a recipe in the paper and it sounded just festive enough for Christmas dinner. I've known the word for years but had never been able to peg it to a real meaning. Syllabub? Priscillabub? The word is of unknown origin, though we had quite the discussion of Dr. Johnson's affinity for syllabub.

Here's what it is: whipped cream with liquor. Sometimes it's a drink, sometimes a dessert eaten with a spoon. I tried for the latter, though the bottom of the bowl was pretty soupy. I found other recipes which include gelatin, eggs, and a variety of liquors. I used kirschwasser, augmented by rum.

The result? Tasty. It was also nice in dollops on my mother's fruit cake bonbons. All the same, it doesn't displace a good fruit pie in my book.

I had no pie on this trip to Maine to visit my parents, but I had a delicious blueberry crisp. Almost as good as pie. I wonder how it would have been with a spoonful of syllabub on top.