British Desserts

I feel like a jerk for posting this topic that I'm sure many of you have already gone through, but I just don't understand the British sense of taste!  In my humble opinion they definitely can't do the dessert thing.  Can anyone here tell me a traditional British dessert that actually taste good?  I am anxious to try it!  
Guess I don't understand how baking fruit till its blackened in batter and then sticking it in a cupboard for a year, qualifies as even edible!  I'm talking about fruitcake, of course, and all those terrible Christmas desserts.  Bleh ....  

Check out the "I ate it..." thread in this category.  There are some suggestions there.  Personally, I rather like all the desserts I've had in the UK...

You know...there is one traditional British dessert I haven't yet talked to Tony about and that's the wedding cake.
From what I understand it's not at all like what we're used to. It's supposed to be a *gasp* FRUITCAKE!  
I WILL NOT have a fruitcake at my wedding.  [smiley=veryangry.gif]
We're planning to get married over there so only god knows what I'll end up with but if I can help it it's not going to be THAT...yuck.

That is traditional, but I think you can pretty much have what you want. It's called a sponge cake here.  

i agree with 12years...you can have whatever you want these days.

i also cannot stand fruitcake.  luckily, we got married in las vegas and i didn't have the hassle of the traditional wedding fruitcake with the in-laws.

beware, traditional birthday cake is also fruitcake!  

i like the fruit crumble desserts (like cobblers) with all that yummy custard.  i have made homemade crumble in september when the apples and bramble (blackberries?) are in season.  delicious!

You better believe that I didn't have fruit cake at my wedding!  It is what they traditionally serve, but I think most places will give you what ever you want.  I still ended up with marzipan (sp?) frosting (iceing), but that was mainly because I like the way it looks, I don't like the taste of frosting full stop so I just peel it off and it was my wedding so I got to have what I wanted.

The wedding Phil and I went to in September had chocolate cake, so I'm sure you can have whatever you like.  Not fond of fruitcake, either, but haven't been "forced" to eat it there yet!

I like the fruitcake and usually make my own at Christmastime.   

What I can't stand is the icing they put on their cakes.  It's like cement -- so thick you need a jackhammer to cut through it.

that is the infamous Marzipan.  You can literally make shapes out of it (like a car).  I saw them doing it on Blue Peter one day    I'm not keen on anytype of icing, but give me the whipped kind anyday!

give me the whipped kind anyday!  [smiley=whip.gif]

 
I'm with you, glasgow-girl.  Whip it!

When Steve and I got married, I told him no way was I having a freakin fruitcake for my wedding.  He didn't mind either, as he doesn't like fruit cake.  However when we went to pick a cake out, they told us we could'nt have a layered cake if we chose sponge, cause it wouldn't hold the weight and just fall into the bottom half of it.  I don't know why they can do it in American but not here, we went to three of four different places and they all told us the same thing, so we had to get a single layer wedding cake (looked more like a birthday cake really) I suppopse it all goes in the same place anyways so it doesn't really matter.

On other brit puddings, I like most of them, esp with custard mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm.  Apple crumble is a fave, sticky toffee pudding, jam roly poly, any kind of roulade (sp)

On other brit puddings, I like most of them, esp with custard.  Apple crumble is a fave, sticky toffee pudding, jam roly poly,

OMG, sticky toffee pudding is fatal, bloody marvelous.  Custard is lovely (especially on bread pudding), and I like trifle quite a bit, too, but I'm a fan of anything with fruit and cream.  And the cream in UK is gorgeous, richer and fuller-flavored than its American counterpart.

Scrumpy, I could eat a whole bowl of custard all on it's own,  how twisted am I?  Don't answer that    My husband thinks that's disgusting, and he thinks I'm a little off, when I put peanuts in my ice-cream.

Oh no, no, no.  You'll just have to set him straight, Tweets.  Peanuts in ice cream is fab!  

I feel like a jerk for posting this topic that I'm sure many of you have already gone through, but I just don't understand the British sense of taste!  In my humble opinion they definitely can't do the dessert thing.  Can anyone here tell me a traditional British dessert that actually taste good?  I am anxious to try it!  
Guess I don't understand how baking fruit till its blackened in batter and then sticking it in a cupboard for a year, qualifies as even edible!  I'm talking about fruitcake, of course, and all those terrible Christmas desserts.  Bleh ....  

I don't know.  I've had apple crumbles and treacle sponges with warm custard that were absolutely marvelous.