Fish Fingers & Custard – Doctor Who Party: Part I {Geronimo!!}

Doctor Who Series 8 premiers on August 23rd!! Who else is excited??

I haven’t always been a fan of Dr Who, infact I thought I wouldn’t like it when I first started watching it. However after watching Christopher Eccleston… I was hooked. I have a HUGE crush on David Tennant, but so far I have loved Matt Smith as the Doctor the best. I am excited about Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor. It would be interesting to see how the Doctor will be portrayed!

Mr K has not watched Dr Who. I have been raving on about it for so long, that he agreed to watch a few episodes with me. So I made a little party out of it! Since the premier of Matt Smith’s appearance I have been waiting to try Fish Fingers & Custard… but not real fish fingers and custard though! All over the internet, there are so many versions of “Fish Fingers” and Custard like Biscuits and Custard or Sponge Cake and Custard, and even Cake and Creme Brulee!

I decided to adopt the cake and custard version and make it my own. And the result is – Vanilla Basil “Fish Fingers” with Lime glaze & Custard!

Do you know what else made Matt Smith’s version of the Doctor so “cool”? HIS FEZ!! Because “Fezzes are cool!”. So I made some yummy sweets to look like his Fez! If you want to find out what these are and how to make them, tune into the second part of this post.  but here’s a sneak peak. Don’t they look awesome??

Fezzes are Kool!

For the cake in the “Fish Fingers” – rather than using sponge cake, I used a vanilla cake recipe I love, from Sweetapolita. Rosie has so many Vanilla cake recipes, but this is one of my favourite vanilla cakes! Just to take the fish fingers to another level, I added chopped Basil to the cake. It made the cake taste earthy and was perfect with the Lime glaze that went on top! Plus the green flecks in the cake were really pretty too!

Look at the green specks!

I made the vanilla cake in a  9x 11 pan and used half the quantities required in the recipe below. The full recipe will make 3 x 8 inch cake layers. I cut the cooled down cake into 1x 3 inch batons to make the fish fingers. When the cake was done, the whole kitchen smelled like Basil and Vanilla… it was heavenly!

Cake being cut into “fingers”

I wanted the “Fish Fingers” to look like breaded fish sticks! That was important to me. I used Graham Crackers but graham crackers are quite pale. So to give it some colour I added a little cocoa powder which gave it the golden brown colour of bread crumbs!

The Lime Glaze is a simple glaze but runnier to help with coating the fish fingers.

After baking and cooling the cake, I set up my station with the Cake, Lime Glaze & Biscuit crumbs to dip and coat the Cake batons. I was really pleased with the results! It looked perfect and just like breaded fish fingers!

Lime Glazed Cake, ready to be covered in Biscuit Crumbs

“Fish Fingers”!!

Every family has their own custard recipe. I personally like pouring Custard, but this called for a thicker version of Custard. I always prefer using Vanilla bean paste or fresh Vanilla bean for custard. I love how it intensifies the vanilla flavour and flecks of vanilla bean just make the custard look… well, awesome! The key to keeping the Custard smooth and creamy is to keep the heat low and moving it constantly.

I chilled the “fish fingers” along with the custard before serving. Mr K absolutely loved them! We even had some fresh strawberries cut up on the side, but you don’t need it at all. The cake was soft with the Basil flavour coming through. The Lime glaze cuts through the sweetness of the cake and the creaminess of the custard perfectly complements it.

There are lots of elements to this dessert & you can simplify this by just preparing a Vanilla Basil Cake with Lime glaze, but for those Whovians out there, or anyone who would just like to have fun – this was a great adventure – though probably not as good as getting to go on a Tardis…

Vanilla- Basil Cake

Author: Dini from Giramuk's Kitchen

Adapted from Sweetapolita

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Ingredients

• 4 large eggs separated, at room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar divided
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 tbsp chopped Basil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Line a 2 - 9x 11 jelly roll pan OR Line 3 x 8inch pans with parchment paper, and grease and flour it (if needed).
3. Separate the eggs, being careful not to get any yolk into the white. Cover the egg whites for later on in the recipe.
4. Sift the Flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Stir through the Chopped Basil through the flour.
5. Beat the butter and about 1 1/2 cups of sugar on medium high until mix is fluffy .
6. Add the yolks one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure it is all mixed well.
7. Add the vanilla and beat the mix again until combined.
8. With the mixer on low, add the flour and milk alternately in 3 additions, ending with the flour.
9. In a clean bowl whisk the eggwhites until foamy. Add the rest of the sugar (about 1/2 cup)and whisk the eggwhites until stiff peaks form.
10. Gently fold in about 1/4 of the egg white mix into the cake batter. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites until completely incorporated - be careful not to deflate the batter.
11. You can divide the batter equally into 3- 8inch pans or 2 -9x 11 inch pans.
12. Smoothen the top of the batter to make sure they are evenly spread.
13. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes for the round cake pans OR about 15 minutes in the 9x 11 pans - OR until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
14. Cool the cake for about 10 minutes and turn out the cake onto a wire rack and cool it completely.
15. Rosie suggests putting the cakes (wrapped in plastic) in the fridge to make frosting easier.
    For the Faux Fish Fingers
16. Once they are cooled and chilled I cut the browned edges of the cake and cut it into 1 inch strips and then again to 3 inch pieces. Yielding about 27 cake pieces.

Fish Fingers Assembly

Author: Dini from Giramuk's Kitchen

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Ingredients

FOR THE LIME GLAZE

• 2 cups of Powdered sugar sifted
• 4.5 tsbp Lime Juice
• more Lime Juice to dilute if needed

FOR THE BISCUIT CRUMBS

• 200 g roughly 7.5 oz Honey graham Crackers, Crushed
• 4 tbsp Caster sugar
• 1 tbsp of Cocoa powder

Instructions

Lime Glaze

1. Mix the powdered sugar and Lime juice in a flat dish until there are no more lumps.
2. The glaze shouldn't be too thick. If it is thick add a tsp of lime juice at a time until desired consistency.

Biscuit Crumbs

1. Mix the crushed Graham Crackers, sugar and cocoa powder in a tray until well combined.

Assembly

1. With a spoon pour lime glaze over the Cake fingers (One at a time) until coated all over (As you would with an egg wash for fish fingers)
2. Transfer to the biscuit crums and press the crumbs into the cake until it is well coated all over.
3. Place on a wire rack till everything sets.
4. Chill until ready to serve.

Thick Custard

Author: Dini from The Flavor Bender

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Ingredients

• 2 cups of half and half Or half milk and half pouring cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup of sugar I prefer custard to not be too sweet - You can add more if you prefer
• 1.5 - 2 tbsp cornflour for a thick custard
• 2 tsp of vanilla or 1/2 vanilla bean

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and half and half with the sugar. Make sure the sugar dissolves.
2. In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks, vanilla and cornflour until pale and smooth.
3. When the milk is steaming, lower the heat (to low).
4. Add about 1/4 a cup of the steaming milk in a thin stream to the egg yolk mix while whisking to temper the egg yolk. Add about another 1/4 cup of milk to bring the heat of the yolk up.
5. Add the egg yolk mix in to the milk mix and whisk constantly while heating up the mix till it thickens to desired consistency.
6. After custard has thickened, place a plastic wrap along the surface of the custard to prevent a film forming on the surface. Cool to room temparature and transfer to the fridge to cool for a few hours.
7. Serve along side the Vanilla Basil & Lime Cake "Fish Fingers."

I served this with a garnish of Lime sugar (which is just lime peel and sugar ground together) which added a nice crunch element too.

These were incredibly yummy! The custard on its own was just beautiful but those cake fingers were phenomenal! The Glaze made the cake moist and the acidity cuts through the sweetness of the cake and creaminess of the custard. It was like a Trifle on a stick!

I think these will be great to make with your kids too, because they look like one thing, but taste like something entirely different and delicious! A fantastic surprise for anyone… Whovians or not!

Who else is excited for Dr Who?? I know I am! Remember there is a part 2 for the Fez Desserts! So check back in soon for that! What are your plans for the premiere, in case you’re a fellow Whovian like me?

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – where I upload pictures of things that are coming up on the blog and other tidbits too! My Mini Fezzes Cheesecakes are live on the blog too in part 2! Check it out 🙂

I keep making Doctor Who themed goodies! You can check them out here!

Mini Fezzes Cheesecakes

Half Face Man/Clockwork droid hybrid Sculpted Cake

Doctor Who 2014 Christmas Special  “Tangerine” Santa Claus Cupcakes

Great Intelligence Evil Snowman Cupcakes

Until next time! 🙂