Sharrow Bay, the inventors of sticky toffee pudding, has launched its ‘diamond’ Chocolate and Ginger Pudding in time for the chocolate rush this Easter.

This deliciously decadent pudding is available in stores nationwide and can now be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home. The dessert has been created by Michelin Star chefs at the luxurious Sharrow Bay hotel in the Lake District to mark its diamond anniversary this year.

The pud follows hot on the heels of the hugely successful ‘Sharrow Sticky Toffee’ which has proved a favourite in both Lakeland and Harvey Nichols stores. A warm amalgamation of rich Ecuadorian chocolate and hot Australian ginger mixed with a sprinkling of Michelin Star magic produces a seriously sinful dessert which is a must for all chocolate connoisseurs this Easter time.

Sharrow Bay’s award winning chefs worked alongside the locally based Ultimate Plum Pudding Company to form this seductive chocolate wonder. The company, who has long connections with the hotel, couldn’t have been more delighted to take on the challenge. ‘It is such a fabulous honour to be part of the hotels history. I am sure that the pudding will be as successful as the Sharrow Sticky Toffee. We only use the finest, simple, clean ingredients including local free range eggs just as in the Sharrow Bay kitchen and the taste speaks for itself’.

The sixtieth anniversary motif, designed by Claire Shaw, a third year Northumbria University Graphics student has already had a big impact with the desserts packaging being put forward for some of the most prestigious awards in the industry including the Packaging News and the Print Weekly Awards. According to von Essen’s Creative Director Andrew Onraet, the winning design ‘captures the essence and complexity of Sharrow Bay’.

Available at Lakeland stores nationwide and via the hotel’s online store from £6.99, the Sharrow Chocolate and Ginger Pudding has a non-refrigerated shelf life of three months

It is causing a bit of a brouhaha is Delia’s new cookery book – How To Cheat At Cooking.

Not only have the critics lambasted her for failing to join in the with the anti-supermarket crusade and her recommending using products that come with excessive packaging but the results are decidedly lacklustre.

The Times today, for example, has recreated one of the new recipes, “good old shepherd’s pie”. After having to visit several different supermarkets to locate the required ready made and ready cut ingredients they write that

“The result was… okay. That did surprise me, as it had looked like a concoction of cat food and ice hockey pucks to begin with. But not only does my normal recipe (involving meat that I fry myself, a good slosh of red wine and potatoes I peel, boil and mash to a Delia recipe with creme fraiche, butter and milk) taste nicer; it was also a lot quicker to shop for – and takes no longer to make. I was left wondering what the point of cheating was.”

Delia Smith’s How To Cheat At Cooking is available from Amazon.co.uk for £9.

The second recipe designed by Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kerridge specifically designed to match Greene King IPA beer. The first in this mini-series was Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Anchovies and Mint for Old Speckled Hen.

Thai Fishcakes

• 1.5kg fillet of cod
• 2 Red chillies
• 1 Stick Lemon Grass
• ½ Bunch corianders
• 1 Small piece of ginger
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Lime leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Cloves of garlic
• Zest of 2 limes

1. Finely chop the chillies, lemon grass, coriander, ginger and lime leave.
2. Blend the fish in a food processor with the salt and pepper, add the chopped ingredients and the eggs and bring together.
3. Mould into fish cake shapes and shallow fry.
4. Serve with chilli dipping sauce or a mix of fish sauce, sesame oil and lime juice.

From today (February 15), the online boutique at www.pierreherme.com is expanding its services to include ‘Connoisseurs’ from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands Spain and United Kingdom. You can now log on to the website and have your favourite Pierre Hermé creations delivered direct to your doorstep.

e-GOURMANDISES, the online boutique of Pierre Hermé Paris, will deliver within 4 days macarons and chocolates directly from the famous Paris boutiques: 72, rue Bonaparte 75006 Paris and 185, rue de Vaugirard 75015 Paris.

“Famous in France, Japan and the United States, the man that Vogue called “the Picasso of Pastry” revolutionized pastry-making with regard to taste and modernity. At Pierre Hermé Paris, the pastry decors are discreet, the techniques constantly revised. Sweets for adult palates, the creations of Pierre Hermé, which have been emancipated from references to the past and childhood experiences, have entered the world of gastronomy. With “pleasure as his only guide”, Pierre Hermé has invented a totally original world of tastes, sensations and pleasures.”

Pierre Hermé is well known to a whole gamult of bloggers – check out some of the blog posts from this list.