Verdict: Dessert party

Well, the dessert party was a success I'd say. A lot of fun, though in retrospect, some savoury additions would probably have been a good idea. Helen suggested some savoury crackers for in between desserts, which I think would be an excellent idea. Anyway, the desserts: The pavlova was like any other pavlova - too sweet, tasteless and boring. At least that's what I thought. But everyone else seemed to like it. I think meringues just aren't my thing. But the cherry gel worked really nicely with it. Next up was the chocolate fudge tart, which I thought was a bit too sweet. Again, no one agreed, but it was definitely good - not too rich, sweet or chocolatey, but quite a nice subtle tart. Kenny said it was his favourite of all of them, and I can see why, though it was more solid and less fudgy than I'd been hoping for. I think the orange sauce really helped though. The Black Forest Gateau was absolutely beautiful and, much to my satisfaction, received many Ooohs and Aaahs when I brought it out. The sponge was a little dense (it did suffer from me knocking out air from the egg whites I think) and could have done with kirsch in the middle layer, but it was most definitely a Black Forest Gateau and I was really rather pleased with it, despite its faults! The waterchestnut cake was wonderful (I thought), but as expected somewhat polarised the others - some liked it, others hated it. It's texture is a bit like quite a firm jelly, but with the bits of waterchestnut distributed all the way through. Mainly, I served it to let people try it - I figured it would be unlike anything anyone would have had before. The tiramisu was the final dish and was lovely. I think, though, it wasn't as good as usual - I think the wine takes too much away from the sweetness, so I think I will leave it out in future even if I have wine to hand. But anyway, I really enjoyed the evening and I think most of the others did too!