Royalty, cupcakes and dark chocolate innards

OK, so I'm beginning to think this blog idea is a winner because I was invited to dinner on Monday by a friend on the sole understanding that I would blog about the dinner that was served up.  Well I was only too happy to oblige, and for those of you who know me, feel free to lob further dinner invitations my way!

I should firstly tell you a little about my friend Deb who invited me around.  She is a very old friend who is more than a little bit eccentric shall we say.  She is a primary school art teacher who has previously taught in some remote areas of the Northern Territory and Queensland and is an absolute champion.  The eccentricity stems mainly from her penchant for wearing tiaras and loving all things to do with princesses. 

Deb is an excellent singer, artist and cook and appeared on series one of Masterchef (wearing a tiara of course) where she demonstrated her exceptional talent in making gorgeous pattycakes like the ones pictured below which I am told are sesame encrusted vanilla cupcakes with green butter icing lettuce, chocolate mudcake patty, white chocolate cheese, red licorice tomato and white butter icing mayonnaise.  Like WOW.

Deb intends to try out for Masterchef again for next season and also to open her own cupcake business. 

On the menu for my delicious dinner with Deb was a blue cheese and pumpkin risotto, followed by chocolate fondant puddings.

The risotto was simple but delicious.  The blue cheese was not too overpowering but was instead subtly salty.  Deb had also managed to do something that I am completely inept at, which is to perfectly season something. 

For the uninitiated, chocolate fondant puddings or "lava cakes" are a sort of cross between a flourless chocolate cake and a souffle. There are a great deal of butter, eggs and sugar in these suckers and the trick is to cook them only so much so that the outside sets into cake and the insides spill out upon mutilation by the diner.

Things were a bit touch and go with the chocolate fondant puddings when Deb managed to cut herself with the piping nozzle for the cream, and shortly afterwards, decorate the kitchen floor with half of the cream before successfully making some nice little rosette shapes with it on each of our plates.  Despite these early setbacks, the fondant puddings were an oozy cakey success, seeping their dark chocolate innards all over our plates upon bursting them with a spoon. 

Thanks Deb for a wonderful evening of delicous food and company.  When she wins next year's Masterchef you can say you first saw her on my blog...