Buckets of sugar

I'm not usually one for desserts. I'll happily have a starter or a side and forsake pudding. It's not that I don't like desserts, it just that usually, it's pretty hard to find a worthwhile dish. 

Eating out regularly means I get to taste more than my share of desserts, and well, I'm usually left with a sour taste in my mouth. No. It's not because I ordered the lemon tart. It's that so few restaurants can nail the finale to a meal. 


There of course a few exceptions but it's rarely worth the risk.

Lately I've had quite the taste for something sweet. Thanks to Christmas and New Years guests demand that fine ending to an evening, and I've been only too happy to oblige. 

Christmas 2012 had me cooking the mains with my sister having a go at dessert. In 2013 I thought we'd switch it up. 

The trend seemed to be restaurants, particularly those of the Italian flavour offering a sweet calzone. The always fantastic Pizza Pilgrims kicked it off with a tempting mince pie cazone. I noticed a large chain following suit soon after. 

I wasn't going to go down the mince route. Indians, or at least my extended family, aren't that bothered with mince pies. I have to say I wasn't particularly taken with them this year. My dad, as a ritual, buys box after box of mince pies, and happily dishes them out. This year he held off, and apart from one tray of pies, we mostly left them alone. 

My sweet calzone was a bramley apple and cranberry calzone with a hint of orange zest. To be fair I could have gone with anything other than cranberry, but we get them in bulk during the festive time, so when better to use them. 

I made the pizza dough as per normal, although i held back with the salt and added a bit more sugar to make sure it was a sweet dough. 

I cooked off the filling in freshly squeezed orange juice and added a few spoons of sugar, letting it all reduce down. The flavours got quite intense after a while. 


Putting it together was as simple as making a normal calzone. I was careful not to overfill it, although I did have to add half a spoon of sugar because it was still coming out a bit too tart. 

It didn't take too long to cook, and and soon as the dough was browning I pulled them out of the oven, set each one on their own Belgian waffle and smothered them in white chocolate cream. 

Everyone was suitably impressed, and after an exhausting day I took the rest of the holidays off.