Victoria Finale Fest

Last night was the Season 3 Finale of Victoria on PBS Masterpiece! To celebrate, I did a little decorating and made a special dessert. Not as involved as the Victoria Palooza I did for the premiere, but still a nice way to conclude the season of a favorite show.

The Decor

Union Jack Bunting

I made this bunting last year for the Victoria Season 2 Premiere and was so pleased with how it turned out. I just searched Google images for a Union Jack pennant, printed them to a scale of 2 per page, cut them out and strung them onto some yarn. Easy peasy.

The Dessert

Mini Lemon Gingersnap Trifles

Since I did a cake for the premiere, I wanted to make something a little different for the finale. When it comes to dessert, Brits seem very fond of puddings or "puds," as Mary Berry often says.With this in mind, I decided to whip up a simple and elegant pudding dessert. Lemon curd, gingersnaps, vanilla pudding, and hand-whipped cream. I guess that might not sound so simple, but really, I used a few cheats. Vanilla pudding mix, and Nyaker's Gingersnaps from Vermont Country Store. The hardest part was either making the lemon curd from scratch or beating the heavy whipping cream by hand (which I didn't really have to do. Sometimes I like to challenge myself for no reason, haha.)

The Show

As ever, the Victoria finale was beautifully written. I'd say Daisy Goodwin is nearly at the level of Julian Fellowes when it comes to scripting stories about the British elite. Goodwin writes in a way that allows you to see Victoria as a daughter, wife, mother, and sister. At moments in the show, if you took away the opulence of the palace, you would have to be reminded that she was indeed Queen Victoria. In this final episode, we witness the opening of the Crystal Palace, Prince Albert's vision for a Great Exhibition of the world's arts and industry. It is a brilliant setting, saturated with light and the colors of greenery and red carpet. We get to see monarchs, politicians, aristocrats and servants strolling through the same exhibits. There are moments that made me genuinely laugh. And it ends with a dramatic cliffhanger. Well, as much of a cliffhanger as you can get with a historically-based drama. :) Until next year! Sigh.

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Next on PBS Masterpiece

Mrs. Wilson

Premieres March 31

Not entirely sure if this will be worth watching. It might be too much in the "thriller" category for me. However, I wasn't sure that I would like Poldark at the start, and quickly became obsessed. Anyhow, Mrs. Wilson is only 3 episodes, so it will bide some time until this next gem coming to Masterpiece... read below!

Les Misérables

Premieres April 14

I'm absurdly excited about this new production of Les Mis. I adore the musical, so I'm anxious to see what this dramatic adaptation has to offer. Oh, oh! I'm going to have to make a French dessert for this premiere! Stay tuned :)

For more info on the spring programming, visit the Masterpiece webpage, linked here.

'Til next time,

Eva