Ice-Cream Month: Tiramisù Ice-Cream (Wheat Free)

Ti piace il gelato? Hai un gelato tiramisico!

 

Granted, this isn't actually proper gelato, but I love me some tiramisù! I've made a few tiramisù inspired desserts on this blog, mostly involving cheesecakes, because it's one of my favourite muses: the combination of cheesecake-like cream, sponge cake, coffee and chocolate is just right for me. It's a decadent creamy treat, with a kick.

I first made tiramisù inspired ice-cream about four years ago for a Dutch friend, but it never made it to the blog because we ate it all. So, in honour of Ice-Cream Month, I thought I'd make it again.

This one went a bit pear shaped because the cream didn't whip up right for me this time: I think my ingredients were too warm. It still tasted amazing, but didn't layer and swirl as well as I might have liked. As such, I will reiterate that it's imperative that your ingredients are all cold! That way you'll get lovely fluffsome ice-cream that'll stay super soft in the freezer.

This also uses some yoghurt for sourness, and mixed in equal proportions with icing sugar it can replace some of the condensed milk in your recipe. Although, to maintain the silky texture, never replace more than half of the condensed milk.

INGREDIMENTS
Makes about 2 pints (about a litre) of ice-cream

For the ice-cream base

• 16 UK fluid ounces (455 millilitres) whipping cream
• 10 UK fluid ounces (285 millilitres) condensed milk
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) Greek yoghurt
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) instant espresso powder
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence

To assemble,

• 1 medium egg, separated
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) white spelt flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) sunflower oil
• Chocolate syrup, for assembly
• Optional: white rum, for sprinkling

Instead of making sponge cakes, you can just use shop-bought trifle sponges. I make my own because I can't buy wheat-free trifle sponges in Ireland.

METHOD

First, make the sponge cakes.

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.7), and line a flat tray with non-stick baking paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add in the sugar while beating until you have a glossy meringue that holds stiff peaks.
• Beat in the yolk and oil, then switch to a metal spoon to fold in the flour. Be sure to fold it in completely.
• Spoon little blobs of cake mixture onto the baking paper, tap the tray on the work surface a few times, and then bake on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. The cakes will be done when they are an even golden brown, and springy to the touch.
• Allow to cool completely before assembling the ice-cream. If you like, you can sprinkle them gently with some white rum, but this is completely optional.

Then, make the ice-cream base.

• In a measuring jug big enough to hold a UK pint (570 millilitres), mix together the Greek yoghurt and icing sugar until it becomes flowing and smooth. Top up the yoghurt mixture up to 12 UK fluid ounces (340 millilitres) with condensed milk. You might have some condensed milk leftover, so use that for another project.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the yoghurt and condensed milk mixture and the vanilla essence, then continue to beat until it hold medium peaks.
• Divide the mixture in two: leave one part plain, and into the other part fold the espresso powder.

Now, assemble the masterpiece.

• In a two-pint (1 litre) pudding basin, layer the ice-cream bases with crumbled cakes and chocolate syrup as you want. Once layered, swirl with a knife to marble the layers, and then decorate the top with more crumbled cake and chocolate syrup.
• Cover with the lid or some cling film and freeze for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Ice-Cream Month: Strawberry and Coconut Ice Sundae (No Churn)

Fancy something exotic and fruity? Try out this strawberry and coconut ice sundae!

In this recipe of the series, I took my inspiration from the traditional sweet shop favourite: coconut ice. I have done a few renditions of coconut ice, like the traditional version, and a version inspired by neapolitan ice-cream, and each version is as tasty as the next! But in my ice-cream adaptation, I had to decide what the pink flavour would be, as the white flavour would obviously be coconut. I decided to settle for the good old favourite: strawberry!

Strawberry ice-cream is super easy, and made in exactly the same way as my raspberry ice-cream using a combination of jam and condensed milk. The result has a deep fruity flavour.

To make the coconut flavour, I thought it would be as simple as making a condensed milk substitute with coconut milk instead of evaporated milk. But, that wasn't the case. I had a few issues with developing this particular flavour: sometimes it wouldn't whip up properly, sometimes it froze too hard. After about four attempts, this version worked the best: it's best to whip the cream before adding the coconut condensed milk, rather than whipping them together.

It has a lovely mild coconut flavour, and it's a sweet treat that's best enjoyed in small doses.

To further emphasise the coconut ice image, I made some little coconut wafers. This uses a new and improved wafer recipe, which I will be trying out in future to make full ice-cream cones.... (watch this space)

INGREDIMENTS

Makes 4 sundaes, each with a scoop of each ice-cream

Coconut ice cream

• 8 UK fluid ounces (230 milliltires) whipping cream
• One 14-ounce (400 millilitre) can of full-fat coconut milk, cold
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar
• A few drops of vanilla essence

Strawberry ice-cream

• 8 UK fluid ounces (230 millilitres) whipping cream
• 3 UK fluid ounces (85 millilitres) condensed milk
• 3 UK fluid ounces (85 millilitres) good quality strawberry jam

To serve

• 1 medium egg white
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) butter, melted
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) dessicated coconut
• A few drops of red food colouring
• Strawberry syrup

METHOD

First, make the coconut ice-cream

• Open the can of cold coconut milk, and scoop out the solid cream that has set on the top. Measure out 4 ounces in weight (125 grammes) of the cream. You can use the rest of the coconut cream, and coconut water left in the can, for another project.
• Take the coconut cream and place in a saucepan. Add in the sugar and cook over medium heat until the cream has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for 1 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, then chill for an hour.
• When the coconut syrup has chilled, whip together the whipping cream, and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl until it reaches firm peaks.
• Gently fold in the syrup mixture thoroughly, making sure to keep all the air. Transfer to a one-pint (580 millilitre) pudding basin, cover with the lid or some cling film. Now, prepare the strawberry ice-cream.

Then, make the strawberry ice-cream

• In a jug, mix together the condensed milk and strawberry jam until completely combined.
• In a mixing bowl, whip the cream to medium peaks. Add in the condensed milk and jam mixture, and continue to beat until it holds medium firm peaks. If you like, mix in some red food colouring to intensify the pink colour.
• Transfer to a one-pint (580 millilitre) pudding basin, cover with the lid or some cling film. Freeze, along with the coconut ice-cream, for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Early on the day of serving, prepare the wafers

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F, Gas Mk.2). Line a flat baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.
• Take half of the coconut and tint it red with some food colouring. Use your fingertips to rub it in well.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the egg white until it becomes frothy. Add in the caster sugar and beat again until it looks like shaving foam. Beat in the melted butter, followed by the flour, until you have a smooth batter.
• Take a teaspoonful of the mixture and smooth out into a very thin circle, as thin as you dare. Sprinkle one half red, and one half white.
• Bake on the centre shelf for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are nicely browned. Allow to cool completely.

Now, assemble the masterpiece

• Place a scoop of each flavour in a bowl, top off with strawberry ice-cream syrup, and serve with a coconut wafer.

Ice-Cream Month: Chocolate and Pistachio Brownie Sundae

Looking for a decadent treat? Try out this rich pistachio and chocolate brownie sundae, completely with chocolate syrup and pistachio nut praline.

When my companion and I celebrated our anniversary a few weeks ago, we went to a restaurant a few miles from his house in the countryside. We enjoyed a nice dinner, and then turned to the dessert menu: the first thing that leaped out at me was a 'pistachio and chocolate parfait': it was a dessert with little squares of firm-set chocolate mousse, with a scoop of pistachio ice-cream, little brownie squares, sprinkled with praline.... with a random scoop of mango sorbet.

The dessert itself was mostly uninspiring, but what hurt my feelings most was the pistachio ice-cream: it tasted like someone had bought some vanilla ice-cream, added in some chopped nuts and almond essence, then coloured it green. It certainly didn't taste of pistachio.

So, inspired by that dessert, I came up with this decadent treat, except you get an entire brownie, and no weird out-of-place scoops of mango sorbet. I'm really pleased with the flavour of this pistachio ice-cream: cream is really easy to infuse with flavour! And using the nuts leftover from infusing to make praline means not one of those super-expensive nuts goes to waste.

INGREDIMENTS
To make four sundaes, each with one scoop of ice cream

For two-thirds of a pint (370 millilitres) caramel ice-cream,

• 8 UK fluid ounces (230 millilitres) whipping cream, plus a little extra for correction
• 6 UK fluid ounces (170 millilitres) condensed milk
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) roasted salted pistachio nuts, without shells
• A drop of almond essence
• A few drops of vanilla essence
• A touch of green food colouring

To serve

• 4 chocolate brownies, cakey or fudgey
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) butter
• Chocolate ice-cream sauce

METHOD

The night before you want to serve the sundaes, make the ice-cream.

• Roughly chop the pistachio nuts, and wash them under running water to get rid of any excess salt.
• Pour the nuts into a medium saucepan, and add the whipping cream. Place the saucepan over medium low heat, and bring to boiling point. Once it begins to boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before chilling for at least an hour. The cream needs to be good and properly cold.
• Strain the cream through a fine sieve to remove the chopped pistachio nuts; set the nuts aside for later. In the process of straining, you may lose some cream, as such you might need to top the cream level back up to 8 fluid ounces (230 millilitres).
• In a large bowl, beat the infused cream, condensed milk, the colouring, and the essences together until it becomes light and moussey; this can take up to 5 or 6 minutes. 
• If you want, add more essence or food colouring, but start out small: you can always add, but you can't take away.
• Pour into a one-pint (580 millilitre) container and freeze overnight, or for at least 6 hours.

Next, make the praline,

• Lightly grease a flat metal baking tray.
• Take the reserved pistachio nuts and rinse them once more to wash off the cream. Once rinsed, dry lightly in a tea towel, then toast them in a dry frying pan until nice and dry and fragant. Remove from the heat.
• In a saucepan with a pale interior, cook the caster sugar with a splash of water (roughly a tablespoon, or 15 millilitres), stirring constantly, until the sugar begins to turn brown.
• Add in the nuts and stir well. The mixture will become crumbly, and when this happens add in the butter and stir until it all comes together.
• Pour the praline out onto the tray and allow to set completely.

Now, assemble the masterpieces

• Take the praline and break it into pieces, or bash up with a pestle and mortar (or plastic bag and rolling pin). 
• Heat up the brownies in a warm oven, or in the microwave. 
• Place each brownie on a plate or shallow bowl, and divide the ice-cream among the brownies. 
• Decorate with chocolate sauce and praline.

Ice-Cream Month: Mint Toffo Sundae

Happy Ice-Cream Month, everyone! July is recognised as the month where we celebrate his delicious frozen confection, which is what I plan to do, starting with this delectable offering: Mint Toffo sundae!

Ice cream has been eaten in one form or another in Europe since the 17th century, but its only since the end of the 19th century that it became available to the regular Joe Soap, both in Italy and England. Since then it has done nothing but expand in popularity, helped along by the introduction of the domestic freezer in the 1950s.

Nowadays, ice-cream contributes nearly $40 million to the US economy alone, and is easily commercially available in nearly every supermarket. And seeing as nearly everyone has a freezer these days, it's super easy to make at home.

Over the years I've run this blog, I've dabbled in ice-cream making, but this month will be taking it to the next level: from simple no-churn ideas, to designer ice-cream flavours, to sundaes, to cheating at "churned" ice-cream with a food processor, this month will be epic!

So, let's start with the aforementioned Mint Toffo Sundae.

The inspiration for this recipe lies in childhood nostalgia: when I was a little girl, you could buy a brand of chewy caramel sweets called "Toffo", produced by Mackintosh (and later Nestlé), and they came in plain vanilla and mint flavours. The sweets were individually wrapped in red or green waxed paper, then wrapped up in a roll of gold foil, then packaged in a paper label.

These are one of the things that made my childhood.

I absolutely love the combination of toffee and mint, and I thought it would translate well into an ice-cream sundae. I wasn't wrong! I also gold-dusted a wafer fan with some fondant dust, and it looked great! I make my own wafers with a new updated recipe, which I'll be sharing later in the week.

I'm really enjoying designing sundaes. I think I got the sundae bug last year when I went to the Creams ice-cream parlour in Maidstone.

INGREDIMENTS
Makes four sundaes, with one scoop of each flavour

For two-thirds of a pint (370 millilitres) caramel ice-cream,

• 8 fluid ounces (230 millilitres) whipping cream
• 3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres) condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) butter
• 1½ ounces (45 grammes) caster sugar

For two-thirds of a pint (370 millilitres) mint ice-cream,

• 8 fluid ounces (230 millilitres) whipping cream
• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) condensed
• Up to ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) natural peppermint essence
• ¼ teaspoon (2 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Two drops green food colouring

To serve

• Caramel ice-cream sauce
• Wafer fans, or follow the directions at the end of the article to make your own
• Gold dust fondant colouring

METHOD

The night before serving, prepare the ice-creams, starting with the caramel.

• To make the caramel ice-cream, mix the caster sugar with a teaspoon or two (5 to 10 millilitres) of water in a saucepan with a pale interior. Heat over medium heat, stirring consistently, until it begins to turn brown.
• When it browns, turn the heat down to low to continue cooking the sugar to a deep, dark brown. If it burns, don't worry: sugar is cheap, and burnt caramel comes off with hot water and soap.
• Once it comes to the right shade of brown, remove from the heat and mix in the butter and condensed milk. Return to the heat and cook gently until everything is dissolved together.
• Add in the cream, and stir until the mixture is smooth and consistent in colour. Remove from the heat, and cool completely to room temperature.
• Once it comes to room temperature, transfer to a mixing bowl big enough to whip the ice-cream, and then pop into the freezer for 20 minutes.
• After chilling, beat with an electric whisk until it reaches medium-firm peaks. Transfer it to a one-pint (580 millilitre) pudding basin, cover with the lid or some cling film. Then, prepare the mint ice-cream.

For the mint ice-cream,

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the peppermint essence, with a wooden spoon. Add a few drops of peppermint essence, give it a taste, then decide if you want a stronger flavour: peppermint essence is intense, and you can always add more, but you can't take it out once you've added it. 
• If the bowl fits into the freezer, chill in there for 20 minutes. If not, chill in the fridge for an hour.
• After chilling, whip with an electric whisk until it holds medium-firm peaks. Transfer to a one-pint (580 millilitres) pudding basin, cover with the lid or some cling film, then pop into the freezer, along with the caramel ice-cream, and freeze overnight, or for a minimum of 6 hours.

Paint the wafers, then assemble the masterpieces,

• Using a nice soft paint brush, brush the wafers with the gold dust until to the gold-ness you like.
• Serve the sundaes with one scoop of each ice-cream flavour, a gold wafer fan, and some caramel sauce.

Kitchen Experiment: Baked Milk Tart

Wil jy graag melk tert? Here is my take on the traditional South African treat, Milk Tart!

I have done a milk tart on this blog before, but not like this. Usually, milk tart is made with a cornflour thickened custard, somewhat like a crème pâtissière, but this time I thought I'd do a little experiment...

I've been interested in trying a baked custard for quite some time, and I thought this would be a good excuse. I've been doing a lot of research on baked custard and my findings have shown that generally for one UK pint (580 millilitres) of milk, you add four eggs, and four ounces (115 grammes) of sugar. My first attempt obeyed this ratio, scaling down to three-quarters of the quantity.

The first one I did had a little too much of an eggy taste for my liking, and had too firm a texture. Once I looked up why this may be, I found that egg white adds egginess and rubberiness. As such, I adjusted the ratio of egg white to egg yolk, by removing two of the egg whites from the eggs to make it smoother. It worked quite well!

I also learnt from reading a lot of South African blogs that milk tart should be made with puff pastry. I'll give that a try next time and see what it's like. This tart, however, is made with shortcrust pastry.

INGREDIMENTS
For one 9 inch (22 centimetre) tart

• One blind-baked 9 inch (22 centimetre) deep tart crust, still in its tin
• 5 UK fluid ounces (140 millilitres) whipping cream
• 10 UK fluid ounces (285 millilitres) whole milk
• 2 whole medium egg
• 1 medium egg yolk
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, or 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Ground cinnamon

METHOD

• On a cutting board, slice the vanilla pod lengthwise, leaving a little at the top to hold the two sides together. Using the back of the knife, scrape the seeds out of both sides of the pod.
• Put the vanilla seeds, empty vanilla pod, cream, and milk into a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until it it begins to simmer. Remove from the heat. If you don't have a vanilla pod, just mix in the vanilla essence after cooking.
• Separate one of the whole eggs, putting the yolk into a medium mixing bowl, and keeping the white aside for later. To this egg yolk, add in the other whole egg, and the egg yolk, and sugar. Whisk together well. 
• Constantly whisking, very slowly pour in the hot cream until fully whisked. Make sure to add it slowly so the eggs don't cook.
• Pour the custard through a sieve into a jug with a spout, and then throw away whatever is left behind in the sieve.
• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2). Whisk the leftover egg white until broken up, then brush it onto the inside of the tart crust. Place the tart tin on a flat sheet, and gently heat the blind-baked crust in the oven for about 5 minutes on the centre shelf.
• Once the egg white is set, pull the oven shelf out slightly to get better access to the tart crust. Slowly pour the custard into the crust, then sprinkle ground cinnamon all over the surface.
• Bake in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until the custard is set on the surface,but still jiggly underneath.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before chilling for at least an hour before serving.

THIS TIME IN 2016: Confirmation Day! (I'm Getting Good at Jam and Cream Gâteaux)

THIS TIME IN 2013: Fool-Proof Meringue (Unless You're a Really Foolish Fool)

No blogs on this day in 2015 nor 2014

Variation on a Theme: Malted Chocolate Ice-Cream with Caramel Swirl (Egg and Wheat Free)

As I'm sure you can imagine, this ice-cream was inspired by a very popular kind of chocolate bar made of malted chocolate nougat, topped with a layer of caramel, and enrobed in chocolate; you guessed it, a Mars bar.

Let me explain how I came to conceive of this ice-cream in my mind:

Over the course of my life I have come to learn that there are a few kinds of food products that are specifically enjoyed by English people, and it only dawned on my recently - being made more aware of my immigrant nature through talking to a Polish friend - that in Irish supermarkets you have the "English immigrant" foods. Examples of these products are crumpets, Marmite, Ovaltine, iced fingers and steak and kidney pies in tins, and I remember trying to explain to my peers why I was so excited when Cherry Coca Cola was eventually made available in Ireland. Now, generally speaking I consider myself and Irish person, but sometimes I get the little reminder that I also half belong to another race of people.

Within the last six months, however, one of these English interest products has vanished from Irish shelves: white Ovaltine. Ovaltine is a malted hot chocolate drink that is sold in powder form, which is mixed with hot milk and drunk as a bedtime drink. Due to my allergy to chocolate, I developed a taste for the white version, which is basically malt powder without the chocolate added. This version has sadly been discontinued here. Horlicks is similar, but nowhere near as nice, and also contains wheat. So, I went on the search for something that could replace my beloved white Ovaltine.

The other day I went to the local health food shop to get my usual spelt pasta and flour, and I spotted on the shelf a jar of pure barley malt extract, and my mind went BINGO! I had found the replacement for white Ovaltine. Barley malt extract is in syrup form, however, not powder. Since then, I've kind of been baking it into everything (including some really delicious malt granola that tastes just like Shreddies), and decided to make a flavour of ice-cream inspired by a malted milkshake, like the ones you can get in American style diners.

First I thought of making malted strawberry ice-cream, which would also be awesome, but I didn't have any strawberry jam. Instead, my mind wandered down the road of malted chocolate things, and finally it arrived at the doorstep of the Mars bar.

So, Mars bar: this is my ice-cream tribute to you!

I do understand that barley malt is unsuitable for coeliacs, but for those of you who can eat it, I recommend you give this a go.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Cocoa (yes, I thought I'd contain it because I was allergic to cocoa for a time)


INGREDIMENTS

For the ice-cream

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres, 1 US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) condensed milk
• 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) cocoa powder (see notes below)
• 4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) barley malt extract
• You could also replace the cocoa and malt extract with 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) of original Ovaltine
• Pinch of salt

For the caramel swirl

• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) condensed milk
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) soft light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) cream

HOW-TO

• To make the caramel sauce, melt all the ingredients together in a saucepan over low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Once the caramel sauce has cooled, make the ice-cream following the instructions here, but adding the malt extract (if using) to the condensed milk and cocoa mixture.
• Pour a third of the ice-cream mixture into the freezing container, then drizzle over half the caramel sauce. Pour another third of the ice-cream mixture over it, then drizzle the remaining caramel sauce over that layer. Finish with the final third of the ice-cream mixture.
• Using a knife, gently swirl all the layers together by zigzagging the knife through the container once. Decorate the top with sprinkles, if you like, then freeze for a minimum of 6 hours of overnight.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: Wheat-Free Chocolardiac Arrest Cake

Stracciatella Ice-Cream (Egg- and Wheat Free)

Here's the second half of my ice-cream adventures, started last week.

The few weeks ago Lidl was flogging off a load of vanilla pods because they didn't sell well. As such I was picking up double packs of vanilla pods for €1.75 each, as opposed to the usual €6-per-pod craic that Tesco and Dunnes subscribe to. Vanilla pods are very useful for making really natural tasting custard, ice-cream, homemade vanilla essence and spiced rum.

However, immediately after buying them I began packing to move house and baking was not high on my list of priorities. As such I forgot about them, until I unpacked last week.

I decided to make myself some nice proper vanilla ice-cream using vanilla pods instead of essence, and it was fantastic. In its raw form the flavour isn't very strong, but as it freezes overnight the flavour intensifies and in the morning I had SUPER VANILLA ice-cream. It was very tasty, 'was' being the operative word in the sentence.

I now have a load of vanilla sugar brewing away in the press, using the leftover pods when I scraped the seeds out, which is great way of using up the pods instead of throwing them out.

Expect a lot of vanilla themed recipes over the coming weeks.

But back to this recipe. Stracciatella is basically chocolate chip vanilla ice-cream in Italy, and it made by drizzling melted chocolate into the churn while it it running. On contact with the ice-cream, the chocolate freezes and shatters in the blades of the churn, leading to ice-cream that is packed full of tiny chocolate shards. In the absence of an ice-cream churn, I turn to what I refer to as StraCHEATella (smirk), where I basically smash a Flake bar and use the crumbled goodness to simulate the chips.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Cocoa (yes, I thought I'd contain it because I was allergic to cocoa for a time)

INGREDIMENTS

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres, 1 US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) condensed milk
• 1 vanilla pod or 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Flake bar

HOW-TO

• On a chopping board, split the vanilla pod down the middle and scrape out the seeds with the blunt side of the knife.
• In a large mixing bowl, pour the condensed milk and stir in the salt and vanilla pod seeds (or the vanilla essence). Pour in the cream, while stirring, then stir until it is all combined.
• Using an electric hand mixer, whisk until it is light and a soft-peak consistency. You want to to look and feel like mousse, basically.
• Pour into a 2 pint (560 millilitre, 2½ US cup) pudding mould with a lid (or you can use a loaf tin and cover with cling film) and smooth out the surface. Cover and freeze for 6 hours, preferably overnight.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

This would ice-cream is very tasty when used in making an affogato, an Italian dessert where a single scoop of (traditionally) vanilla ice-cream is put into a cappucino mug, a double shot of espresso is poured over, and the whole lot is dusted with a little cocoa powder.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: Fruit and Nut Flapjacks

Coffee Ice-Cream (Egg- and Wheat Free)

Training and gallavanting, and back in business!!

I have returned to life from my little escape (as explained in my last post), I thought I'd return to making some ice-cream. It seems only right because the weather has been in excess of 18 degrees everyday for about a week and looks like it's not changing for a while! At the same time as I made this coffee ice-cream, I also made some really nice stracciatella ice-cream, which will be following this post.

This is a really, really simple dessert that only needs about 10 minutes of active preparation and an overnight sleep in the freezer. Minimal effort ice-cream, the best thing evar.

However, there is one very important thing to remember with this ice-cream: you must use coffee powder, not granules. The coffee powder is added directly to the mix and is not dissolved in water first, therefore the granules would just remain in big clumps and not mix into the ice-cream fully. That would be less than pleasant.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres, 1 US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) instant coffee powder
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground cinnamon

HOW-TO

• In a large mixing bowl, pour the condensed milk and stir in the coffee powder and salt. Pour in the cream, while stirring, then stir until it is all combined.
• Using an electric hand mixer, whisk until it is light and a soft-peak consistency. You want to to look and feel like mousse, basically.
• Pour into a 2 pint (560 millilitre, 2½ US cup) pudding mould with a lid (or you can use a loaf tin and cover with cling film) and smooth out the surface. Cover and freeze for 6 hours, preferably overnight.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Raspberry Ice-Cream (Egg- and Wheat Free)

A lesser known flavour outside of Germany: raspberry ice-cream (Eis Himbeer)

My next experimentation was with using jam instead of condensed milk to make a fruity flavour. I tried this before with my strawberry cheesecake ice-cream, but through further experimentation I have now realised I could've been waaaaay more generous with the jam. I was fearful of invoking a crystallised texture if I swapped too much of the condensed milk for jam, but once I realised that condensed milk and jam contain the same amount of sugar per 100 millilitres, I realised that they pretty much will serve the same function.

This ice-cream has a nice punchy raspberry flavour without compromising on texture.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products


INGREDIMENTS

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres, 1 US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres, ¼ US cup) condensed milk
• 3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres, ½ US cup) raspberry jam
• Pinch of salt

HOW-TO

• In a large mixing bowl, pour the condensed milk. Add the jam and salt and mix well. 
• Pour in the cream, while stirring, then stir until it is all combined.
• Using an electric hand mixer, whisk until it is light and a soft-peak consistency. You want to to look and feel like a mousse, basically.
• Pour into a one-pint (560 millilitre, 2½ US cup) pudding mould with a lid (or you can use a loaf tin and cover with cling film) and smooth out the surface. Cover and freeze for 4 to 6 hours.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

NOTES:

• For even more tang, you can replace 2 fluid ounces (55 millilitres) of whipping cream with cream cheese. It makes it even denser, too.

Raspberry desserts don't tend to be as baby pink as their strawberry counterparts, their tone is more muted and purple-ish. If you want proper pinkness, you can add a few drops of food colouring.

Lemon Ice-Cream (Egg- and Wheat Free)

For my next trick: lemon ice-cream!

I've always been a big fan of creamy lemon desserts, there's something very satisfying about a rich, decadent creaminess being counteracted by a zest lemony tang. I also very much like creamy orange desserts too, like orange yoghurt, but I couldn't find orange curd (I could always make it myself, but that's another recipe for another time).

The consistency of this was nice and dense and thick, and truly rich. It's not to be consumed in large doses, or a sore tummy may follow.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products


INGREDIMENTS

• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 2 fluid ounces (55 millilitres, ¼ US cup) cream cheese
• 2 fluid ounces (55 millilitres, ¼ US cup) condensed milk
• 4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres, ½ US cup) lemon curd
• Pinch of salt

HOW-TO

• In a large mixing bowl, pour the condensed milk. Add the cream cheese, lemon curd and salt and mix well. 
• Pour in the cream, while stirring, then stir until it is all combined.
• Using an electric hand mixer, whisk until it is light and a soft-peak consistency. You want to to look and feel like a mousse, basically.
• Pour into a 2 pint (560 millilitre, 2½ US cup) pudding mould with a lid (or you can use a loaf tin and cover with cling film) and smooth out the surface. Cover and freeze for 4 to 6 hours.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

I quite like the delicate yellow colour that it is naturally, but if you want it to be more obviously yellow lemon you could add a few drops of yellow food dye.

Caramel Ice-Cream (Egg- and Wheat Free)

I decided this week I would try my hand at a few different ice-cream flavours, just to see how much abuse the tried and trusted condensed milk and cream formula could actually take. I made three batches of ice-cream, each with a different flavour, using the same basic formula but substituting things and seeing what would happen. Each batch was quite a success!

The first recipe I'm sharing with you is the caramel one I made. This ice-cream was a tad soft, but I know that next time I make it to reduce the amount of syrup; I have amended the recipe and shared it with you here.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products


INGREDIMENTS

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 3 fluid ounces (90 millilitres) condensed milk
• 4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) soft dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Pinch of salt

HOW-TO

• In a large mixing bowl, pour the condensed milk. Add the sugar, golden syrup, vanilla essence and salt and mix well. 
• Pour in the cream, while stirring, then stir until it is all combined.
• Using an electric hand mixer, whisk until it is light and a soft-peak consistency. You want to to look and feel like a mousse, basically.
• Pour into a 2 pint (560 millilitre, 2½ US cup) pudding mould with a lid (or you can use a loaf tin and cover with cling film) and smooth out the surface. Cover and freeze for 4 to 6 hours.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

NOTE

• You could also use maple syrup and mix in some chopped pecans for a nice American style maple pecan ice cream.

In the photos, it's quite a pale brown colour because I used light brown sugar. But, for a more caramelly, fudgy flavour, use dark brown; trust me.

No-Churn, No-Cook, Practically No-Effort Chocolate Ice-Cream (That's as good as Ben & Jerry's)

Yes, I promised it to some Facebookers and so I shall deliver a recipe for no-churn, no-machine, no-pulling-out-of-the-freezer-every-two-hours-to-mix, no-custard, no-cook, little-effort chocolate ice-cream that is soft and rich with no ice crystals!

I thought seeing as Valentine's day is around the corner it's time to begin the chocolate recipe fest! Also, this recipe will be updated with a video once I have edited it, so stay tuned!

This ice-cream is rich, chocolatey, and completely customisable, made mainly from two ingredients with anything else you want to add for frills. The great thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are cheap enough, it only uses one mixing bowl, and you just bung it in the freezer for 4 to 6 hours without having to do anything to it while it freezes.

Ice-cream that tastes as nice as the leading luxury brand for cheap, minimum effort and hardly any washing up. Every woman's dream I would have thought, except having to wait around for it to freeze. But you could always make it before you head to work so it'll be ready for your return...




FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Cocoa (yes, I thought I'd contain it because I was allergic to cocoa for a time)


INGREDIMENTS

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres, 1 US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content
• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) condensed milk
• 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) cocoa powder (see notes below)
• Pinch of salt
• Optional a
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) espresso powder

HOW-TO

• In a large mixing bowl, pour the condensed milk. Add the cocoa powder and salt and mix well. 
• If you like, you can also add the cinnamon and espresso powder for added taste interest. You can leave it out if you prefer.
• Pour in the cream, while stirring, then stir until it is all combined.
• Using an electric hand mixer, whisk until it is light and a soft-peak consistency. You want to to look and feel like chocolate mousse, basically.
• Pour into a 2 pint (560 millilitre, 2½ US cup) pudding mould with a lid (or you can use a loaf tin and cover with cling film) and smooth out the surface. Cover and freeze for 4 to 6 hours.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

NOTES

• You can adjust the amount of cocoa powder to your liking, but always have at least 3 tablespoons and no more than 7 tablespoons (105 millilitres, two-fifths US cup)
• If cocoa powder is too rich and dark for you, you could use drinking chocolate powder, or a combination.
• Before freezing, you can gently fold in sweets or sprinkles. You could also gently marble in some syrup.

The idea of making ice-cream by mixing whipping cream and condensed milk together is quite common. Every single brand of condensed milk with have a version of the recipe on their website, Nigella Lawson uses this technique to make coffee ice-cream and pomegranate ice-cream, and every food blogger ever has had their own twist on it. But I like to think that I've found the best ratio of milk to cream for the softest, least icy and most luxurious ice-cream ever. Don't quote me on that, mind.

This makes about 1½ pints (850 millilitres, 3½ US cups) of ice-cream, which is enough to feed about 6 people with a sensible scoop or two, 4 people with a generous scoop or three, or one woman recently bereaved of her romantic partner/suffering with her time of the month... so gentlemen if you want to keep her quiet when she's in pain just make her a batch of this. She will love you forever, if that's what you want of course.

The ingredients to make this amount of ice-cream is roughly €3. So, to put it in understandable terms, a tub of Ben and Jerry's costs around €6.50: for half of the price, you can make almost twice as much yourself... which in the long run makes it quarter of the price. You know it makes sense!

My Research into Machine Free Ice Cream Continues...

So, instead of allowing my  funk to get between me and my first love, I've been researching culinary delights to make when I'm feeling better.

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was searching in vain for the perfect no-machine homemade ice-cream. While the hurling was on I thought I'd try a few methods and recipes that I'd found, but none of them worked. I tried the whole rock-salt and ice insulation method but that didn't work, I tried the freeze and beat every two hours method but that didn't work either. I think the most recent lurid creation is still languishing in the freezer...

I thought I would turn to my favourite research tool to further my discoveries, and rediscovered a recipe that I'd found a long time ago. Back when I was in college I found this recipe for ice cream that used whipping cream and condensed milk, and needed no mixing during churning. However, using the method in this video, it came out separated and icy.

Needless to say, I never thought to try it again.


It took a few years for me to get around to trying homemade ice cream again. I once again tried several different methods and recipes, none of which worked. However, in the few years I wasn't trying, there were a few people who ad uploaded more successful attempts at the condensed milk and cream technique.

 







These two used the same ingredients as the first video, but in slightly different quantities and with a slightly different method. Having made this discovery (especially the first video: that stuff looks sinful!), I think I might give it another try...

I'm one for giving second chances!