Sweetie Pie's Perfectly Pink Summer Punch: An Easy Formula! (Cup Measurements)

Summer time is prime time for entertaining! I have a social circle who really enjoy socialising around card and board games, so to end my summer holiday in style I had a games party with pizza. And what party would be complete without a delicious party drink?

As a wedding gift, a good friend of mine gave me two garden flamingos -- a pink one and a black one -- which my husband decided to name Bert and Ernie, for some strange reason. It was even stranger considering the fact that he actually didn't know who "Bert and Ernie" were. So, in honour of their arrival, everything in the party was flamingo themed, including the punch.

I don't normally provide alcoholic drinks at social occasions because a) it's expensive, and b) sometimes people have no self control. However, we're all getting older now, and some of my more enthusiastic friends have calmed down with their imbibing as they've aged...

However, you can stretch a spirit a long way if you make yourself a nice party punch! Punch is a Caribbean drink that's made by mixing rum in specific ratios with other liquids. It's easily remembered with this traditional rhyme:

1 part sour

2 parts sweet

3 parts strong (alcohol, traditionally rum)

4 parts weak (mixer, traditionally water)

This ratio will produce a punch that's 9% alcohol volume. However, I don't want to get by guests completely plastered so I use 6 parts of mixer to make the overall volume 7.5%. To make it even weaker, use 2 parts strong and 6 parts weak to make the overall volume 5%.

Sour is exactly what it says on the tin: a sour liquid, like lemon or lime juice. You could also use grapefruit juice.

Sweet is a simple syrup or sweet fruit juice. You could use shop-bought syrups or squashes, but make sure to dilute them so they're not overwhelming. Some recipes even use a sweet liqueur here, like Framboise or Grand Marnier.

Strong is obviously the main alcoholic element, most frequently a spirit: whiskey, rum, vodka, you name it. Preferably this element is 30-35.7% alcohol volume, but you can use a weaker alcohol if you don't want your punch too strong.

And finally, weak is your diluting mixer: soft drink, tea, or even sparkling or still water. Some very adventurous people even use a weak alcohol here, like beer or cider. That's a but too alcoholic for me.

Sweetie Pie's Perfectly Pink Summer Punch

1 cup (240 millilitres) lime juice, bottled is fine

1 cup (240 millilitres) concentrated cherry syrup or squash, like this one

1 cup (240 millilitres) water, to dilute the syrup

3 cups (720 millilitres) mint vodka*, or strong peppermint schnapps (must be 30% alcohol)

6 cups (1440 millilitres) lemon lime soft drink, or cola

Ice, to serve

METHOD

• In a punch bowl or large pitcher, mix together the lime juice, cherry syrup, water, and vodka. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
• Immediately before serving, add 3 cups of ice and the lemon lime drink. Use a ladle to serve if it's in a bowl.
• Using these ratios the punch will be roughly 7.5%. Reducing the soft drink to 4 cups will yield a 9% drink.

*  I make mint vodka myself by dissolving 100 grammes (3.5 ounces) of clear mint sweets in 500 millilitres (17.5 fluid ounces) of vodka or about 24 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Feel free to experiments with flavours! What about something with blackberries and Jaegermeister for a spooky magical purple? Or keep it tropical fresh with lemon, orange, and grapefruit juice with rum? Whatever the occasion, this recipe is easily adaptable to your taste and event.

Cheat Method: Quick Lemon Iced Tea

Nomnomnom, iced tea! A truly refreshing drink for warm summer days... if you have any (they're fairly rare in Ireland!)

Irish people love tea. We drink tonnes of it every year. In fact, we drink the most tea per person of any country in Europe. But still, sometimes it can be just too hot outside for a proper cup of scald. That's why I was really happy when I tried iced tea and actually liked it!

I used to make iced tea by cold brewing black tea overnight, or by making cups or normal tea and letting it go cold. A coworker of mine, however, let me into one of her iced tea secrets. She just made a small amount of extremely concentrated tea and topped it up with cold water and ice. Having done a few experiments, I bring to you my own trusted formula that gives pretty consistent results every time.

INGREDIMENTS

To serve 2 people

2 Lyons (black) tea bags

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) boiling hot water

Cold water, to top up

10 ounces (285 grammes) ice

6 tablet sweeteners, or 2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) lemon juice, fresh or bottled. You could also use fresh or bottled juice of any other citrus

METHOD

• In a UK pint (570 millilitre) measuring jug, mix the tea bags and boiling hot water together. Stir very well, and allow to steep for about 5 minutes. 
• Remove the tea bags, and squeeze the water out of them. Add in the sweeteners or sugar and stir very well until dissolved. You'll lose some water in the process, but this is accounted for.
• Top the liquid level up to half a UK pint (285 millilitres) with cold water.
• Divide the ice and the lemon juice between two 12 ounce (340 millilitre) glasses. Pour half of the sweetened tea mixture into each glass, and stir very well until the drink is cold. 
• Serve with a straw, and a slice of lemon if you like.

Nice and Simple Lemon Cupcakes

As I teased in my previous choco-cinnamint cupcakes, here is another delicious cupcake idea: yellow and purple lemon cupcakes!

When I went to art college, we were taught about colour theory, how each of the primary colours have an opposite and complementary colour: blue goes with orange, red goes with green, and yellow goes with purple. If you're painting a picture and want to dull a colour for a shadow, per se, you don't mix the paint with black, you mix it with its complement.

Of all the complementary colours, my favourite two are yellow and purple. It's such a pretty, floral palette that makes me thing of a pretty summer field. My least favourite is blue and orange: it's extremely hard to get that to look un-garish.

That's why my eye was immediately drawn to these one day a few years ago when I was walking down the homebaking aisle of Tesco....

I saw them and I knew it was fate.

I bought them and thought one day, I'll have a use for these, and that day finally came recently during my cupcake experiments. I thought making some lovely lemon cakes in purple wrappers would be the ideal way to make the best of these decorations.

For these cakes, I made a two-egg quantity of my newly revised cupcakes, adding in a teaspoon of lemon zest along with the vanilla essence. To make the lemon icing for 12 cakes, I mixed together 4 ounces (115 grammes) of room temperature butter with 4 ounces (115 grammes) of shop-bought lemon curd in a bowl with an electric mixer. I then gradually added 8 ounces (225 grammes) of sieved icing sugar and a splash of vanilla essence until I had a lovely soft icing. I then piped this onto the cakes in a swirl using a star-shaped nozzle, and sprinkled with some multicoloured sprinkles before popping a yellow and purple sugar swirl onto each cake.

Lemon cake is a classic, and I have done lemon cupcakes in the past, but I'm very pleased with the revised cake and buttercream recipe!

Recipe Review: Melktert, a South African Custard Pie

Hou jy van melktert?

It's been a while since I made a melktert, or milk tart in English, and since then I've eaten a few and seen a few more made on YouTube. I thought a little review was in order!

Normally, milk tart is a simple conflour-thicken vanilla custard in a tart shell, either crushed-biscuit base (most common among home cooks), shortcrust pastry (which I rarely see) or—so I've read online—puff pastry (which is apparently the "traditional" way, but I've personally never ever seen it), sprinkled with ground cinnamon. I've made a few changes to the usual way of making if, which I'll explain in this blog.

But first things first, ignore the wrinkly top: it's a by product of a new technique of making the custard lighter by mixing in beaten egg white. The tops only go wrinkly if you undercook them and take them out of the oven too soon, so learn from my mistake!

Despite that little gaffe, mixing whipped egg white into the custard was the first main change I made. I read other recipes online which all did the same thing, claiming it to be the traditional way. It makes the custard feel lighter on the palate, and slightly more moussey in texture.

The second main change I made was to the biscuit base: normal biscuit bases are 1 part butter to 2 parts biscuit, but I halved the amount of butter. It made for a lighter, crumblier base. I also used half digestives and half Speculaas biscuits, to keep the Dutch theme going.

INGREDIMENTS

For 6 mini tarts, or one 9 inch tart

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) biscuits, either digestives, gingernuts, or Speculaas, or a mixture
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 1 UK pint (2½ US cups, 570 millilitres) full fat milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) cornflour
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) good quality vanilla essence
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) lemon zest
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter
• Ground cinnamon, for decorating

METHOD

• Crush the biscuits, either using a food processor or by rolling over the biscuits in a plastic bag. In a mixing bowl, mix the biscuits with the room temperature butter with your hands to make a crumbly mixture.
• Use this mixture to line 6 mini tart tins, about 4 inches (10 centimetres) wide, or one 9 inch (22 centimetre) tart tin. Pop in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
• Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a mixing bowl and the yolks into a saucepan. Mix the yolks with half the sugar, the cornflour and the lemon zest until super smooth and lump free.
• Add in the milk gradually until completely incorporated. Once you have a nice smooth mixture, cook over medium high heat and bring to the boil, stirring all the time.
• Boil the mixture for a full minute, then remove from the heat and add the butter and vanilla essence. Set aside to cool slightly while you preheat the oven.
• Set the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.3) and allow to preheat before moving on to the meringue.
• In the mixing bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add in the remaining half of the sugar and whip into a medium-peak meringue: when you lift the beaters the peak should flop over.
• Fold the meringue into the cooked custard a third at a time, quickly but gently to prevent the egg whites cooking. You don't have to fold each third through completely before adding the next third, just enough to lighten to base.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tart shell(s) and spread out nicely, giving the tin a gentle little shake and tap.
• Bake the tart for 20 minutes on the centre shelf, or until the outside inch (2.5 centimetres) of the filling puffs up slightly and the entire surface is dry to the touch.
• Take the tart out of the oven and cool completely on a wire rack in the tin, before chilling in the fridge for 4 hours before serving.
• Before serving, sprinkle the surface with a good layer of ground cinnamon.

Kiwi Curd, or Any Curd for that Matter (Volume Measurements, not Weight)

Remember when for World Goth Day when I did the Madeira cake with eyes? In that recipe, I mentioned that my friend Aimée's original memory of eating that kind of cake as a kid was that it was kiwi flavoured filling, not strawberry. I also promised that I would update you with a kiwi filling recipe, and here it is!

Confession time: I hate kiwi fruits. They taste like under ripe strawberries, and when they're puréed they look like green frogspawn. They probably taste like frogspawn too, but I've never eaten frogspawn so I have no frame of reference.

But there are people in this world who like kiwi fruit and if you do you'll enjoy this recipe, which is very simple. Like most of my recipes, this is a simple ratio:

To make the curd base

2 parts fruit purée : 1 part sugar

In volume (fluid ounces, millilitres, etc.)

Once you make the base mixture, you'll need to thicken it with some cornflour.

To thicken with cornflour:

8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres) of base mixture : 1 to 1½ tablespoons (15 to 22 millilitres) cornflour

Now, I do understand the obvious issue here: how many kiwi fruits/strawberries/raspberries etc. are in 8 fluid ounces of purée? Well, that might be a question for Google, but what I do is I buy the fruit, purée it, and then work with what I have with respect to the ratio. That's the beauty of ratios, and why I love using them in the kitchen.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY
No baking required, but uses stove top cooking

TIME

About an hour

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres) kiwi fruit purée, smoothly blended, I think I used 6 peeled fruit to make this much purée

Zest and juice of 1 lime

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) caster sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 millilitres) cornflour

Pinch of salt

Optional: 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) unsalted butter

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• In a saucepan, heat together the fruit purée, lime juice and zest, and sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and comes to a simmer.
• In a small cup, mix together the cornflour with a few tablespoons of water to make a slurry. When the purée is simmering, gradually add in the cornflour and mix until it comes to a thickness you like: you can add all the cornflour to make it more like a jelly when it sets, or add less to make it more like a loose jam.
• If you want a little extra richness, take off the heat and then mix in the butter until it has completely emulsified into the curd.
• Pour into a wide shallow bowl, allow to cool slightly before covering with cling film - making sure that the cling film touches the surface of the curd - and allowing to cool completely before chilling until set, which will take about 4 hours.

STORAGE

Keep in the fridge in an airtight container and use within a week.

"How do I make dairy-free milk?": Maple Pecan Milk

"How do I make a milk alternative using nuts? Shop bought ones are too expensive."

"I can't find nut milks in my local shop. How do I make my own?"

I have a lot of lactose intolerant friends, and know a lot of lactose intolerant people: they all tend to drink some kind of nut-based milk alternative, most commonly almond. If you compare the prices of cow's milk and nut milks, however, you'll find that the nut milks are about twice as expensive and filled with ingredients you can't pronounce. This inspired me to see if I can make it myself at home.

There are hundreds of tutorials online, but all of them are American and measure everything in cups. In Ireland, people tend to measure things in grams, which is much more accurate and repeatable, yielding the same results each time. To make a nice, creamy nut milk, the ratio is:

1 part (weight) of nuts : 5 parts (weight) of water
Note: water has a density of 1:1, so if you measure a 100ml of water it will weigh a 100g

All you need to do is soak the nuts in the hot water for at least 4 hours, and then blend it up. And to separate the nut sediment from the milk all you need is a clean cotton sock: no need for any fancy equipment! However, if you do have a nut-milk bag, feel free to use it.

When you make your own milk, you can also experiment with flavours and start coming up with interesting summery drinks! If you want slightly thinner milk, just add water until it's how you like it.

This drink is inspired by the Mexican agua fresca known as "horchata", which is a refreshing drink made with long grain rice and almonds, and flavoured with cinnamon. I decided to make an American style drink using that all familiar flavour combination of maple syrup and pecan nuts, which you'll probably have noticed I seem to have a little bit of a fascination with if you've been reading this blog for a while!

Please note: because homemade nut milk doesn't contain any thickeners or stabilisers, if will separate when you keep it in the fridge. This isn't a problem, simply stir before serving.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires using a blender

TIME

About 5 hours, mostly waiting time

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

4 ounces (115 grammes) walnuts

4 ounces (115 grammes) pecans

2 UK pints (1⅕ US quarts, 1135 millilitres) hot water

Salt, to taste

2 or 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 millilitres) maple syrup, or maple flavoured golden syrup

Ice, to serve

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• In the jug of your blender or in a large glass jug, add in the nuts and cover with the hot water. Cover with a tea towel, and soak for 4 hours, or overnight for a richer flavour.
• When the nuts have finished soaking, blend them on high speed until completely smooth.
• Strain the mixture through a clean cotton sock, or a nut milk bag if you have such fancy equipment, into a jug and then squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the sock. If you blend it well enough, and squeeze it well enough you'll get all 2 UK pints (1⅕ US quarts, 1135 millilitres) of water back as milk.
• Season with salt to make it taste creamier. I find a pinch for each half pint (1¼ cups, 280 millilitres) of drink. Add maple syrup to taste: I like mine to taste as naturally sweet as possible, so I use only a tablespoon (15 millilitres) of syrup, but if you want a sweeter drink add more.
• Chill until completely cold before serving. and serve over ice.

STORAGE

Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, and stir every time before serving

THIS TIME IN 2017: Kitchen Experiment: DIY Bundt Tin

THIS TIME IN 2013: Jammie Dodgers (or Linzer Biscuits) (Wheat Free)

There were no blogs at this time in 2014, 2015, nor 2016.

Zesteratops: the Return of the Novelty Dinnersaurus!

Say hello to Zesteratops!

When I launched my blog back in 2013, I made a dinosaur shaped cake for my mother's birthday that year. It's my blog's most popular blog post, racking up over 1000 views so far!

As such, I thought an update of my technique was well overdue. I'm not really a novelty cake person, which you could probably tell from the fact that I've only ever done a 3D dinosaur and a 3D panda cake in the past. However, my attitude towards novelty cakes has been changing: recently my parents decided to foster an eleven year old boy, and having a child in the family again really changes to chemistry of family gatherings! (He actually named this cake: I was originally going to call it Lemonpleurodon)

Mum loves lemon or orange flavour cakes, and the previous dinnersaurus was orange flavoured so this time I went for lemon. I also decided to decorate with buttercream rather than fondant. I absolutely hate working with fondant, but I used it to design the details, like the back sails, tail spikes, eyes, and smiling face.

This project is very time consuming: from the moment I started mixing the cake, to the moment I put on the last tail spike, it took 6 hours. So keep this in mind when you go to make it!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires cake shaping and novelty decorating

TIME

About 6 hours

RECIPE RATING

Needs experience

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

To make a dinosaur cake that will serve 16 to 20 people

One deep 9 inch (23 centimetre) round lemon flavoured cake

Some rolling fondant (sugarpaste) icing, to make decorative details

Food colouring

For the lemon curd

1 medium egg

4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) cornflour

2 large lemons

4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar

2 ounces (55 grammes) unsalted butter

Pinch or two of salt

For the icing

5 ounces (140 grammes) unsalted butter

5 ounces (140 grammes) Greek yoghurt

5 ounces (140 grammes) caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon, see Method

10 ounces (280 grammes) white chocolate

Two pinches of salt

Yellow food colouring

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• Before assembly, prepare the icing and the lemon curd. This recipe makes twice as much lemon curd as you need, so you can use the remainder for another project.

To make the lemon curd

• Zest the two lemons, and place the zest of one of the lemons into a measuring jug. Use the zest of the other lemon for the icing later.
• Into the jug, squeeze the two lemons and then top up with water to make 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) of liquid.
• In a small saucepan, blend the cornflour, sugar, and egg. Slowly mix in the diluted lemon juice until you have a fully combined mixture.
• Cook the mixture over medium high heat, mixing constantly, until it comes to the boil. Boil for a full minute or so until thickened and it loses some of its opacity.
• Sieve the mixture into a bowl, and then mix in the butter and a pinch of salt. To make the lemon curd taste richer, you might need to add an extra pinch of salt.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before covering with cling film, making sure the film touches the curd, and chilling in the fridge for about an hour.

While the curd is cooling, make the icing

• Follow the instructions in my Simnel cake recipe to make the icing, including the lemon zest in the cooked yoghurt and sugar mixture and omitting the lemon juice. Allow to cool as instructed.
• Tint the icing a pale yellow colour to represent the lemon flavour. Or, you can make it any summery colour you like.

Assembly

• Take the cake, and cut it in half horizontally. Don't cut off the dome: you'll need that to help the shape of the dinosaur.
• Cut each half in half vertically. Now you will have 4 semicircles: two flat ones, and two with domes.
• Take the two domed semicircles and sandwich a flat semicircle between them. Use lemon curd to secure the shapes together.

• Take the remaining flat semicircle and cut it into thirds. You will have two rounded shapes, and one long, rectangular shape. The rectangular shape will be used later for the tail.
• Take the two rounded pieces and sandwich them together with the lemon curd to make the head.

• You now have a body piece, a head piece, and a tail piece. Secure all the elements together as shown using some icing, and then trim the cake to make it more dinosaur shaped.
• After all the cutting and trimming, you'll have roughly 4 ounces (115 grammes) of cake trimmings. Use these and some more lemon curd to make some cake truffle mixture, and use this to make some legs. If you don't have enough cake crumbs to make all four legs, just make two legs and form the remaining legs out of fondant.

• Fix the legs to the body with icing, cover the entire cake in a crumb coat, and then chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes before decorating however you like! I used a petal piping technique to make scales, but you could use fondant if you like.

THIS TIME IN 2017: American Style: Chocolate Fudge Tart
THIS TIME IN 2016: Chocolate Biscuit Cake, a.k.a: Rocky Road
THIS TIME IN 2015: Zingy Lemon Gâteau (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Experiment: Homemade Sprinkles
There was no blog on this day in 2014.

Ice-Cream Month: Cheat Kalimotxo Sorbet, a Kitchen Experiment (Dairy-, Egg-, and Gluten Free. Contains Alcohol)

¿Te gusta el sorbete? ¡Prueba un poco de kalimotxo!

I'm not a big drinker: I have only ever uploaded one alcoholic recipe, and that was vegan Baileys. But when the sun is shining, and you're enjoying some outdoor barbecues or beach parties, you may need a boozy treat that's refreshing and cooling.

And this is my boozy refreshing offering to you: a kalimotxo sorbet.

But what is kalimotxo?, I hear you ask. It's a Spanish drink, specifically from the Basque region, which is an equal mix of cola and red wine, sometimes with a twist of lime. Although it has now become a staple of high-end and fancy cocktail bars in big cosmopolitan cities, it started life as a drink that Spanish teenagers would concoct in a plastic bag and drink by the plastic cupful to make cheap red wine taste nicer.

I personally really enjoy it: it's nice and fruity and sweet, and the lime gives it a nice kick. And I have now discovered that it is super tasty in the form of a sorbet!

Sorbet traditionally is made in an ice-cream maker to keep the ice crystals small, leaving a smooth feeling when you eat it: fruit juice or purée is mixed with simple syrup, then tested for viscosity using a whole egg in its shell. It's a little bizarre. However, I make mine using a food processor and some glucose syrup, which is why I call it a 'cheat' sorbet. I find that ice-cream mixers are a single-purpose accessory that just take up space in the kitchen, and nowadays most people has food processors.

To make the sorbet, I mixed ½ UK pint (285 millilitres) cola, ½ UK pint (285 millilitres) good quality red wine, 4½ ounces (130 grammes) glucose syrup (I will be writing a post about how to make it, in the meantime you can use corn syrup, or buy some here), and the juice of  one small lime together in a saucepan and heated it until the glucose syrup dissolved. I froze it solid overnight in a tupperware, then blitzed the mixture in a food processor to make it like a smoothie and break up the ice-crystals. I then refroze it solid once more, which took about two hours.

I think I need to do more work on this particular recipe to reduce the iciness, because this is a little crunchy. Stay tuned for more sorbet experiments in the future!

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.

Milky Ice Pops: Chocolate Flavour (Naturally Gluten Free; Dairy-Free Option)

What's that? One ice-cream recipe for May wasn't enough for you? Well in that case, have another one: chocolate ice pops!

These ice-pops are styled very much in the vein of an HB Mini Milk, which is essentially a milky water ice flavoured with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. I absolutely loved them as a little girl, but due to the indecorous manner in which I ate them, my Dad nicknamed them 'maxi mess'.

These were a bit of an experiment, it must be said. I will say, these turned out very much like those lollies you get when you freeze Angel Delight, but nicer (which wouldn't be hard). For those of you who don't know what Angel Delight is, it's essentially a sachet of instant pudding powder, and when I was young there would always be a recipe to try on the back of the packet, like how to make ice lollies or milkshakes.

When I revisited Angel Delight as an adult, I realised how truly disgusting it was, and vowed never to buy it again. So, to make these, I basically used a good old fashioned English custard recipe with some chocolate added to it. You could add a milkshake powder to make a strawberry or banana flavoured one, or you could leave it simply with vanilla essence.

Here is my sister Nixie Pixie holding one that she's nibbled, just to demonstrate the texture: it's kinda ice-creamy, kinda water icy, but it was mostly very tasty!

I used a four-hole ice lolly mould to make these, but used ice lolly sticks instead of the handles that were provided with the mould; they never work anyway.

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

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

INGREDIMENTS
Makes 4 moulded lollies

• Half a pint (285 millilitres; 1 US cup plus 3 tablespoons) whole milk, or milk alternative
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar, or sugar of your choice
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) cornflour
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) cocoa powder, or hot chocolate powder of your choice
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: 1 tablespoon (15 grammes) butter, or butter alternative

HOW-TO

• In a cup or small bowl, mix together the sugar, cornflour, cocoa powder, and salt. Make sure it's well mixed and all lumps of cocoa powder and cornflour are broken up.
• In a saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla essence until it just begins to bubble and steam. Remove from the heat, and add a few spoons of the heated milk to the powder mixture. Mix into a slurry, stirring until completely smooth.
• Pour the slurry back into the saucepan, stir thoroughly, then return to medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened into a custard.
• Once cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Make sure to stir it every so often so a skin doesn't form.
• When it is cooled, divide between the lolly moulds. If you don't have lolly moulds, you can use plastic cups.

There are a few ways to put the sticks in:

1. Clip two clothes pegs to each stick, and balance them on the rim of the mould. Make sure the stick is at least two-thirds of the way into each mould.
2. Line the tops of each hole with foil, and pop the stick through the foil.
3. Put the lollies in the freezer for about an hour and a half, then put the sticks in while they're half frozen.

To release them from the moulds, run under the cold tap until they become loose, then pop them out. Don't be tempted to use hot water, as it will melt the lollies and ruin their appearance.

American Style Cookie Dough Ice-Cream (No Churn, No Cook, Egg Free)

It's May, which means in Ireland it's finally summer! And nothing says summer like some lovely, rich, ice-cream!

I was inspired to make some cookie dough ice-cream because I've been trying out some American style stuff recently, and also my brother and sister really like it. But, I had some challenges. (And also, I've been feeling quite sorry for myself over the past few days, as this time last year was a time where my companion and I were enjoying his birthday, so I wanted something to challenge me and take my mind off it.)

The thing is raw cookie dough is pretty, well, raw tasting. There is a very distinctive taste off raw flour: it's quite acidic, and burns a little bit; raw bicarbonate of soda tastes like soap; and raw egg is a bit of a no-no in frozen things. So, I did some research about how to make edible 'raw' cookie dough, that's actually been cooked.

After looking around a few blogs, I was particularly inspired by Ann Reardon's approach to making a roux-style cookie dough. So, I cooked the dough in a saucepan to get rid of the raw taste, but I used my own recipe, just scaling it down.

So here is the final thing! It's pretty much just my go-to ice-cream base with some 'raw' cookie dough in it. But it's pretty tasty!

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

For the ice cream base.

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

For the cookie dough,

• 2 ounces (55 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) light brown sugar
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 3½ ounces (100 grammes) milk chocolate chips, or milk chocolate cut into small pieces

HOW-TO
First, make the cookie dough:

• Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, or use a silicone tray.
• Mix the milk, sugar, butter, and vanilla essence together in a small saucepan. Heat together over low heat until the butter and sugar have melted, but don't boil.
• Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir until completely mixed with no lumps of flour remaining.
• Return to medium heat and cook until it becomes a thick paste. While still hot, thinly spread out on the tray and allow to cool completely.
• When the dough is cool, mix with the chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) to make a cookie dough. Congratulations! You now have edible raw cookie dough.

Then, make the ice-cream:

• Using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream and condensed milk together until light and a soft-peak consistency. It wants to look like a soft whipped cream. For best results, put the bowl and the beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes beforehand.
• Pour a third of the mixture into a 2 pint (560 millilitre; 2½ US cup) container, then break up about a third of the cookie dough over the top. Mix a little to distribute the dough chunks.
• Repeat with the remaining two thirds of ice-cream and dough, finishing with a sprinkle of dough.
• Cover with the container's lid -- or clingfilm, directly touching the ice-cream's surface -- 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.

THIS TIME IN 2015: Battenberg Birthday Cake (Wheat and Dairy Free)
THIS TIME IN 2014: Minty Mint Brownies of Mintiness, with Marbled Glaze (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: How to Use and Abuse Royal Icing, and Wholemeal Gingerbread (Wheat Free)

Wheat-Free Autumn Apple Crumble

Here in Ireland we've been having a massive late summer/early autumn heatwave, and every day this September has been in excess of 20 degrees Celcius outside, whih is not what I expect for autumn; in fact, I'm disappointed in autumn this year. For me, it has always been a month of hearty, warming comfort food, but the weather outside is just too darn hot for heavy food.

My solution: eat the same old comfort food, but make them a little lighter; same autumnal flavours, but without the heaviness.

Here is one of those recipes: a nice autumnal spiced apple crumble, made with a granola style crust. 

This recipe has been made a little less rich than is traditional by adding a nice dose of lemon juice to the apple mixture, and by using oil instead of butter. Oddly enough, despite using autumnal flavours, it has quite a summery feel to it.

I also really like the little oven dish I bought from my local Dealz (PoundLand) for a quid-fifty. It's about 4 by 7 inches (10 by 17 centimeters) which is just the right size to serve two or three people with this crumble. The recipe amounts are to fit a dish of this size, but obviously you can increase it if you want to fill a larger dish.

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

☑ Eggs
☑ Cocoa

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten (oats and spelt)
☒ Refined sugar products

 INGREDIMENTS

For the apple filling:

• 2 large sharp firm apples, for example Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Jazz, Braeburn etc.
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) raisins or sultanas
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) golden syrup
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves

For the crumble topping:

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) rolled oats
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) wholegrain spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) brown sugar
• 1½ fluid ounces (45 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) water
• Pinch of salt

HOW-TO

• Preheat your oven to 200°C (4000°F, Gas Mk.6, or hot).
• Prepare the filling by cutting the apples. To do this, cut each apple into quarters then cut out the core on each quarter; thinly slice each quarter. You can peel the apples if you like, but I prefer leaving the skins on.
• Place the apple slices into a bowl and sprinkle over the salt and golden syrup. Mix well. As you mix, the salt will pull the juice from the apples and the mixture will thin out. Add the rest of the ingredients and pour into your chosen dish.
• Prepare the crumble by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl until it is fully combined, making a loose but moist mixture. Sprinkle over the filling spread out evenly.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and golden brown.
• Serve hot with cream, custard, yogurt, or ice cream.

As well as being a nice dessert, I discovered (merely out of laziness) that this also makes a very nice breakfast when eaten with thick Greek yogurt. Obviously, it's not an every day breakfast, but does well as an occasional treat. Also, instead of apples one could use peaches, pears, or nectarines.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: There was no recipe.

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