Something Different: Doboš Torte (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)

Tetszik a tortát? Itt van egy Doboš torta!

There ain't nothing like a good Central European cake: they tend to be decadent, elegant, and impressive, but made with good, simple, traditional baking ingredients. They also tend to feature a serious amount of eggs and butter. I love the proper old fashioned, somewhat imperial cakes like this, and in general am a big fan of German, Polish, and Central European baking.

This cake is no different: invented by the Hungarian baker Jozef Dobos, this dessert was introduced to the Austro-Hungarian courts in 1885. I first saw a picture of this cake on Pinterest, which started me on a whimsical adventure through all the wonderful Hungarian and Romanian cakes there are to see.

From my observation, many cakes from this region revolve around multiple layers of thin sponge cake, sandwiched with some sort of buttercream or pastry cream, and decorated with dark caramel accents and nuts. Doboš Torte is no different, being made from 5 layers of cake, sandwiched with chocolate, and decorated with caramel coated biscuits and flaked almonds and hazelnuts.

This cake was a show stopper when it was first invented, and it is still today: the whole cake uses 10 eggs, that all need beating into sponges and foamy custards. Making it today takes a lot of beating with an electric mixer, so God knows how long it would have taken the Imperial bakers to beat all the eggs by hand back in the 19th century.

Through research on Hungarian websites, with the help of Google Translate, I found the traditional buttercream recipe for this cake, that uses eggs and sugar as a base, like a French buttercream. However, for those of you that are nervous about raw eggs, these are beaten over steaming water until thick and creamy, so technically the eggs are cooked. If that doesn't ease your troubled mind, however, don't feed to small children, elderly people, or people with autoimmune issues.


INGREDIMENTS
For one very large cake that serves 16 people

For 6 sponge layers

• 6 medium eggs, separated
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) caster sugar
• 6 tablespoons (90 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 6 tablespoons (90 millilitres) milk, or milk alternative
• Icing sugar, for dusting

For the chocolate buttercream,

• 4 medium eggs*
• 8 ounces (225 grammes) caster sugar
• 8 ounces (225 grammes) dark chocolate, about 60%, most dark chocolates are dairy-free, but check the ingredients just to be sure
• 12 ounces (340 grammes) unsalted butter, or margarine
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence

For caramel topping,

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 4 teaspoons (20 millilitres) cold water
• 4 teaspoons (20 grammes) unsalted butter

To assemble,

• 16 hazelnuts
• About 3 or 4 ounces (85 to 115 grammes) flaked almonds

* If you're nervous about using semi-cooked eggs in your icing, use 8 fluid ounces (240 millilitres) of milk, or milk alternative, cooked into a custard with 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) of cornflour. This will make it a chocolate version of the icing used in my red velvet cake recipe.

METHOD

First, prepare the buttercream base.

• In a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, beat together the eggs and caster sugar very well with an electric mixer until pale yellow, super fluffy, and tripled in volume. This can take up to 8 or 10 minutes, so be patient. Once light and fluffy, remove from the heat and beat for a further 2 minutes to set the texture.
• In another large heatproof bowl, either over the same simmering pan or in the microwave, melt the chocolate.
• Take a small spoonful of the whipped eggs and fold into the chocolate. It will seize and turn crumbly, but don't be alarmed: as you gradually fold in the whipped egg, it will turn back into a smooth, moussey mixture.
• Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover with cling film and allow to set for about an hour.

Next, prepare the sponges.

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.3), and line two flat baking trays that are at least 10 inch (25 centimetre) square. On the back side of the baking paper, draw around an 8 inch (20 centimetre) round tin: this will be your guide for making the sponges.
• Not many people can fit 6 trays in their oven, so you have to make the mixture a bit at a time. If you prepare all the sponge mixture at once, but can only cook 2 sponges at a time, the remaining mixture in the bowl will deflate. As such, for each tray that will fit in your oven, use a sixth of your ingredients.
• Prepare the mixture as you need according to this recipe, using a third of the ingredients listed. Divide the mixture between the two trays, putting the mixture into the middle of the circle guide. Smooth the batter out to the edges of the circle.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Remove the paper from the trays, and cool the cakes upside down on a wire rack until the paper can peel off easily.
• Put the liners back onto the trays, and continue the process until you have 6 cakes altogether. 
• Cool all the cakes completely. If you don't have enough wire racks to cool all your cakes, cool 2 at a time, then stack on a plate. Just dust each cake generously with icing sugar to stop them from sticking to each other.

Once the cakes are cooled, prepare the caramel biscuit layer.

• Take the cake that's the most evenly shaped, and place it upside down on a sheet of non-stick paper. Butter the blade of a large kitchen knife very well.
• In a pan, cook the sugar and water together, stirring constantly, over medium heat until it becomes a golden brown syrup. This can take up to 5 minutes.
• Add in the butter and stir well. It'll steam and bubble up, but after a few seconds it'll calm down.
• Working very quickly, pour the caramel over the cake's surface and even out. If some goes over the sides, it's okay.
• Once smoothed, score the surface of the cake circle into 16 pieces, pressing down well with the knife. If it starts to stick, butter the blade again. Also, trim any caramel that has run off the sides.
• Allow to cool completely before cutting cleanly into the individual wedges. Keep covered while finishing the cake so they don't go sticky.

Now, make the butter cream and assemble the cake.

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Add in the cooled chocolate custard mixture a spoon at a time, beating well after each addition.
• On your serving plate, assemble the cake by layering all 5 remaining cakes with half of the chocolate icing in thin layers.
• Use the remaining icing to coat the top and sides. Pat almonds into the side of the cake to decorate. You could also use finely chopped nuts of your choice to decorate the sides.
• Even place the hazelnuts around the top edge of the cake. Prop the caramel biscuit wedges on the top, leaning against the hazelnuts.
• Pipe a decoration in the middle to cover the tips of the caramel biscuits. If you have enough icing leftover, you can pipe a border; I didn't have enough to do so. Allow to set for about an hour before serving.

This cake must be kept in the fridge, well wrapped so the caramel doesn't melt. Eat within 3 days of making, because of the egg in the icing.

THIS TIME IN 2016: Chocolate Lime Cupcakes (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2014: Lessons in Chocolate Dipping and Edible Anniversary Gifts
THIS TIME IN 2013: Homemade Box of Chocolates = WIN
There was no blog this time in 2015.

Ice-Cream Month: Arctic Roll, a Retro Classic? (Wheat Free, with Dairy-Free Option)

For my final Ice-Cream Month offering, I present to you my finest frozen achievement: Arctic Roll!

I will admit I've been dying to share this one with you, because it was a big challenge. I've been waiting for the moment the calendar turned up the July 26th so I could make this for my companion's birthday and show it off on my blog.

My companion says he remembers eating this as a boy and how much he enjoyed it, so I said I'd make him one for his birthday at his request. This birthday was full of DIY projects: I made him a die earring (which he's wearing), some cherry schnapps (which I'll probably make again at some point, and then blog about it), and this cake.

Happy birthday, my lovely!

I decided I'd research this one quite heavily: I watched a lot of videos, and read a lot of recipes online. I decided to turn to a trusted resource: I watched a Jamie Oliver video on YouTube, and the woman who is demonstrating makes it look fussy as Hell. In the video, she spreads the ice-cream directly onto the cake like you would do with whipped cream and makes a valiant attempt to wrap it up. It's a mess, and I thought I could do that better!

Spoiler alert: I couldn't. My advice: do a  Rich Harris and ROLL THE ICE-CREAM INTO A LOG FIRST (but ignore the rest of the video: he makes it look far more difficult than it actually is). Don't be a hero and try and roll it up like you would do with whipped cream in a rolled cake; it's possible but it's messy.

So the roll you see pictured here has had a few issues: it froze as an oval from the ice-cream being too soft, the jam mixed into the ice-cream a bit, and to add insult to injury I froze it upside down so the seam was on top.

However, the family enjoyed it, and my companion loved it: they didn't seem to think there was a single thing wrong with it. Maybe I'm just my own harshest critic! But, even though mine turned out very nicely despite the faffing around, I've written the below recipe instructions to include the proper and less messy way to do it.

 So, here's what you'll need to make it.

INGREDIMENTS
For one cake that serves about 10 people

• 3 eggs, separated
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) whole milk, or milk alternative
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) white spelt flour, or gluten free flour mix
• 3 to 4 tablespoons (45 to 60 millilitres) seedless raspberry jam
• 2 pints (1·140 litres) good quality vanilla ice-cream, preferably one with visible vanilla seeds, or dairy-free ice-cream
• Icing sugar, for dusting

METHOD

• Take the ice-cream and let them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. You'll need to shape the ice-cream into a log before you wrap it. Don't make the same mistake I did and try and roll the swiss roll with soft ice-cream in it: it won't work.
• Take a big piece of non-stick paper and mark out the short width of the cake tin you'll be using for the swiss roll cake: this will be the length of your ice-cream log. I used a  9x13 inch (22x33 centimetre) rectangular tin, which would have made my ice-cream log about 9 inches (22 centimetres) long. Turn it upside down so the pen is on the outside.
• Place the ice cream in a pile at one end, then roll it up in the paper, leaving a little for holding onto while shaping. Use the paper to squish the ice-cream into a log shape as wide as your guidlines, making sure it's the same thickness all the way through the log. If the ice-cream is getting too soft, just pop it into the freezer for 10 minutes, then continue working on it.
• Roll the ice-cream log up completely in the paper, then twist the ends. Wrap in cling film, and place in the freezer to freeze solid, about an hour.
• Line the bottom of the cake tin you're using with non-stick baking paper. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), with the rack in the centre.
• Prepare the cake to these instructions, using the ingredients listed above. Bake for 17 or 18 minutes, until golden on the surface and springy to the touch. Any longer, and the cake will be too dry to roll; any less, and it will squish when you roll it.
• Using another piece of non-stick paper. Trim and roll up in the paper as directed and allow to cool completely. Carefully unwrap and spread the surface with the jam.
• Take the ice-cream log out of the freezer and let it sit for about 5 minutes to soften ever so slighyly. Place the ice-cream log at one end of the cake, and roll up. Twist the ends of the paper like a sweet wrapper; discard the paper used to roll the log.
• Freeze for a full hour at least before serving (make sure you freeze it seam side down, like I didn't), then allow to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving. The cake insulates the ice-cream, so it won't melt as quickly.

THIS DAY IN 2015: Danish Pastries: Dinosaur Paws (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

THIS DAY IN 2014: Mini Chocolate "Melkterts" (Wheat Free)

There were no blogs on this day in 2013 nor 2016.

Ice-Cream Month: Proper Custard Ice-Cream, a Kitchen Experiment

This one is admittedly quite experimental, but I want to share with you my no-churn real vanilla ice-cream adventures.

No churn ice-cream made with condensed milk is very tasty, but it's got nothing on vanilla ice-cream made with a good custard. However, these kinds of custard ice-creams are almost impossible to make nicely without an ice-cream machine.

I decided to do some serious research, and this brought me to Serious Eat's own experimentations with no churn ice-cream. In their article on how best to make traditional ice-cream without a machine, they came up with this method: essentially, you make the custard without the cream, freeze it into cubes, then use the cream to blend the ice cubes into an ice-cream with the food processor.

It's a neat trick, but I wanted to try and get back to an even more basic method, without any machinery. I took inspiration from their recipe, and came up with something that's somewhere between a semifreddo and a traditional ice-cream.

So, read below how I did this experiment. I think it turned out surprisingly well: it was a little bit icy, but that'll always happen with no-churn traditional ice-creams.

INGREDIMENTS

• 2 medium eggs
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) sugar
• ½ UK pint (285 millilitres) whole milk
• ½ UK pint (285 millilitres) whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) vanilla essence

METHOD

• In a bowl over a pan of simmering water, beat together the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved and they have doubled in volume to make a pale, moussey mixture.
• In a separate mixing bowl, whip the cream to firm peaks. Fold in the egg mixture, being very careful to maintain the airiness.
• Gently fold in the milk to get a thin moussey mixture. Pour into a shallow glass or metal dish, and freeze in the coldest part of your freezer for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, take out of the freezer and beat vigorously with a balloon whisk to break up the frozen parts and mix them back into the unfrozen parts. Pop back into the freezer for another 30 minutes, and repeat the process 5 more times.
• After the sixth and final agitation, transfer to a plastic container with a lid and freeze solid, for about 2 hours.
• Before serving, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

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.

Essential Ingredient: Glucose Syrup

My master's thesis has been handed in, woohoo! Now, back to the kitchen to make an absolute sugar craft staple: glucose syrup.

Glucose syrup is a handy ingredient to prevent sugar from crystalising in recipes like caramel or chewy sweets, and it's also a good substitute for sugar in frozen desserts. In the United States, corn syrup occupies this role, and often here in Ireland people reach for golden syrup in its place. Because, oddly enough, glucose syrup is very difficult to gets your hands on.

I remember a time when you could get it from the pharmacy, and in small tubes from the baking section of the supermarket. But now, you can only get it online. Luckily, it's very easy to make.

In a large, heavy based saucepan, cook a pound (455 grammes) of sugar with 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) of water and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Cook on low, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Up the heat to medium low, and cook slowly without stirring until it reaches 114 °C (237 °F). This could take about 30 minutes or more. If there are any grains of sugar on the sides of the pan, wash them away with a pastry brush dipped in hot water.

Turn off the flame, and allow to cool down completely without being moved, bumped, or disturbed. Once completely cool, transfer to a clean, sterile jar without scraping the sides of the saucepan; you can scrape the bottom. Scraping the sides would reintroduce sugar crystals and be the ruin of your syrup.

Glucose syrup will keep for up to a month in a cupboard, but after that it could start to crystalise.

Masters Thesis Due: Back Next Week

Hello all!

My master's thesis is due next week, so I have to knuckle down and do some work on it. I'll be back online after the 21st of July.

I'll be back thereafter with more ice-cream, and otherwise, confections!

Sweetie Pie x

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!

Kitchen Experiment: Chewy Fudge Brownies Revision

UPDATE 20/11/17 I did further experimentations with this style of brownie, and found a better way of doing it. I thought instead of doing a whole new write up, I'd just update this one.

As I promised a few weeks ago on my blog, here is my recipe for proper, fudgy brownies!

When I first started my blog four years ago, I wrote a brownie recipe. I have been using at same recipe for years, but nowadays I find my taste in brownies has moved from cakey to fudgey: I like them to be squishy, but not super heavy. So, I thought I'd try and amend my already existing recipe into something a little fudgier, but still light enough to eat in great abundance.

This is essentially the exact same recipe as my previous one, but the ingredients are in slightly different proportion to each other: notably the butter and flour are lessened in favour of adding in more chocolate. I found the exact formula while I was making a base for a tray of cheesecake brownies.

This brownie recipe is another variation on my recent trials with replacing flour in cake recipes, like I did in my pecan pie and chocolate pie recipes. In this case, by replacing a half to two-thirds of the flour in a classic sponge cake with dark chocolate, and omitting the liquid, you get a deliciously dense brownie.

These brownies would go perfectly in a brownies sundae, like this one here.

INGREDIMENTS
Makes 12 brownies

• 2 medium (US Large) eggs
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) unsalted butter, or baking margarine
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) plain or dark chocolate, 55%-70% cocoa, or dairy-free chocolate
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) soft light brown sugar
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) plain spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Up to 2 tablespoons (up to 30 millilitres) cocoa powder, to taste

METHOD

• Preheat your oven to 170°C (325°F, Gas Mk.3), and grease a 9 inch (22 centimetre) square baking tin. Line the bottom with a square of non-stick baking paper, and then dust the sides with flour.
• In a microwave safe bowl, or heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together. Allow to cool slightly.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and thickened in consistency. This should take 4 full minutes.
• Beat in the vanilla, and then slowly add the melted chocolate in a stream, beating all the time with the electric mixer, until all the chocolate is incorporated.
• Sieve in the flour, then fold through gently with a metal spoon or silicone spatula. Pour the mixture into the tin, and smooth out the top as much as you can.
• Bake for 20 minutes on the centre shelf, or until the top is dry and a cocktail stick comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake. Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.
• Cut into 12 squares and eat at room temperature, or warmed up with ice-cream. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

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.

Super Simple Éclairs and Profiteroles (Wheat Free)

Bonjour, mes amis! Aimez-vous des éclairs, et des profiteroles? Here is a super simple way to remember how much of each ingredient to use in the pastry, and a delicious recipe for chocolate topping.

Choux pastry is one of those things that every baker has to have up their sleeve, like cake, biscuits, and shortcrust pastry; it's a bakery staple. Despite its versatility and pervasiveness, every tutorial online makes choux pastry seem way more complicated than it is.

The basic fomula or choux pastry is for one medium egg, use one ounce (30 grammes) of butter, one ounce (30 grammes) of plain flour, and also two fluid ounces (60 millilitres) of water. Very, very simple. And the method only uses on saucepan and three steps. Again, very, very simple.

You can pipe the pastry into fingers or round buns to fill with whipped cream and top off with chocolate. You could also use this recipe for making crullers or churros, which are also delicious. I think I might

INGREDIMENTS

Makes roughly 12 ounces (340 grammes) of pastry, which made 10 profiteroles and 6 éclairs

• 2 medium eggs
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) white spelt flour
• 4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) water

For filling and topping

• 8 fluid ounces (230 millilitres) whipping cream
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) icing sugar
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) plain chocolate
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter
• 1 fluid ounce (30 millilitres) milk

METHOD

To make the choux buns,

• Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.7), and cut a piece of non-stick paper to fit a flat tray baking tray.
• Sieve the flour onto a piece of paper, and then sieve it out onto the same piece of paper again. Sieving it twice will make it super light.
• In a saucepan, cook the water and butter together until it comes to the boil. Once it boils, remove from the heat and add all the flour at once, stirring all the time until it turns into a paste.
• Return to the heat and cook for roughly a minute until it turns into a ball that leaves the saucepan clean. Take off the heat and allow to cool for about two to three minutes.
• While the paste is cooling a little, beat the eggs together in a glass or jug.
• Using a wooden spoon, add the egg into the paste in four additions, beating after each addition until the egg is completely incorporated. Once all the egg is added, you'll have a nice smooth, thick mixture.
• Fit a piping bag with a half-inch round nozzle (1 centimetre) and fill it with the pastry mixture. Pipe into little mounds, or lengths, or anything you want to do.
• Bake on the centre shelf for 25 to 30 minutes, or until super light, crispy, and golden brown.
• Transfer to a wire rack, and allow to sit until cool enough to handle.

Now, fill and coat

• Whip the cream with the vanilla essence and icing sugar until it holds firm peaks. Cut the buns open lengthways, making sure to not cut completely through so there's a hinge.
• Divide the whipped cream among all the buns, then pop in the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.
• To make the chocolate topping, melt together the chocolate, butter, and milk in either a double boiler, or in the microwave on the 'Defrost' setting for a minute at a time. Melt, stirring, until it becomes a shiny, glossy, sauce.
• Dip the éclairs and profiteroles in the topping, then let set in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before eating.

THIS TIME IN 2014: How NOT to Make Hazelnut Ice-Cream
THIS TIME IN 2013: Soda Bread with Oats and Sunflower Seeds (Wheat Free)
There were no blogs on this day in 2015, nor 2016