dark chocolate ice cream

It’s a month away from Easter and I’m getting excited because all the stores are filling up with chocolate eggs and goodies.

It’s no big secret that I’m a huge Lindt chocolate fan, and I was lucky enough to be invited down to the flagship Martin Place Café to try out their new Easter-edition delice (macaron): Hot Cross Delice!

Can you believe it? A hot cross bun macaron, and they taste just as perfect as you imagine.

The shell is a light and crisp almond macaron flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. The white chocolate ganache inside has a rich buttery flavour.

The concept behind it was to recreate the flavours of a spicy hot cross bun smothered in butter, and they did it well. It’s the best macaron I’ve had in a long time.

Lindt Australia is running their Gold Bunny Hunt again this year, starting today (March 22nd) and closing on April 7th. Players get points by answering daily clues and playing games, and the 10 highest scoring Bunny Hunters travel to Sydney for the final event: a chance to win $20,000!

If I wasn’t a Lindt ambassador, I’d be joining up in a heartbeat.

And as a special Easter treat, I’m sharing this gorgeous dark chocolate ice cream with you.

Jonas begged me to make this ice cream. He accused me of making “weird” flavours and demanded that I finally make him something “normal”.

What’s wrong with lavender-honey ice cream, crème fraiche parfait, mastic ice cream or mulled wine granita?

OK. So chocolate ice cream it is.

But oh what an ice cream this turned out to be. My best yet and intense with dark chocolate flavour.

Even though this is my recipe, if you love ice cream and don’t have David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, then drop everything and hit Amazon right now. It costs a mere USD$16 and is worth every little cent. Best ice cream cookbook EVER.

Wouldn’t this ice cream go wonderfully with the Hot Cross Delice?

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Anna’s recipe. Makes 500ml.

Ingredients:
1 cup (250ml) milk
1 cup (250ml) cream
3 egg yolks (freeze the whites for another use)
50g caster sugar
150g dark chocolate, very finely chopped (I used Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa)

Method:
1. Bring milk and cream almost to the boil.

2. In another bowl, whisk egg and sugar until thick and pale.

3. Gradually add milk to egg mixture, whisking continually until combined.

4. Return to saucepan and stir continuously over low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil!

5. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until mixture is smooth.

6. Cool to room temperature then freeze according to ice cream machine manufacturer’s instructions.

lavender-honey ice cream

When I was a child, the steps from my house patio to the garden below were overrun with a huge bush of lavender, wands of purple blooms pushing through the wooden fence and across the concrete path. In the summer the bees would mill around the flowers in a frenzy and I would either leap madly down the stairs to avoid getting stung, or quietly sneak onto the top step to watch them busily about their honey-making business.

My mother loved her lavender bush, and I imagine should would have loved the soft elegant flavours of this ice cream.

Made as per Mr Lebovitz’s instructions, it tastes of honey and cream with a light touch of lavender. Made impatiently and over infused, it tastes like a mouthful of Grandma’s soap. Do what you’re told by Mr Lebovitz, and you won’t get your mouth washed out.

This ice cream is from one of my favourite dessert cookbooks and ticks off two 2010 Food Challenges, cooking with lavender and exploring ice cream.

Lavender-Honey Ice Cream

Recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. Makes around 1 litre.

Ingredients:
125ml (½ cup) good quality honey
8g (¼ cup) dried or fresh lavender flowers
375ml (1½ cups) whole milk
50g (¼ cup) sugar
Pinch of salt
375ml (1½ cups) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Method:

1. Heat the honey and 2 tablespoons of the lavender in a small saucepan.  Once warm, remove from the heat and set aside to steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. Warm the milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan.

3. Pour the cream in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

4. Pour the lavender-infused honey into the cream through the strainer, pressing on the lavender flowers to extract as much flavour as possible, then discard the lavender and set the strainer back over the cream.

5. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.

6. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

7. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.

8. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.

9. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons lavender flowers and stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill the mixture overnight in the refrigerator.

10. The next day, before churning, strain the mixture, again pressing on the lavender flower to extract their flavour.

11. Discard the flowers, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

try this! pat & stick's ice cream sandwiches: part 2

This is the second time I’ve raved about Pat & Stick’s delectable ice cream sandwiches, but just try and stop me.

These guys make great ice cream. The flavours are real and intense and the cookies are moreish and chewy.

Yeah, the sandwiches are on the pricey side, retailing around $4.50 each, but if they’re good enough to get my husband to choose an ice cream over a packet of chips then they’re doing something right.

All the way back in 2006, I had fussed and fawned over their Double Chocolate and Amaretti Espresso sandwiches (now renamed Espresso Lace) and, after the guys (and Ben) generously offered me some free samples to try some other flavours, I am now ready to profess my love some more.

My sisters Shamu and Stinky accompanied me on this ice cream quest to Eveleigh markets, where we parked ourselves on a bench and happily shoved ice cream into our mouths (hoping Kylie Kwong didn’t notice our gluttony as she sat next to us in her car).

Caramel Pecan
Caramel ice cream with a nutty pecan cookie

I’ve recently discovered that pecans are my favourite nuts and that I actually like caramel. It came as a shock to me, as neither had particularly enticed me in the past, and yet these days I’m finding the burnt sugar flavour a warm, adult indulgence and the pecans just bloody great.

Not surprising that I loved this sandwich of light and elegant caramel ice cream sandwiched between a buttery cookie studded with toasted pecan pieces.

Strawberry Choc Chip
Yummy strawberry ice cream and choc-chip cookie

Next we sunk our teeth into a wholesome choc-chip cookie covering a slab of pastel pink strawberry ice cream. At first the faint colour of the ice cream had me concerned that there wouldn’t be much fruit flavour, but we were not disappointed. The ice cream had an intense and pure strawberry flavour and as the sandwich melted a little, the colour grew a rosier hue of pink.

I enjoyed the bursts of the dark choc-chips, and this was Shamu’s favourite flavour because it is so rare to find a good strawberry ice cream.

Christmas Cookie
Soft gingerbread cookie paired with delicious cassata ice cream

Our last sandwich to taste test was the limited edition flavour to celebrate the festive season, and aptly named Christmas Cookie. The spicy, chewy gingerbread cookie encased a beautiful cassata ice cream flavoured with aromatic almond, glace fruit and spices that tasted like a perfect mince pie and luscious cream.

I really enjoyed this one because it’s perfect way to indulge in traditional Christmas flavours while still celebrating the southern hemisphere summer. I even took one home for Jonas, kept cool with dry ice (yay, dry ice! I dropped it into a full sink and watched the “smoke” like a kiddie).

There are plenty more ice cream sandwich flavours to try, and I’ve got my eye on the Peppermint Choc-Chip.

..... something to look forward to in 2011.

mulled wine granita

 Merry Xmas!

Jonas and I are spending our white Christmas on the ski fields of Sälen, in Sweden.

It is my first white Christmas and, although it’s all very exciting, I am an Aussie girl after all and I’m sure Christmas just won’t feel the same without the searing heat, seafood and mangoes.

In honour of this I’m sharing a recipe that could be eaten by anyone in the Christmas spirit, whether they’re in the north or the south: mulled wine granita.

It’s a great pre-dessert for those waiting for their puddings to steam up and a perfect, spicy refreshment for those sliding into their swimsuits.

Mulled Wine Granita

From Ice Cream Ireland’s sorbet recipe. Serves 8.

Ingredients:
360g sugar
600ml spring water
350ml red wine (eg merlot)
225ml fresh orange juice
Juice of half a lemon
2 cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Method:

1. Combine the sugar, water, wine and spices and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes, maintaining at a low simmer.

2. Strain to remove the cloves. Cool completely.

3. Stir in the orange and lemon juices.

4. Freeze in a metal tray for 30 minutes until ice crystals have formed. Scrape ice with a fork to break up.

5. Repeat every 30 minutes for approximately 3 hours until the granita has frozen completely in small ice pieces.

6. Eat within a day or so, breaking up crystals with a fork before serving.

lebovitz's watermelon sorbet

 
It was a warm summer weekend in Sydney and given the beautiful, sunny weather it’s the right time to post my 2009 Food Challenge recipe for Sorbetto all’Anguria or watermelon sorbet.

It’s down in the food memory category because I have rich memories of eating scoops and scoops of watermelon sorbet during the spring I lived in Rome. As the city heated up, the watermelon sorbet was the perfect cooler and I devoured it in miraculous portions.

Even though I made the sorbet to eat at the end of a Vietnamese feast, it still brought back warm memories of Rome and the family I have now have there. I can’t wait to see them all again when I take Jonas (for his first time in Italy) in the first week of January.

It will be the middle of winter, so no sorbetto all’anguria, but there will be other delights to share.

Making this sorbet also knocked off another 2009 Food Challenge, to purchase David Lebovitz’s book of frozen delights The Perfect Scoop.

I am a big fan of David Lebovitz (like many bloggers out there). Not only do his posts contain cheeky insights into Parisian life, but his recipes are interesting, appetising and achieveable. When I had just started blogging more than three years ago, David was kind enough to leave an encouraging comment on one of my posts. I was thrilled.

Now I’m even more thrilled to have this cookbook. I couldn’t find it anywhere in Australia and was ridiculously jealous of bloggers in the US and Europe talking about it, so when Jonas and I were in the US in July I made sure I swung by Books A Million, or some such megastore, and grabbed myself a copy.

I have not been disappointed with the recipes nor their outcomes. The usual suspects are in there of course, but it’s flavours like Guinness-Milk Chocolate; Anise; Black Currant Tea; Saffron; Chartreuse; Goat Cheese; Rice; Sweet Potato & Maple and Eggnog that have me itching to try them.

So far I’ve made Watermelon Sorbet and Dark Chocolate and Roasted Banana ice creams.

In the pipeline are Roquefort & Honey, Peach, Salted Caramel and Passionfruit.

And that’s just the ice creams! I haven’t even touched on the sorbets, sherbets, granitas, sauces and toppings that this mighty book contains.

Basically, if you like ice cream, buy this book.

Sorbetto all’Anguria (Watermelon Sorbet)

Recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. Makes 1 litre (1 quart).

Ingredients:
3 cups (750ml) watermelon juice
½ cup (100g) sugar
Big pinch of salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 – 2 tablespoons vodka (optional)

Method:

1. In a small, non-reactive pan heat ½ cup (125ml) of watermelon juice with the sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

2. Remove from heat and combine with the remaining watermelon juice, lime juice and vodka.

3. Chill thoroughly then churn in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturers instructions.

Tip: David says “I find that I get about 3 cups of watermelon juice from a 1.5kg (3lb) chunk of watermelon. Cut away the skin and rind then cube the flesh, remove seeds and puree in a blender or processor."

Note: David adds 1 to 2 tablespoons of tiny mini-sweet chocolate chips to the last minute of churning to give the appearance of watermelon seeds.

banana & honey frozen yoghurt

It seems rather decadent to have ice cream for breakfast, and unhealthy too, but this recipe couldn’t be better for you!

Would you eat a bowl of natural yoghurt, some banana slices and a drizzle of honey? Well this recipe uses all the same ingredients only blended and frozen in an ice cream machine.

This is a case of having your ice cream and eating it too!
But, you will need to eat your frozen yoghurt on the day you make it.

Sugars and fats are what stop ice cream from seizing up so, since this recipe doesn’t have much of either, you can be sure 24hrs in the freezer will lead to one solid block. If this does happen, you can put chucks into a blender and churn out soft serve, but then you’ll need to eat it fast!

Banana & Honey Frozen Yoghurt

Anna’s very own recipe. Makes approximately half a litre.

Ingredients:
500g natural yoghurt (I used low fat)
1 ripe banana
2 tablespoons honey

Method:

1. Combine ingredients in a processor or blender.

2. Taste for sweetness.

3. Chill according to ice cream machine instructions.

4. Serve (on the same day) with chopped pistachios and a drizzle of honey.

Variation: add ¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom or cinnamon.

peanut butter pie & roasted banana ice cream

Today is the Fourth of July.

In the wee hours of the morning, after 26hrs of travelling, Jonas and I will have arrived in Daytona Beach (Florida), ready to celebrate the day in the humidity and heat with my aunt, cousin and 90 year old grandfather.

Jonas is over the moon because it’s the first time he will visit mainland USA and we’re spending the day at the Daytona NASCAR . . . on Independence Day.

In preparation for this momentous day, I preblogged this WHB post with an American flavour.

What’s more American than peanut butter? And combining it with chocolate?
Genius! A salty-bittersweet symphony.

And add to this combination some banana? Even better!

Thus you have Maggie Beer’s peanut butter pie with David Lebovitz’s roasted banana ice cream. Delicious!

The ice cream has the most delectable flavour of sweet, caramelised banana but it's best eaten on the day of making as it can get a little icy if left too long in the freezer.

The pie is divine, but it's very rich and fudgy. The filling would be overwhelming but paired with the ganache topping it takes on a wonderful cheesecake salty-sweet-sourness.

Don't be tempted to use smooth peanut butter, the crunchy texture is necessary.

Peanut Butter Pie

Recipe by Maggie Beer in Delicious Magazine March 2009. Serves 16.
Ingredients:
Base
180g digestive biscuits
90g unsalted butter, melted
3 teaspoons caster sugar
Filling
1 cup (250ml) pouring cream
1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
320g cream cheese, room temperature
375g crunchy, salt-free peanut butter
Topping
150ml thickened cream
150g 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped
20g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C (160’C for fan forced)

2. Process biscuits in a food processor until crumbled.

3. Add melted butter and sugar then pulse to combine. Press crumbs into the base of a 22cm spring form baking tin.

4. Bake base for 10 minutes then set aside to cool.

5. For the filling, place the cream and sugar in a saucepan and simmer on low for 3-4 minutes, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

6. Chop the cream cheese then blend with peanut butter, in a food processor, until combined.

7. Add the warm cream mixture, pulse to combine and then spoon filling onto the cooled cookie base. Set aside to cool.

8. To make the topping, combine the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl.

9. Bring the cream almost to the boil over high heat then pour over chocolate and butter.

10. Leave for 3 minutes without touching then gentle swirl the bowl to combine the cream, butter and chocolate.

11. Pour the combined topping over the filling then chill in the fridge, uncovered, for 4 hours until set.

12. Serve small slices with ice cream because it’s very, very rich!

Roasted Banana Ice Cream

Recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. Makes 750ml.
Ingredients:3 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 cup (70g), packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
1½ cups (375ml) whole milk
2 tablespoons caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
¼ teaspoon coarse salt

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200’C.

2. Slice the bananas into 2cm pieces and toss them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2 litre baking dish.

3. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring just once during baking, until the bananas are browned and cooked through.

4. Scrape the bananas and the thick syrup into a blender or food processor.

5. Add the milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and salt, and purée until smooth.

6. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Note: If the chilled mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisking will thin it out.

Banana would be an all-too-simple choice of ingredients for WHB, so I’m going to focus on peanuts.

Did you know they aren’t actually nuts but legumes?

After pollination, the fruit changes into a legume

Yet another wonderful food gift from the abundant Americas, it’s amazing to think what our meals would like without this vast continent. The Americas gave the world pecan, avocado, cashew, passionfruit, turkey, pineapple, chocolate, pumpkin, quinoa, guava, papaya, strawberries, vanilla, allspice, potato, tomato, chilli and maple syrup.


Despite having come from South America, the peanut’s journey into the USA came from Africa through Portugal and Brazil.

Apparently our domesticated peanuts have two sets of chromosomes from two different species, leading scientists to believe domestication occurred in Argentina or Bolivia.

The oldest peanuts found by archaeologists are some 7,600 years old, making them a pretty old fashioned snack!

China leads world production of peanuts, followed by India and then Nigeria. The next largest producers of the top ten are the United States, Indonesia, Myanmar, Argentina, Vietnam, Sudan and Chad.

Peanuts are a rich source of protein, niacin (good for the brain) antioxidants, resveratrol (anti-aging), vitamin B3, vitamin E, magnesium, folate, dietary fibre and monounsaturated fats.

Interestingly, peanut allergies are exacerbated by roasting peanuts. The roasting process increases peanut allergens Ara h1 and Ara h2 and inhibits the necessary digestive enzymes. In other countries like India and China, where peanuts are not roasted before processing, allergies are very rare.

Studies are also showing that exposing children to peanuts much later in life decreases the chances of developing peanut allergies

Whatever the cause, peanut allergies are extremely dangerous and can cause immediate anaphylactic shock just by eating food processed by machines that touched peanuts or by breathing peanut dust.

So that's it from me. Head on over to our WHB host, the lovely Laurie from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska and Happy 4th of July!

Other peanut recipes:
African Peanut Soup Kalyn's Kitchen
Candied Peanuts David Lebovitz
Carrot & Peanut Muffins Chocolate & Zucchini
Chipotle-Maple Peanut Brittle Culinary in the Country
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Smitten Kitchen
Chinese Fried Noodles w Spicy Peanut Sauce Morsels & Musings
Groundnut Chutney Mahanandi
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups Baking Bites
Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Joy The Baker
Lime & Peanut Coleslaw 101 Cookbooks
Peanut Butter & Banana Milkshake Morsels & Musings
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Crispy Brownies The Cooking Photographer
Toasted Peanut Bread 101 Cookbooks
Virginia Peanut Soup CookThink

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter

mastic ice cream

Lovely Ivy from Greece’s Kopiaste is hosting this month’s Think Spice event, with the theme mastic.

In 2008, I set a food challenge to use mastic but I never managed to do it so it rolled over into my 2009 challenges. With that weighing heavily on my mind, Ivy announced her theme ingredient and I just knew it was time to cook with mastic.

Having eaten a mastic pannacotta in the past, I knew it worked well with cream so I decided to use Tessa Kiros’ mastic ice cream as inspiration.

In Falling Cloudberries, Tessa doesn’t use egg yolks, nor whip the cream, but I find this makes for a softer, fluffier ice cream and so I created my own version entirely.

The results had very mixed reviews.

I adored the vibrant, pine flavours and found the sweet ice cream strange and yet moreish.

And yet both Jonas and our friend, Bicky, took one bite and couldn’t continue.

Bicky had been walking toward the table with her bowl when she snuck a taste. She froze in her tracks and her face look alarmed. Then she kept smiling and politely repeating that it was a “special” flavour, too “special” for her.

Jonas on the other hand took a little lick, wrinkled his nose and pushed the bowl away from him declaring “there’s no way I’m eating that”. Ahh, what are husbands for?

Instead of being offended, I found the whole situation slightly amusing, because for once I knew it wasn’t my cooking skills but the mastic itself that they were reacting to.

The mastic did produce an almost chemical pine flavour, but since I enjoyed it I was secretly pleased that I had the whole litre of ice cream all to myself.

Mastic is certainly an acquired taste but, for those who love it, it is heavenly.

Mastic Ice Cream
Anna’s very own recipe. Makes 1 litre.
Ingredients:½ teaspoon mastic granules
100g sugar
300ml full cream milk
300ml single cream
3 egg yolks, beaten

Method:
1. In a spice grinder, pulverise the sugar and mastic into a fine powder.

2. Combine the milk and sugar mixture in a saucepan and cook over a medium-low heat until sugar has dissolved and milk is almost boiling.

3. Put the beaten egg yolks in a bowl, then add the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking the entire time to avoid scrambling the eggs.

4. When completely combined, return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently over a low heat until mixture thickens slightly. Set custard aside.

5. In another bowl, beat cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form.

6. Combine custard and whipped cream, beating with electric beaters to smooth mixture.

7. Cool before churning in an ice cream machine, as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Note: the flavour is very special, so if you’re nervous about it being too strong you might consider using ¼ teaspoon mastic granules instead.

Variations:Mastic & Orchid (add 3 teaspoons of sahlep powder to milk mixture);
Mastic & Rosewater (½ teaspoon rosewater to milk mixture);
Mastic & Orange Flower (½ teaspoon orange flower water to milk mixture).

Mastic is resin from the Pistacia lentiscus, a shrub found all over the Mediterranean and the Middle East. For some mysterious reason, only the trees in the south of the tiny Greek island of Chios can produce this special flavoured resin.

The shrubs can reach over 100 years and 3 metres high. The sap leaks from wounds in the bark of the shrubs and is then sun-dried into tear-like granules.

Mastic is used in drinks, as a gum and for flavouring spirits, liquors, sauces, cheese, cakes and desserts. It is also used as a substitute for vanilla.

Ancient Egyptian writings advised adding mastic to bad-tasting water and incense, the Koran encouraged Muslims to add mastic to their bread and ancient Jewish halachic sources even permitted chewing mastic on Shabbat to combat bad breath.

Mastic was the first chewing gum ever known, as the sun-dried resin granules soften when chewed. In fact the word mastic originates from the Greek verb “to chew”, as does the similar English word “masticate”.

In ancient times, mastic was used medicinally for intestinal disorders, dental and mouth diseases, diabetes and bronchitis. In the Middle Ages, it was used for cholesterol, blood pressure, burns, eczema, frost-bite and cholera. Today it’s believed to be a treatment for ulcers and have antimicrobial effects, which is why it’s used in toothpaste, mouthwash, and dental fillings.

Interesting it’s used to manufacture self-absorbing surgical threads and sticking septic bandages on surgical wounds.

Anyway, this is my entry to Think Spice, Think Mastic. Please visit Kopiaste to read Ivy's round-up.

Other mastic recipes:
Mastic Pudding - Cafe Fernando
Mastic Lor Cookies - Yogurtland
Mastic Frozen Yoghurt - Kopiaste
Mastic Gum Preserve - Rustic
Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread) - Kalofagas


References:http://www.greektravel.com/greekislands/chios/mastica.htm
http://www.springboard4health.com/store/more_mastica.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastika
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nomos_Chiou.png

chocolate chestnut cake & crème fraîche parfait

This was quite a feat. I had never eaten nor cooked chestnuts before and it was also the first time I used my brand new ice cream machine.

Both recipes were successes!

The chocolate chestnut cake is a Nigella Lawson recipe. I have been watching a lot of Nigella lately, with round-the-clock Nigella episodes airing due to Christmas cable programming.

As my friend John put it, after being mesmerised by those curves, cheeky smile and healthy appetite, “Nigella is one hot heifer”. I have to agree.

The chocolate chestnut cake comes from her book, Nigella Bites, and is so easy to make with only 4 ingredients and 5 steps from start to serve.

Nigella suggests serving it with crystallised violets and crème fraîche, but since the weather is so warm in Sydney I opted for an ice cream recipe I saw Maggie Beer make on The Cook And The Chef.

They worked perfectly together and although the cake was luscious, rich and everything you want in a Christmas dessert, I think we all swooned over the sweet-sour flavours of the crème fraîche parfait. There was just something utterly decadent about it.

These two recipes are my contributions to First Thursdays January 2009 theme “challenge yourself”. The recipes each happen to fufill one of my own 2009 Food Challenges: cook with chestnut.

Chocolate Chestnut Cake 
Recipe from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson. Makes 10–12 slices. 
Ingredients:
500g sweetened chestnut purée
300g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
175g unsalted butter, soft
3 tablespoons dark rum

Method:

1. Beat the purée in a bowl until it’s smooth, and then add the butter, beating again to make a well-blended mixture.

2. Melt the chocolate and let it cool slightly, before adding it to the chestnut and butter in the bowl.

3. Beat in the rum, and spoon the chocolate mixture into a 23 x 10cm loaf tin, lined with clingfilm, in two batches, making sure the first layer reaches the corners and sides of the bottom of the tin before you smooth over the rest.

4. Wrap the overhanging clingfilm over the cake so that it is completely covered, and put it in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours, but a day or so in advance if you want.

5. Don’t take the loaf tin out of the fridge until you want to eat it, when you just unmould the cake, cut it into thin slices and serve.

Crème Fraîche Parfait

Recipe by Maggie Beer. Makes 1 litre.

Ingredients:
375g sour cream
3 egg yolks
¾ cups sugar
¼ cup +1 tablespoon of water

Method:

1. Whip the sour cream in an electric mixer until soft peaks form – cover and refrigerate.

2. Dissolve the sugar & the water together in a small pot, washing the sides down with a pastry brush dipped in water.

3. Cook until the syrup reaches the “soft ball” stage. To check that the sugar is at the right stage, dip a teaspoon into the pot and drop a little syrup into a glass of iced water, if you’re able to form a soft ball with the syrup then it’s reached temperature, if not continue to cook and test for the right consistency from time to time. Alternatively if you have a sugar thermometer, the syrup is ready when it reaches about 116C.

4. Beat the egg yolks together in a clean electric mixing bowl and slowly pour the syrup over the eggs in a steady stream and then continue to whip the yolks at a moderate speed until room temperature.

5. Once cooled, fold the egg yolk mixture into the whipped sour cream.

6. Freeze according to ice cream machine instructions.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes dessert parfait ice cream cake chocolate chestnut cake chestnuts creme fraiche chocolate creme fraiche recipes parfait recipes ice cream recipes dessert recipes cake recipes chestnut recipes chocolate recipes french recipes french food french cuisine british recipes british food british cuisine

mango frozen yoghurt

It's winter in Sydney, but tomorrow we're flying into the Northern Hemisphere and summer time!!! In honour of that, here's a recipe and a summer story.

Once upon a time, way back in summerland, I started cutting up a mango. It was so ripe it turned to mush in my hands. Instead of throwing away the sweet, pulpy mess I scoured the fridge and discovered I had an abundance of unsweetened yoghurt and a heck of a lot of time.

And so I made frozen yoghurt.

I made it during the day then took it to my sister-in-law's house (Helena and Christian currently awaiting us in the North). We ate it as dessert after a summer BBQ. It was soft and sweet and tangy all at once and we were all shocked and surprised at how good it turned out.

Impressed with my successful efforts, I attempted to make frozen yoghurt again, only to leave the batch in the freezer overnight and discover a glacial iceblock the next day.

Big mistake!

Making ice cream and sorbet without an ice maker creates a product that goes rock hard with too much freezing. My second batch was almost impossible to eat and was really disappointing.

This means that making ice cream requires immediate gluttony! What a shame! :)

If you're not using an ice cream maker and you don’t have time to eat it straight away, don't bother making it. That goes for sorbets too.

This recipe is going straight to Monthly Mingle’s mango mania theme, hosted by event founder Meeta from What’s For Lunch, Honey?

Mango Frozen Yoghurt
Anna's very own recipe. Makes about 1 litre.

Ingredients:
2 large, very ripe mangoes
1½ cups caster sugar
250ml unsweetened natural yoghurt

Method:
1. Pulp/juice mangoes thoroughly, including squeezing off excess pulp from seed with hands.

2. Put pulp/juice into processor and purée.

3. In a pan, add a small amount of mango juice and the sugar. Heat until dissolved.

4. Add sugar mixture to remaining mango pulp in blender and purée again. Add yoghurt and blend until well mixed.

5. Pour mixture into a metal slice tin, cover with plastic wrap and put in freezer. Use metal because it is a better conductor of cold and heat.

6. When almost frozen (about 3 hours), put mixture in processor and blend until smooth. Return to freezer as quickly as possible.

7. Repeat process again when almost frozen (about 2 hours).

8. Repeat process again when almost frozen (about 1hr).

9. Return to freezer for another hour and now it’s ready to eat.

Note: Because it was made without an ice cream maker, if you leave it overnight it will freeze solid so you’ll need to let it soften a lot before serving. Also, yoghurt can be substituted with coconut cream if you prefer a vegan version.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes desserts mangomangoes mango recipes ice cream recipes dessert recipes ice cream mango ice cream mango ice cream recipes

strawberry schnapps spiders

I got this idea all the way back in July 2007 when I was poolside in Bali, sipping cold strawberry calpico.
Strawberry whaaaat?
That’s calpico or calpis (カルピス).

This deliciously sweet-sour soda is one of my absolute favourites. It’s a Japanese product made from water, powdered milk and lactic acid and tastes just like you’d imagine a yoghurt soda would.

I always try to convince my friends to drink it, but they never seem too keen on the idea. I suspect it’s because the pronunciation of the name sounds unfortunately like “cow piss”.

But I’m distracted.

While I drank my can of strawberry calpico, I conjured up a brilliant scheme to make strawberry spiders using strawberry schnapps, strawberry ice cream and the strawberry flavoured calpico.

It took me a while to do it, but in February I had a dinner party and made a trio of strawberry desserts, including this alcoholic spider.

My strawberry syrup was actually the by-product of making strawberry cannoli, so either check out the original batch I made or you can use the below amended recipe as a general guide.

Strawberry Schnapps Spiders
Anna’s very own recipe. Makes 4-6.
Ingredients:
100g strawberries, halved
¼ cup caster sugar
¼ teaspoon orange rind
1 shot of strawberry schnapps per person
Strawberry ice cream
Strawberry soda
Method:
1. In a saucepan, crush the strawberries with a fork then mix through zest and sugar. Add a few drops of water then heat until the sugar melts and strawberries soften.
2. Cook until syrup thickens a little, then put the strawberries into a blender and purée.
3. Strain most of the large pieces and cool completely before chilling in fridge.
4. When ready to serve, fold strawberry schnapps through strawberry syrup then divide between shot or sherry glasses.
5. Gently float the ice cream balls on the syrup then top with strawberry soda. Remember the ingredients will fizz and potentially overflow.

This is my contribution to Mixology Monday’s fruit liqueurs theme which I am hosting right here on Morsels & Musings.

If you want to contribute your own MxMo fruit liqueur cocktail, check out the instructions. I’ll be posting the round-up on Tuesday (Wednesday at the latest) so you’ve still got a bit of time.

cassata gelata

This is a simple and delicious end to any meal.

The flavours are very pure, so make sure you use high quality gelato or ice cream as well as rich chocolate and good glacé fruit.

The recipe is inspired by a traditional Sicilian dessert, first created in the Middle Ages. Liqueur soaked sponge is topped with ricotta cheese, enriched with nuts and candied fruit, and finished with a layer of marzipan.

I much prefer the ice cream version instead.

Cassata Gelata
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 5.
Ingredients:
¼ cup flaked almonds, toasted & chopped
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), grated finely
200g mixed glace fruit, chopped into tiny pieces
1 litre excellent quality vanilla gelato (or ice cream)
Chopped, toasted almond flakes for garnish
Method:
1. Soften gelato for 10 minutes
2. Mix ingredients together until complete combined.
3. Return to container and refreeze for 1-2hrs before serving. Garnish with some chopped, toasted almond flakes.
Variations: you might like to add a pinch of cinnamon or 35ml Cointreau. You could also use chocolate gelato instead of vanilla.

This recipe is my contribution to Festa Italiana, an event hosted by Maryann of Finding La Dolce Vita and Maria of Proud Italian Cook.

Bloggers are invited to submit their favourite Italian recipes for this event, but I think that's impossible because there are just too many wonderful Italian dishes to play favourites!

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes dessert gelato ice cream cassata siciliana cassata gelata ice cream recipes cassata recipes dessert recipes gelato recipes italian recipes italian food italian cuisine