Vanilla Bean Ice Cream & Walnuts. The Dream Team.

It began with a vanilla bean. The purchase of 24 vanilla beans. RM12 out of my pocket. Yearning. Wanting. Calling my dear cousie Christine who with much persuasion, agreed to lend me her baby. Her ice cream maker.

She was really easy to persuade, actually! Thank YOU!!!

But what do you DO with an ice cream maker not yours? You of course, go on an overanxious ice cream making spree! You, is not naming any names, but a purely third figure of speech. Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental.

Back to humble self, we see her every fortnightly, so I thought we could, possibly make 101 recipes in a frame of two weeks. I then thought, it’s very simple – I would simply (and over-zealously) compile all ice cream recipes and start churnin’!

I opened up The Perfect Scoop (also from said Cousin Beloved). And that was the end of me. The recipes! *dies* But. I realised that ice cream makers of the non commercial sort need to be chilled overnight. 24 hours, any less than that and you make ice cream at your own risk.

Garfard! That mean probably 3 or 4 ice creams in 1 week! So much for 101 ice creams! Here my heart has sank a little, but don’t worry, I’m doing much better. I want to report to you wonderful people the 3 wonderful ices I’ve been making. They go on a scale of Fully Fattening to Extremely Healthy. Bear with me as I present you,

Ice Cream #1
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz, page 24

Recipe
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
Pincha salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks (EEEEP!!!!! I’m never eating ice cream ever!)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Warm milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean’s seeds into the warm milk and add the bea as well. (UPDATE: Oh dear I only put in the milk and sugar! No wonder it curdled!). Cover, remove from heat and let steep at room temperature for 30 mins.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl and set a strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Then slowly pour the warm milk & sugar mixture into the egg yolks, whisking CONSTANTLY, then scrape the warmed eggs yolks mixture back into the saucepan.

Stir the mix constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, SCRAPING THE BOTTOM ENDLESSLY until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. This is the custard! Now pour it through the strainer and stir it into that remaining 1 cup of cream. Put the vanilla bean into the custard, and add the vanilla extract. Stir until cool OVER AN ICE BATH (just a big bowl filled with icey cold water. Put yer bowl of custard in this).

Chill the mixture THOROUGHLY (this is the 1st step to goood ice cream!) in the refridgerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean, rinsing and reserving it for another use (I just threw it. Haha! But it’s empty..right? Unless I put it in my sugar for vanilla sugar eh?) and then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.

Whalla! Eat only one spoon and pretend it never happened.

Rating (based on my personal outcome): 4/5
Conclusion Very smooth, and the most ice cream like of the 3! Because we used all the definitely-unhealthy stuff like 6 egg yolks and cream. Custard is tricky, I’ll make this again next time and try to perfect my custard-making skills. I think it’s worthy of a whole post! Mine curdleddddd. Eep, but after blending it in, it wasn’t too noticeable! Next note: Way too sweet. One thing about David’s book..I’d halve the sugar content any day. Even after using brown sugar! I’d love to make this one again WITH dairy cream (I only had non-dairy sweetened cream..so that did contribute to the sugarness)

Ice Cream #2
Mango Sorbet
The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz, page 108

Recipe
2 sweet ripe mangoes, cut into cubes
1 cup water
4 tsp lime juice, to taste. (I don’t have the right name for this – not the lime in dishwashing agents but the one in Limao Ais!)
1 tsp rum (I would’ve put this in but I faced objections)

To Make: Blend all. If you want it more tangy, add more lime juice. We added a whole lemon in, and I found it too much but I wouldn’t mind more lime. Refridgerate for 30 mins then prepare as per ice cream maker’s instructions. I did mine 15 minutes, left it over night (sorbets take longer to freeze) and tasted it. Too icey still! So we let it melt a little and whizzed it again in the ice cream maker. After that, the texture was AMAZING!!!!! Sooper good. My favourite of the lot.

Rating (based on my personal outcome): 5/5
Conclusion

Ice Cream #3
Banana Almond Butter Cup Ice Cream, sans Almond Butter Cup, HAHA
Everyday Raw, Matthew Kenney, page 136

1 cup cashews
1/2 cup young coconut meat (OHHHH NO! I put in 1 1/2 cups!!!! No wonder!)
1/2 cup agave
1 1/4 cup water
2 bananas, ripened and peeled (at this stage, I tasted the extra coconut + banana and water = EXCELLENT! I’ll try this, as I’ll further elaborate below, without the cashew nuts)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup coconut oil (How could I have missed this??)
Pincha sea salt (Celtic’s good for me)
1/4 vanilla bean, scraped

(Get the real recipe here, it is MUCH tastier with the whole Almond Butter Cups!)

Blend all slowly ingredient by ingredient for perfect smoothness, refridgerate thoroughly and churn as per ice cream manufacturer’s instructions.

Rating (based on my personal outcome): 2/5 – probably due to my terrible recipe-following skills *malu*
Conclusion I want to try this once more, without the cashew nuts. With the accident of more coconut, I venture to boldly declare: it hath potential! Notes to self: Maybe I’ll try boiling the cashew nuts so that the cashew taste goes away. And I’ll be more patient and wait for it to be soft before grinding, so that I get a creamy texture. Same goes for waiting for the right coconut meat, mine was too old!

So that wraps the week up! I’m on a Hilton Head Ramp Up Yer Metabolism Diet (Or Something Like That) right now, so I’ll update you as to my progress! This week is Low-Cal week…we’ll see how I survive! :o)

While you’re waiting, try the Mango Sorbet! Mangoes are in season now. Life is bliss!

Wait! I can’t eat mango! Sheesh! Life is cruel!

I love Bananas. I go bananas over bananas. Especially frozen bananas. It makes a good popsicle, but make sure you peel the skin before freezing it and put it on a stick!

But that is besides the point. I really wanted to say actually, that I love refridgerated bananas. I never wanted to eat another banana at room temperature after tasting Far More Superior Refridgerated Bananas. It’s like shoes. You can buy Vincci and be happy, but once you’ve tried Nine West you’ll never go back!

(okay that is a lie. I have never bought Ninewest and I have eaten bananas at room temp. Life is cruel! Second lie: that is not really what this post is all about..)

However, you still have two new recommendations on how to eat a banana. :o)

I once got this huge spam letter in an envelope from a relative. Listing 30 reasons why Bananas are good for you. But you see, I believe that they missed out…

…the 31st reason.

Like hello, man these are good! I couldn’t take more than a bite (as you can see haha) cos I’m on a quest to eat healthy. But that bite was good enough and they all disappeared in a dynomynosecond.

This goes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting too, but I thought we had too many “C” words going on (with Chocolate Chips too), we can’t let C’s take over the world now can we?

So I omitted that and just baked them plain with ;o)

Here comes the recipe! Modified from Aunty Yochana, by my very talented friend Candy! Make sure you pay a visit there, my heroes ;o)

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
makes 22-24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
180 gm. Butter (reduce to 150g, you wouldn’t even tell the difference)
180 gm. Fine sugar (may reduce sugar to 120g for low sweet. I’m good at 140g)
2 Extra large Eggs – separate yolk from whites
250 gm. Cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp. ground Cardamon spice (now this makes a difference! may omit)
220 gm. Bananas – mashed
50 ml. Dairy whip cream (can substitute with evaporated milk)
1/2 tsp. Banana essence
1 cup Semi sweet Chocolate chips (the best you can find)

Method:
(1) Cream butter and half of the sugar till light and creamy.
(2) Pour in egg yolks gradually and beat till creamy.
(3) Add in whip cream/ e.milk, mashed bananas and banana essence, and mix well.
(4) Add in cake flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, cardamon, chocolate chips and beat for a while only.
(5) Whisk egg whites with remaining half of the sugar till soft peak form.
(6) Fold egg whites into cake batter lightly and quickly just until fully incorporated, careful not to over beat.
(7) pour batter in to cupcake liners and bake at 170c for about 15 to 20 mins.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (CCCF)
180 gm. cream cheese
50 gm. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 Tbsp. maple syrup ( may use honey)
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon (use 1 tablespoon for stronger flavour)
1 cup icing sugar

Mix everything together until smooth. You can make this a day ahead.

Enjoy! I loved the texture of these and sometimes I don’t whip the egg whites and it turns out great. Very special texture, good stuff!

Would any one be interested in a Beginners’ Fondant cupcake class on a Saturday in the middle of May, RM70 per person?

Tools will be provided, but of course, bring nothing but an apron ;) We’ll be learning fondant flowers & other fun fondant things, some of which you’ve seen on my blog. If you’re hip, and happening and you happen to enjoy playing with sugar…

COMMENT HERE!

We’re going to have some major fun playing with playdough, oops, I mean, fondant, decorating cupcakes (I’ll have baked them don’t worry. If you want to learn how..that’ll be episode 2!), and putting them in pretty boxes like this! Each one of you will get a box, never fear!

Your creations here!

Don’t worry if you’ve never cracked an egg in your life, or failed Art. Because I’ll be teaching step by step! And you don’t need to crack eggs in this class. ;o)

What’s in the Class
9-11am, Saturday, date unconfirmed.
Lots of laughs.
Fondant basics: Learning how to deal with it, and submit to your will, colouring, shading, molding.
Making The Rose.
Decorating 6 cupcakes, which you’ll take home.
ME! Hahahhahaha. No, just kidding.

So go out there and buy a pretty apron and sway my way.

Cos you see, if we’ve got the right dates, and Right Hip Crowd, I’ll do it! It’ll be held in Paramount Garden, PJ, by the way.

Wahoo for the response so far!

The Hip Crowd Currently:
1. Beka
2. See Ming
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Remember to leave your email address so I can drop you more details!

Also ah, what kind of music do you want to have played during the class? ;O)
Eh serious question wan! Michael Buble? Or do you all just want my random playlist that has Ray Charles, N’sync, Matt Giraud and Coldplay?

Finally I make something and actually eat what I make! HAHA.

Here we go, Rachael’s Boozey Woozey nut-caramel tiramisu!

Can you spot the little flowers?

Don’t let your saliva drip like the caramel.

Pecans, walnuts & almonds smothered with caramel. I think we all need salads now.

Rachael, I must say this to you…WHY AM I 1 YEAR LATE!?!?!?

On a weird note, I only like raw walnuts, almonds, pecans, macadamia… O_o

Anyways, I’m thinking of beginning a personal blog.

This cake comes with a funny story. Being out of the TWD zone lately, I thought this cake looked simple enough – for my gramma! Haha, shh. Well I went off to work and commissioned her to make this, it sounded really good, and nothing could possibly go wrong…

Could it?

I came home and found a French Yoghurt Kuih – resembling the link’s picture. It was dense, it was lemony and altogether like my brain when I’m studying for an exam.

I couldn’t believe that this was the French Yoghurt Cake Dorie had been raving about, tender, moist and what the French have for any celebration. If they did, I’d say we could both shake hands because this “cake” really resembled our Tapioca Kuih that we have also on certain celebrations…..

But all kidding aside, I gave up making it for the weeks’ TWD and went to work yet again. This time, I returned to find THIS:

EEP! It is a miracle! Wondrous and light, and very very moist! All the ground almonds, fresh yoghurt and olive oil politely told to rise by the baking powder! Finally. What a volatile woman this Baking Powder was!

Or at least, that’s what I thought until Gramma told me she put in Meringue Powder instead of Baking Powder the day before. I laughed so bad. They’re in identical bottles, but a different colour. She’s so cute isn’t she! She couldn’t sleep the night before. She found out by clearing the kitchen, discovering the REAL Baking Powder.

So here you have it! Get the recipe here.

I didn’t make the glaze, and I used almonds (I recommend this) and olive oil – I know she said odour-less but I tried to make it as healthy as possible. Or rather, Gramma did. There’s a funny smell I didn’t exactly like – so I will try with sunflower oil the next time and use orange rind instead.

Bottomline: It is INCREDIBLY MOIST. Try it!