Homemade Vanilla Ice-Cream

Make yourself some ice-cream. Go on, you know you deserve it, for something you did right. I love ice-cream, and luckily for me, so do a lot of other people on this lovely planet. If you've ever heard of Ben & Jerry's ice cream you probably love how lush and creamy it is. (if you haven't you're missing out on something) Although I am super lucky that they sell their products internationally (I can go to the store and buy it!!) it's usually hard to find more than 5 flavors. So the answer to every food item when you can't buy it: Make it yourself! And Ben & Jerry's made this a lot easier for people like you and me, they made a cookbook, which I absolutely adore. It's small, colorful and cheap even (hint,hint, gift idea) and has soooo many recipes that you won't be running out of ideas anytime soon. I started by making french vanilla then, covered some hazelnuts in dark chocolate, got some caramel and voila, new ice-cream flavor.
So here's the basic recipe:

• 2 eggs
• 150g (3/4 cup) sugar
•  500ml (2 cups) heavy cream
• 250ml (1 cup) milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs, until light and fluffy for about 3 minutes.

2. Slowly sprinkle in the sugar, and whisk until fully incorporated.

3. Add the milk,cream,vanilla extract and the vanilla bean, (cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the pulp) whisk until fully combined.

4. Then pour into your ice-cream machine and churn according to manufactures instructions.

 I didn't really measure out how many hazelnuts I used or how much ice-cream I had, I simply wanted to use what I had leftover from serving it to my friends (with the chocolate cheesecake)

For the one in the picture, just melt a little chocolate in your microwave, then add nuts of your choice and stir. Lay them on a piece if foil to cool and then add them to your ice-cream, and top with some caramel because that way it'll taste really good.

Custom Cake Making

 Things never seem to turn out as I want them to. Maybe it's because I've never made fondant before. Maybe it's because I wasn't careful enough. I wanted to make a a round pokeball cake. Perfectly spherical because I picked up a semi-spherical cake tin at the last flea market. Then I noticed that making a whole sphere is way to much cake, but that didn't change the fact that it needed over an hour to bake, and I was freaking out that it was burning. Then came the fondant: sticky, then too hard, then speckled with chocolate buttercream that  I had spread on the cake. I would love to say I fixed it, It turned out okay, or that no one will notice. All I can hope for is that it will taste good. One part of the cake did work out: The food coloring ( I just acquired black food coloring) which contrasts with the yellow of the cake to look a bit like pikachu. The recipe for the cake is from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook, and it really is an old-fashioned favorite recipe, when my mother tried it she said it tasted just like what her grandmother used to make. (and she never says that when I make something)

Traditional Vanilla Birthday Cake:

• 200g (1cup) butter,softend
• 380g (2 cups) sugar
• 4 eggs
• 210g (1&1/2) cups all-purpose flour
• 210g (1&1/4) cups self-rising flour
• 250ml milk (1cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 350F/180C

1. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorperated.

2. Add the milk, alternating with the flours. Then add the vanilla extract.

3. Bake for 1 hour and ten minutes (if you are baking it as a whole batch in a semi-sphere) If you bake it in 3 normal 9-inch baking pans, bake for 20-25 minutes.

Chocolate Buttercream:

• 400g powdered sugar
• 200g butter
• 150g chocolate, melted and cooled

Method:

1. Cream together the butter and powdered sugar.

2. Then add the cooled chocolate and mix until combined and no streaks remain.

Fondant:

• 450g powdered sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon glucose
• Food Coloring

Method:

Combine all the ingredients and use an electric mixer to combine until a ball forms.

Roll it out using cornstarch-This is important or else you'll end up with cracks and holes in the fondant like I did!

It looks quite awful as you can probably see from the picture. And it isn't just a cake with imperfections that only the cake maker sees because they made it. The dark chocolate butter cream blotches really show from far away. Not that it  matters too much because people are always glad when you bake something for them. No matter how ugly this turns out I'm sure my friend Olivia would have been glad to get a cake anyway. (No matter how bad you are at baking, people will appreciate it-don't forget) Next time I'll know what to do so it doesn't end up like this. 'Experience is the name people give their mistake'-Oscar Wilde

Oatmeal Quince Waffles

Waffle Wednesday
I have been wanting to make oatmeal waffles for a while now. Then my mother asked if I could make waffles with quince in them, and I thought 'why not just  make a quince-oatmeal waffle? Chances are you don't have a  quince tree in your backyard ( I don't) so I also tried a plain oatmeal recipe which was amazing!!
Sadly I didn't make that recipe up by myself, its from Marna Heitz at allrecipe.com. The Quince waffle came out a bit soft, they weren't as crunchy on the outside as they could have been.  The oatmeal waffles are really tasty and I think they would go great with anything, sweet or savory, I think they would be awesome with blackberries in them. ( I ended up becoming addicted to this recipe and make it all the time, so I did make some with blackberries in them, only to notice that as much as I would like to love any form of heated fruit I don't. But if you do go ahead and give it a try add berries to the batter or pour warm fruit compote on top.)

Quince Waffles:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup yoghurt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup grated quince (about three quince)

Method: 

Pre-heat your waffle iron

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour,oats,baking powder,cinnamon,salt and all-purpose flour.

2. Add the milk, yogurt,eggs and mix to combine, then add the quince.

3. Pour the batter into your waffle iron and bake for 3 minutes. 

Oatmeal Waffles:

• 1&1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1&1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method:

Pre-heat your waffle iron

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats,baking powder,cinnamon and salt.

2. Then add the milk,eggs,and sugar and whisk until well blended. Then add the melted butter, and combine.

3. Bake in your waffle iron for 3:30 until golden brown.

Marshmallow Air

Make it yourself
It is not that hard to make marshmallows at home, because you really just need an electric mixer and some corn syrup,sugar,etc. If you don't have any corn syrup home-made takes on a whole new dimension, and since I have made marshmallows before (a half-accident) I didn't see any problems with it. The last time I made it by feel, (with some inspiration from a fluffy frosting recipe, which reminds me of marshmallows) but this time I was holding the packets of gelatin in my hand, remembering the last batch, which practically turned into an enormous marshmallow in the mixer. Turns out this time I used too little gelatin and I have a blob of strawberry marshmallow sitting around now. So I'm posting the recipe wit the added(right amount-hopefully) of gelatin in it.

Strawberry Marshmallows:

• 3 egg yolks
• 10g gelatin
• 200g (1 cup) caster/white sugar
• 1&1/3 cup water boiling
• 2 cups strawberries (I use frozen)
• Powdered Sugar and Cornstarch

Method:

1. In a blender combine the strawberries and 1/3 cup of the boiling water. Then strain the mixture to get rid of any seeds.

2. Over low heat, combine the sugar,water and gelatin and cook for about 5 minutes until it comes to a boil. Then add the strawberries, and wait for it to boil up once more, then take off the heat.

3. Beat your egg whites until soft peaks are about to form, then (continue beating the egg whites) add the strawberry-gelatin mixture slowly to the egg whites.

4. Sift cornstarch and powdered sugar onto a silicone tin/mold then 'pour' in your marshmallow mixture, evening out the top with a spatula, then dust with more confectioners sugar. 

5. Let the marshmallows set and cut into squares.

Rice Krispies

What is this?

That's what most people here say when you give them a rice krispie treat. Then they try it and love it, but still don't understand exactly what it is, (sometimes it's referred to a cereal bar, when you tell them it's made of rice krispie cereal) and then they are dying to know what the recipe is. They are now available ready-made at the store, but they are not nearly as good as the ones you can make at home and lets face it, it's not really a lot of work.(15minutes), and they're great at bake sales. So for all those people out there wondering what the recipe is, here you go:
Rice Krispies:

• 3 tablespoon butter
• 40(normal,not mini) marshmallows, usually one package
• 6 cups rice krispies cereal

Method:
1. On low heat, melt the butter, then add the marshmallows.
2. Constantly stirring melt the marshmallows.
3. Then add the rice krispies to the pan and mix very well with a spatula, until all of the rice krispies are coated.  (This makes a huge spider web like threads between the rice krispies)
Mine turned into a huge ball, then I spread it out on a silicone mat and cut it into squares.

Meringues

French Friday

Meringues are slightly overrated, I think because people think they are so difficult to make, maybe it's because they are so light,fluffy and cloud-like. They are actually incredibly easy. Unbelievably easy, and only requires three simple ingredients that you probably already have at home. I don't like mine in a uniform shape, I just spoon it on a baking sheet and poke it with a spoon until it's the most random shape you can come up with. After I made them all beautifully weird, I went looking for almonds. I like putting almonds on top of my meringues, but while I was looking for those I came across other things, and decided it wouldn't be wrong to add them to the meringues. (Turns out there weren't any almonds) Well I'm not sure if they'll be any good or not but I ended up going with raisins,dried cranberries,coconut,hazelnuts and some walnuts that I just got.

Meringues:

• 4 egg whites
• 200g (1 cup) white caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• Almonds,hazelnuts,walnuts,coconut,raisins and dried cranberries

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 70C

1. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of sugar until soft peaks form, then add the sugar, one tiny teaspoon at a time. (don't get frustrated by how long this takes, I got very frustrated myself but don't be tempted to add it all at once)

2. Then spoon (or pipe if you're a perfectionist) them on a baking sheet and bake for 2 hours. Then leave them in the oven to cool off for 3 hours.

So mine are in the oven right now, and they are not done yet, not nearly. I have the feeling mine are far too big, if you make them smaller you would probably need a lot less time. 

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Wednesday

When I was a little girl, I used to have eggo waffles with chocolate syrup. I remember them as the chocolate chip kind, although my mother tells me they were normal waffles covered in syrup. But either way I couldn't resist making them when I found a recipe, it's from 'addapinch' at Tasty Kitchen. It's perfect: Light,airy,and chocolaty so good in fact that I didn't have time to put the chocolate sauce on top cause I ate them.

Chocolate Chip Waffles:

• 280g (2 cups) flour
• pinch of salt
• 1&1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1&1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 127g (3/4 cup) chocolate chip
• 250ml (1 cup) milk
• 245g (1 cup) yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 50g (1/4 cup) butter,melted and cooled
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

Pre-heat your waffle iron

1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour,salt,baking powder and chocolate chips.

2. Seperate the eggs, and beat the egg whites until stiff.

3. To the flour mixture add milk,yogurt,vanilla,butter and egg yolks whisking until combined.

4. Fold in the egg whites

5. Cook in your waffle iron for 2:30-3:00 minutes.

This are delicious! And really they aren't as indulgent as you may think so there great for mornings. Everyday. No exuses either because you can make the batter the night before,the day you want them, or on the weekends and then freeze them. Which means they will take as long as any frozen waffle you buy at the store.  Hope you have fun making these!