Roasted Cherry-Mint No-Churn Ice Cream

Well, if the weather is still warm enough to eat ice cream, I would suggest making this cherry-mint no-churn ice cream.  I fell behind posting what I made this month because I've been very busy lately, with camping last week and then some volunteer work my son and I were doing this week.  But, I have to admit, most nights I look forward to spend time with my family during the summer.  We love to watch movie and summertime is the time we catch up with movies.  And sometimes we're doing things outside.  So even as I'm still baking and creating desserts I don't have time to write the post!

The idea of making this combination comes from me starring in the opened kitchen pantry and saw a box of Girl Scout Cookie's Thin Mint.  I love those cookies!  Love it more than Oreos, really.  But buying a box of that isn't very friendly to my wallet, so it's best to ration the consumption.  Anyway, I had cherries also sitting in the fridge.  I thought by combining these two, I would get an exciting flavors.

The cherries got roasted for some time in a 400F oven.  I was thinking roasting them would bring more sweetness and give them caramelization.  Caramelization equals sweeter, right?

Okay, so here's the recipe because I need to watch a movie! :D

Roasted Cherry-Mint No-Churn Ice Cream

Serves 8-10


1 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup roasted cherries, see instruction below
1 cup coarsely chopped Thin Mint cookies--depending on how you like the cookies, you can add more if you want!


In a large bowl whisk together kirsch and vanilla extract with sweetened condensed milk and salt.

With a mixer, whip heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold the cream into the condensed milk mixture.  Fold the roasted cherries.

Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap or wax paper.  Spoon half of the ice cream mixture.  Add half of the cookies, mix gently with spoon.  Spoon the rest of the ice cream mixture and then add the last half of cookies.  Press plastic wrap onto the surface of ice cream and wrap tightly.  Freeze until firm, or for at least 12 hours before serving.

Let ice cream stands for 10 minutes or so before scooping.

How to roast cherries:  Heat oven to 400F.  Place cherries on a baking sheet and roast until soft, about 10 minutes.  Cool before using.

Strawberry-Raspberry No-Churn Ice Cream with Chocolate Chunks

The title says it all, it's a combo of two different berries that I picked this past week, along with chopped bittersweet chocolate. The idea came because I wanted to make ice cream, the easy way.  I found recipes for no-churn ice cream and decided to try it.  This particular recipe uses less sweetened condensed milk than other recipes which made me think it's less sweet.  Other recipes use one can of that stuff but with the same amount of whipping cream; that I think is way too sweet.  But maybe I shouldn't say anything before trying it out :D

And I also recently tried a new flavor of jam after reading new books about preserving, raspberry "lemonade" jam.  It's made with raspberries, lemon juice, honey, and pectin.  I love the flavor combination and thought that the jam will go together with strawberry base ice cream.  As if it's not enough, I went ahead and chopped bittersweet chocolate to add to the ice cream.  Since I haven't provided the recipe for the jam, a regular strawberry jam can be used to make this ice cream.

When I was ready to serve this, I also had some strawberries left.  I was thinking of making something quick and easy, thus strawberry sauce was conceived :)  This sauce was the bomb because the strawberries were fresh and I picked the right variety for it.  Something that's made from in-season fruits always turn out to be the best in flavor.  I just love how fresh-picked strawberries smell!  Eating the ice cream with the sauce after dinner has become the highpoint of our summer days.

I set aside a few cupful of the ice cream for making ice cream sandwich.  Now I didn't make the cookies myself but I have Chips Ahoy! Thin Double Chocolate in the pantry.  It's a fine substitute in a pinch.  Well, well, everybody loves it!  Now I'm gonna probably play around with other flavor this summer and make more ice cream sandwich.

Strawberry-Raspberry No-Churn Ice Cream with Chocolate Chunks

Serves 8-10

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup finely diced strawberries
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup jam, raspberry or strawberry jam, warmed just until loosen up

In a large bowl whisk together vanilla extract with sweetened condensed milk and salt.

With a mixer, whip heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold the cream into the condensed milk mixture.  Fold the diced strawberries and chocolate.

Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap or wax paper.  Spoon half of the ice cream mixture.  Add half of jam, swirl with butter knife.  Spoon the rest of the ice cream mixture and then swirl the last half of the jam.  Press plastic wrap onto the surface of ice cream and wrap tightly.  Freeze until firm, or for at least 12 hours before serving.

Let ice cream stands for 10 minutes or so before scooping.  At this time, you can scoop a spoonful into one cookie, press another cookie on top.  Smooth the sides with a small offset spatula.  Wrap the ice cream cookies an freeze until firm again.


Source:  adapted from Belly Full

Corn Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

Before making this dessert, honestly, I've never tried eating corn with blueberry.  I've eaten corn kernels sauteed in lots of butter and spoonsful of sugar with a dash of salt or an Indonesian version of sweet tamale--a mixture of corn, shredded coconut, sugar and salt wrapped in corn husk and steamed until soft.  Boy, that was a good sweet snack!  But never corn with blueberry and ice cream.

This doesn't make me not like the pairing; I think it's a wonderful one especially when the corn and blueberries are in season.  I love crepes and there's an interesting texture of the crepes with the addition of cornmeal in there; a little different but in no way bad.  Blueberry sauce is one of my family favorites to use in desserts so it can't go wrong in this dish.  And, oh boy, the vanilla ice cream just finishes off nicely!

In the last few weeks of summer--it's already cooling down rapidly here in Oregon--I'm sharing this recipe before it's too late!

Corn Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

Makes 6 servings


Corn Crepes:
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup (about 1 ear) uncooked fresh corn kernels, preferably white
3 tablespoons white cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

Blueberry Sauce:
1 1/2 pints blueberries
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Vanilla ice cream


To make the crepes:  Put the eggs and milk in a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth.  Sift together the flour, cornstarch, and salt and add it to the egg mixture.  Blend until smooth.  Add the melted butter and again blend until smooth.

Transfer the batter to a bowl and stir in the corn kernels and the cornmeal.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes to overnight.

Heat a 6-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Lightly grease the bottom of the pan.  fill a 1/4-cup measure three-quarters full with the crepe batter and pour it into the pan, rotating the pan so that a thin layer covers the entire bottom.  Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, until lightly browned.  Using the edge of a knife, loosen a corner of the crepe from the pan.  Using your fingers, flip the crepe over and cook for another 15 seconds.  Place the finished crepe on a large plate.  Continue cooking crepes, stacking them, slightly overlapping, on top of each other, until there are at last 12.  It is not necessary to grease the pan after making each crepe.  Wrap the crepes in plastic wrap until ready to use.

To make the blueberry sauce:  Place 1 pint of the blueberries, the sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan.  Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the blueberries are soft and juicy, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the remaining blueberries.

To serve:  Place a small scoop of ice cream in the middle of each of the crepes.  Fold crepe over the ice cream.  Place 2 crepes on each of 6 plates.  Accompany with some warm blueberry sauce.  Serve immediately.


Source:  A Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti

Mango Frozen Yogurt

One of my favorite fruits of all time is mango and it's no surprise that both my husband and son love this fruit as well.  Most of the time we eat it fresh, though my husband like diced fresh mango with his ice cream.  That gives me the idea of making this mango frozen yogurt.  I grabbed a few champagne mangoes at the market since these are sweet with smooth texture.  Back when I was growing up in Indonesia, the variety of mangoes are numerous and each mango has distinct taste and smell; it'll be wonderful to able to have a selection of mangoes like that here.  How I miss eating those mangoes!

Mango Frozen Yogurt

Makes about 1 pint



1 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

2 small ripe champagne mangoes, peeled and diced

1 cup Greek yogurt--I used whole milk Greek yogurt

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Pecan Lace Cookies, optional



In a small saucepan, combine water and sugar and bring to a boil.  Cook until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 6 minutes.  Let the sugar syrup cool.

In a blender or food processor, puree the diced mango with 2 tablespoons of the sugar syrup.  Transfer 1/4 cup of the puree to a bowl and whisk in the Greek yogurt, milk, lemon juice and the remaining sugar syrup.  Pour the mixture into a glass bowl and let chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.  Refrigerate the rest of the mango puree as well.

Freeze mixture in the ice cream maker according to unit's instructions.  Towards the end of the unit cycle, pour the remaining mango puree to make a swirl pattern.  Store the frozen yogurt in an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours before consuming.  Served with Pecan Lace Cookies if desired.



Source: adapted from Coconut-Mango Frozen Yogurt, Food & Wine, March 2010

Avocado Chocolate Bits Frozen Yogurt

The first time I saw the recipe, it was on Fine Cooking website, and so it being avocado I've got to try it.  In the US, avocado are used mainly in savory dishes, but you would find around the world that the fruit is often used in sweet dishes.  Philippine, Indonesia, Brazil, and Vietnam share the love of pureed avocado shakes sweetened with sugar and/or sweetened condensed milk, with chocolate syrup sometimes added in Indonesia.

My family loves to drink avocado shakes, sometimes a shot of coffee is added to the drink, along with a pinch of salt to round up the taste.  I wanted to marry the flavor of avocado and chocolate in this frozen yogurt, and what better way than to add chopped bittersweet chocolate in it?

The original recipe asked for lime zest along with the juice to give a tang to the frozen yogurt, but I don't want to do that.  I want my frozen yogurt creamy and sweet.  I then only added half tablespoon of lemon juice to keep the avocado from being discolored.  The top it off, just before serving I drizzle some sweetened condensed milk; now you might think it's a no-no, but not until you try all of those together then you may say, ah, I get it.  Pale green with flecks of chocolate, this frozen yogurt is sure pretty.

Avocado Chocolate Bits Frozen Yogurt

Makes about 1 quart



2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large egg yolks

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

2 medium, firm-ripe avocados (6 to 7 oz. each), peeled, pitted

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao)

Sweetened condensed milk for drizzling, optional



Heat milk and sugar over medium heat in a medium saucepan until just comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the vanilla.

Have ready a large bowl filled with ice and set a small metal bowl over the ice with a strainer set over it.

Place egg yolks in a medium bowl, lightly beaten.  Ladle some of the milk into the egg yolk, whisk it to prevent curdling.  Pour this mixture back into the rest of the milk in the saucepan.  Cook over low-medium heat until mixture is thick and can cover the back of a wooden spoon, about 4 to 8 minutes.

Pour the mixture over the strainer into the small bowl; stir in the yogurt.  Whisk the mixture over the ice bath until it cools completely.

Scoop the avocado meat and puree in a blender or food processor along with the lemon juice and some of the cooled custard.  Pour this mixture back to the rest of the custard, blend them together until it is thick and creamy.

Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Halfway through the freezing process, fold in the chopped bittersweet chocolate.  Transfer the frozen yogurt into a freezer-safe container and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours.

Banana-Blueberry Gelato

When the weather was predicted to be super hot late last week, I quietly rejoiced because it's been cool ever since I was back in town.  It's like waiting for the summer to begin, my friends told me that I didn't miss much in July anyway.  August is supposed to be very nice in Oregon, I'm counting on you, Mother Earth.  We all wish that school didn't end till the end of June and will not start again until middle of September so we all can enjoy the warmth.

So yeah, the weather hovers around the upper 90's.  It's dry hot that's quite uncomfortable at times, I try to keep my house cool by opening windows in the morning, and shut them midmorning when the sun's going high.  The plan to make gelato came just as I had quite a bit fresh blueberries in the frigde.  I wanted to whip it up pretty quickly, providing it's also made of fruits, blueberry is one of them.

The first thing I made was the blueberry sauce for it to be added to the gelato.  The sauce was supposed to be a bit thicker, but it turned out okay, I could still use it.  Once the sauce chills, time to make the gealto base.  It's quite simple since it only used milk, sugar, vanilla extract, mashed bananas, and a bit of lemon juice to prevent the bananas from getting brown.  My idea was also to make gelato popsicle because it's fun for my son to eat it like that.  And you know what, chocolate covered gelato-on-a-stick is even better!

Photographing melted gelato on a hot day was fun, the waiting time is rewarded with something cool in the end.

Banana-Blueberry Gelato

Yields about 9 3-oz portions



Blueberry Sauce:

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cups fresh bluberries

Gelato:

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ripe bananas

Juice of 1/2 lemon

9 3-oz. paper cups

9 popsicle sticks



Make the blueberry sauce:

Mix the sugar and water in a small pan.  Heat until sugar is dissolved, then boil for 3 minutes or until the mixture is thickened, do not let it caramelized.  Cool slightly.  Puree the fresh blueberry in a food processor or a blender then press through a sieve over a bowl.  Stir in the syrup and chill well.

Make the gelato:

Heat the milk in a medium-sized pan, bring to boil continuously.  Take the pan off heat and pour the sugar and vanilla extract, stir until dissolved, cool slightly then chill well.

Put the lemon juice in a bowl, mash the bananas with fork into the bowl.  It is okay if the bananas pieces are a bit chunky.  Mix banana mixture with gelato base.  If using an ice cream machine, follow the manufacturer's instruction.  After the churning process is done while the gelato is still partly frozen, drop blueberry sauce by spoon into the gelato.  Mix it just enough to get ripple effects into the gelato.

Spoon and divide the mixture into the 3-oz. cups evenly, fill the cups until it is full.  Insert the popsicle sticks.  Freeze the gelato until firm.

*If desired, coat the gelato with melted chocolate.  I used bittersweet chocolate here, but you could use different types of chocolate as well.*



Source:  adapted from Making Ice Cream and Iced Desserts by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis