Saturday ice-cream: Maple and pecan ice-cream

Happy Monday morning!

I almost had an ice-cream fail this weekend. Note to self: always follow the manufacturer's instructions. Six hours in the freezer is not enough.

So, on Saturday, we had chilled maple-flavoured cream with floating pecan nuts. But on Sunday, having reserved the remainder of the prepared ice-cream mixture, we had delicious, soft, and frozen maple and pecan ice-cream. 

As with most ice-creams, it has a custard base, which is something of a labour of love to prepare, but totally worth it. Oh my, it was delicious. 

Here's the recipe. Did I mention how delicious it was?

Laura x

Maple and pecan ice-cream

Takes 1.5 hours (25 minutes hands-on, 35 minutes cooling, 30 minutes churning)

Serves 6

250ml milk (semi-skimmed or full-fat)

3 egg yolks (put the whites in a freezer bag and pop them in the freezer for meringues later on, don't forget to label the bag!)

175ml maple syrup

300ml whipping cream

50g roughly chopped pecan nuts

25g butter

1tbsp golden caster sugar

1tsp salt

Heat the milk until almost boiling (look out for little bubbles round the edge of the pan). Whisk the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl, then very slowly pour the hot milk onto the eggs, whisking all the time. Don't pour too fast!

Put a small amount of hot water in a pan and set to a rapid simmer. Place the bowl with the egg mixture on top of the pan, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes). Take it from the heat, stir in the maple syrup, and set aside to cool.

To make the caramelised pecan nuts: Melt the butter in a small frying pan. Mix together the nuts, sugar and salt, and then add them to the pan. Fry them over a medium heat, stirring continuously, for about 3 minutes, until they turn golden. Then quickly remove them from the heat to a cold bowl, otherwise they will burn. Set aside.

When the maple mixture is cool, add the whipping cream. Pour into the ice-cream machine and churn for about 30 minutes. Add the pecan nuts and churn until they are mixed in, about 2 minutes.

Enjoy!

What's cooking this week #4

Hello!

It's the end of the week, and here's what's been cooking:

Monday - Beef lasagne (with leftover bolognese sauce from last week)
Tuesday - Thai red squash curry
Wednesday dinner with friends - Mediterranean beef stew, followed by pineapple upside-down cake
Thursday - Turkey meatballs with barbeque sauce
Friday - Tex-mex fish tortillas with guacamole
Saturday - Summer chicken soup for lunch / Apricot and cumin stuffed pork for dinner
Sunday - out for anniversary lunch!

I've been making a lot more of my own spice mixes since Sophie started eating with us, since babies can't cope with a lot of salt and most ready-made pastes and seasonings have a whole load of salt added. This week I managed the Thai red curry paste and the tex-mex seasoning, but I'll need to figure out how to make the barbeque sauce without tomato ketchup - I think with tomato puree and a little sugar.

For lunches, and for Sophie's tea, we mostly eat leftovers or things foraged from the fridge, but now she's eating more and more I'd like to give her some varied, nutritious things that don't take a lot of preparation. More thought required!

Hope you too had a good food week!

Laura x

Our anniversary

Today is our sixth wedding anniversary. Such a happy day to celebrate together and to be thankful!

We kept the weekend aside for just the three of us, since life has been so incredibly hectic recently that we've barely had any time to just relax and enjoy each other's company. So our weekend consisted of taking Sophie to the park for the first time (I think she might write about that on her blog at some point, hehe), cooking and enjoying good food, shopping for a new camera, and going out for a special anniversary lunch (more on that in another post!). Oh, and I went on two training runs (5 and 6 km), but that was by the bye.

So today, I say thank you to Nick for being a husband who demonstrates kindness and love in all he does, and who works so hard to provide for our family, and thank you to God for blessing me with such a one.

Saturday ice-cream: Frozen raspberry yoghurt

Hello again!

This weekend's ice-cream was just for me and a friend, left in Oxford for the weekend as our husbands travelled east for a wedding. So, it was time for a girly one.

This one is super-easy, healthy, and full of flavour.

Laura x


Frozen raspberry yoghurt
Takes 40 minutes (10 minutes prep, 30 minutes churning)
Serves 4

400g fresh or defrosted frozen raspberries
300g plain yoghurt
Honey to taste

Quite simply, puree the raspberries, mix in the yoghurt and honey to sweeten, and churn in the machine for 30 minutes.

For a smooth texture, sieve the pureed raspberries before mixing with the yoghurt.

Alternative fruits: ripe mango, strawberries, blueberries, banana

Flourless chocolate cake

Good morning!

Our curry night on Wednesday was lots of fun. Twelve people filled our living room with noise, joy, and spices. For pudding, we had a flourless chocolate cake which I made that afternoon.

It may have looked like a sunken volcano crater, but it tasted dense, moist, and delicious.

Here's the recipe. Note, it's not health food!

Laura x

Flourless chocolate cake

Takes 1 hour 20 minutes (30 minutes prep, 50 minutes baking, plus cooling)

Serves 12

400g dark chocolate (I used Tesco Everyday Value)

100g soft light brown sugar

6 medium eggs at room temperature

1 tbsp Cointreau

1 tsp ground cinnamon

300ml extra thick double cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease and base line a 23cm (9 inch) cake tin.

Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally until melted.

Meanwhile, using an electric hand whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together for 10 minutes, until somewhat thickened.

Add the Cointreau and ground cinnamon to the chocolate and stir. Then pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture, stirring all the time. (Be careful here, because if you pour too quickly and/or don't stir, the eggs will curdle.) Mix thoroughly.

Stir the cream a few times with a spoon to loosen it a little. Add the cream to the chocolate mixture and fold in thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin (it will sink quite a lot), then remove from the tin when cold. (I didn't manage to release it from the base of the tin, since inverting it would have destroyed the top.)

Cut into slices and serve with fresh fruit and cream or yoghurt.