“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Shakespeare
Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries … dessert for someone you l♥v, or dessert for someone who loves dessert! Panna cotta, or cooked cream, is one of the quickest Italian desserts you can make. Minimum fuss, quick to make, do ahead and divinely delicious, a winner every single time.
The tempting option of going a teeny bit healthy on a cream dessert, yet keeping it indulgent, is perhaps worth the bait! I’ve done a Berries & Buttermilk Puddng in the past, so the idea of a buttermilk panna cotta was going to be worth every delicious spoonful! Delightful tangy undertones, a gentle wobbly set cream, smooth vanilla overtures…what more can you ask for? Pretty darned good as it is, you can take it a step higher with luscious red strawberries as topping. Use any seasonal berries for that matter, or fruit like figs too. A salted butter caramel sauce would be really nice as well.
If you have the time, gently simmer strawberries to make a balsamic strawberry topping. And if time is not your friend that day, simply macerate the berries in castor sugar and a dash of lime juice, or maybe just toss them in honey. It adds a nice sweet touch to the fruit while making it shiny and attractive to top the panna cotta.
The colour contrast weaves a magic spell. What’s not to love about red and white? And what’s not to love about strawberries and cream. AND what’s not to love about make ahead, fuss free dessert? Go on, take the plunge! Spoil those you love on V Day with this gorgeous Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries.
Oh yes, and make sure you get them to do the dishes! Share some love!!
[print_this]Recipe: Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries
Summary: Delightful tangy undertones, a gentle wobbly set cream, smooth, vanilla overtures…what more could you ask for in a Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic. This must be the quickest make ahead dessert ever! It’s a great Valentines Day dessert too.
Serves 6
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:
Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp warm water
300ml low fat cream
150g vanilla sugar {or Castor sugar}
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
1 vanilla bean pod, scraped
450ml cultured buttermilk
Balsamic Strawberries
200g strawberries, chopped
30g brown sugar
15ml balsamic vinegar
15ml honey
Method:
Panna Cotta
Put the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the geltain over. Leave to soften for 10 minutes.
Put the cream,sugar, scraped vanilla bean and pod in a heavy bottom saucepan and simmer gently for 5-7 minutes. Do not allow to come to a rolling boil. Stir often.
Take off heat and stir in the buttermilk and softened gelatin. Whisk to blend well, then strain and pour into serving goblets or ramekins.
Chill for 5-6 hours, better overnight.
Top with balsamic strawberries, garnish with fresh mint and serve.
Balsamic strawberries
Gently simmer brown sugar, honey and balsamic vinegar in a small pan until the sugar has melted and is thick and syrupy.
Take off heat and add lime juice. Mix in the chopped strawberries. Leave to macerate for 10-15 minutes.
If the strawberries leave a lot of liquid, strain the liquid out, and reduce over medium heat. Mix back into the strawberries and then chill until required.
“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
Henry David Thoreau
Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble … true comfort food and ever so simple. It’s one I make often, a crumble I mean. This year began in a special way. I had a surprise visitor and she brought me something I have longed for forever! A cast iron skillet, straight from the kiln, well almost, unseasoned and raw!
Thankfully Sangeeta has a world of knowledge about this stuff. This looked raw, rustic and a little scary to tell you the truth. Man Friday was happy as ever to see it and went on to tell me how much cast iron was cooked in when he was young, and that the benefits are tremendous. How times have changed, and healthy practices have been buried under the sands of time!
Well he scrubbed it well with a piece of brick, removed the dusty coating etc. I dried it well, seasoned it with some cold pressed mustard oil. Then baked it in a hot oven for 30 minutes. It came out looking moorish. Can you fall in love with a skillet?I did! The great thing about cast iron utensils are that they can go from the stove top into the oven, and back again! The other huge benefit of course is that they gently seep iron into your food adding additional iron into your diet.
I was quite over the moon this morning and since I had just apples on hand, I set out to make an Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble. { …for those who noticed, I meant to use thyme, but sans glasses, I think I used oregano from the fridge instead! Oops! }. Simple, basic, easy apple pie, something that comforts and warms, especially in these cold winter days. Baking it in the skillet took this up a few notches for me. I loved using the skillet, built an emotional connect with it, and want to use it all the time.
Past the crumble, I grilled a cheese and tomato sandwich for the daughter in it . Crisp, beautiful, comforting! Fried eggs and roasted tomatoes too. I can’t get enough of it. You’ll see a lot more of it popping up all over the place. Thank you Sangeeta, and thank you too for the coloured glasses! It’s been an inspiring beginning to the new year!
[print_this]Recipe: Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble
Summary:Simple, basic, easy apple pie, something that comforts and warms, especially in these cold winter days. Baking it in the skillet takes it up a few rustic notches! Enjoy this gluten free version of the Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble .
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients:
Apple filling
450g apples, cored, peeled, diced
juice of 1 lime
20g brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder 30g walnuts
25g craisins
15g rolled oats
15g butter
15g brown sugar
Few sprigs of thyme, leaves only
Topping
25g oat flour
40g unsalted butter
25g walnuts
30g rolled oats
15g brown sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 6-7″ round pie dish, or use a 6″ skillet.
In a large bowl toss the apples in lime juice. Then add 20g brown sugar, cinnamon powder, walnuts, craisins, rolled oats and thyme leaves if using.
Mix well. Reserve.
Heat 15g unsalted butter in the skillet over low heat. Add 15g brown sugar and allow to bubble and dissolve. Mix well to cover bottom of skillet.
Turn the apple mix into the skillet, and mix well to combine. Take off heat.
Push into place gently, top with crumble, press firmly.
Bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and or warm salted butter caramel sauce.
“Never doubt that a small, committed group of people with pies can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Subcommandante Tofutti
Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies … come December and the Daring Bakers challenge to end 2013 was to bake whoopies. Given all the frenzied baking over Christmas, these were fun. Whoopies always are. Relaxed, super creative and ‘in sync with the holiday season‘, they were a wonderful pick to end the year!
The December Daring Bakers’ Challenge had us all cheering – the lovely and talented Bourbonnatrix of Bourbonnatrix Bakes was our hostess and challenged us to make fun, delicious and creative whoopie pies! Delicious little cake-like cookies sandwiching luscious filling in any flavors we chose… What else is there to say but “Whoopie!”
I still remember my first whoopies, Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Piesadapted minimally from a great recipe from Ree @ Pioneer Woman. Those were a big hit with the kids and adults alike. At the time Mr PAB did say they were oversweet. I reduced the sugar this time around. They were perfect!
Whoopie pies are a cross between a cookie and a cake (not a pie!), with two round, mound-shaped halves sandwiching a sweet creamy filling. According to Wikipedia, Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. It is also Maine’s official state treat. The traditional Whoopie pie consists of a chocolate cake and a vanilla marshmallow filling, but pumpkin and gingerbread cake is also common enough.
Onto this challenge, I knew I was going to go wholegrain, so half my work was cut out. I based my recipe on the Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Piesmeasurements, changing a few bits and bobs here and there. It worked quite well actually. The Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies began disappearing at an alarming rate!
Of course they aren’t as light, cakey and airy as all purpose flour whoopies. These are heavier to bite, more earthy, more rustic and definitely more healthy. I was glad I did the challenge pretty early in the month with red and green firmly in place. Later, each day raced into the next, the month literally galloping towards the end.
One look and bite into the whoopies and both kids {and Mr PAB} exclaimed, “You’ve made these before!” Bravo to good food memories! I had made my first whoopie pies back in May 2012 fresh from an invigorating trip into Old Delhi, one of my favourite places to be in. Time flies ….
It’s difficult to believe the year’s almost drawing to an end. December has almost vanished. It’s been a busy year. Being a Daring Baker is always a positive part of every year, though losing our co-founder Lis unexpectedly left us crestfallen. Knowing her, she would like the whisks in the kitchen to mix non-stop. Through these challenges, her spirit lives on.
Summary: Earthy, rustic and definitely more healthy that the normal whoopies, these Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies are worth the bite. If you don’t have Nutella on hand, you could do a peanut butter or salted butter caramel filling instead.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
75g unsalted butter, room temp
175 g vanilla sugar
1 egg
pinch salt
1tsp baking powder
2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 tsp baking soda
100g whole wheat flour
100g rolled oats
25g cocoa powder
50g dark chocolate, chopped
Method:
Place the wholewheat flour, oats, baking powder, cocoa and chocolate in bowl of food processor. Blend to fine mix. Reserve.
Beat the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, egg and salt and beat again.
Mix in the baking soda into the boiling water. Beat into the butter mixture.
Fold in the dry mix.
Measure out tbsp scoops onto a prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 180C for 30 minutes / until slightly firm to touch.
Cool completely on racks and then sandwich with Nutella.
Wholewheat Doily Cookies & Chocolate Pretzels … it’s the time of the year when the bells begin to jingle and there are hungry cookie monsters on the prowl. With the cookie season in full swing, this year I have literally abandoned plain flour for whole grains. This year, there was another reason to bake cookies – a fundraiser called the Great Cookie Swap 2013, which a bunch of us got roped into thanks to sweet Charisvia Roshni!
I’ve been watching it take shape over the years, attempted to enroll once. We never did find enough folk to make a ‘team’ in India. This time was different and we made a beginning. With India now on the map, hopefully we get a whole bunch of food bloggers joining in next year. If you wish to be notified about the swap next year, do sign up here.
The cookie baking experience was a whole lot different this year thanks to the event. The swap made it special. For a change I was baking for a cause, and guarding my loot from the cookie monsters! From a dozen that were normally available for them to munch, there were just a couple on offer!
We had to bake a dozen cookies for each of 3 surprise recipients, who wouldn’t know until the bell rang that cookies had arrived. I was fortunate to get my first secret batch from Riddhi @ Cook By The Book. Her cookies were delicious! That set me in the mood and I headed straight for the kitchen.
I wanted to bake everything for everyone, but then got real. Couriering can prove to be harsh on cookies, the logistics a little dicey. I narrowed down to whole-wheat cinnamon ginger cookies and whole-wheat chocolate pretzel cookies. I had recently made dozens of whole-wheat gingerbread men for a home for homeless girls and really enjoyed that experience.
I decided to bake fluted cookies for the swap since gingerbread men are fragile. Then the daughter joined in, found some doily cookies on Pinterest and pestered me to make them. I did but with whole-wheat gingerbread cookie dough.
She wasn’t a 100% impressed though as wanted finer lacier cookies. I was happy with whole-wheat deep flavoured ones. I think the doily idea is stunning, and would definitely work more beautifully on sugar cookie dough etc. This was something new learnt, and immensely enjoyed. It certainly was a WOW moment!
The chocolate pretzel cookies I used to make often when the kids were little. Haven’t made them in years. To my delight, the minute tray #1 popped out of the oven, the daughter whooped in delight, “Yay pretzels!! You haven’t made them in years. I love them“. The son reacted similarly!! Happily enough, there were plenty for the two of them too.
The pretzels too underwent a wholegrain makeover. The kids loved them like before. I still wonder why I didn’t think of these things earlier. They tasted crunchy good and chocolaty with whole wheat flour too.
I love the idea of a bakers dozen, and stuck in a cute gingerbread man to accompany the cookies. Each box had a special happy man in there too. I hope my cookies surprised my secret recipients.
The GREAT FOOD BLOGGER COOKIE SWAP brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things scrumptious. The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers.
This year they have again partnered with COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.
I really enjoyed doing the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap‘.From deciding what to bake, to waiting impatiently for the surprises to arrive, to waiting for posting date, it was n enriching experience.
My cookies to Sangeeta and Himanshu reached quite early, but Riddhi in Bangalore wan’t that lucky. Got a call just this afternoon from the courier that the package came back undelivered. Sangeeta’s cookies also apparently reached Riddhi very late. Will mail some later as she is travelling this month!
[print_this]
Recipe: Whole-wheat Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Summary: Crisp, chocolaty and sweet, these 100% Whole-wheat Chocolate Pretzel Cookies are wonderful to include on your cookie platter. They are also a fun way to involve kids in cookie making as they playing with cookie dough like play dough! Makes approx 2 -2 1/2 dozen pretzels
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
150g whole-wheat flour
pinch salt
25g cocoa powder
100g unsalted butter
110g vanilla sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white, whisked gently, for glaze
Granular sugar or sprinkles to decorate
Method:
Sift the whole-wheat flour, cocoa and salt. Reserve.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat again.
Add the dry ingredients and knead together briefly to make a firm, smooth dough. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line to cookie sheets with baking parchment.
Divide the dough into 4, then into 6-7 portions each. Roll into tight neat balls.
Roll each ball into an 8-10″ long rope, and form a loop to make them look like pretzels. Transfer the cookies with the help of a fish slice/spatula to the prepared sheets.
Brush over with the glaze and sprinkle sugar or sprinkles as required.
Bake for about 12-14 minutes until firm to touch.
Allow to cool on trays for 2-3 minutes, then remove to cookie racks to cool completely.
Recipe: Whole Wheat Doily Gingerbread Cookies
Summary:These 100% Whole Wheat Doily Cookies are crisp, sweet, spicy and keep well in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks in a cool place. Makes approx 6 dozen 2″ fluted cookies. You can make gingerbread men out of the same dough too.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients:
280g whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
10g ginger powder
10g cinnamon powder
100g unsalted butter, cubed
150g brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
15-25 ml milk, as required
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the whole wheat flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour mix to the cold butter, & pulse briefly to make a breadcrumb like mix.
Tip in the sugar, pulse. Then add the beaten egg, and pulse briefly to mix.
Now add enough milk to make a firm yet pliable dough.
Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness & cut with desired cookie cutters.
Bake for 12-15 minutes till they smell done and the edges start turning golden-brown.
“Once a Daring Baker, always a Daring Baker. It’s the best baking community on the web!”
How do you begin to pay a tribute to someone who made a lot of us who or what we are today! We woke up to the tragic news that that the very largehearted & fun, the cornerstone of the best group for bakers ever created, the Daring Bakers, Lisa passed away. With the lovely Ivonne, Lisa inspired, she cajoled, she filled in, she encouraged, she whipped us along, whisking us into a homogenous group … one of the best baking communities ever created on the web.
Lisa Cifelli of La Mia Cucina, co-founder of The Daring Kitchen (originally The Daring Bakers) passed away unexpectedly a few days ago. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Lis, understands how much she will be missed. Her big heart, incredible sense of humor, epic emails, and mad organization skills were legendary. Bless her eternally cotton socks! {Kelly P}
In November 2006, Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice decided to challenge themselves to bake pretzels for the very first time using the same recipe. They each went ahead and posted about it on November 18, 2006. Having enjoyed that experience tremendously, they decided to try it again the next month, this time choosing to bake biscotti. And to make matters even better, they were joined by a few more food bloggers. As the months went by, their baking group continued to grow, until it was finally decided that this “little baking group” had to have a name and The Daring Bakers were born! The Daring Cooks were formed in 2009 as a way to learn how to become better home cooks. The idea spread like wildfire with 1000’s of people who also wished to learn more joined in on the monthly challenges.
Today, The Daring Bakers and The Daring Cooks span the world as bakers/cooks of all nationalities come together once a month to try something new in the kitchen!
I am the baker that I am only because of the Daring Bakers. It’s been a steep upward climb at times. We’ve been through 18 pages of recipe for Julia Childs French Loaf in Feb ’08. We’ve giggled & wept together, have whispered behind the scenes, gasped in horror when one of us let the cat out of the bag on twitter before the sacred posting date! What a community!
In the spirit of this fabulous, close knit community, we’ve come together, some still with the group, some who left a while ago, and lots of new DBr’s … united together to pay a tribute to the Queen of Daring Bakers! {Thank you for doing this Kelly P} I have made some of my best food blogger friends thanks to the DBs. Lis and Ivonne created something magical on the web; something that has never been replicated!
I say it to myself every month, I love being a Daring Baker! I miss a few as I struggle to cut out carbs, attempt to go wheat free, yet the temptation is always there. Looking back at previous challenges, the first one still comes to mind, as real as it was happening yesterday. I was chuffed to be accepted as a Daring Baker way back in January 2008. The very first challenge was a Lemon Meringue Pie. It was the ‘dark baking ages‘ in India at the time; I was very new to meringues and such. Oh how I wept. I still remember the emails exchanged with Lis and the encouragement and inspiration she offered. My pie wept, and I with it. Thought they’d chuck me out of the group. Felt like I had failed a major!
Lis stopped by to say… “Pure genius going with the lil hearts on the crust! Would you mind if I did that one day? Well I’m sorry it didn’t turn out as you intended, but it sure did turn out pretty!Welcome to the DB’ers!xoxo
The camaraderie grew as a bunch of us chatted away behind the screens, discussing challenges in loud whispers. Meeta, Jamie, Ilva, Hilda, Dharam, Val, Kelly P, Barbara, Rosa, Jasmine, Judy, Andrea, Susan, Aparna, Coco … so many others!
Oh those days! Some of my all time favourite challenges were …
I missed posting the October challenge. I thought I would skip it, then got very tempted, succumbed past the date … and then procrastinated a little as the pictures sat in the camera. Had the post sched for this weekend. RIP beautiful lady! The Kitchen has taught me a lot!
Lighter Chicken Pot Pies with homemade phyllo … inspiration can strike anytime, this time from another Daring Baker, Suma in Bangalore. She pinged me the other day wondering why I hadn’t done it, given that it was savoury and I love everything savoury!
Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory flavors and fillings from our own home or region.
I am steering clear of all purpose flour in my baking, and personally have been off wheat for over 6 months in an attempt to sort out some allergies. Mr PAB too has recently joined me, so I was a guinea pig short.
The daughter is on a diet, low carbs etc … but I could see she would love this. We love pot pies at home. The boy of course is game for anything and everything pot pie, chicken, pastry. Just churn out delicious bakes day after day… and he is a happy camper. The pies were everything good!!
[print_this]Recipe: Lighter Chicken Pot Pies with homemade phyllo
Summary: Fun and light, these Savoury Phyllo Chicken Pot Pies are crisp and rustic! You can assemble them ahead of time, and bake them before serving.
Place all ingredients in bowl of Thermomix or food processor and knead to a soft silky dough. Remove and allow to rest for at least an hour. {You can chill if the weather is warm. Keeps wrapped in clingwrap for 1 week in the fridge}
Creamy Garlic Gravy
Melt your butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over the butter and whisk together.
Cook for a short minute as it bubbles, then pour in the milk. Whisk and bring it to boil, then stir in salt and garlic. Whisk until it’s as thick as honey, which should take about a minute. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese. Set aside while you prepare the components for your filling.
Filling
Heat olive oil in pan. Add the onions and onion scapes and sweta for about two minutes until soft. Add the bell peppers and stir fry for a minute.
Toss into cooked chicken with the basil. Mix well
Fold into the creamy garlic sauce.
Assembling
Preheat oven to 180C
Divide the phyllo dough into 16-20 little balls. 16 will make 4 small pot pies, 20 will make 5 slightly smaller ones. Roll the dough in flour lightly and keep covered.
Keep the melted butter handy.
On a well floured surface, take one ball at a time, and roll out as thin as thin as you can. It should be almost transparent. The dough is very flexible so shouldn’t tear. Use plain flour as required. The dough should be almost an 8″ circle. Brush with melted butter and place in baking tin with the sides hanging over. Repeat for 2 more balls of dough, brushing in between each layer with melted butter.
Divide the filling into the number of pies you plan to make.
Place a portion of the filling in the centre of the pastry, draw the sides in to cover the filling. Pinch to seal. Brush with butter. Sprinkle over paprika, dried oregano and sea salt.
Repeat with the other pastry.
Bake for about 45 minutes until the pastry is nice and golden and crisp to touch. Rest for about 15 minutes before serving {Warning: the filling can be very hot. Please exercise caution especially if serving to kids}
“It is the present that matters and how well we live it.
And the future, we need not worry. It is what we make of it!” Nos.tal.gia
Plum Ice Cream {eggless}. I knew I’d need more pink this October. Remember when I said I had frozen plums while baking the Wholewheat Plum Frangipane Galette. It’s a feeling of nostalgia to see summer and stone fruit season end, a season I wish I could stretch; hang on to forever maybe. I do love pears and apples too, but my love for stone fruit overrides all that.
The plums sitting in the freezer were not forgotten one single day. It’s strange how you think you can freeze, store away, forget about something, or rather hope to, but that very something remains niggling in one corner of your head. These plums were like that. Frozen for just over a month, yet calling my name every moment.
I had a plum granita in mind, but the boy loves creamy ice cream more. With summer having been left far behind, creamy ice cream screams comfort and happiness. The Plum Ice Cream hit the right notes. It was delicious, fruity, sweet, hints of tart and full of natural plum goodness. It was PINK too, a really pretty shade and a great fit for Pinktober {Pink + October}, which as you might know is breast cancer awareness month.
It has been a tradition for several years to mark October with a tinge of PINKon PAB; it begins with a PINK birthday cake for Mr PAB in the beginning of October. This year we had a special Rainbow Cake for him, baked by the ‘soon to be 18‘ daughter. She had a field day dressing it up too {in pinkof course, with the pinktober ribbon in marzipan!}.
Thought I’d tie up this post with an interesting Easy Doodle Recipe Contest being hosted on Blogadda. Ahem… I thought doodling would come to me easy, but I have to admit I considered throwing the towel in too many times. All those years of doodling in school and college, notebooks full of doodles instead of notes, abandoned me. I was inspired by the daughter’s free hand doodling in her notebooks. Take a look …
… and then maybe understand why I couldn’t even share my shaky hand, embarrassing attempt! Anyhow, I tried in the spirit of competition, and in the knowledge that sharing the PINK would only help spread the message even further! With a simple, yet powerful message from the WHO, it’s never too late to know more!
Here’s my attempt at digital doodling {my freehand attempt was really bad}. The recipe is simple, fun and full of natural goodness. I hope you enjoy making this ice cream. If plums are not in season, or if you haven’t got a nice lot frozen and stashed away like me, you could always reach for other fruit. Frozen berries like raspberries, strawberries, and even blueberries would work well here.
Do taste and adjust for sweetness and balance of flavours. Plums have a tart edginess so there is no need for a dash of lime juice here. If you choose a sweeter berry, you might consider adding a tbsp or two of lime juice. And vodka would work well instead of kirsch. Alcohol doesn’t freeze, so it helps keep home made ice cream softer. Kirsch contributes to elevating fruity flavours in stone fruit ice creams, enhancing the taste beautifully. Vodka on the other hand has a neutral taste and is great for all ice creams.
Doodling is hopefully something I’ll work on in future. You can find below the Thermomix version of the ice cream as that’s how I make mine. The quantities are the same for both, only the fruit is frozen in the TM version. I also like to keep all ingredients chilled when I make ice cream. It helps quicken the freezing process!
Summary: Fruity and bursting with natural flavours, this creamy Plum Ice Cream is a wonderful way to incorporating more fruit in your diet. With simple everyday ingredients, it’s a simple make ahead dessert option. Serve with slivers of pistachios for a pop of colour!
