We all scream for ice cream!

Earlier this summer I bought an ice cream maker. When I received my Cooking Club magazine a few weeks ago and saw that it had ice cream recipes, I decided it was time to test it. Instead of making the ice cream with buttermilk and half-and-half, I only used evaporated milk. I've made two different batches. The first batch I made was peach-mango and the second batch I made strawberry rum raisin. The strawberry rum raisin was inspired by the Häagen-Dazs rum raisin ice cream.

Homemade peach-mango ice cream

3 medium sized peaches, chopped
1/2 mango, chopped
1 can of evaporated milk
1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Pulse ingredients, then blend until smooth. The mixture will be thick. Transfer to ice cream maker container and place in refrigerator or freezer to chill. Make ice cream following manufacture's directions. Since the mixture is thick, it will freeze into a consistency that is thicker than soft serve, but will become hard when placed in the freezer. (If you prefer hard ice cream, just transfer it to the freezer after it has gone through the ice cream maker.)

Adapted from Cooking Club Magazine Summer 2013

Homemade strawberry rum raisin ice cream

1 16oz container of strawberries, chopped
1 can of evaporated milk
14 tablespoons of granulated sugar*
1/2 cup white rum
1 cup of raisins*

Soak raisins in the rum for at least one hour. While raisins are soaking, blend ingredients and transfer to ice cream maker container. Chill in refrigerator or freezer. Make ice cream following manufacture's directions on your machine. When the ice cream is ready, mix the raisins in. Because of the alcohol, the ice cream may not be completely frozen. This ice cream will remain soft ,the consistency of a thick milkshake,--it will not freeze into a hard block.You can also reduce the amount of rum or add it during the final minutes of churning in order to have a harder ice cream.

*The amount of sugar can be adjusted to your taste. The raisins can also be omitted or the amount reduced.

Housewarming Garden Cupcakes

I went to a housewarming party a while ago and decided to bring cupcakes. I spent the week before the party thinking about what kind of cupcakes would be appropriate for the occasion and went as far as googling "Housewarming cupcakes". I was inspired by the host talking about her plants and I decided to model the cupcakes after them.

The dirt was made by using chocolate sandwich cookies (with the cream scraped off) that were crushed in a food processor. I frosted the cupcakes with buttercream, then dipped the cupcake into the cookie powder.

The strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, daffodils, and calla lilies were made from fondant.

The fondant recipe I use is the Snowman Mints recipe from the American Girl Magazine. I replaced the mint extract with almond, but feel free to use vanilla. I use almond extract for my frosting and fondant because it is clear and therefore will not affect the color of the final product.

Fondant Recipe

1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon softened butter
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup of powdered sugar

Mix the first three ingredients in a bowl with a fork. It is important that the butter is soft otherwise it will not mix well with the corn syrup. When these ingredients are a smooth paste, slowly add the powdered sugar. It will become difficult to mix with a fork, so knead the fondant with your hands. If the fondant is too soft, just add a little more powdered sugar.  To tint the fondant, break off a piece you wish to tint. Flatten it a bit with your hands. Using a toothpick dipped into the food coloring of choice, add the color to the fondant. Fold it in half and start kneading the fondant until the color has been evenly distributed. A warning, your hands and fingers may be dyed by the food coloring - it depends on which color your are using and how dark you tint the fondant. You can wear gloves to dye the fondant (a fold top sandwich bag also works).

Strawberries

Using red fondant, (or as red as you can make it), form the strawberries. First, make a small ball. Then, flatten it slightly and pinch the bottom to make a triangle shape. With a toothpick, poke the fondant to make the seeds of the strawberry. Don't poke too hard or you will distort the shape. Let the strawberries dry on wax paper. Since the strawberries are small, they will only take a few minutes. To decorate the cupcake, arrange the strawberries on top, then using green icing pipe a vine connecting them (tip #3). You can add leaves with tip #67 and pipe directly on the strawberry because the icing will not stick to crushed cookies.

Peppers

To make the chocolate trellis, I melted Candy Melts in a disposable pastry bag and piped the melted chocolate onto wax paper lined baking sheet and refrigerated them until they were hard.

For the peppers, you can use red, orange, or green fondant. Roll the fondant into a thin log. Break off a piece in the size you would like and bend the end into a "J" shape. Dry on wax paper.

Remove a trellis from the wax paper and place the tray back into the fridge to keep the remain ones cold. Place it on the cupcake. Pipe vines using green frosting and tip #3. Attach the peppers with frosting.


Lettuce & Tomatoes

To make the tomatoes, roll small balls of red, orange, or green fondant. Add a trellis to a cupcake, pipe vines on it, and attach the tomatoes with frosting.

Using green fondant, roll a small ball. Make another, smaller ball and flatten it with your finger tips. This is a lettuce leaf. Press it on to the ball. Continue making leaves and attaching them around the ball, overlapping them at the edges. After making the first row, make the leaves in the second row bigger than the first and flare them outward when you attach them to the first.

Daffodils

Using this Youtube video by Paul Bradford as a guide, I made daffodils from fondant. First, I rolled out yellow fondant and cut out stars using a star cookie cutter from the Wilton Course 3 class. I then placed the stars on wax paper in a flower former.

To make the corona, form a short wide cylinder with orange fondant. Use a toothpick to make a hole, then place a clean tip#3 in the hole and wiggle it to widen it. Press the fondant around the tip. Remove the fondant from the tip. Attach the orange fondant to the yellow star using a dab of water. Push down on the top of the corona to cause it to flare out.

Calla Lilies

I followed the Wilton directions with some modifications. I did not put the heart shaped fondant on a thin foam to thin out the edges. When it was on the cone, I rolled the edges up with my fingertips to get the same effect. For the spadix (center), I rolled a piece of yellow fondant into a thin cone shape. To make the yellow colored sugar just add a bit of food coloring to regular sugar. It's best to use the food coloring paste instead of the liquid because of the amount of liquid you may need to use to achieve the color you want. I also did not make the green calyx.

To make the flowers I (mostly) followed the directions from the book Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse  by Kaye Hansen and Liv Hansen.

Daisies

Using tip #104 (or #103) with the wide end of the tip facing up and starting from the outside, pipe a petal. Rotate the cupcake and pipe another petal perpendicular to the first. Rotate the cupcake and repeat until you have four petals.

Next, pipe four more petals. Start from between 2 petals.

To finish the daisy, continue piping halfway between two petals until the top of the cupcake is covered in petals.

Make a small disk from yellow fondant and place it in the middle of the daisy and push down slightly.








 
Sunflowers

Using tip #67 or #68, start from the middle of the cupcake and pipe outwards to make a petal.

After you make the first layer of petals, pipe a second row on top in the spaces between the petals.

For the center, use some of the ground chocolate cookies and carefully sprinkle them in the middle of the cupcake.

Hyadrangea

Instead of piping each individual petal using tip #102 or #103 I decided to use the drop flower tip 2D. I piped swirled drop flowers all over the top of the cupcake. Technically these aren't hydrangeas because they have 5 petals instead of 4....but they still look nice!

Lemon Souffle in Lemons

I was browsing a friend's Pinterest that is devoted to food, delicious looking food. I now have a summer project--to cook things from that enticing board. First thing I chose was Martha Stewart's Little Lemon Souffles: http://www.marthastewart.com/315439/little-lemon-souffles.

I adjusted the recipe to use 6 lemons instead of 8. I'm pretty sure they weren't Meyer lemons, but they were large and they still worked.

6 large lemons, preferably Meyer
2 large eggs, separated
a little less than 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

First, I cut the tip off of the lemons so they could sit on a baking sheet. To make the designs on the lemons, I used a zester. For a couple of the lemons I started at my cut site and slowly worked my way around the lemon in a spiral until I reached the other side. (I ended up with a really long string of lemon zest that could be used for a garnish.) For some of the others, I worked from the bottom to the top in longitudinal lines. I started by making 2 lines, one across from the other. Then I rotated the lemon and repeated so that I had four equally spaced lines. I continued by making new lines between two previous lines until I ran out of space. I also experimented with combining longitudinal and latitudinal lines but that did not look nearly as nice as all longitudinal or a spiral.

After zesting the lemon, I cut the top off to expose the flesh. Then I cut the pulp out by cutting in a circle at an angle. The top will be wider than the bottom. It may take a few more cuts, but the pulp should come out in a cone shape. Next I used a butter curler to scrape the rest of the pulp out into a strainer.

 

 

 

Butter Curler (left) and zester (right)

I placed the hollowed out lemons on a baking sheet covered with a sheet of foil (parchment paper works as well). I squeezed the pulp into a strainer and bowl. This recipe calls for 1/4 cup of the lemon juice to be used and the rest (in my case, a lot) to be kept for something else.

In a heatproof bowl, I combined the egg yolks, ~1/4 cup sugar, flour, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Using a handheld mixer, I beat the mixture until it was a pale yellow. Then I placed the bowl in a pot of boiling water and continued beating the mixture by hand with a whisk until it was thick. (My water was past the simmering stage which caused the lemon mixture to thicken up quickly--a couple of minutes instead of 8. I recommend against using rapidly boiling water.) After the lemon mixture was thick, I took it off the water and on to a heatproof surface (an oven mitt) and beat it with the handheld mixer until it was cool.

In another bowl, combine the egg whites and the rest of the sugar. Place the bowl in a pot of simmering water. This is really important. The water must be barely simmering or simmering - if the heat is too high, you'll end up with cooked eggs whites and sugar. Slowly heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and beat with the whisk attachment of a handheld mixer until you are a little past soft peaks. An easy way to tell what stage your egg whites are in is to stick the whisk in the egg whites (with the handheld mixer off) and then turn it upside down. If the egg whites are able to hold a peak on the whisk, then they are ready.

I used a 1/3 of the egg whites and whisked it (with the mixer) with the lemon mixture. I folded the rest of the egg whites, by hand with a spatula, into the the lemon mixture. Be careful not to mix too much otherwise you will deflate the egg whites.

Spoon the souffle mixture into the lemons. I filled my lemons and still had some leftover so I placed them in mini ramekins that were greased with butter and dusted with granulated sugar.

Everything was baked in a 350 degree preheated oven until the souffles rose and were golden brown on top. Since I filled my lemons completely, they rose quite a bit above the lemons and tipped over.

Serve these right away. Since I had made 6, plus the 2 ramekins, I had leftovers and decided to try refrigerate them. The souffle deflated when in the refrigerator but still had a nice texture and still tasted great.

Train Cake

I used the Wilton Choo-Choo pan to make a gingerbread train during the winter, so this time I decided to try out it's intended use and make a cake.  The instructions stated that I needed to fill one of the pans (the one without the hole) until it was almost full. I figured this would take about 2 boxes of cake mix so I used two different ones, chocolate and Funfetti, and alternated layering them.

I first prepared the cake batter. (Beat eggs, then add oil, then water, and lastly, cake mix) I greased both halves of the pan with vegetable shortening by using a paper towel to wipe shortening into every nook and cranny. I started the layering process with the chocolate cake batter. I poured a small amount in the pan and used a spatula to spread it evenly, adding more batter if necessary. Next, I added the Funfetti batter. I continued alternating between the two types of cake batter until the train pan was full. I placed the filled half on a baking sheet to ease the transitions to and from the oven (and to catch any possible overflow while it was baking). I placed the other half on top and moved everything into a 350F oven.

Since the cake would rise to meet the top of the pan, I wanted to make sure that the shape would still be preserved even if it rose too much. I originally planned on putting a sheet cake pan on top, but realized that it would block steam from exiting the hole in the top pan. Instead, I solved the problem using a cupcake baking tray. It was heavy enough to keep the top down, and the shape allowed the hole to remain unblocked. Cake batter came out of the side of the pan while it was baking, but sitting the cake pan on a baking sheet helped me avoid a mess in my oven.

Because of the cake's thickness, it takes a while to bake. To check on the status of the cake without risking damage to its form, you can insert a skewer into the steam hole.

When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Carefully remove the top piece. If you have greased the pan well, this should be fairly easy. After removing it, place it back on the cake and flip the pan over. Removed the other pan carefully. Replace the pan. When the cake has cooled completely, place it on your cake board.

I frosted the cake with Wilton Buttercream.

A piece of sliced cake.

 
I wanted to try something new with the excess cake batter. I got a set of cookie cutters and decided to try and make mini shaped cakes. I picked a few cookie cutters, put each on a square of aluminium foil that I had already greased with shortening, and folded up the sides of the foil to match the shape of the cookie cutter.

I removed the cookie cutter, filled each foil shape half full with cake batter, and then baked them on a baking sheet. When they were ready, I let them cool for a few minutes, then carefully peeled the foil off. 

It's best to choose distinctive shapes--after the cakes have baked, they may loose a bit of detail. In this case you can see that I had used an elephant cookie cutter but the train is a little difficult to make out.

Star Wars Cupcakes

This weekend we had Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) and today is Revenge of the Sixth. So in honor of Star Wars, I am posting directions for Star Wars cupcakes, complete with a chocolate Death Star. (These were actually birthday cupcakes I made in February.)  I used a recipe from Brown Eyed Baker for Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting.

The cupcakes are fairly straightforward (and delicious!) The only two things I substituted were the sour cream in the cupcakes and the heavy cream in the frosting. I didn't realize that I had neither item on hand so I just substituted the sour cream with strained homemade yogurt and light cream for the heavy cream. The cupcakes and the frosting still turned out well. For the frosting I used the regular beater attachments on my hand mixer. I beat the peanut butter first, then added the confectioners sugar.

To make these Star Wars cupcakes I bought an X-Wing mold from ThinkGeek. (They were available a few months ago...) I filled the molds with melted candy melts, tapped them on the counter to get rid of air bubbles, and placed them in the freezer to harden. Removing them from their molds is a bit tricky. Since the wings of the X-Wing are thinner and therefore weaker than the body, they are prone to breaking when you unmold them. If they do break off, like most of mine did, just dip the broken edge into some melted candy melts and reattach it.

To make the Death Star I used a balloon. The idea came from an episode of Dessert Circus I had seen as a kid where Jacques Torres made a chocolate Easter egg using a balloon.  First, inflate your balloon to your required size. Do not overinflate. (I can only imagine what your kitchen would look like if a balloon covered in chocolate popped.) Tie your balloon with a ribbon or string.

I first covered about 3/4 of the balloon with chocolate using a spatula. In order to make it easier to hold the balloon, I placed the uncovered part of the balloon in a cup and attached it using tape. You will need to put a layer of chocolate on the balloon, let it cool, and repeat a few times to build a thick enough layer.

After I had a thick enough layer of chocolate, I used a pastry bag to drizzled melted candy melts.

If your fridge has enough space you can place the balloon and the cup in together. If not, wait until the chocolate had completely hardened (it will no longer look glossy), then remove the tape and carefully place the balloon in bowl to chill overnight. Since I did not tie the balloon with string, I had to carefully poke several holes in the neck of the balloon to allow for it to slowly deflate. Since this method took a while, I kept it in the fridge. If the chocolate got too warm while the balloon was deflating, it would crack. Slowly but surely, the balloon deflated. After the balloon deflated enough, I carefully peeled it away from the chocolate.

 

I placed the cupcakes and the chocolate Death Star in my cupcake carrier. I then placed the Death Star on the top layer and it fit perfectly... or so I thought. I didn't realize that the reason the cupcake carrier would not snap shut was because it did not fit. So I ended up destroying the Death Star. Yay?

Tiramisu Cream Puffs

Cream puffs are a very simple and impressive dessert to make. The filling does not have to be complicated--you can whip heavy cream with sugar and vanilla extract or use your favorite pudding mix. (If you follow the basic choux pastry recipe you can even fill the cream puffs with a savory filling such as chicken or tuna salad.)

I decided to change up the recipe by trying to flavor the choux pastry.  I first tried using the International Delight cappuccino mix. I used 4 teaspoons to 1 cup of water as per the instructions. I found that you couldn't really taste it so I used strong coffee instead and the result was much better. (If you want the basic choux pastry replace the water with coffee.)

This recipe is adapted from The Creative Cooking Course edited by Charlottle Turgeon.

1 cup of  strong coffee
1/2 cup (1 stick of butter)
1 cup of sifted flour
4 tablespoons sugar
4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 450F. Heat the coffee and the butter in a medium sized pot until it boils and the butter melts. Add the flour all at once and stir quickly. A wooden spoon is best. Turn off the heat.

After mixing in the flour put the dough into a large bowl.  Beat the dough briefly with a hand mixer to cool it off slightly. (If the dough is too hot your egg could scramble when you add it in.) Add each egg, mixing well before adding the next. When all the eggs are added, you should have a smooth dough.

Using a pastry bag (or a cut ziplock bag) pipe each cream puff onto a baking sheet.** Hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet and apply even pressure to make a mound. Stop pressure and pull the bag upwards. You may end up with a peak. You can push the peak down with a wet finger so the cream puff will have a rounded top. If you leave the peak it will burn before the rest of the cream puff is cooked. (Instead of piping the cream puffs you can spoon the dough onto the baking sheet.)

You can vary the size but keep in mind the larger the cream puff, the longer it will take to bake. Bake the cream puffs for 8 minutes then turn the heat down to 350F and bake 20 to 40 minutes until the cream puffs are lightly browned. To check to see if they are done you can cut one open. If the inside is still wet, bake them longer. If the cream puffs are removed from the oven too soon or the oven door is opened too frequently, the cream puffs will fall like a souffle. If you are lucky and move quickly, they may rise back up but will have creases on the indicating that they fell.

When the cream puffs are done, move them immediately from the baking sheet to a cooling rack. Using a small knife, cut a slit into each cream puff. After the cream puffs have cooled, fill them using a #12 Wilton tip or a cut pastry bag. Stick the tip  into cream puff and squeeze the bag until filling starts to come out of the opening.

Alternatively you can cut each cream puff in half and spoon the filling into them.

I filled the cream puffs with tiramisu filling from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-tiramisu/. Instead of coffee liqueur I used Bailey's Irish Cream (a few tablespoons). For a non-alcoholic version use vanilla extract (a teaspoon or more to taste). I also replaced the marscapone cream with cream cheese.

***Note: I made cream puffs again and lined the baking sheets with parchment paper. The parchment paper facilitated the removal of the cream puffs from the baking sheet--especially if they were stuck from being a little overdone ( I tried to remove them with a spatula but then the cream puffs lost their bottoms. I used a nonstick baking sheet and did not grease it). The problem I came across was that my parchment paper was not approved for temperatures higher than 375F--which meant the edges browned a bit in the oven.

Tiramisu cream puffs with melted red Candy Melts drizzled on top.