Coffee Ice Cream

My Cuisinart ice cream maker has been the equivalent of a car on blocks that sits in the front yard season after season. When I purchased the ice cream maker ten years ago, I had good intentions, but I rarely used it because I was unsatisfied with the texture of the ice cream it produced. I wanted an ice cream like I would find at my favorite ice cream shops. I wanted an ice cream that could be easily scooped but didn't melt into soup a minute later. I wanted an ice cream with a creamy, velvety texture, not grainy  ice crystals. I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to get quality ice cream elsewhere.

Last November Jeni Britton Bauer's book Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home inspired me to dust off the ice cream machine, and after ten years of attempting to make great homemade ice cream, I succeeded. In fact, I was so successful that I made about 12 quarts of ice cream over a one-month span.  Flavor after flavor rocked my world.  This cookbook needs to be in every kitchen in American, so do yourself a favor, and purchase a copy.  This book helped this small-brained fella understand the science behind a great scoop of ice cream.

Now I just need to convince my boss to let me go on sabbatical, so I can take the "cow to cone" ice cream short course at Penn State University.

Jeni's Coffee Ice Cream

• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese softened
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup dark-roast coffee beans coarsely ground

1. In a small bowl whisk the cornstarch with two tablespoons of milk, until you create a slurry.
2. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.  Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
3. Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a 4-quart or larger sauce pan.  Bring this to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook for 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat, add the coffee and let steep for five minutes.
4. Strain the milk/cream mixture through a sieve lined with a layer of cheesecloth.  Squeeze the coffee in the cheesecloth to extract as much liquid as possible.  Discard the grounds.
5. Return the cream mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.  Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.
6. Whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.  Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath.  Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
7. Cut one of the bottom corners off the freezer bag, and pour the ice cream base in the frozen canister. Spin until thick and creamy.  Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze for four hours

screaming for ice cream,
Muddywaters

Sweet Flamiche with Summer Berries

In this autotuned, photoshopped world, I find myself gravitating to all that is real and natural. This is my approach to fruit. Like Eve, I enjoy my fruit simply plucked off the tree or the vine. Sure, nature's bounty is great in a pie, crisp, or cobbler, but I always feel like the natural flavor sometimes is lost in its marriage with sugar. This summer I searched for a fruit dessert that wouldn't have to share billing with sugar, and I think I found it in this sweet flamiche. Flamiche is a fancy word, but don't let it or the phyllo dough scare you away from trying this dessert. It's a light, creamy, custardy dessert whose sweetness comes from the fruit. This is a dessert that showcases the fruit, which is the way it should be.

Sweet Flamiche with Summer Berries

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce unsalted butter
• 4 sheets of phyllo pastry
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 ounces sour cream
• 7 ounces mixed berries
• confectioners' sugar, to serve or whipped cream

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. You will need a heat-proof mixing bowl that will fit over a saucepan with the base of the bowl clear of the bottom of the pan. You will also need a small frying pan with an oven-proof handle.
• Place the butter in a small bowl and melt in microwave. Use a pastry brush to lightly butter the inside of the frying pan.


• Lay a sheet of phyllo pastry in the pan and brush with melted butter. Lay another sheet of pastry on top, but this time at an angle to the first sheet. brush with butter. Repeat with your remaining sheets. By laying each sheet at an angle to the previous one, you will make a rough star shape.


• Bring some water to a simmer in the saucepan - enough to come close to the bottom of the heat-proof mixing bowl when you put it on top, but not actually to touch it.


• Place the sugar and eggs in the mixing bowl and place over simmering water. Whisk the sugar and egg mixture over the heat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add half of the sour cream and whisk again, then add the remainder and whisk once more. Take the pan off the heat and carefully lift off the bowl.


• Place the frying pan line with pastry over very low heat for 5-6 minutes, until the underneath is lightly browned - you can lift the edges gently with a spatula to check how it is doing.


• Remove the pan from the heat, scatter the fruit over the pastry, and top with the egg mixture.


• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until the egg mixture has set.
• Cool slightly and dust with confectioners' sugar before serving, or you can serve a dollop of whipped cream on each slice.

PS. . . The recipe called for creme fraiche, but since I didn't have any, I used sour cream. The reciple also called for a splash of kirsch. Since I had none, I omitted it. However, I can see the benefit of having a bottle of kirsch in my liquor cabinet.

Ginger-Peach Hand Pies

I've written about my struggles with baking pastries and how I usually defer this type of baking to the experts. Since I usually leave the pastry baking to my wife, I've never baked a pie in my life, which is a damn shame considering how much I love pie. I'm the guy who rarely eats dessert at restaurants because I'm too cheap and I often consider the calories, but if I see pie on the menu, I suspend all rationale thought.

Monday I decided to confront my fears, expand my culinary repertoire, and attempt to bake a pie to celebrate National Pi Day. While pi and pie have very little in common, it's impossible to hear pi and not think of apple pie with a big dollop of ice cream.

Since I believe in taking baby steps, I used some of last summer's frozen peaches, I also used frozen pie dough and I baked little hand pies rather than a whole pie.

There are two things you need to know about hand pies: First, when you pull these cuties from the oven allow them to cool completely. Biting into a hot pie will place your taste buds on injured reserve for several weeks. I speak from experience. In fact, biting into a molten pie is such a severe form of torture that even Dick Cheney wouldn't condone its use.

Second, hand pie is not a sexual euphenism, so get your mind out of the gutter. Although I never want to hear my daughter utter the following: "After the game I gave Bubba a little hand pie."

I used frozen pie dough for my recipe, but feel free to make your own dough. Below is the recipe for the filling.

Ginger-Peach Hand Pies

Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 3 cups peeled and pitted ripe peaches cut into bite-size chunks.
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 tablespoon freshly chopped ginger

Preparation:

1. Combine the peaches and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 4 minutes.
2. In a separate small bowl, mix the orange juice, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Add to the peaches. Add ginger. Increase the heat and continue to cook, stirring, until thickened and clear, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and add nutmeg. Let cool.
3. Note: I made tiny pies, but if you want to make just four large pies, this would much easier. Spooning the filling into little pies of dough proved to be quite difficult. Divide dough into four equal pieces and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Spoon cooled filling over half of the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the edge. Moisten the edge of the pastry with a finger, then fold the empty half over the filling. Press the edges together with a fork. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate while you make the remaining pies, putting each on the sheet as it is assembled. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Remove the sheet from the refrigerator and brush each pie with a little milk. sprinkle with granulated sugar, then poke the surface of each pie 2-3 times with a fork to make steam vents. Place the sheet on the center oven rack and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperate to 375 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. If necessary for even browning, rotate the sheet 180 degrees, so that the side that faced the back of the oven now faces forward, about 10 minutes before the pies are done.
5. Transfer the pies to a wire rack and let cool before you enjoy them.
   

Pie-O-My,
muddywaters

Banana Bread Pudding with Cane Syrup

For the past few months, I've been monitoring the calories I eat. Vanity isn't driving this lifestyle change; I just want to be healthier. When I crave something sweet I reach for a piece of fruit, and this has worked well for me. When I crave something sweeter, I've started preparing desserts from a cookbook titled Small-Batch Baking by Debby Maugans Nakos. This cookbook has recipes for two-serving desserts, so instead of being faced with the temptation of a pan of brownies, I just eat my one-serving dessert to get my sugar fix, and then I can return to healthier option of eating fruits.

The recipes from this book also give me the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen without all the residual calories. I've tried a few recipes from the cookbook, and this one is my favorites:

Banana Bread Pudding with Cane Syrup

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray for ramekins
• 2 tablespoons cane syrup
• 1 large banana
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups stale wheat bread cubes
• whipped cream or vanilla or butter pecan ice cream for serving

Note: The original recipe called for twice as much cane syrup and sugar. It also called for cream, 1/4 cup chopped pecans, and white bread, but I lightened the recipe.

Preparation:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Spray two 1-cup ramekins with cooking spray. Pour 1 tablespoons of cane syrup into each ramekin, and place ramekins on a baking sheet. Set aside.


• Peel the banana and slice one third of it. Arrange the banana slices on the syrup in the ramekins.


• Cut the remaining two thirds of the banana into chunks and place them in a food processor. Add the egg, milk, brown sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and vanilla. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into a medium-size mixing bowl and stir in the bread cubes, pressing down on them to submerge them. Let the bread soak 5 minutes. If you want to add chopped nuts at this time, you may.


• Spoon the mixture into the ramekins, diving it evenly. Bake until the puddings are firm and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Removing the baking sheet from the oven, transfer the ramekins to a wire rack, and let them cook for 10 minutes.


• To serve, unmold the puddings: Run a sharp knife around the edges of the ramekins , and invert the puddings onto individual plates. Serve warm, with whipped cream or ice cream or caramel syrup or dusted with powder sugar or simply plain. Enjoy.

take care,

muddy

Baby's Got Bundt!

New Year's Day my wife declared 2010 the Year of the Bundt, and she vowed to bake a bundt a month. Illogical exuberance for the trivial is my domain, so this declaration confused me.

I'm still confused.

For the record, I don't understand the appeal of the bundt cake. At potluck dinners I gravitate towards pie, and I leave the bundt cake to the bridge-playing, Lawrence-Welk-watching crowd.

I thought my wife's passion for the bundt would die, but my daughter has now joined in the chorus singing the praises of this cake. The gospel is spreading, and the bundt spirit has overwhelmed my wife's coworkers. Yesterday I even found a bundt recipe in my daughter's cubbie. There's no escaping the presence of the bundt in my life.

I'm very worried about how big this will grow.

The following is this month's bundt:

Milky Way Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 regular-size Milky Way bars
• 4 eggs
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks butter (or margarine)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 2½ cups flour
• 1 cup buttermilk

For the glaze-

• 1 bar German sweet chocolate
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
  

1. Over low heat, melt Milky Way bars and 1 stick butter. Set aside.
   
2. Cream other stick of butter with sugar and eggs; mix well.
   
3. Add flour, baking soda, buttermilk and vanilla; stir well.
   
4. Add Milky Way mixture and beat with mixer until batter is all one color.
   
5. Pour into greased and floured Bundt-style pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
   

For the glaze:

1. In small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter with water. Combine sugar and salt and gradually stir in chocolate mixture. Add vanilla and spread on cake.