Vanilla Ice Cream

1 1/2 pints of whole milk
1 cup skimmed milk powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
6oz caster sugar

Put everything into a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring all the time.

As soon as the mixture begins to boil remove from the heat and pour into a bowl to cool.

Once the mixture is completely cool pour into your ice-cream maker for the specified length of time. With my machine I have to finish the freezing process in the freezer. This entailed me pouring my mixture into a freezeable container and placing in the fridge. Every hour I went in and stirred up the mixture woth a whisk, just to break up the ice crystals. I did this about 3 times before letting it freeze completely.

If you don't have a machine then you will need to do all the freezing in the freezer, just make sure you give it a stir every hour or so as it freezes, just to keep it smooth!

This ice-cream was great and I am very pleased, I think I will use it as a base for other flavours (as well as on its own!).

Raspberry And Blueberry Roll

Ingredients 30g cocoa powder 40g self-raising flour , plus extra for dusting 1/2 tsp baking powder 3 large eggs 50g caster sugar Icing Sugar for dusting Filling 1 punnet raspberries 1 Punnet blueberries 142ml double cream

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line a 15x20cm swiss roll tin with baking parchment, butter and dust with cocoa.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa into a bowl. Beat the eggs and caster sugar with an electric mixer until thick, pale and trebled in volume, about 8 minutes. Fold in the flour mix with a large metal spoon - the less air you squash the better, so do this carefully but quickly. Pour into the tin, tipping the tin as your pour so the batter is even. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until firm to the touch.
3. Cool the sponge for 2 minutes then turn it out onto a piece of baking parchment dusted with caster sugar. Peel off the lining paper and roll the sponge up using the paper underneath. It may crack a bit but don't worry. Cool.
4. Whisk the double cream until it is stiff.
5. Gently unroll the sponge and dot the raspberries and blueberries over then cover with the cream. Spread out gently. Reroll the roulade as tightly as you can, using the paper to help you, without squashing out the filling.
6. Dust the top with the icing sugar. Use a few of the reaspberries and blueberries to decorate.

I know I said that all the posts would be healthy from now on but I had to just slip this great pudding into the mix!! It is so light all your guests will have room! And they will definately be after seconds!!

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Lime and Honey Parfait with Seasonal Fruits

Ingredients 3 limes, juicy 125ml clear honey 3 egg whites 120ml whipping cream For the summer berries: 2 limes 400g Raspberries 100ml clear honey 200g Blackberries 200g Blueberries

Method

1. First make the parfait. Using a fine bladed grater, remove the zest from the limes. Juice the limes, then reserve the zest and juice together.
2. In a small, heavy-based saucepan, boil the honey for 3 minutes, until the honey begins to caramelise. Add in two-thirds of the lime juice and zest and boil for about a minute. If you have a sugar thermometer the temperature should be 121ºC.
3. While the honey is boiling, use an electric mixer to whisk the egg whites in a mixing bowl to very firm peaks.
4. Pour the hot honey and lime mixture, in a slow steady steam, onto the beaten egg whites, whisking continually. Be careful to incorporate the egg whites evenly, taking care that the mixture does not harden around the edges of bowl. Continue whisking until the mixture is cool.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the whipping cream until firm but not hard.
6. Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg white mixture along with the remaining fresh lime juice and zest. Be careful not to over-mix as you will lose volume.
7. Divide the mixture into six 150ml ramekins or one large container and freeze for at least six hours.
8. To make the summer berries, squeeze the juice of 1 lime. Liquidise one punnet of raspberries with the honey and lime juice. If the mixture is a little thick, just add a few tablespoons of water.
9. Strain the raspberry mixture through a sieve into large bowl and toss in the second punnet of raspberries, the blackberries and the blueberries.
10. To serve, spoon the berry mixture into six bowls. Dip the bottoms of the parfait moulds into hot water, turn the frozen parfaits out and place each parfait in the centre of each berry-filled bowl.
11. Finely zest the second lime and scatter the lime zest over each portion, then, finally squeeze over a little lime juice over each dessert and serve at once.

This was very light but very limey! I made it as one large block, rather than the seperate ramekins. It was very much like a sorbet type sensation, very cold and fresh followed by a strong citrus blast!! It was great with the summer berries!

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Baked Toffee Apple Tart

Ingredients: Sweet Shortcrust Pastry 3-4 Cooking Apples 2 x 400g tins of Condensed Milk 120g butter, melted 4 tblsps golden syrup Icing sugar to dust Brown sugar, for topping

Method

1. Roll out pastry and line an 11 inch tart mould. Place in freezer for an hour.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180oC.
3. Remove tart mould from freezer and bake blind for 15 minutes.
4. Peel, core and slice your apples. Dust with icing sugar and set to the side.
5. Combine condensed milk, butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cook, whisking, for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
6. Pour over the cooked tart base. Arrange the apple slices on top and pour over any juices, sprinkle with brown sugar.
7. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes. Cover with greaseproof paper to prevent the apples burning, you can remove it towards the end of the cooking to allow them to brown a little.
8. Serve warm with cream or ice-cream.

This creates a very thick layer of caramel so you may wish to reduce the amounts according to taste (or increase them!). This was another success! A nice variation on the traditional apple pie.

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Pear and Blackberry Crumble

Ingredients

Four pears, medium - large
120g blackberries
handful of sultanas
1/3 cup sugar

Flour
Butter
Brown Sugar

Want to give it a go? Download the .pdf version, easier than writing it out!!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oc.
2. Peel the pears and cut them into chunks. Place in an oven proof dish with the sultanas, blackberries and sugar. You may wish to add a little water if your pears are not that juicy.
3. Cover and put into the oven for 30minutes (longer if you want softer fruit).
4. Make the crumble topping with plain flour, brown sugar and butter. Place all the ingredients together in a bowl and rub with your fingers to create fine breadcrumbs. Make enough to cover the top of your fruit 1-2 cm deep.
5. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the fruit, return to the oven, uncovered for a further 15 minutes. You may wish to use the grill to really make the crumble mixture golden.
6. Serve warm with cream.

I am sorry that the ingredient amounts are a bit vague for this one, but I made it up as I was going along. We have a pear tree and some bramble bushes in our back garden and I have kept meaning to try this but never got round to it!! I was very pleased with the result and I hope you all have a go yourselves...

Remember - if you are using very fresh fruit, particularly blackberries, make sure you wash them well first... beasties love 'em!

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Shortcrust Pastry - Sweet

Ingredients

• optional: 1 vanilla pod
• 125g/4½oz butter
• 100g/3¾oz icing sugar
• a small pinch of salt
• 255g/9oz flour
• zest of ½ a lemon
• 2 egg yolks, preferably free-range or organic
• 2 tablespoons cold milk or water

Method

• Score down the length of the vanilla pod, if using, and remove the seeds (keep the pod for making vanilla sugar).
• Cream together the butter, icing sugar and salt and then rub in the flour, vanilla seeds, lemon zest and egg yolks.
• When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk or water. Pat and gently work the mixture together until you have a ball of dough, then flour it lightly.
• Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.

When you need to use the pastry remove from the fridge and use straight away. Alternatively, you can freeze this pastry for later use.

Chocolate Caramel Slices

Ingredients Base: 170g digestive biscuits, crushed 60g butter, melted 250g milk or dark chocolate for the topping

Caramel: 400g condensed milk 2 tablespoons golden syrup 60g butter, melted

Want to give it a go? Download the .pdf version, easier than writing it out!!

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180oC and grease and line an 18cm baking tin (square).
2. Combine the digestive biscuits and butter together. Press firmly into the base of the tin.
3. Combine all the ingredients of the caramel in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cook, whisking, for 8 minutes or until golden. Pour over the biscuit base.
4. Bake for 12 minutes or until firm, cool completely, then refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours or until set.
5. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Pour over the caramel and return to the refrigerator until set. Cut into 16 pieces.

This makes, as you can see from the picture, slices with a large quantity of caramel work the numbers yourself to vary the caramel to chocolate to base ratio!
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Blueberry & Mango Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 150g Reduced fat digestives
• 75g butter
• 4tsp powdered gelatin
• 250ml orange & mango juice
• 2tbsp fruit sugar
• 250g curd cheese (quark)
• 200g light soft cheese
• 1/2 mango
• 50g blueberries

Method

1. Crush the biscuits finely and melt the butter. Mix the butter and biscuits together and press intot he bottom of a loose bottomed 18-20 cm tin,
2. Chill.
3. Placew 150ml of the orange and mango juice in a bol and sprinkle over the powdered gelatin. Leave for 5 mins until it has swollen. Place the bowl over a simmering pan of water until the liquid is hot and the gelatin has dissolved. Stir in the remaining juice.
4. Mix the fruit sugar, quark and cream cheese together until smooth, then whisk in the mango and orange juice mixture.
5. Pour into the tin and leave to set for 2 hours.
6. Remove fromt he fridge and decorate with mango slices and blueberries.

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Blackcurrant Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 150g tub cream cheese , beaten
• 100g blackcurrant conserve
• 5-6 shortbread biscuits, crumbled into chunks
• 1 plump vanilla pod
• 300ml full-fat milk
• 300ml double cream
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 4 egg yolks

Method

1. Place a container in the freezer. Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape the seeds out with the point of the knife and tip into a pan with the milk, cream and pod. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for at least 20 mins. For the best flavour, this can be done a few hours beforehand and left to go cold (see tips, below).
2. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together for a few minutes until they turn pale and fluffy. Put the vanilla cream back on the heat until it's just about to boil. Stir in the cream cheese then carefully sieve the liquid onto the yolks, beating with the whisk until completely mixed.
3. At this point, get a large bowl of iced water and sit a smaller bowl in it. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook on the lowest heat, stirring slowly and continuously, making sure the spoon touches the bottom of the pan, for about 10 mins until thickened (see rules, below). Strain the custard into the bowl sitting in the iced water and leave to cool, then churn until scoopable (see methods, below).
4. Sandwich layers of the ice cream in the container with large dollops of blackcurrant conserve and chunks of biscuit. Freeze until solid.

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Chocolate Sponge

Ingredients Cake: 225g plain flour 50g cocoa powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 eggs, large 100g softened butter 1 tblsp lemon juice 250g castor sugar 250 ml milk

Butter Icing Filling: 215g icing sugar 100g soft butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC. Grease and line a round cake tin, 22 cm, deep, cake tin.
2. Stir the lemon juice into the milk. Put the butter and half the sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the rest of the sugar. SIft the flour, soda and cocoa powder together.
4. Beat in half the milk and fold in half the flour. Add the rest of the milk and then the rest of the flour. Mix until smooth.
5. Pour the mixture into the cake tina nd bake for one hour. Remove fromt he oven and cool completely.
6. Cream together the icing sugar and butter. If you want you can add vanilla essence or another flavouring to the icing.
7. When the cake is cool cut in half and spread the icing over one half. Replace the top. Sprinkle some ising sugar over the cake to decorate.

We actually found that this particular cake tasted better the second day, it seemed to appreciate some breathing time. But it was great on the day, I cheated a wee bit and put the icing on before the cake had completely cooled so we had a nice warm chocolate cake...

yum yum!!

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