Mango Ice cream coconut crepes

Chicago is finally warm and my new place actually feels like home - a stark contrast from my old apartment: a walk up with creaky floors, barely any furniture, no air condition (not that i needed it) and too much empty space. This place is smaller and homier and I actually have a TV and a plant! The kitchen is even tinier than the last one but has more storage and a dishwasher(!). You know you’re ‘adulting’ when you are grateful for your dishwasher and get excited to buy coasters. 

But the best part of it all is the location. Evanston is beautiful and quaint but so quiet, almost too peaceful.  I love the sounds of the city. I can hear them all the way up here on the 11th floor. I’m also pretty certain that this street has the most number of people with dogs which is amazing.

We celebrated the first week of moving in with everything that screams celebration: champagne, takeout from The Halal Guys, Sprinkles cupcakes and 7 whole days of binge watching Stranger Things with 4 pints of Jeni’s ice cream laid out in front of us. 

Ice cream is one of those things that can be as luxurious or as easygoing as you want to make it. It’s fuss free in that you only need a pint and a spoon and nothing else, except maybe a friend to share the guilt with or a movie. It can also be an expression of art in its plating, and creativity of flavors. You could go to Fig & Olive and have their delicious olive oil quenelle with a pistachio honeycomb brittle and chocolate dust. But also, you can open a pint of Jeni’s gooey butter cake ice cream on the couch. In all its forms, ice cream is worthy of the glory. 

A little while ago I made mango ice cream and served it to my grandmother (who, by the way, has high standards and is generally a dessert-rejector) with crepes. The recipe combines a few components but feel free to make just the ice cream if your family is easier to please ! :P

Mango ice cream

Ingredients: 

• 2 large mangoes (alphonso)

• 1 can condensed milk (You can use less than 1 full can if your mangoes are already too sweet)

• 220 ml cream (refrigerated)

Process:

• Take the flesh of 2 large, ripe mangoes and puree it.

• Pass it through a mesh strainer to get rid of the fibrous bits.

• Pour 1 can condensed milk into a large bowl and mix in the pureed mango and set aside.

• Create an ice bath in a tray. You can do this just by putting lots and lots of ice in the tray. Place a large mixing bowl in the ice bath.

• Pour 220 ml heavy cream into the bowl and whip to stiff peaks using an electric whisk.

• Fold the whipped cream into the mango-condensed milk mixture using a spatula.

• Pour the mixture in a dish and wrap in cling wrap. Set in the freezer for about 8 hours or overnight.

For the crepes, I used this recipe. 

Serve ice cream with crepes,  and drizzle with lime caramel and toasted coconut flakes. 

Pumpkin pie

I’m in Chicago - it’s new, exciting, scary all at the same time! Chicago is big and exciting just like you’d expect it to be. Tall buildings, beautiful lake, the works. But Evanston - the suburb where I really live - is a tiny, cute little town where things close early and buildings are old and creaky (at least, my apartment building is). It’s literally one Luke’s Diner short of being exactly like Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls binge watchers will know). 

Last week I went to a baking class. I feel like I need to share this pumpkin pie recipe with you all because it is amazing. Disclaimer: I’m a shameless, proud, pumpkin lover - in this old post, I might have mentioned that I would use pumpkin spice candles, bath salts, whatever you give me. But even if you are one of those pumpkin loathing people who think the internet has blown the pumpkin fad out of proportion and cringe at pumpkin shower cream variety of consumers like me, you will still love this recipe. Enough said. 

PIE CRUST:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup all vegetable shortening

3 to 6 tablespoons ice cold water

Blend flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture using pastry blender or fork. Stir in just enough water with fork until dough holds together.

Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, do not add additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful, until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together.

Shape dough into a ball for single pie crust. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes or refrigerator for 30 minutes. Roll dough from center outward into a circle about 2-inches wider than pie plate on lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to pie plate. Trim edges of dough leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold edge under. Flute dough as desired.

FILLING:

One 15 ounce can of pumpkin

One 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

One 9 inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 435 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish with whipped cream. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator. 

Sacher torte for world chocolate day

Happy world chocolate day! To celebrate, here are some random musings about chocolate that I tend to have while browsing pinterest, cooking, or generally just living. 

For me, chocolate is extremely nostalgic. I think the first time I saw chocolate as not just chocolate but CHOCOLATE was while reading Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory as an eight year old. I’ve never wanted to eat chocolate more. Until I saw the film. 

Chocolate pudding was the highlight of my childhood. It was one of the limited selection of desserts that did the rounds on our dinner table over the week and I preferred it so much over vanilla custard, fruit cream, stewed peaches, which were few of the others. When i started baking, a couple of years ago, I saw a recipe for ‘chocolate pots de creme’ and I realised it’s nothing more than the chocolate pudding from the 90s! I will always call it chocolate pudding, the more honest, more humble name for the fancy pots de creme. 

Now, I’m a dark chocolate over milk chocolate person, I dream of godiva truffles and ghirardeli 70% chocolate bars and not willy wonka ones, I’m a huge sucker for liquor in my chocolate, or coffee, or sea salt. My mom’s 2-minute chocolate cake is still my favorite but this is a close second.

A sacher torte is essentially a rich, 2-layer chocolate cake,  with apricot jam in between and a dark chocolate glaze on top. YUMMY. A friend sent me some homemade apricot jam and so I gave it a shot! I’ve made many chocolate cakes in my life and I can’t say i’ll ever not like a chocolate cake to be fair but this one really…takes the cake ?! 

You decide - here’s the recipe: adapted from Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Ingredients: 

For the cakes: 
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
45 g unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup boiling water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
150 g flour
200 g sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
140 g unsalted butter
A jar of apricot jam 

For the chocolate cream glaze: 
250 g bittersweet cooking chocolate
1 cup cream

Process: 

Preheat your oven to 180 ˚ Celcius and line two 7-inch cake tins with greased parchment*  
To make the cakes, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. 
Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla & eggs. Beat again. 
Mix the cocoa powder and boiling water in a bowl and stir until smooth. Add to the batter. 
Lastly, with the mixer on low speed, add the flour one spoonful at a time. 
Divide the batter equally in two pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 
Let the cakes cool before inverting onto a wire rack. The cakes will be very tender so be careful and gentle. 
Take one layer of the cake and spread apricot jam on top. Place the second layer on top of the bottom layer. 
Place the cake on a wire rack with a tray underneath. 

To make the glaze, melt the chocolate over a bain marie or in 30 second spurts in the microwave. Add the cream and whisk until smooth. 
Gradually pour the warm glaze on top until it fully covers the cake. Decorate with raspberries, cherries or leave as it is. 
Let it cook on the rack and then refrigerate until ready to serve - or eat right away!