Blackberry Ice Cream

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Its no secret that i am not a summer person. When you’re younger, you’re tricked into thinking summer is awesome because it means 2 long lazy months of school vacation, waking up late, traveling to exotic locations and eating ridiculous amounts of ice cream. Enter adult life. Now i can barely manage a week’s window to get away for an exotic vacation, if at all i can afford exotic. In your twenties, exotic is just expensive and Delhi is sticky.

The good news is that the one great thing about summer - Ice Cream - comes in a million flavours and therefore, mathematically defeats all of Delhi’s awful summer tantrums. Ice cream and summer are nearly synonymous, although my personal belief is that Ice cream can and should be eaten any season of the year. Rich, luxurious, creamy ice cream complemented by the cold, fluffy feeling on your tongue the moment you start eating; you don’t really need a season for that - you don’t even need to have it after a meal - another myth we’re fed as children, the typical ‘don’t eat ice cream before dinner’ advise.

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This blackberry ice cream is fantastic. I found the recipe on Food 52, the most trusty place on the internet for food lovers

It’s a no-cook ice cream which means no eggs and you don’t need to make a custard. PLUS, it’s literally one step. Literally. ONE STEP. Plus it’s pretty

Ingredients: 

1 can milkmaid condensed milk 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream 

1 1/2 cups milk 

2 cups strained pureed blackberries (see note) 

3 tablespoons lemon juice 

pinch of salt

special equipment: you will need an ice cream churner.

Blend the blackberry puree together with the heavy cream, milk, lemon juice and condensed milk thoroughly till it forms a smoothie-like consistency. 

Refrigerate in the blender itself, for about 3 hours 

Churn in a frozen ice cream machine container for about 45 - 60 minutes (depending on your ice cream churner instructions) 

When churned, quickly transfer the ice cream into a container put in the freezer for at least 6 hours. 

And its ready - how EASY was THAT?!

Note: I used frozen blackberries, and pureed them in a Vitamix, then strained them over a mesh strainer. You should have 2 cups measured after the straining. If it is too frozen to form a smooth puree, add the milk at this stage.

P.S - This is part of my #projectXicecream series, where I’m making SO MUCH FREAKING ICE CREAM this summer.

to see it all!

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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. 

Peppermint chocolate almond bark

Things are getting very very busy as I prep to leave for Uni in a couple of months, and so the newest development in my life is that I have started meditating in the mornings and running in the evenings, which might seem a little contradictory in nature but it actually functions like a very well balanced see saw of energy and calm. (Does that make sense ?) Meditation is everything it promises to be - peaceful, satisfying, humbling and remindful of the fact that no matter how much is on your (my) plate, there’s still some space for more. 

Speaking of satisfying feelings, there is something really soothing about tempering chocolate. If you haven’t done it before, it is a little bit tricky and demands precision but it’s also very quick to learn and fun to practice. This chocolate almond bark was (as always) a last minute, unplanned thing and came out of my sudden urge to up the fancy on another dessert. You can make it in under 15 minutes, then let it harden, break it in shards and use it an embellishment on a cake or any other dessert or an ice cream sundae, and so on; be creative! 

It also opens a window of options - i made my mine with sea salt and pralined almonds, but you could use hazelnuts, cranberries, coconut, or a whole bunch of other things. Imagine there are no rules, so use whatever is in your pantry and tastes good with chocolate! The only rule-ish advice is, use good (GREAT) quality cooking chocolate. Since chocolate is basically the entirely of what you’re making, use the best quality you can. I recommend Valrohna or Ghirardelli. For this particular recipe I used Ghirardelli 70% Chocolate - my favourite ! 

Ingredients:

200 g cooking chocolate
2 tsp peppermint oil
1 cup pralined almonds, slightly crushed
sea salt 

Process:

Line your oven pan with tightly with cling wrap and keep aside
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water
Use a wood spatula to mix and stir as it melts. 
Remove from heat when melted completely & add 2 tsp of peppermint oil and stir
Pour into the prepared pan and sprinkle with pralined almonds (or nuts of your choice) and sea salt
Refrigerate till hardened completely
Break into pieces and store in a cool dry place or in the fridge if you live in a warm climate like I do!