The dessert project

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.

My social media feed is flooded with #NationalIceCreamDay rage. While it is SUPER AWESOME to see so much ice cream on my feed, I’d just like to point out that in Delhi, EVERY DAY of SUMMER is national ice cream day. If you saw the Ice cream day live story on snapchat today, you’ll agree that snapchat has totally NAILED IT, capturing the real essence of ice cream in all it’s melty, drippy, summery glory. over-the-top ice cream cones, extra toppings, running toward the ice cream truck, and the emergency that befalls when the Ice cream has run out!!! Also, the little kid in purple jumping / running toward the ice cream is all of us through the months of april till september.

You may have noticed that I’m making a SHIT TON of ice cream this summer, on a little instagram series that Im calling #projectXIcecream because how else are you supposed to beat the heat in Delhi?! One of my experiments as a part of this erm… project (?) is no-churn ice cream. I am deeply and wholly committed to my ice cream churner and it is by far my favourite appliance - but if you don’t have one, don’t freak out! There are ways, and incredible little tips and techniques that can result in absolutely life-changing ice cream.

Such as this cookies and cream ice cream. It is exactly what it promises to be - crushed chunks of oreo cookies mixed into vanilla ice cream aka a way for kids to eat the two most indulgent and comforting sugary foods - cookies and ice cream - together. So OBVIOUSLY this is pure genius and we all owe a lot to the guys who came up with this incredible flavour - whoever they are.

This is a no-cook (eggless), no-churn ice cream which took me a couple of attempts to perfect because i was grappling with ice cream to cookie ratio and also trying to figure out how i feel about the sugar content. (It may not sound like it’s right up there with laboratory research, but it is science, i swear!).

This ice cream doesn't require an ice cream machine to make it - instead, the cream is whipped over an ice bath and folded into the mix - a technique that does a somewhat similar job to an ice cream churner. The recipe calls for using only a few ingredients and it’s best not to create your own substitutions and omissions without due research. Every ingredient is important - for example - a tablespoon of bourbon has SUPER special role in ice cream texture because it doesn’t allow the ice cream to freeze too hard, because alcohol doesn’t freeze! I learnt this not long ago thanks to David Leibovitz …and chemistry. So your ice cream stays creamy and soft and scoopable (thats a word right?).

I tried to record a video of this to explain the process visually, but not-so-surprisingly, i messed up something on my camera with my sticky, milkmaidy fingers and it did NOT turn out as planned at all. Reminder to self to be more organised / find my tripod/ charge camera battery/ maybe buy one of those remote thingys from which i can operate the camera without being next to it/ and most importantly, focus on one creative process at a time. And to breathe.

Anyway,

here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

500 ml heavy cream

1 can condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp bourbon

2 packets crushed oreos (cream filling removed)

In a large mixing bowl, stir condensed milk, vanilla and bourbon

In a separate bowl, whisk the heavy cream over an ice bath using an electric mixer.

When stiff peaks are formed, gently fold the heavy cream into the condensed milk mixture

fold in crushed oreo bits

Pour into a tin of the appropriate size.

Cover with loose cling wrap so that it lightly touches the top surface of the ice cream. This will prevent it from forming icy crystals on top.

Freeze for 6 - 8 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!

Notes:

The cream should be kept refrigerated before hand. I use amul fresh cream. Although the pack mentions the volume, it’s best to use a measuring cup and measure the exact quantity. Also, if the cream has watery bits, drain those out. You should have 500 ml of thick cream.

Prepare an ice bath by taking lots of ice in a large dish (a roasting pan or baking tray). Also add a little rock salt to the ice if possible (not essential but it helps). The rock salt helps to lower the temperature of the ice, making it even colder. Place your bowl of cream on this salty ice bath and whisk at high speed using a handheld electric mixer. It may take some time for the cream to become fluffy, so be patient!

If you don’t like your ice cream to be too sweet, start by using only 3/4th of the milkmaid can. Check the taste and add more condensed milk if you want it sweeter.