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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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. 

Peach cobbler

Summer in delhi feels like one of two things: Either you’re baking inside an oven or melting in the humidity. There are also exactly only 2 good things about summer.

Vacations. Lucky for me, I got to get out of hot , hot delhi and spend a week in Simla and then Thailand. New things I’ve eaten this month: Mango sticky rice, Rambutan, eggplant gyozas and a tiramisu magnum bar. You might have seen lots of this on instagram, in addition to pictures of me drinking beer (a rarity!!) and kicking sand around on the beach.

Coming back home to delhi would’ve been a huge downer if it wasn’t for Ben overreacting to my homecoming. Close second to seeing ben is the only other great part about summer in Delhi - the ripe juicy summer stone fruit. My fridge is stocked with the juiciest alphonso mangoes, himalayan cherries, peaches, apricots, litchis and watermelon. p o s s i b i l i t i e s.

Here is a summer dessert wishlist of sorts: Vanilla ice cream with frozen litchis. Mango Ice cream. Cherry muffins. Watermelon popsicles. Apricot jam. Cherry pie. Peaches and cream. 

Last year, I made a peach cobbler for Better Home and Gardens Magazine (july 2016 print issue). Delicious, fuzzy, juicy peaches, baked with a crumble on top and eaten warm with ice cream of choice of course (I’d recommend ginger Ice cream)!  

Here is the recipe, guys!

For the peach filling:

450 g sliced peaches
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cointreu
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the crust:

1/2 cup flour
60 g butter
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder 3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp almond meal

1 pint Ginger Ice cream

Process:

Place the sliced peaches in a saucepan over low-medium heat. 
Add the lemon juice, sugar, cointreau and vanilla extract.
Stir constantly and cook until the peaches are soft.
Pour the peach mixture into a baking dish and set aside
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Stir well.
Mix in the flour, baking power and almond meal and combine with a spoon, until a sticky dough is formed.
slowly add in the milk and mix until fully combined.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter on top of the peaches in the baking dish.
Continue until the peaches are covered with the batter.
Don’t worry if there are any gaps. 
Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.
When done, remove from oven and let it cool
 Serve with a scoop of ginger ice cream