Saturday, July 7, 2012

Creme brulee ice cream (helado de crema catalana)

Basically I made a creme brulee with this recipe from the Catalan TV:
http://www.tv3.cat/pprogrames/lacuinadelisma/cdiSeccio.jsp?seccio=recepta&idint=171
I boiled in a pot 3/4 liters of milk with a cinnamon stick and a lemon rind. Just when it started boiling, I took it out of the fire and strained it. In a bowl I mixed to a paste 7 egg yolks and 200 grams of sugar (0.89 cup). Little by little I poured the strained milk into the bowl. I boiled the contents of the bowl slowly in a double saucepan or bain marie. After stirring it for a while I poured the creme brulee into another bowl and set it in the refrigerator for half an hour. Then I added about 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and refrigerated the mix for a couple of hours. In a pan I heated some honey and a little bit of water and lightly caramelized half a cup of walnuts, letting them cool off in the refrigerator for 1 hour. I poured the mix into the ice cream maker for 25 minutes, and during the last 5 I sprinkled the caramelized walnuts inside.
The result tasted a little bit like meringue milk and had the eggy taste and texture of creme brulee. It was slightly less creamy than the normal ice creams I make but it was quite refreshing for the summer, original and well balanced as a dessert. Worthy of seconds, I will cook it again for sure this summer.


Monday, July 2, 2012

Toasted almond ice cream

Waiting for the final of the European soccer Cup, which we happily won eventually (¡viva EspaƱa!), I made a tosted almond ice cream from a Cuisinart recipe:
http://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/desserts/159.html
Following the instructions of the recipe. I toasted 2/3 cups of slivered almonds in a pan with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt. After drying it in paper towels I set the browned almonds in the refrigerator. Then I mixed in a big bowl with a hand mixer 2/3 cup of white sugar with half a cup of skimmed milk and another 1/2 cup of half and half (you can just use 1 cup of whole milk, which I lacked at the time). Then I added 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of almond extract and kept mixing. I refrigerated the mixture for a couple of hours in a tightly closed plastic container and finally I put it in the ice cream maker for 25 minutes, pouring the almonds during the last 5 minutes.
I put the finished ice cream for another 30 minutes in the freezer in a tightly closed plastic container and took it out 10 minutes before serving. The result is spectacular with sweet and salty flavours and full of the woody-bitter heart and core of the almond and refreshing creamy. A delicacy...