Tag Archives: dessert

Homemade Pastel Swirl Ice Cream

Did you read my Summer Bucket List? Well one of the things on there was making my own ice-cream, and while I could have made any old plain vanilla or chocolate, I went a little more colourful..

Pastel Ice Cream

It doesn’t involve a stand mixer, it doesn’t take hours of prep, and it looks and tastes amazing! You know, if I do say so myself..

1. Before you start on your ice cream mix, get yourself set up with 4-5 bowls, each containing a drop or two of gel/paste food colouring in your chosen colours – liquid colouring will not work with this recipe! Have spoons ready in each bowl, and a large loaf tin or 8 inch square tin ready too.

2. In a glass or metal bowl, whisk 500ml whipping cream until it holds peaks, but is still smooth.

3. Using a metal spoon, fold in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk – 14oz/397ml – until combined, then quickly split the mixture between the bowls with food colouring in.

4. Working fairly quickly – but without beating all the air out! – mix in the colouring until fully combined.

5. Scoop the different colours into the pan – you can layer them or dot them randomly, then use a skewer to swirl them together!

Pastel Ice Cream

6. Freeze the mixture for 6-8 hours, then scoop!

Pastel Ice Cream

You know that this would go great with? My Pastel Dreams Cheesecake!

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Baking Magic – Churro Bites

Churros are a park snacking favourite, but they’re something I’ve only myself come around to in recent years – my favourite being these adorable Mickey shaped treats from Tokyo Disney:

Tokyo Disney churros

So I decided to give them a shot, and I’ll tell you something right now: those perfectly straight churros you get in the park are damn near impossible to make in a little pan, ha! Hence, I’m calling these churro bites, cos they’re a little bit smaller and a little bit more random looking!

Making the dough is pretty easy:

  • Sift 250g plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder
  • Melt 50g butter and pour into a jug of 350ml boiling water. This is gonna look a little weird, don’t worry about it though! Also add a splash of vanilla extract
  • Make a little hole in the middle of your flour mix, and pour in the water/butter mix, then stir quickly into a sticky dough.

Baking Magic Churro Bites

Let this sit for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the oil for frying.

Prepare a tray by covering with greaseproof paper, and sprinkling this with caster sugar and a light layer of cinnamon.

Fill a large saucepan with oil, at least 1 inch deep, but not less than 2 inches from the top of the pan. You may need up to about a litre! Start to heat the oil over a high flame; it’ll take a little while, but you’ll know its ready when lots of little bubbles start appearing.

Add a large star nozzle to a piping bag, and fill with the rested dough. I recommend doing this in batches as the dough is a tad runny so will leak out of the end if too full.

Squeeze strips of dough directly into the oil, and use a pair of scissors to cut it clean from the piping bag. The dough will probably curl up and make fun little shapes, but that’s ok!

Baking Magic Churro Bites

PLEASE BE REALLY CAREFUL HERE. The oil is so hot and will bubble quite violently once the mix is in, so please mind your hands, and keep any children well away while you’re doing this.

The bites will start off at the bottom of the pan and float to the top after a little while. Once they’re brown and crisping up nicely, flip them over using tongs to give them an even fry. Once cooked, lift out using a slotted spoon or tongs, let the excess oil drip off for a second or two then pop onto your tray of sugar. Repeat the cooking in small batches of two of three bites.

Baking Magic Churro Bites

The churros will actually cool pretty quickly, so you can serve them almost immediately, but if not then let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container, and enjoy for days, yay!

What’s your favourite park treat?

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Baking Magic – The Grey Stuff

If you’re in the know on Walt Disney World secrets, you’ll know that if you dine at Be Our Guest, you can order the infamous Grey Stuff from the song itself.

Photo courtesy of Amy from http://www.paintpotted.co.uk

You also might know that there’s already a whole bunch of copycat recipes for it on the internet, but if, like me, you’ve read them all, you’ll notice that a) they’re pretty much all exactly the same and b) they all involve ‘instant vanilla pudding mix’ which is prevalent in the US, but something that we don’t really have here in the UK, so this is where this recipe has come from today; a UK friendly, real ingredient version!

The Grey Stuff Recipe

1. Melt 175g white chocolate in a bowl over hot water, or in the microwave. While its melting, crush up 4-5 oreo cookies into a fine powdery crumb, then stir half of this into the melted chocolate. Pour this into a glass bowl and set aside.

The Grey Stuff Recipe

2. In another glass bowl, whisk 2 egg whites until they’re stiff, and fold this into the chocolate mix with a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Be fairly gentle so as not to beat out all the air!

The Grey Stuff Recipe

3. Whisk 225ml double or whipping cream until fluffy and firm, then fold this into the mix and add the remaining oreo crumbs in. Looking pretty grey-t, right? (I’m hilarious)

The Grey Stuff Recipe

4. Put the mix into the fridge for about an hour to set, then scoop into a piping bag with a wide star nozzle, and pipe out onto your serving plates. Once you’re happy, get the plates back into the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

The Grey Stuff Recipe

Try it, it’s delicious!

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Friday Favourite Five – Winter Warmer Hot Drinks

I know we’re supposed to be coming out of winter, but the weather seems to think otherwise, and temperatures still seem to be dropping.. Its the time of year for curling up under the covers with a cute mug of your favourite hot drink, and since I am the anomaly that doesn’t really drink tea or coffee, my favourites are all a little different!

1. Gu Salted Caramel hot chocolate

This is a carton of chocolate dreams! Pre-mixed and ready for the microwave, this creamy delight is just so delicious!

2. Peanut Hottie

My love of peanut butter is really no secret, so this discovery has opened up a whole new world of hot drink goodness for me!

3. Options hot chocolate

The proof is in the name; there are so many flavours to choose from in both instant and ‘add milk’ varieties, and I love the little sachets for taking to work with me!

4. Teapigs Rooibos Creme Caramel tea

I’m really not a tea drinker, but this real leaf tea is so sweet and perfect for a nice milky drink before bed!

5. Whittards Luxury White hot chocolate

When a regular hot choc won’t hit the spot, I love white hot chocolate! Creamy and delicious!

Do you have a go-to winter warmer?

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Treat Yourself – No Bake Smores Cheesecake!

Another new food series for 2016, yay! Treat Yourself is all about rewarding yourself with amazing food, and I’ll be posting something new and delicious on the first Saturday of each month, woo!

Cheesecake is something that I’m slowly coming around to; I used to be completely repulsed by the idea of it, but in the last few years I’m starting to change my mind.. What I do love forever and always though is smores. To me, its the epitome of dessert goodness. Hello combination idea..

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You will need: a 9 inch springform pan, 200g Oreo cookies, 50g butter, 550g cream cheese (full fat is much easier to work with!), 70g icing sugar, vanilla extract, 100g milk chocolate and 2 cups of mini marshmallows. I work in cups for marshmallows because its the volume that’s more important than the weight! You’re also gonna want an electric hand mixer!

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1. Break up your Oreos by whatever method floats your boat – food processor, chopper, beating with a rolling pin.. – so long as they’re in crumbs, its cool. Melt down the butter and mix with the cookie crumb, then press the mix into the bottom of your pan and put into the fridge to start setting.

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2. Get your cream cheese and icing sugar in a bowl together and get your hand mixer ready to go. Pop your marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl and blitz in 15-20 second intervals until they’re soft and they melt into a fluffy paste when you stir them.

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3. Working quickly, get that marshmallowy mix into the bowl with the cheese and sugar and get mixing – leave it too long and those marshmallows are gonna start to get super sticky and lumpy! Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and after a minute or two of good whipping, you’ll have a lovely creamy consistency.

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4. Pour this mixture onto your biscuit base, then pop back into the fridge while you melt your chocolate. You can do this however you like, microwave or double boiler are best, then pour the melted goodness onto the top of your cheesecake. This is where you can get fancy with squiggles or shapes; I like to dump it all on top, then use a skewer to swirl it into a sort of controlled chaos! Now get it back into the fridge for at least another 4 hours before serving.

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YUM YUM YUM

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