Few things make me happier than being asked to bring dessert for a party or gathering.  It’s an opportunity to pull armfuls of cookbooks off the shelf (and we all know how much I love my cookbooks, right?)  I pore over them, meeting recipes that I have somehow missed on my first read-through and re-discovering old friends.

The recipe I settled upon for last week’s Murder Mystery evening as hosted by my friend Sam, was an old lust of mine.  In the new and especially exciting days of food blogging, when everyone knew each other and Google Reader hadn’t been invented yet, my friend Alberto of Il Forno (now very, very sadly defunct) baked Pierre Herme’s Nutella Tart from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, of course, with stunning results.  I’d had the cookbook for a few months and had been particularly pleased with the chocolate macarons, but hadn’t found an occasion to make the sexy Nutella Tart.  An evening in with a juicy murder to solve and a crowd of girlies seemed just right to try the tart for the first time.

Tart-making is probably easier if you’re (a) not in a rush and (b) not beleagured with a small child loudly demanding pudding when they haven’t eaten any of their dinner.  I opted not to make Pierre’s sweet tart dough recipe as he insisted on making a very large batch so as not to overwork the dough.  Of course you could freeze the excess for a month.  A month?  I make one or two tarts a year these days!!  So, I just bought a pack of excellent sweet pastry from the supermarket.

While your tart crust bakes, multi-task!  Use this time to toast the hazelnuts, cool ‘em, and then chop them in half.  Then flip your board over and industriously chop your chocolate finely.  Stick the butter in a separate bowl and fiddle around with some eggs.  Once that’s done, put your feet up. (If you’re lucky!)

There’s a bit of waiting around involved once the crust is fully baked.  The Nutella needs to be slathered on, but you can’t do that while the crust is hot!  And you can’t make the ganache until the Nutella is in place.  It’s a bit This Is The House That Jack Built, really.

I found the ganache to be quite difficult.  I suspect that my chocolate siezed as I ended up with a thick, plasticy mass in the bowl which only improved very slightly as I gently drizzled and stirred butter into it.  Seriously, it looked truly awful.  I poured it into the crust anyway and as I scattered hazelnuts artistically, I reflected that it wouldn’t take long to detour to Sainsburys if it all went pear-shaped.  Eleven minutes later, I opened the oven door and was greeted by a tart that looked like the picture in the book!  I love my wonky oven—it really saves the day sometimes!

While I transormed myself into the seductive Fleur Tashious, famous humanitarian actress, the tart cooled to room temperature.  There was just time for an artistic drizzle of Nutella zig-zagged over the whole thing before I had to dash.

Pierre’s Nutella Tart was a big hit.  A really, really big hit, in fact.  I served it with some extra-thick brandy cream which went beautifully with the chocolate and hazelnut decadence of the tart.  And while it was amazing at room temperature, I think I actually liked it better chilled the next morning…

Nutella Tart

Source: Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme

• 1 fully baked 22 cm (8 3/4 in) tart shell

• 200 g Nutella
• 140 g bittersweet chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)
• 105 g butter
• 1 large egg, room temperature, stirred with a fork
• 3 large egg yolks, room temperature, stirred with a fork
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 140 g hazelnuts (I cut this down to 70g)

Toast the hazelnuts 10 minutes in a 180C (160C fan) oven. Remove as much skin as possible by rubbing the hazelnuts inside a kitchen towel. Chop coarsely.

Raise oven temperature to 190C (170 fan).

Melt chocolate and butter separately. Allow to cool till 40C.  This means that the chocolate should feel slightly warm when dabbed onto your lip–simple, right?

While the chocolate and butter cool, spread the Nutella at the bottom of the tart shell

Mix the egg into the (cooled down) chocolate. Do this gently to avoid incorporating air. Add yolks, little by little, then the sugar. Finally, fold in the melted butter, always stirring gently. This will take a little time. Pour on top of the Nutella and sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.

Bake for about 11 minutes. The sides of the filling should be set but the middle still slightly wobbly if shaken (that’s how it’s supposed to be). Let cool to room temperature.   If you like, you can pipe over some extra Nutella for decoration and additional decadence!

“Nun, meine Kinder,” Frau Mieders said, beaming on them, “today we make the puddings for Mittagessen. And for the puddings , they are Apfelstrudel.”

The girls beamed back at her upon hearing this. Apfelstrudel was a favourite pudding with everyone at school. *

I grew up on a steady diet of school stories, loving their sheer escapism and wishing that my school was more inclusive and accepting.  By far, my favourite was The Chalet School series by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer—now there’s a mouthful of a name for you!  The Chalet School was a wonderful place, full of titbits of knowledge about languages as the girls had to speak English, French and German on alternate days (with Sunday being a ’speak your own’ day), and there were always thrilling adventures around every corner!

One of the most memorable aspects of the Chalet School books was the food.  Oh, how wonderful the food always sounded!  Even the names of mealtimes were different: Frühstück , Mittagssen, Abenssen.  And there were always such vast quantities of food.  When Miss Ferrars joined the Chalet School her first meal consisted of creamy soup sprinkled with herbs, followed by veal in a picquant sauce and then a huge hollow bun stuffed with jam and cream…and that was just for lunch!  Breakfast by contrast was simple with rolls, honey and fruit, all washed down with milk or milky coffee.  I think the coffee was what sealed the deal for me… I wasn’t allowed to drink coffee as a little ‘un, and it seemed so grown-up!  And the girls always, always had afternoon tea or Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cakes) which always sounded luscious!

And so it was that the Chalet School was my first introduction to apple strudel, or apfelstrudel to give it its proper name.  Making my own strudel has always been something that I’ve wanted to do, so imagine my delight when I saw that this month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was to be strudel! The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

The first thing to do when making strudel is to make your dough.  Frau Mieders, the plump and jolly Domestic Science mistress in the Chalet School books, always bade her pupils gather all the necessary ingredients before beginning work.  So, in a bid to be a good Chalet girl—something that was always the “ideal” to strive towards in the books—I followed her wisdom.

In Frau Mieders eyes I undoubtedly fell at the first hurdle by using my food processor to make the strudel dough. She says on a number of occasions that “cookery is not for idle girls”!  however, the food processor is a great way to make strudel dough as it encourages long strands of gluten to form in the dough which is exactly what you want for stretching it out to paper-thinness.

Hopefully I redeemed myself by kneading by hand until all traces of stickiness were gone and the dough was incredibly elastic.  I can highly recommend hurling the dough at the unfloured worktop at least a hundred times!  Not only is it fun, it also develops the gluten further and faster than just kneading alone.

With the dough resting, it was time to gather together the filling ingredients and set to work on that.

“Peel, core and slice the apples,” the mistress said.  “Peel thinly, please and also slice thinly.” [...] And then Frau Miediers caused consternation among them by announcing that she was coming round to see how thinly they were all peeling and slicing.

Frau Miediers would be horrified at my idea of peeling apples!  I absolutely loathe doing it, so I try to get it over and done with quickly and end up with very thick peelings.  Still, it was slightly less arduous than usual as I was so excited at the prospect of strudel!

I made a couple of small tweaks to the filling recipe, which I would probably roll back for next time.  I used challah for the breadcrumbs as I’d baked one a few days previously and the rich crumbs browned awfully fast when I fried them.  Plain white bread would definitely be best, I think.  I also tripled the cinnamon called for, which made the filling mixture awfully brown.  Oh, and as I don’t particularly like walnuts, I used flaked almonds which I adore.

The dough had to be uncovered and placed on the floured cloth and first rolled out and then stretched on the backs of their hands until it was almost wafer-thin and transparent and fitted the cloth exactly.  There must be no breaks in it and this made it worse.

I made a double-batch of the strudel pastry as I was pretty sure that I’d either poke a hole through it, or it would stick fast to the sheet, and I’m really glad I did.  It was still a little sticky when I tried to roll it onto the sheet and then when I resorted to just stretching it out, holes kept appearing until it looked like aged lace.  So I tossed it away and started again with the second half.  What really made a difference was brushing the top of the dough with melted butter and also buttering the rolling pin.  It stretched out like a dream and you could definitely read through it!

“And now,” said the mistress when the apples, sugar, raisins and currants had all been placed on the pastry.  “We roll him into a long, thin sausage—this way!”  And she took two corners of the cloth in each hand and deftly rolled it up.  “Now you try it.”

The less said about the shape of some of those sausages, the better!  Some were twice the size and more of Ruey’s.  Some were thick at one end and thin at the other. Primrose Trevoase cleverly rolled her cloth in with the filling and had to undo it, find a fresh cloth for herself and stand to one side, looking rather silly, while Frau Miediers transferred the remarkable result to the new cloth.

This was the part I was dreading.  Even though I had liberally covered the sheet with flour, I could totally see everything going wrong when I rolled up the strudel.  Interestingly enough, did you know that strudel means whirlpool in old German?  The name comes from the rolling or whirling action when you finally get brave enough to just do it.

And would you believe it? Nothing went wrong!  The pastry was so incredibly thin that you could see each slice of apple ghost-like underneath the layers.  Beautiful.

The last touch was to brush them over with melted butter.  After that, each sausage must be carefully bent in the middle and put on well-greased baking sheets before being slipped into the big ovens to bake till they were golden-brown.

I can’t say that I managed to bend the strudel into quite the right shape, but it all fitted on the baking sheet which was a relief.  My only problem came during baking the strudel…

I liberally daubed the strudel with melted butter, so much so that there were a few little puddles on the baking sheet, which then started to smoke in the oven.  I’d say I was about two minutes away from a flaming strudel.  Whoops!  So after whipping the strudel out of the oven and drying it and the parchment, I bunged it back in and hoped for the best.  Which explains why my strudel is a tad over-browned.

Still, once I stopped grousing about it and actually cut a slice, I felt redeemed.  (Well, I got the third slice.  Lucas was sitting at the dining table waiting for the first slice while I was photographing the whole thing, and then Dave came downstairs for his slice, and *sigh*)  The pastry was so incredibly light and its plainness provided the perfect foil for the gorgeously soft spiced apples.  I served the first few plates Chalet School style with “a positive featherbed of whipped cream” and the remainder was eaten with some vanilla ice-cream.

I’m so pleased that I have finally fulfilled a childhood dream and made my own strudel.  It was definitely worth all the work and I’ll be making plenty more strudels in the future.  (I’m thinking that a savoury one with roasted squash and dolcelatte cheese would be awesome in the autumn….

Thanks so much, Linda and Courtney for this wonderful challenge!

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it’s about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

* Quotations from “Ruey Richardson at the Chalet School” by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, Armada Books  First published by W & R Chambers, 1960.

It’s that time of the month again… Daring Bakers time!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

As much as I love seeing what all the hundreds of Daring Bakers can do with exactly the same recipe, I have a real soft spot for our more creative challenges… where we can pretty much do what we like.  They have an exciting, last day of term feel to them.

I make cheesecake quite frequently, so I wanted to try and do something different with the decoration.  (I should probably confess that my idea of decorating a cheesecake is piling a few truffles in the centre!)  Jenny mentioned in her challenge announcement that we should “make it unique, make a showstopper of a dessert” so that’s what I tried to do.

Originally I wanted to wrap a vanilla-bean laced cheesecake with some white chocolate plastic and piling the centre high with fresh and chocolate-dipped strawberries.  But… it isn’t strawberry season yet, and the few berries I’ve pinched from Lucas have been a bit watery, so I just couldn’t.

So, it was time for Plan B, for which we need a little background.

I am a real coffee-lover.  So much so that I have to ration myself.  Case in point: the last time I bought a bag of coffee, I disappeared into a week-long high and drank jugfuls upon jugfuls of cold-filtered coffee.  (If you have slightly more self-control than me, then you can find the method over at Smitten Kitchen.)

But all good things must come to an end, and now our coffee machine sits on top of the larder (no space on the worktops) and apart from that week when I buzzed around like a hummingbird on crack, the only coffee in the house has been the Visitors’ Jar of instant coffee.

Deciding to make a cappuccino cheesecake was therefore a risky move, but if it tasted as wonderful as I expected it to, then it would be totally worth it.  Plus, bouncing off the walls was bound to burn off all the calories from the cheesecake!

To make the cheesecake look even more special, I decided to wrap the cheesecake in chocolate plastic.  This… did not go well.  Maybe I didn’t manage to scrape all the liquid glucose into the melted chocolate, or perhaps I cooked the chocolate too much, but the but instead of ending up with a pliable and slightly sticky ball of chocolate, I got chocolate crumbs.  No matter what I did, I just couldn’t rescue matters, so I wound up wrapping the cheesecake in some chocolate sugarpaste that I had lying around.  It didn’t turn out as whisper-thin as I’d hoped, but it still looked and tasted pretty damn good.

Since I was playing dress-up with the cheesecake, I added some little gold buttons and some seam details before completing the cappuccino effect with a dusting of cocoa powder.  Oh, and because I couldn’t resist gilding the lily, I made some fanciful sugarpaste flowers,

In case you couldn’t tell, I was really pleased with the cheesecake and it tasted almost as good as it looked.  The coffee flavour of the actual cheeesecake was great, and the whipped cream really made the frothy, extravagant cappuccino effect work.  I’ve got to say, this isn’t my favourite cheesecake recipe ever.  I know that lots of Daring Bakers loved it, but I just liked it.  I found myself missing the distinct tang of cream cheese; it felt like the double cream smoothed out the texture and the flavour.  More tang, please!  However, this didn’t stop me from hoovering it down with Dave.  Poor Lucas didn’t get a look in at all; probably a good thing, really.  He bounces off the walls enough already, thanks!!

I think a big thank-you is in order for Jenny, for making me be creative and have fun at the same time!

Don’t forget to check out the other amazing Daring Bakers creations via the blogroll.

Cappuccino Cheesecake

Based on Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake

Crust

• 180 g Digestive biscuits, crushed into crumbs
• 85g unsalted butter, melted
• 24 g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon good-quality instant coffee

Filling

• 400g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 75g soft brown sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 135g double cream
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee

Decoration

• 15og chocolate sugarpaste
• 150g double cream
• cocoa powder
• sugarpaste flowers

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Boil a kettle of water for the water bath.  Wrap a 7″ springform tin in three layers of heavy tinfoil; set it into a deep roasting tin.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into the prepared tin. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Heat a third of the double cream in the microwave until almost boiling.  Add the instant coffee granules to the hot cream, stir to dissolve.  Add the coffee mixture to the rest of the cream for the filling recipe and allow to cool for a few minutes.

4. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add coffee cream, and mix until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter onto prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to decorate.

6. On a surface lightly dusted with cornflour, roll out the chocolate sugarpaste into a long, thin strip, about 2cm taller than the height of the cheesecake and about 5cm longer than the circumference.  Remove cheesecake from the springform tin—I usually keep it on the base—and wrap the chocolate sugarpaste round the cheesecake.  Add some detailing at the join if you like.

7. Wthe cream until slightly thickened and spread it over the top of the cheesecake and sieve a very light coating of cocoa powder on top to complete the cappucchino effect.

Sunshine is blazing through my windows, brightening my world and making me smile.  And even if it wasn’t a sunny day, I’d still feel bright as I have finally managed to buy some blood oranges.

Blood oranges, like quince, are one of those things that I have had real difficulty tracking down in recent years.  But, after my triumphant purchase of a tray of quince last year, my luck seems to have changed.  I managed to buy four juicy blood oranges at Sainsbury’s this week!

As you can see my blood oranges weren’t incredibly red.  I had expected garnet juice to start flowing as soon as my knife sank into a fruit.  But… not so much.  Maybe some varieties are redder than others?  While my oranges may not have fooled any vampires into taking a bite, they definitely produced juice that was more red than orange.

It’s hard to describe what blood oranges taste like.  They’re still orangey, but yet different.  More of a floral flavour, if that makes any sense?  It was such a beautiful and unique flavour that I decided that the best way to showcase it would be in a sorbet, letting me show off the colour, too.

Sorbet is so easy to make, especially if you have an ice cream machine.  Citrus sorbets are the easiest of all to make as you just need freshly squeezed juice, sugar and a tiny bit of vodka if you’re not planning to serve the sorbet straight away.  Even if you don’t have an ice cream machine, and mine is on its last legs really, it isn’t difficult to make.  You just need to tip the mixture into a shallow tub, freeze and whisk every 30 minutes or so until you have a mixture which is too stiff to whisk any more.  (An immersion blender works really well for this, but even a fork will do.)

Once churned, the sorbet lightens by a few shades and becomes a gorgeous sunset red and keeps all of its unique flavour.  Every spoonful is bright, refreshing, citrusy and floral.  Sunshine food.

It’s a shame that blood oranges have such a short season, but that just makes them even more special when you finally manage to lay your hands on them.  Well worth keeping an eye out for!

***

I was thrilled to discover last week that Maria of The Goddess’s Kitchen had nominated me as one of the inaugural recipients of her new blog award: The Adorable Blog Award! Thank-you so much, Maria!

The rules of the award are as follows:

• Include the award logo in your blog or post.
• Nominate as many blogs which show adorability, cuteness and charm.
• Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
• Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

In return, I would like to award The Adorable Blog Award to the following:

Ivonne of Cream Puffs In Venice
Ellie of Kitchen Wench
Christy of 5 Types of Sugar And Other Treats
Alicia of Bread & Honey
Aran of Canelle et Vanille
Veron of Veronica’s Test Kitchen

Blood orange sorbet

Source: David Lebovitz

* 350ml blood orange juice (I got this from 4 juicy oranges)
* 70g caster sugar
* 2 teaspoons vodka

Put sugar in a small saucepan and add just enough juice to saturate the sugar. Heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved.  Add the orange syrup back into the rest of the orange juice and chill thoroughly.

Churn in your ice cream machine then transfer to a sealable container and freeze until firm enough to scoop.  Or follow the still-freezing method given above.

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge, a Chocolate Valentino, was terribly apropos for February, the most romantic month in the calendar.

The Chocolate Valentino is a deceptively simple flourless chocolate cake that only has three ingredients: chocolate, butter and eggs.  The idea is that you use your favourite chocolate and are gifted in return with a cake that tastes exactly like the chocolate.

I must confess that I didn’t particularly like this cake.  Perhaps I did something wrong as it didn’t taste anywhere near as sweet as the chocolate I used and rather than having fudgy texture in the centre, it felt wet.  (There was some fudginess going on, but the unpleasant wet texture wiped it away.  I don’t think it was under-baked, though.)  Still, Lucas was a big fan, so I had at least one happy camper!  I wonder if I’m going off chocolate?  I seem to be leaning more towards nutty or fruity desserts these days…

I did however adore the ice cream.  As our hosts gave us a free rein on that subject, I took the opportunity to try a recipe I’ve had my eye on for a while: Toasted Almond Gelato from Gina DePalma’s Dolce Italiano, one of my favourite baking books.  The scent of toasted almonds lingered intoxicatingly around the house for several days, making me smile every time I came home.  It was just wonderful, and slightly less calorific than many other ice creams I’ve made in the past.  I couldn’t bear to throw away all of the almonds used to infuse the cream, so I added a few (finely chopped) spoonfuls into the gelato mixture before freezing which gave great texture to the gelato.

Almond and chocolate are a match made in heaven, so it was no surprise to me that the gelato managed to elevate the chocolate cake into something much more pleasant.  I can’t help wondering what I did wrong, and what it should have tasted like.  Divine, I should imagine…

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Don’t forget to check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll for other fabulous creations!

Chocolate Valentino

• 454g of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 146 grams total unsalted butter
• 5 large eggs

Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.  Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.  Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 190C

Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.  Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Toasted Almond Gelato

Source: Dolce Italiano, Gina DePalma. (W. W. Norton & Co, 2007)

• 1 cup (100g) sliced blanched almonds
• 1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups (375ml) whole milk
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80g) granulated sugar
• 1 heaping tablespoon flavorful honey, such as clover or millifiori
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons amaretto
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 190C. Spread the almonds in a single layer on a clean baking sheet and toast them for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are golden brown and aromatic.

Remove the almonds from the oven and place them in a medium saucepan. Add the heavy cream, milk, sugar, and honey and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

When the mixture comes to a boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside to infuse the liquid with the flavor of the almonds.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then strain it through a chinois ro fine-meshed sieve and discard the almonds. Stir in the salt, amaretto, and almond extract.

Chill the gelato thoroughly in a covered container, at least 3 to 4 hours. Freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

I must admit that I’ve never had much success with tuiles in the past.  They were either too thick or horribly chewy; I never managed to achieve the dizzy heights of thin and crispy goodness.  So, I set them aside and mentally classed them as mere fripperies, never to adorn any of my desserts.

With that in mind, I wasn’t overjoyed to see that January’s Daring Bakers challenge was to make tuiles.  They were just too hard! I procrastinated like mad, and finally gave in last night and decided to have a go.  Plus, since we had to make something ‘light’ to go with them, it was a fantastic excuse for me to make some white chocolate mousse.  If it all went wrong then I could just console myself with some mousse… I am cunning like a fox!

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I opted to make the simplest recipe offered by our lovely challenge hostesses: vanilla tuiles.  The chocolate tuiles looked amazingly delicious, but also far too dangerous to have in the house, and the nougatine looked far too difficult.  Simple seemed like it would have the best chance of working out for me!

Making the batter was very easy.  I followed the recipe and my only problem was that I was 10g short of icing sugar, so I ended up blitzing some caster sugar to a powder.  It wasn’t as perfectly ground as the real stuff, but it seemed to work out.  So far, so good…

I made a very simple stencil out of a paper plate and used a butter knife to spread a thin—almost see-through—of tuile batter onto the baking sheet.  Every time I do something like this I think to myself, “I really must buy an offset spatula.  It would make everything so much easier.”  And it really would have.  If you have one, then I really would recommend that you use it for tuile-making attempts.  This recipe makes a really thick batter, much thicker than my previous attempts, which I think made it much easier to spread a thin layer.  If that makes sense?

And the good times just kept on rolling.  The tuiles baked in the specified time and actually looked like tuiles.  Surely the shaping would be where it all went wrong?  Nope… I lfted the tuiles off the baking sheet and wrapped them round little glass jars where they obediently set into pretty and crispy shapes.

I served my pretty, pretty tuiles with a cube of frozen white chocolate mousse—low fat!—and some raspberry coulis.  They tasted as good as they looked and had a satisfying crunch that was a great contrast to the smooth sweetness of the mousse.  Yum!

So, as you can see, I have somewhat conquered my fear of tuiles. They’re not impossible at all!  I shan’t be knocking them out every week, but as the occasional bit of frippery for a special dessert they’re okay   Thanks for helping me beat my fears, Karen and Zorra!

Vanilla Tuiles

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

• 65 grams softened butter (not melted but soft)
• 60 grams sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
• 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
• 65 grams sifted all purpose flour
• 1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
• Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

White Chocolate Mousse

• 3/4 teaspoon powdered gelatine
• 75g good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
• 185ml skimmed milk
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

Place one tablespoon of water in a ramekin or other small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over it.  Leave to bloom for 5 minutes.  Put the white chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.

Put the milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.  Turn off the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatine until dissolved.  Pour this mixture over the chocolate and leave to stand for 1 minute.  Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture smooth.  Cool over ice, stirring occasionally, until the mixture just starts to set.

Whisk the egg white in a large bowl to soft peaks.  Sprinkle in the caster sugar and keep whisking until the mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks.  Fold a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture into the meringue to slacken it, then fold this all back into the chocolate.  Scrape mixture into glasses, a serving bowl, or (as I did) into a tin lined with clingfilm.  Leave to set in the fridge.

As much as I love cheesecake—and that’s a lot—I hate that it typically is loaded with saturated fat and an excess of calories.  So, whenever it is possible, I start trying to pare it back to something approaching healthiness.  Mainly, it has to be said, so that I can eat more of it,  Did I mention that I’m greedy?

The latest cheesecake to go under the knife, so to speak, is Nigella Lawson’s Gleaming Maple Cheesecake from Nigella Christmas.

I had planned to bake this cheesecake as a dessert for New Year’s Day, but the flu put paid to that.  So, once I was better and feeling more enthusiastic about spending time in my kitchen again, I set to work adapting the original recipe…

To lighten things up, I’ve used extra-low fat cream cheese and substituted egg whites for most of the whole eggs called for.  I did keep one whole egg to ensure that the cheesecake set properly and to help keep the texture silky smooth.  The crust is, admittedly, a bit of a departure from Nigella’s recipe: I’ve used my standard cheesecake crust which is a mixture of Grape Nut cereal and amaretti biscuits.  It still has a slightly nutty taste and the flavour works perfectly with the rest of the cheesecake. And really… who cares that much about the crust?  We’re here for the cheesecake.  All my fiddling brought the cheesecake down from 13 Weight Watchers (UK) points per slice down to just 4.  Quite a difference, eh?

But… does it taste good?

Yes!!   I’m really pleased with this cheesecake.  You absolutely can’t tell that it’s a low-fat version and baking in the water-bath as stipulated by Nigella has kept it amazingly creamy all the way through.  The smoky-sweet maple flavour shines through and balances the creaminess of the cheese, yet isn’t sickly sweet.

Treat yourself to an extra drizzle of maple syrup on each slice… it tips it over into absolute luxury without breaking the calorie bank!

Lightened Gleaming Maple Cheesecake

Adapted from Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson

Serves 8

WW (UK) points: 4 per slice

• 75g Grape Nut cereal
• 75g amaretti biscuits
• 2 large egg whites

• 500g Philadelphia extra-light at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
• 40g caster sugar
• 100ml best-quality maple syrup
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

You will need a 7″ springform tin, tinfoil and a deep baking dish that will comfortably hold the tin.

Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160).

Put the dry ingredients in a blender or food processor and process to coarse crumbs. Tip into a bowl.

Lightly beat the egg whites until frothy, and mix with the crumbs until thoroughly combined.

Lightly spray the springform tin with oil spray. Scrape the crumb mixture into the tin and, with the back of a serving spoon, spread it evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Take the crust all the way up to the top of the tin – the cheesecake mixture comes almost to the brim. If the crust sticks to the spoon then dip the spoon in some cold water.

Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes, then leave to cool (in the tin!) on a wire rack.

Boil a kettle of water.

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy (I used my KitchenAid, but a handmixer works very well, and I’m sure elbow grease would, too.)  Remember, everything for the filling must be at room temperature!!

Add the flour and beat in, scraping down the sides to incorporate everything.  Slowly beat in the sugar and maple syrup then the eggs, one at a time.  Lastly, beat in the lemon juice.

Wrap the sprinfrom tin in two layers of tinfoil and set in a deep baking dish large enough to take the tin.  Pour the cheesecake mixture into the crust then pour the hot water from the kettle around the foil-wrapped tin.

Bake for around one hour, until the edge of the cheesecake is set and the centre jiggles ever so slightly when you shake the dish.

Remove from the oven, take out of the water-bath and carefully strip away the tinfoil.  Cool cheesecake in tin on a wire rack before chilling for at least 5 hours.  Overnight is best if you have the time.

Serve slices with extra maple syrup poured over the top.

As Comic Book Guy would say… Worst. Xmas. Ever.

This buche de Noel is brought to you by three festive doses (in varying strengths) of the flu—proper flu, none of this “I have a bad cold, so I’ll call it flu” crap—two aggrieved prolapsed discs (me), food-allergy triggered blotchiness & swelling (Dave), and a distinct lack of appetite for anything (all of us).  Even for dessert.

It probably goes without saying that I’m a little cranky, too.

At any rate, on to the challenge.  This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.  They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

I was so excited about this month’s challenge.  I babbled for days to Lorraine about it, and started it with such enthusiasm.  And then the ‘flu hit.  Now I have zero enthusiasm for the buche or indeed, any form of food.  (I don’t feel any thinner yet, but I’m still hopeful.)

My chosen flavour combinations were a coconut dacquoise, white chocolate ganache insert, mango mousse, ginger creme brulee, and a gorgeously glossy (but very tempermental) white chocolate icing.  I went all Blue Peter and created a mould out of an old plastic bottle, some cardboard and sticky tape.  I’m really happy with how ithe shape turned out and I’d certainly make my own mould again rather than buy a tin that’s only going to be used once a year.

Oh, I should mention that I added some popping candy to the coconut crisp insert and it stayed nicely pop-py, which was quite cool.  It was a shame that I didn’t like the taste of the rest of the layer.  I suspect, that gavottes aren’t quite my thing and I should have just bought a box of Rice Krispies or asked around and begged some from a friend.

On the whole, I did like the buche, but I was by no means blown away or impressed.  Which makes me really sad, considering how excited I was and also that I dragged myself through its creation when I should have been languishing in bed.  But I would like to thank Hilda and Marion for giving us such a wonderful challenge to end 2008 with!

Sparkling royal icing snowflakes adorn the top of the buche.

Today is the fifth anniversary (or should that be birthday?) of A Spoonful of Sugar!  I can’t believe that it’s been five years since I first posted—about my stollen, if you were curious.  I still remember how nervous I was, and how I wondered if anyone other than family, friends or colleagues would read my little blog.  And then, slowly, ever so slowly, people started to arrive.  Clotilde, Alberto, Renee (of the sadly now defunct Shiokadelicious.com), Deb… So many people have come and gone over the years, and I’ve loved getting to know them all!

This year has been particularly fantastic, with very special means at both The Fat Duck and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, a weekend cookery course in Devon, and plenty of foodie outings.  I’m still thrilled beyond belief at the morning I spent at Perry & Son butchering half a pig—I’m looking forward to picking up my Christmas loin of pork—and I don’t think I’ll ever forget how wonderful it was to pick my own apples at Our Small Farm.  Definitely a great year!

So I’d like to say a big thank-you! to everyone who has visited A Spoonful of Sugar over the years, encouraged me to try new foods and techniques, suggesting suppliers and telling me about fantastic new restaurants.  Thank-you, all!

And now for dessert!  I did think about reprising the stollen for this birthday post, but when I spotted some incredibly early rhubarb in the farm shop, I knew I had to make something special with it.  I’m not a girly-girl, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anything pink in my wardrobe, however… I find the lurid pink of forced rhubarb impossible to resist.

The recipe which follows is a slight reworking of ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ from John Campbell’s fantastic book, Formulas for Flavour.  I tried the original recipe last year and unfortunately it didn’t go so well due to the wrong size of rings, a too-runny centre, and a rather horrid ginger sponge base. However, the flavours were fantastic!  So, I’ve swapped the frozen creme anglaise in the original recipe for a frozen creme brulee, replaced the ginger sponge with a thin slice of stem ginger cake and pared down the garnishes as I thought it was quite beautiful already.  I won’t lie to you, this dessert is a lot of work, but I felt the occasion warranted all the dirty dishes and utensils.

The rhubarb mousse is so light and fluffy with a great balance between sharp rhubarb and sweet, creamy mousse.  Nestling in the mousse is the custard component, beautifully speckled with vanilla, and silky smooth and pairing beautifully with the layer of rhubarb geleé below.  Last, but by no means least, is the stem ginger base which I loved, but Dave would have preferred something crunchy.  Perhaps some sort of feuillete?

‘Rhubarb and Custard’

Note: Each recipe component will have leftovers.  The stem ginger cake makes two little cakes, but it does freeze beautifully (or you could douse it in toffee sauce and custard for a delicious pud.)  I did scale back the rhubarb compote etc when I made the dessert but forgot to write down my quantities, so have included the original recipes which make enough for six desserts.

Stem ginger cake

Source: Jamie Oliver for Tefal

• 100g unsalted butter
• 80g dark muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 1 large egg
• 75ml full-fat milk
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped stem (preserved in syrup) ginger

Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan oven.)  Grease and line two large chef’s rings and set on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together in a small pan over a low heat.  Set aside to cool.

Whisk together the egg and milk, then beat into the butter mixture.  Stir in the flour, and gingers to make a soft batter.  Divide between the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Creme brulee insert

Makes 2

• 1 large egg yolk
• 18g caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 125ml double cream

Preheat oven to 110C (90C fan-oven.)  Grease two ramekins with unsalted butter and sprinkle caster sugar over, to coat lightly.  Gently tap out the excess.

Heat cream to boiling point.  Meanwhile, gently whisk together the rest of the ingredients in a small jug.  Don’t whisk to a foam; we want the mixture to remain smooth.  When cream boils, remove from heat and pour into the egg mixture in a steady stream, whisking constantly.  When mixture is combined, divide between the ramekins.

Bake for 30 minutes until lightly set.

Allow to cool, then freeze until solid before using.  To release the frozen brulee, dip the ramekins in some boiling water, run the tip of a knife round the edges and they should pop right out.  Stick back in the freezer to firm up any melting edges.

Rhubarb Compote

Source: Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell

• 1kg rhubarb
• 200ml stock syrup
• 1 sheet gelatine
• a squeeze of lemon juice

Cut away the splayed ends of the rhubarb and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) chunks.

In a large saucepan, bring the stock syrup to the boil.  Add the rhubarb, return to the boil and immediately remove the pan from the heat so that the rhubarb cooks in the residual heat.  (The rhubarb needs to cook in one layer, so you may need to cook it in batches if you don’t have a wide enough pan.)

When the rhubarb is tender, remove it from the syrup and drain well.  Reserve at least 4 tablespoons of the cooking syrup to use to finish the compote later.  Set aside 800g of cooked rhubarb for use in the coulis and store the remainder of the rhubarb in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Rhubarb Coulis

Source: Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell

• 800g rhubarb compote
• 400g sugar

Put the reserved 800g of rhubarb from the compote in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Transfer to a small pan, add the sugar and heat slowly to a boil  Cook until the rhubarb thickens and has reduced in volume by one-third.  Remove from the heat and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Rhubarb Mousse

Source: Adapted from Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell

• 3 sheets gelatine
• 125ml rhubarb coulis
• 2 large egg whites
• 100g caster sugar
• 125ml double cream, half-whipped

Melt the caster sugar with 40ml water in a small saucepan.  When sugar has dissolved, bring to the boil for two minutes.  When syrup is about to boil, place the egg whites in bowl of stand mixer and start whisking on high speed.  When syrup is ready, pour into a jug.  Slowly trickle the hot syrup into the egg whites.  Avoid splashing the syrup on the whisk.  Once all syrup is in, you should have a firm meringue.  Whisk on low until the bowl is cool to the touch.  This should take about five minutes.

While meringue cools, soften the gelatine in some cold water.  Heat a quarter of the rhubarb coulis in a small pan while the gelatine blooms.  Squeeze out excess water from the gelatine and stir it into the hot coulis until melted.  Stir the remainder of the coulis into the saucepan, mix, and then into the Italian meringue. Whisk briefly to combine.  Then quickly fold in the half-whipped double cream.

Assembly

Soak the gelatine for the compote in a small bowl of water.  Meanwhile, using the chefs rings or drainpipe moulds, cut the stem ginger cake into discs and place one in the base of each mould, ensuring a tight fit.

Heat the reserved 4 tbsp of syrup, add the soaked gelatine and stir to dissolve.  Mix the syrup with the reserved rhubarb compote, adding a squeeze of lemon.

Divide the compote between the moulds, making an even layer on top of the sponge.  Place in the fridge to set.

When the rhubarb compote has set, remove the moulds from the fridge and take the creme brulee inserts out of the freezer.  Spoon a small layer of mousse on top of the compote and then carefully place a frozen brulee disc inside the mould, ensuring it does not touch the edges.

Fill the moulds up with the rhubarb mousse and level the top with a palette knife for a smooth finish.  Place the mousses in the fridge to set for up to 2 hours.

It always amazes me how a taste of a food can trigger memories and transport you back in time in an instant.

As I dipped my spoon into the freshly churned ivory tub of ice cream and tasted it, I suddenly became eight years old again.  I pushed aside horrified thoughts of, Omigod, my hair! and Why am I wearing the world’s geekiest glasses?  Did I want to be bullied? and tried to figure out exactly what I was remembering…

When I was a kid, we used to get ice cream as a treat from Danny Craig’s shop in town or Cardosi’s Cafe.  To us, this was just ice cream.  There was never a range of flavours; it was just ice cream, and it was delicious.  It was only special because it came in a cone and with a flake poked in at a jaunty angle—a ‘99—and you went to a special shop for it.  Sometimes mum and dad would even order big tubs for our birthday parties and everyone loved it.

Looking back with an adult’s eye… this wasn’t just ice cream. This was gelato. Now, I didn’t grow up anywhere fancy.  Far from it.  I grew up in the very far north of Scotland, and had absolutely no idea as a small child that our special treats of ice cream from Danny Craig’s, Cardosi’s or even Capaldi of Brora were anything remarkable.  I must have been very accepting, as it didn’t dawn on me that the proprieter’s names weren’t Scottish.  (Okay, so Danny Craig was as Scottish (and as grumpy) as they came, but he still made damn good gelato!)  I should mention that Capaldi’s was the place to break your journey south at.  Everyone stopped there, and an ice cream from Capaldi’s was the real beginning of your summer holiday as well as a means of consoling yourself on the way home when your wonderful holiday was fast becoming a memory.

It is only as an adult that I realise what happened and how Italian families came to settle in Scotland and open ice cream parlours.  They left Italy in search of a new life in the United Kingdom, in the late 19th century, and settled across the country. However, after Mussollini declared war on the Allies in 1940, many Italian men—those resident in the United Kingdom as well as those captured in battle—were interred in prisoner of war camps.  Most notably, in the Orkney Islands—off the north coast of Scotland–where they were set to work building an a series of barriers to protect the British fleet from submarine attack.  These barriers are now known as the Churchill Barriers.  A more beautiful and hopeful legacy of those times is the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney.  At the end of World War II, most of the Italian POW returned to Italy or their homes in the United Kingdom, however, some settled permanently in the far north of Scotland, opening ice cream parlours.

Gradually ice cream parlours and shops were eclipsed by the dizzying array of flavours available from the supermarkets that opened in town.  Cardosi’s Cafe became Cardosi’s shop that just sold sweets and cigarettes, and Danny Craig died with no one to take over his shop and keep the ice cream churning.  The only ice cream shop that remains from my childhood is Capaldi’s of Brora, which still looks unchanged despite having very recently changed hands and become part of a much larger food company.  I hope they keep the small producer spirit going in the shop, rather than just branding their own ice cream with a famous name…

I think that’s enough history and nostalgia for one day… Back to the ice cream!

This perfectly smooth, ultra-milky ice cream has exactly the same taste and texture of the ice cream I grew up with.  Not a speck of vanilla in sight to interrupt the purity of the milk flavour, just a beautiful,smooth taste of milk that rolls off the palate so cleanly, leaving you eager for the next lick or spoonful.  You might think that milk ice cream sounds boring.  You’d be wrong.  If you use the very best milk and cream, then you’ll create your best ice cream ever with an unmistakable flavour.  You’ll surprise yourself with how good it is.

You have to eat fast, though.  As it’s just milk, cream and sugar, the ice cream melts at an astonishing rate, but since you’ll be gobbling it up, this shouldn’t be a concern!

It is beautiful served alone, however makes a wonderful partner to a chocolate cake—I served it with the chocolate decadence I made recently—and drizzled with dulce de leche it is stunning.  Ambrosial, even.

What foods lead you down your own memory lane?

Milk Ice Cream

Adapted from Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli

• 565g (or 1 pint) full-fat milk
• 170g double cream
• 40g skimmed milk powder
• 210g caster sugar

Whisk the milk, cream, milk powder and sugar until smooth and place it in a pan over a gentle heat until it reaches 85°C.

Remove it from the heat and cool down as quickly as possible before placing in the fridge to rest for 6-12 hours. It’s important that the mix is very cold before being placed in the ice-cream maker.  (A sink full of iced water works best here.)

Follow the instructions on your ice-cream maker and churn until thickened. Or, pour into a shallow container and place in the freezer.  Every twenty minutes or so, pull it out and blend until smooth.  I used an immersion blender, but you could tip it into a bowl and use an electric hand whisk or even your stand mixer.  Keep doing this until the ice-cream is very thick, then leave the ice cream to finish freezing.

Pour out into a container, seal and store in the freezer to set.