Honey Ice Cream

I started making this ice cream a year ago. I thought what a great idea it would be to make a ‘breakfast appropriate ice cream’ and serve it with fresh berries and homemade muesli (which is why some of the photos in this post have jars of muesli in them!). Only for special occasions of course. In theory it was all a great idea, until you have a massive sugar rush before 9 am. 

Despite this, I would still recommend this ice cream for serving with waffles or pancakes (or these ricotta hotcakes) for brunch. And of course it is divine on its own as an easy dessert. I would also pair it with the Apple & Honey Cake I posted recently, with my Duck Egg Pavlova, or a fruit crumble (or maybe at a stretch my Muesli Breakfast Crumble if you were feeling a little indulgent!). 

My massive sugar rush ‘breakfast’ - honey ice cream with homemade muesli and berries!

For this recipe I used the Honey Malt and Vanilla Milk from Little Big Dairy Co. I love this milk as not only does it taste great (and is truely addictive!), but all Little Big Dairy Co’s products are single source. This means everything is produced from their farm in the Central West of NSW. Having tried a few of their products now, I truely believe you can taste the difference. Everything just tastes so good compared to other milks or creams, in a way that makes me think I hadn’t tried really good quality milk or cream until I tried Little Big Dairy Co.

I buy some of their products from Harris Farm Markets (including the milk used for this recipe), and they are also available in the Food Hall at David Jones in the city (I have been known to take cooler bags and ice bricks into the city and carry some of their products home on the train!). 

If you can’t find the Little Big Dairy Co Honey Malt and Vanilla milk, regular full cream or skim will work well too. 

Honey Ice Cream made using Little Big Dairy Co Honey Malt and Vanilla Milk

Homemade Honey Ice Cream

Honey Ice Cream

Ingredients:

40g white sugar (Panela Sugar also works well)

175ml milk (preferably Little Big Dairy Co Honey Malt and Vanilla Milk)

125ml pouring cream

150ml Greek style yoghurt

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

160g mild flavoured honey 

Method: 

Whisk the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the milk has become frothy. Then add the cream, yoghurt, vanilla and honey. Whisk until well combined and the mixture has thickened a little. 

Transfer mixture into the bowl of an ice cream machine, and process according to machine instructions. I find the churning process takes about 10 minutes (weather depending), and is ready once the ice cream has thickened, slightly frozen and is clinging to the paddle of the ice cream machine. 

Transfer ice cream to a freezer safe container (at least 1L capacity) and freeze overnight. 

Remove from freezer when ready to serve - due to the yoghurt in the ice cream it does not freeze as hard as other ice creams and is easy to serve straight from the freezer.

Honey Ice Cream

Reference: ‘Lomelino’s Ice Cream’ by Linda Lomelino (Roost Books, 2015), p.13

Homemade Honey Ice Cream

Honey Ice Cream made using Little Big Dairy Co’s Honey Malt and Vanilla Milk

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams (Egg Free)

This is one of those super Summery recipes that I just can’t get enough of. Having said that, yes I know I am posting this while we are in the middle of Winter here in Australia, and feeling particularly cold if I do say so myself. 

I first made these late last year, when we were at the beginning of what felt like one of the hottest and longest Summers ever. I was inspired by a milkshake I used to order at one of my favourite city haunts, The Tea Salon. Rose and vanilla is a winning combination for me, and in the Summer months it was always nice to have a good alternative to a hot tea. I met up with friends there often, it really became our go to place. 

Located in the Sydney City Westfield it was easy to get to and ticked the boxes in terms of the menu, and the pretty pink decor didn’t hurt either! The Tea Salon closed down a few months ago, much to my friends and my dismay. It felt like the end of an era, and I’m not quite sure what will replace our regular city haunt yet. 

Until we find somewhere just as good, I will have to be content with this recipe being the legacy of our many catch ups over the years at The Tea Salon. And while now doesn’t feel like the opportune time to be posting a recipe for ice cream for most of us here in Australia, it is definitely the perfect time for everyone in the Northern Hemisphere who seem to be enjoying endless Summer days. 

Not being a warm weather person, I am certainly not jealous of the weather everyone up there is having. I am however loving all the beautiful Instagram posts with all the Summer blooms, beautiful fashions, and fun outdoor activities. Summer in the UK in particular, through the lens of Instagram, looks utterly delightful compared to the hot and humid, sometimes almost 40 degrees days we can have here in Sydney. 

I can definitely see myself enjoying some of this ice cream again later in the year when the weather warms up, and maybe reminisce over some of the good times this recipe was inspired by. But for now I’ll just leave this recipe here till then, and continue to enjoy my warming cups of tea, soups and multitudes of blankets. 

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams (Egg Free)

Ingredients: 

165ml milk 

6 tbsp white sugar

250ml pouring cream 

1 vanilla bean seeds scraped or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 tbsp rosewater (or to taste) 

Dried rose petals chopped, optional

Method: 

Whisk the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the milk has become frothy. Then add the cream, the vanilla, and rosewater. Whisk until combined and the mixture has thickened a little. 

Transfer mixture into the bowl of an ice cream machine, and process according to machine instructions. I find the churning process takes about 10 minutes (weather depending), and is ready once the ice cream has thickened, slightly frozen and is clinging to the paddle of the ice cream machine. 

Once ready, transfer to a large piping bag and pipe into ice cream mould. Sprinkle some of the dried rose petals over the top, insert food safe wooden sticks into the centre of each one and place in the freezer. To keep the sticks in place I often cover the whole mould with a couple of layers of plastic wrap. Alternatively, transfer ice cream to a freezer safe container (at least 1L capacity) and freeze overnight. 

If making the individual ice creams, carefully remove them from the mould when ready to eat, the ice cream will melt quite quickly in the warmer Summer months! I found it easier to remove all of them from the mould once they were properly frozen and individually wrap them in plastic wrap to store in the freezer. 

Makes 10 individual ice creams or about 1L of ice cream. 

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams

Reference: ‘Lomelino’s Ice Cream’ by Linda Lomelino (Roost Books, 2015), p.13

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams

Dried Rose Petals

How to Make Homemade Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Since I have been using this simple ice cream recipe, there seems to be no end to the number of adaptations I can make with it. This caramel version came about when I was making a Carrot Cake for my Dad’s birthday in August, the recipe coming from the blog My Name is Yeh. 

The carrot cake called for making caramel. I can’t say I make caramel that often, it’s one of those things I feel can go wrong so easily. But after making it for this cake, and finding it went much more smoothly than I remember, I decided to make some more and add it to my favourite ice cream recipe to serve with the cake. 

I have made it again since then, and I am so enjoying making (and eating) this new adaptation of my favourite ice cream recipe. And with the holiday season coming up soon, I am thinking this may need to be on our Christmas menu. 

Speaking of Christmas, I am currently working on a festive baking e-book, filled with our family favourites for the holiday season. Anyone who is already a subscriber to my email list will receive a copy once the e-book is released - so if you aren’t a subscriber sign up now so you don’t miss out!

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Ingredients for the Caramel: 

75g white sugar

1 tbsp water

65g heavy/double cream

55g unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature

Ingredients for the Ice Cream: 

165ml milk 

6 tbsp white sugar

250ml pouring cream 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Method: 

To make the caramel, place the sugar into a small saucepan, and stir in the water. Cook over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar until it starts to bubble. Then stop stirring (and don’t stir again or the caramel will crystallise), and leave to cook for a further couple of minutes or until the caramel has turned amber in colour. If the caramel isn’t cooking evenly, swirl the pan to encourage the caramel to colour evenly. 

Reduce the heat to low, and add the cream. Stir until the cream has combined with the caramel. Continue to stir and add the butter little by little so each piece has time to melt before the next is added. 

Once all the butter has been added and is well combined, remove the caramel from the heat and allow to cool. 

Ensure the caramel has cooled right down before using to make the ice cream. Alternatively, make the caramel the day before, store in the fridge and bring down to room temperature before using to make the ice cream. 

To make the ice cream, whisk the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the milk has become frothy. Then add the cream, the vanilla, and the caramel. Whisk until combined and the mixture has thickened a little. 

Transfer mixture into the bowl of an ice cream machine, and process according to machine instructions. I found the churning process took about 10-15 minutes. When ready, the ice cream should have thickened, be softly frozen like a soft serve ice cream, and be clinging to the paddle of the ice cream machine. When ready, transfer ice cream into a freezer safe container (at least 1L capacity) and freeze overnight. 

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Reference: ‘Lomelino’s Ice Cream’ by Linda Lomelino (Roost Books, 2015), p.13; Carrot Cake with Hawaij and Tahini Caramel by My Name Is Yeh.

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

How to Bake with Quinces - Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

I seem to have a thing with ginger lately. Maybe it’s just that the warming nature of such spices go so well with Winter, or maybe I’m just a creature of habit. I haven’t always been this on board with ginger, I actually used to hate it. As a child the heat of it was too overpowering for me, and only very mild gingerbread biscuits would do. I remember the one time we all went overseas to the UK as a family, I was about 8 years old, and I become enamoured by Harrods - the lovely building, their constant use of teddy bears, all the food, and the fact they had a shop at the airport. When we were at Heathrow on our way home, I convinced Mum to buy a packet of Harrods Gingerbread as a snack for the plane. 

No doubt the packaging grabbed me, I’m sure it was cute enough to grab a child’s attention. Eating them on the plane, my mouth was on fire. They were so gingery, more than my underdeveloped taste buds could handle. I probably annoyed the air hostesses by asking for so many glasses of water, as I continued to eat the spicy gingerbread men despite the heat - probably as Mum had drilled into me how expensive they were (back then the Pound to Australian Dollar conversion was even worse than it is now), and to be honest as a picky eater I probably preferred them to the airplane food. 

Many years later, after making many a gingerbread man myself, I suddenly realised any aversion to ginger was long gone. I was walking back to the station from my internship, which conveniently meant walking past Bourke Street Bakery. I didn’t stop in very many times over the course of my internship, but the first time I did I decided to get one of their famous Ginger Brûlée Tarts. As I was close to finishing the tart, I realised I really couldn’t taste any ginger. The tart was nice, but thinking I still wasn’t a big ginger fan, I expected the flavour to hit me in the face. It was then I realised I must like ginger much more than I realised, and just kept thinking I didn’t as I hadn’t when I was younger. In fact, I liked it a lot, along with a few other things I hated as a child. 

So now I jump at any opportunity to cook with ground ginger in particular, and this cake is no exception. This cake paired with the quince ice cream is a seriously good way of celebrating the colder seasons (even though it seems to be warming up a little now!) and a good way of using up some poached quince if you have any (or have the inclination to make some). I can vouch for the fact that the ice cream is amazing on its own, so I would highly recommend making it even if you don’t need it as an accompaniment to a cake. 

What ingredients or foods did you hate as a child but like now? Let me know in the comments!

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

Quince Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

150g poached quince

50g poaching liquid

2 egg whites 

100g caster sugar 

1 tsp golden syrup 

salt

150g whipping cream 

1 tbsp Greek yoghurt 

Method: 

In a blender, puree poached quince with half the poaching liquid until it is smooth. Add the remaining poaching liquid and blend to combine. Set aside. 

Place a pot of water on the stove and heat until it is boiling. In a heatproof bowl, that is able to comfortably sit over the boiling pot of water, add the egg whites, sugar, golden syrup and a pinch of salt. Place the bowl over the boiling water and whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes frothy and opaque, or when the mixture reaches 75 degrees Celsius on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk the warmed egg white mixture until it forms stiff peaks of meringue. 

In a separate bowl, whip the cream with the yoghurt until it forms soft peaks. Gently fold in the meringue, then the pureed quince. Pour into an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturers instructions. When ready, the ice cream should be softly frozen, thickened and clinging to the paddle of the machine. Transfer to a freezer safe container to freeze until ready to serve. 

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

Ginger & Quince Cake

Ingredients: 

250g self raising flour 

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp baking powder

120g golden syrup

80g maple syrup 

2 tbsp poaching liquid from quinces

125 flavourless margarine or unsalted butter 

100g poached quince, diced (plus extra for serving, optional)

125 brown sugar 

2 eggs 

240ml milk 

Method: 

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, then grease and line the base and sides of a 22cm (approx.) square cake tin. 

Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, add the quince, golden and maple syrups and the margarine/butter and warm over low heat so everything melts together. Add the quince and brown sugar and allow the mixture to simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. 

In a small bowl, briefly mix the eggs and the milk together. Pour the syrup and butter mixture in to the dry ingredients, and mix well, ensuring there are no lumps of flour. Add the eggs and milk and mix to combine. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Cool the cake in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack lined with baking paper (the cake will stick otherwise). 

Cut the cake into squares and serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of quince ice cream and some extra poached quince. 

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

References: ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press, 2015), pp. 184-5; ‘Annie’s Farmhouse Kitchen’ by Annie Smithers (Hardie Grant Books, 2017), pp.52-3.

Ginger & Quince Cake with Quince Ice Cream

White Chocolate Ice Cream (Egg Free)

I have been working on this recipe for a little while. It first came about because I got some of the Grounded Pleasures Real White Drinking Chocolate. And recently the lovely Sophie from Grounded Pleasures has gifted me some of their fantastic products, including their Real White Drinking Chocolate, so it was definitely time to revisit the recipe and try to perfect it before the cold weather really sets in and and making ice cream seems a little out of place. 

For some reason I was not content with just making Grounded Pleasures' Real White Drinking Chocolate into hot chocolate (although I highly recommend doing so, a really good white drinking chocolate like this one seemed so hard to come by until now!), I wanted to see if it worked in other things too. At the time I had been making ice cream a fair bit, and enjoying it immensely. So it felt only natural to make a white chocolate ice cream using the Grounded Pleasures Real White Drinking Chocolate. 

Since that first version I attempted, I have refined the recipe and am very happy with how it has turned out. The addition of finely chopped white chocolate (one that you would like to eat, not cooking chocolate) intensifies the white chocolate flavour and adds a little crunch to the ice cream. 

You will notice if you follow along with the blog, that I use the same basic ice cream recipe each time (see basic Vanilla Ice Cream and Panela Sugar and Vanilla Ice Cream). This is because it is so simple and easy, very quick to make, and I love the end result. I have never even bothered to try to make ice cream the traditional way yet, even though I have had an ice cream maker for well over a year now. I just can’t get past the simplicity of this method, yet how lovely the ice cream turns out. 

For a really creamy ice cream, use milk and cream that have higher fat contents, however skim milk and lighter creams work well and still produce a great end result. The first time I attempted making ice cream this way, I only had skim milk and a can of UHD light cream - it ended up being delicious ice cream, that also made me feel slightly less guilty when eating it!

Thank you so much again to Sophie of Grounded Pleasures for gifting me some of their wonderful products. These are truely products that I love baking with and would be doing so even if I hadn't received these generous gifts. 

White Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

165ml full cream milk 

6 tbsp white sugar

250ml pouring cream 

1/4 cup Grounded Pleasures Real White Drinking Chocolate

1 tsp Grounded Pleasures Organic Vanilla extract

1 Grounded Pleasures Organic Vanilla bean, seeds scraped

100g white chocolate, finely chopped

fresh raspberries to serve, optional

Method: 

Whisk the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the milk has become frothy. Then add the cream, the vanilla extract, the seeds of the vanilla bean, white hot chocolate powder and whisk until combined. 

Transfer mixture into the bowl of an ice cream machine, and process according to machine instructions. Once ready, mix through most of the chopped white chocolate. Transfer ice cream into a freezer safe container, sprinkle with the remaining white chocolate and freeze for at least 4 hours (overnight is best). 

Reference: ‘Lomelino’s Ice Cream’ by Linda Lomelino (Roost Books, 2015), p.13.

Thanks to Grounded Pleasures for sponsoring this post and providing the Real White Drinking Chocolate!

How to Bake with Panela Sugar - Plum & Panela Cake with Vanilla & Panela Ice Cream

This recipe not only celebrates our lovely in season plums, but also a fantastic organic and unrefined sugar called Panela. Panela sugar is a product of dried sugar cane juice. It retains the beneficial nutrients and minerals (so that makes this cake healthy, no?) and has a caramel like flavour. I found it worked so well with the slightly tart flavour of the plums, and gave the cake a rich golden colour. 

I was introduced to Panela sugar by Sophie, one half of the Ballarat based business Grounded Pleasures. Sophie and I met last year at a Local is Lovely Workshop, at which she brought along some of the Grounded Pleasures products which mostly consist of exquisite hot chocolates. We made hot chocolates the old fashioned way over the gas stove in the shed in which our workshop was hosted in. And since it was a very chilly Winters day, they were much welcomed by everyone. 

Sophie told us about some of the other products they sell at Grounded Pleasures, which included the Panela Sugar, vanilla (beans & extract) and a Real White Drinking Chocolate. I was quite interested in the latter, since I am unable to eat (or drink) chocolate for health reasons and thus always miss out on a warming cup of hot chocolate in Winter. 

Soon after the workshop, I got some of the Panela Sugar and the White Hot Chocolate and instantly loved cooking and eating/drinking both. The Panela Sugar is easily substituted in many recipes where caster sugar is called for, and I found it added a lovely depth of flavour to muffins in particular. 

Since then Sophie has sent me some more of their delicious products, which has lead to much recipe inspiration. I found the Panela Sugar and vanilla products not only worked really well in this cake, but also made a really nice simple homemade ice cream. The Panela Sugar gave a rich caramel flavour and colour to the simple vanilla ice cream, which paired well with the cake, but also tasted so good on its own as a simple mid-week dessert. 

A note on using vanilla beans in baking - don’t throw away the vanilla pods after the seeds have been used in the cake/ice cream. Keep them to make vanilla sugar or homemade vanilla extract, even without the seeds the pods retain a lot of flavour. 

Plum & Panela Cake

Ingredients: 

125g flavourless margarine, or softened unsalted butter

150g Grounded Pleasures Organic Panela Sugar, plus extra

1 Grounded Pleasures Organic Vanilla Bean, seeds scraped

1/2 tsp Grounded Pleasures Organic Vanilla Extract

75g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

150g almond meal

3 eggs

2 plums (any variety)

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line a 20cm round loose bottomed (or springform) cake tin with baking paper.

Beat the margarine/butter with the Panela sugar, seeds of the vanilla pod and the vanilla extract, until fluffy and creamy. In a separate bowl, gently whisk together the flour and baking powder.

Add the eggs one at a time to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Then fold in the plain flour and baking powder, along with the almond meal. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Cut the plums in half, then in half again. Then slice up each plum quarter into 3 or 4 slices. Place the plum slices onto the top of the cake, working your way around the outside of the cake then moving into the middle (you might not need all of the two plums, it will depend on their size). Keep the slices of plum fairly close together as they will separate a little when the cake rises. Sprinkle the plums with some more Panela sugar. 

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden in colour and a skewer comes out clean. The cake will be a deep golden colour due to the Panela sugar. 

Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool - alternatively serve warm as a dessert with the Vanilla and Panela Ice Cream. 

Vanilla & Panela Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

165ml full cream milk 

6 tbsp Grounded Pleasures Organic Panela Sugar

250ml pouring cream 

1 tsp Grounded Pleasures Organic Vanilla extract

1 Grounded Pleasures Organic Vanilla bean, seeds scraped

Method: 

Whisk the milk and Panela Sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the milk has become frothy. Then add the cream, the vanilla extract and the seeds of the vanilla bean and whisk until combined. 

Transfer mixture into the bowl of an ice cream machine, and process according to machine instructions. Once ready, transfer ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours (overnight is best). 

References: ‘Holiday’ by Bill Granger (Murdoch Books, 2007), p.124; ‘Lomelino’s Ice Cream’ by Linda Lomelino (Roost Books, 2015), p.13.

Thanks to Grounded Pleasures for sponsoring this post and providing the Panela Sugar, Vanilla Beans & Extract!