Cherry Pavlova Ice Cream

Kath December 9, 2020

This recipe came about as a way to use up some leftovers from a Christmas shoot I did for Little Big Dairy Co recently. I had a lot of milk (20 litres to be precise!), and some additional Christmas-y things like cherries and pre-made mini pavlovas that were used for the shoot. I hate things going to waste, especially good quality produce like Little Big Dairy Co milk and Australian cherries so I decided I would go on a ice cream making spree in an attempt to at least use up some of the milk that had been sent to me for the shoot.

I bought some Little Big Dairy Co cream to use with my ice cream, and I made one lot of this ice cream plus some vanilla ice cream at the house I was staying in for the shoot. I then brought back one 300ml jar of the cream I had left, and needed to make it last for 4 different types of ice cream I wanted to make (all in an attempt to thoughtfully use up some of the delicious milk I had!).

So for this recipe I have split the amount of cream needed between pouring cream and plain Greek style yoghurt. Greek style yoghurt works well in homemade ice creams along side cream, however if you have enough cream you can just use that (250ml total).

Cherry Pavlova Ice Cream

Ingredients:

165ml milk

5 tbsp caster or white sugar

150ml pouring cream

100ml plain Greek Style Yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

365g cherries (unpitted weight), pitted and roughly chopped

70-75g pavlova*, roughly chopped, plus extra

Edible dried rose petals, optional

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and sugar until the milk is frothy and the sugar has dissolved. I use an electric hand held mixer for this, but you can also use a stand mixer if you prefer.

Once the sugar has dissolved into the milk, add the cream, yoghurt and vanilla. Whisk on medium speed until everything is combined and the cream has thickened to form soft mousse like peaks.

Transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker, and churn according to your machines instructions. I use the ice cream bowl attachment to my KitchenAid stand mixer and I find this ice cream takes about 5-10 minutes to churn. I find the ice cream is ready once it has frozen/thickened and is clinging to the paddle of the machine.

Once the has been churned fold through the cherries and pavlova using a spatula. Transfer the mixture to a freezer safe container (about 1.5L capacity). Sprinkle any extra crushed up pavlova over the top, and sprinkle over some dried rose petals if desired.

Allow ice cream to freeze for a few hours before serving.

*I used about 6 pre made mini pavlovas (I got mine from Woolworths). You could also use pre made meringues.

Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream

Kath September 16, 2019

I have quite the obsession with pistachio ice cream and gelato. It is a flavour I would have turned by nose up at as a child, but now the prospect of having a decent pistachio ice cream fills me with joy.

My obsession started earlier this year, with a cafe in my local Westfield serving a pistachio thickshake made with pistachio gelato. It was utter heaven, and I ordered it a few times over those hot Summer months (to the point the waiters at the cafe began to recognise me and my standard order). Then a few months ago, the cafe changed their menu and the pistachio thickshake was long gone.

I tried a couple of bought tubs of pistachio gelato, and while they were ok, they weren’t exactly what I was looking for.

I began to research recipes in order to make some at home myself. It became a lot easier when I found a recipe for homemade pistachio paste, as most recipes for pistachio ice cream or gelato use it, however I have never been able to find it here in Sydney.

I first tried adding some homemade pistachio paste to my much used easy egg free ice cream recipe. While the flavour was good, the texture was far too firm and it froze like a solid log of ice cream.

The next recipe I tried as another egg free one from the blog Top With Cinnamon by Izy Hossack. I really liked this recipe, as the flavour was really good and the texture much less icy and solid like my initial attempt. The recipe also made quite a lot of ice cream which I definitely liked. My only issue was it took a really long time to churn in the ice cream maker. The ice cream base was quite thin, and there being so much of it, it did feel like it wasn’t ever going to work!

I had another recipe up my sleeve to try, which I found in the same book I found the pistachio paste recipe, À La Mère de Famille - Artisanal Recipes by Julien Merceron (too read my Off The Shelf post on this book click here). This book has been a wealth of information on making confectionary and the like, and it seems to have those hard to find recipes I have been looking for. I’m not sure if things have been lost in translation in this cookbook, but the instructions for each recipe are quite scant and I often find myself having to improvise or just guess what sized tin I need for something.

Nevertheless the recipes from À La Mère de Famille have been super useful, and instrumental in me finding a great make at home pistachio ice cream! I have ever so slightly adapted their recipe for Pistachio Ice Cream Popsicles below, and used my version of their Pistachio Paste to flavour the ice cream. While I am very happy with the end result, I somehow doubt my obsession with making pistachio ice cream is over. I am now on the hunt for a good pistachio gelato recipe (notably after having a really good one at Piccolina Gelateria in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago!).

How to Make Pistachio Paste

Ingredients:

250g raw or blanched pistachios

100g white sugar

30ml water

60ml (4tbsp) pistachio oil

Method:

Pre heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and place the pistachios on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Once done set aside to cool a little.

Place the sugar and water into a small/medium saucepan and heat until it reaches 120 degrees on a sugar thermometer. Whilst the sugar syrup is heating, place the roasted pistachios on the bowl of a food processor and blitz until they form a fine crumb.

Once the sugar syrup has reached 120 degrees Celsius, gradually pour into the food processor whilst it is running. Gradually add the pistachio oil, and continue to process until a smooth paste forms. This should take between 5 and 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl at regular intervals if necessary. The finished product will be a smooth paste, similar to a nut butter. When the paste initially combines it will form a smooth ball, continue processing until a more paste like consistency is reached.

Once a smooth paste has formed, decant into plastic containers or glass jars and store in the fridge until needed. It should last about 1 month refrigerated. If the oils in the paste separate a little during storage, mix the paste briefly before using.

Makes about 390g.

Pistachio Ice Cream

Ingredients:

600ml milk

30g cornflour

50ml pouring cream

140g caster sugar

20g mild flavoured honey

3 egg yolks

100g pistachio paste (see above)

Method:

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over low/medium heat until it reaches 40 degrees celsius on a candy thermometer.

Whisk in the cornflour, cream, sugar, honey, egg yolks and pistachio paste. Continue to whisk until all the ingredients are well combined, then use a wooden spoon or a spatula to stir for the remainder of the time. Continue to gently stir the mixture until it reaches 83 degrees celsius in a candy thermometer. The mixture will thicken up, most noticeably as it gets closer to the 80 degree mark.

The mixture now needs to be strained (to remove any lumps etc) and then blended in a blender or food processor. If your sieve can comfortably fit over your food processor, strain the mixture straight into the food processor. If not strain into a medium/large bowl and then transfer to your food processor or blender.

Whizz the ice cream base in the food processor/blender for one minute, then transfer to a container (at least 1L capacity). Place in the fridge to cool.

Once the ice cream base has had some time to chill in the fridge, it can be transferred to the bowl of an ice cream maker to churn (according to your machine’s instructions). I found it took only a few minutes, and the ice cream will be ready once it has firmed up a bit and is clinging to the paddle of the ice cream maker.

Transfer the ice cream into a container to freeze (you can use the same one as before), and allow to freeze for a few hours before serving. If the ice cream has been frozen for some hours, allow the ice cream to sit out of the freezer for a few minutes before serving.

Makes a little under 1L of ice cream.

References: ‘À La Mère de Famille’ by Julien Merceron (Hardie Grant Books, 2013), p.160 & p.250.

Honey Ice Cream

Kath October 16, 2018

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

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.

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

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

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams (Egg Free)

Kath July 17, 2018

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 (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.

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.

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

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking the link below!

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How to Make Homemade Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Kath November 17, 2017

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)

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.

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.

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

Kath August 17, 2017

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!

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

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.

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.

Cherry Pavlova Ice Cream

How to Make Pistachio Paste

Pistachio Ice Cream

Honey Ice Cream

Rose & Vanilla Bean Ice Creams (Egg Free)

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking the link below!

Caramel Ice Cream (Egg Free)

Quince Ice Cream

Ginger & Quince Cake

Kulinary Adventures of Kath

Food Photography, Recipes & Baking