No-churn ice cream recipes are my favourite. Not only because, let’s face it, who can afford to buy an ice cream machine?! But secondly, they are so much more flexible when it comes to getting creative with flavours. Making your own soft serve is as easy as heating everything together, freeze it in ziplock bags then blend it up in a food processor and voila! Soft serve!
Although soft serve ice cream reminds me of trips to the beach as a kid I wanted to give it a very grown up flavour – coffee, cardamom and the deliciously malty flavour of Natura Sugar’s Unrefined Molasses Sugar. The molasses sugar doesn’t just add sweetness, but loads of flavour which is so important when you have only a handful of ingredients! Many of you have asked where you can find the Natura Sugars range – find them in Clicks, Checkers, PnP and Spars (Hint: Clicks are having a 3 for 2 special on the sugar at the moment!). Or alternatively you can shop them online here.
If you’d rather make the flavour of the soft serve a bit more traditional, replace the espresso with fruit puree and change up the spice. Give my no-churn watermelon sorbet a whirl too – it’s perfect for summer!
Place the cardamom, espresso, milk, Natura Sugars Molasses Sugar and cream in a pot and stir gently over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved completely. Divide the mixture between two ziplock bags and press out as much air as possible. Place each bag flat on a baking tray and freeze until solid. Remove the ice cream from the freezer, break into pieces and place in the bowl of a food processor until smooth. Working quickly, place the soft serve in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe the soft serve into waffle cones or cups.
This post for cookie ice cream cones is sponsored by Natura Sugars
What if the ice cream cone was AS delicious as the ice cream that was in it?! I present to you… the cookie ice cream cone! It’s both delicious AND portable and pure genius. I get asked the question ‘Cup or Cone?’ at least twice a week. Yes, I eat ice cream twice a week, at least, don’t judge! But never in a cone, thanks. I go for the cup every time. Why? Because I really don’t like the taste of the waffle cone. It’s too sweet, artificial tasting and is a total waste of calories. It could be so much better and so I set to work!
You could use pretty much any cookie recipe to make these cookie ice cream cones but you’re going to want to use mine, trust me. It’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world – and I’ve tried A LOT! But what takes the cookie to a whole ‘nother level is the sugar I’ve used. Natura Sugars has this sandy, voluptuous soft brown sugar that is fudgey and gives these babies a chewiness on the inside but leaves the edges crispy crunchy – in my opinion, what every cookie should be!
While they may look like a challenge, these cones are really easy to make. Simply whip up the cookie dough, then roll it into big balls. Next, use a rolling pin to roll them really thin and bake! While they’re still hot shape them around a normal ice cream cone which has been covered in foil (in my opinion, that’s the only use for them, really) and allow to cool! I like to stuff the bottom of my cones with a marshmallow to stop drips, and coating the inside of the cookie ice cream cone with melted chocolate would be pretty amazing too – or try this chocolate ice cap sauce!
If cookie ice cream cones are not your thing, you could also shape them into cookie ice cream bowls by draping the hot cookie over a glass or muffin tin. All that’s left is to pile in the ice cream, sprinkles and sauce – and invite some friends around for an ice cream par-tay!
Preheat oven to 200°C (or 180°C fan-forced). Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream for 8-10 minutes until pale, creamy and light. Add the vanilla, milk and egg. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and chopped chocolate and mix to combine. Roll out golf-ball size balls of the cookie batter between two squares of baking paper until 2-3mm thin then place onto a baking tray, leaving enough room for spreading. It’s easiest to bake two at a time. Bake for 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown but the centre should still be chewy. While still hot, turn the cookie over and wrap it around a waffle cone wrapped in foil and hold it in place for a few seconds until it starts to firm up. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
TIP This cookie dough freezes very well so make a huge batch, roll into balls and freeze in a ziplock bag. Then simply bake them from frozen!
It ain’t Heritage Day without caramel peppermint crisp tart and these are deliciously refreshing for the (hopefully) warm weekend. And after a braai all you really want is an ice cream lolly and a swim, right? These were actually born from the leftover filling from these Peppermint Crisp Eclairs I made last week. I filled lolly moulds with the caramel peppermint crisp tart filling and and dipped them in chocolate and they are SO GOOD! What are you making this Heritage Day?
Place the tinned caramel in a bowl with the milk and whisk until smooth. Beat the cream until stiff peaks then fold into the caramel mix. Stir in ¾ of the peppermint crisp and the tennis biscuits. Pour the mixture into 12 lolly moulds and freeze until firm. In the meantime, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave on full power, stirring every 30 seconds. Allow to cool slightly then pour into a drinking glass or jug (to allow for easy dipping). Dip the ice cream mould briefly in hot water to remove the lollies then immediately dip into the melted chocolate and sprinkle with the remaining peppermint crisp. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and quickly put them back in the freezer until firm.
Le Creuset has just launched their new Sorbet Collection and it’s straight out of an ice cream parlour. Can we just have a moment of silence to appreciate how swoon-worthy these colours are?!
This is ice cream goals, guys. The pastel palette gives me all kinds of nostalgia. It reminds me of cloudy lemonade and those twisty pastel-swirled marshmallow ropes that you could buy at the till for 5c.
Obviously there were lots of sprinkles involved, because, well, why the heck not?!
Which is your favourite colour? I can’t decide. Luckily all the colours come in one box which will make it easier for my husband when he buys it for me for Christmas! ?
Chocolate freakshakes loaded with a sinful amount deliciousness? Oh hell yes! If I had to choose a way to go, I’d definitely choose death by chocolate! I created these Death by Chocolate Freakshakes for my foodie friends over at Food and Home Entertaining Magazine last year for their spooky Halloween issue and while, since then, everyone has jumped on the Freakshake bandwagon and, to be honest, I’m a little over it, I still think they make a very witty Halloween dessert! This milkshake features espresso syrup, chocolate Halloween bark, chocolate ice cream and is topped off chocolate whipped cream – sinfully delicious! I think it would be super fun to set up a Freakshake bar and let everyone create their own – especially if you put all the ingredients in science beakers and viles – add a little dry ice and you have an idea that’s so good, it’s scary! 😉
If you’re looking for some more Halloween desserts – these are some of the treats I’ve made before:
100g The Kate Tin Dark Baking Chocolate, melted plus extra to decorate
50g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate, melted
Orange powder colouring (optional)
Variety of Halloween-coloured sprinkles, to decorate
Chocolate Whipped Cream
50g The Kate Tin Dark Chocolate, melted
125ml cream, whipped
Milkshake
4 scoops chocolate ice cream
1 cup milk
To serve
2-4 white marshmallows
Chocolate vermicelli
Mini doughnuts
To make the syrup, bring espresso, sugar, and water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. To make the chocolate Halloween bark, spread the melted dark chocolate thinly onto a sheet of greaseproof paper with a palette knife. Colour the white chocolate orange then drizzle and swirl that over the dark chocolate. Scatter with the Halloween sweets and sprinkles and allow to set completely. Break into shards. Make the chocolate whipped cream by mixing a third of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate and fold the rest in until combined. For the glass; dip the rim of the glasses in the extra melted chocolate and roll it in vermicelli. Divide the espresso syrup amongst the glasses, keeping a little for garnish. Toast the marshmallows using a blowtorch or place them on a tray in the oven under a preheated grill until golden brown. To make the milkshake; blitz the ice cream and milk in a blender until smooth and pour it into the glasses on top of the espresso syrup. Pipe the chocolate cream over the top. Pierce the doughnut onto a straw and place that inside of your milkshake. Top with the toasted marshmallows, broken up chocolate bark and drizzle with espresso syrup.
There’s no better way to celebrate Autumn than with hot, crispy-edged brown butter pancakes and chestnuts! I’m sure you can feel it… The chill in the air, the leaves crunching under your feet and the sense that everything is ready to go to sleep. Autumn is my absolute favourite time of the year. Snuggly jerseys, copious cups of tea, ridiculous amounts of butter and fluffy socks. There’s also the promise of the Newlands forest floor being covered in mushrooms ready to be plucked – which is, to be honest, my only form of winter exercise. But while I was a tad too early for porcini, on my last forage I stumbled upon chestnuts – loads and loads of chestnuts.
They instantly reminded me of my trip of Italy a few years ago, where standing on a street corner in Venice, freezing cold, I scoffed two paper bags of chestnuts that had been toasted right in front of me over a fire made in a tin can. Casual for Italians, a revelation to me – mostly because my first taste of chestnuts as a child, had been a disaster. My dad had come home one day with an entire bag of prickly green balls and announced triumphantly that we would be toasting them! While much excitement ensued, our enthusiasm didn’t make up for the apparent lack of knowledge of just how to cook them – my mom threw them into the oven with the hard brown shell still on and so we all bit into teeth-breakingly hard nuts. If only Google was around then!
After that trip to Italy, where I realised that the shell had to be scored with a kiss (an X) before going into the oven, so that the chestnuts split open while roasting, releasing the creamy, sweet nut inside – I was hooked! After roasting you can turn them into a puree which is amazing on pavlovas, in between cakes, cookies or in this deliciously creamy ice cream. I’ve paired it with my favourite Autumn dessert, brown butter pancakes. Another revelation of frying ‘plain’ pancakes in brown butter to make the edges go all crispy (the best bit!). If you can’t find fresh chestnuts, use the tinned chestnut puree which you can find at most delis or online here. Otherwise, simply swap it out for any nut butter – think pecan, almond or cashew. And don’t skip the spiced caramelised nuts – they absolutely make the dish!
BROWN BUTTER PANCAKES WITH CHESTNUT ICE CREAM AND SPICED PECANS
Serves 4
BROWN BUTTER PANCAKES
100g salted butter
125g cake flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
250ml milk
ICE CREAM
3 cups (750ml) cream
1 cup (250ml) milk
1/2 cup (125ml) icing sugar, sifted
100g tinned sweetened chestnut puree
SPICED PECANS
100g pecan nuts
1/4 cup (60ml) brown sugar
1 tsp (5ml) ground cinnamon
To make the brown butter pancakes, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling every now and then, until the butter froths and starts turning brown. It is ready when it smells like toasted nuts. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk and whisk into the dry ingredients. Add 2 tablespoons of the brown butter. Allow the batter to stand for 30 minutes. Heat a non-stick frying pan and brush with the brown butter, pour a 1/4 cup of batter into the hot pan and swirl to coat. When the edges begin to lift, flip over and cook the other side until brown. Repeat with the remaining batter and brown butter.
To make the ice cream, whisk the cream, milk, sugar and chestnut puree together in a large jug. Divide the mixture into two large ziplock bags and seal well. Lay the bags flat and freeze until firm. Break the frozen cream mixture into junks and place it in a blender of food processor – process until the mixture forms a soft serve consistency. Quickly pour into a freezer proof container and freeze until firm.
To make the nuts, place the sugar in a small saucepan or frying pan with 1 tbsp water and heat until golden and caramelised. Add the pecan nuts and stir to coat. Add the cinnamon and keep stirring until the sugar starts crystallizing (you can speed the process up by adding a teaspoonful of brown sugar), once the nuts are coated well, spread onto a lined baking sheet to cool.
Serve the pancakes with a scoop of chestnut ice cream and a sprinkling of the spiced nuts.
TIP Make your own sweetened chestnut puree by roasting 200g shell-on chestnuts; to do this, score an ‘X’ into the flat side of the chestnut and place them on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 240C for 10 minutes. Allow to cool then peel off the hard shell. Place the chestnuts into a saucepan with 2 cups milk, 1 tsp vanilla (if desired) and simmer until the chestnuts are soft. Add 1/2 cup more milk, 1/4 cup sugar and stir to dissolve. Place the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth. Strain through a sieve and bottle in sterilized jars to store.
