Coffee and Cardamom Instant Soft Serve

Coffee and Cardamom Instant Soft Serve

by | Mar 1, 2018 | 0 comments

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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!

Coffee and Cardamom Soft Serve in a glass tumbler with pistachios sprinkles

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!

Molasses sugar spilling out on a pink surface

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Coffee and Cardamom Instant Soft Serve

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 90ml hot espresso
  • 1 cup milk
  • 300g (1 cup) Natura Sugars Molasses Sugar
  • 3 cups (750ml) cream

Instructions

  1. 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.
https://thekatetin.com/coffee-cardamom-instant-soft-serve/

 

Pineapple Coconut Macaroon Tart with Pineapple Blossoms

Pineapple Coconut Macaroon Tart with Pineapple Blossoms

by | Jan 7, 2018 | 0 comments

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Pineapple Coconut Macaroon tart with Pineapple Blossoms

This Pineapple Coconut Macaroon Tart has a fragrant, tropical filling and a clever base made of coconut macaroon mix means you can line the tart without blind baking or rolling out pastry! The pineapple blossoms are easier to make than you think!

Pineapple Macaroon Tart with Pineapple Blossoms

Pineapple Tart reminds me of my summer. Of hot sunny days spent playing outside before being yelled at by my mother to come inside ‘before you get burnt to a crisp’. It wasn’t the UV rays that convinced me though – it was what was waiting on a side plate on the kitchen counter. A slice of, what in our house was dubbed, ‘Summer Pie’. The ‘pie’, which was more like a fridge tart really, consisted of whipped cream, condensed milk, pineapple jelly, crushed tinned pineapple all layered with coconut tea biscuits. Served ice cold, it tasted of sunshine and school holidays – bliss!

Pineapple

The moment my friends over at Natura Sugars asked me to create a recipe inspired by their beautiful Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar, one look at the bright yellow bag instantly reminded me of my mom’s pineapple tart (Summer Pie). So I’ve made a slightly more sophisticated, grown-up version with a clever shortcut instead of the usual pastry tart case: coconut macaroons!

Pineapple blossoms with Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

The Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar is perfect for the pineapple coconut macaroon tart filling – not only because the fine crystals dissolve easily, but it’s crafted in tropical Mauritius (how fitting!) I’ve also used it in the coconut crust as it lends a lovely subtle caramel flavour. Serve this pineapple tart straight out the fridge, ice cold with a scoop of ice cream and you’ll have absolutely no doubt why it’s called Summer Pie!

PINEAPPLE COCONUT MACAROON TART WITH PINEAPPLE BLOSSOMS

Serves 8-10

 

COCONUT MACAROON CRUST

2 cups (160g) desiccated coconut

2 egg whites

1/4 cup (55g) Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

 

PINEAPPLE FILLING

1 small pineapple, peeled

1 cup (250ml) cream (you could use coconut cream, if you like)

2 eggs

3 egg yolks

½ cup (110g) Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

½ cup (125ml) pineapple juice

zest and juice of 1 lime

few drops yellow food colouring

 

MERINGUE TOPPING

1 egg white

1/4 cup (60ml) Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

 

To make the pineapple coconut macaroon tart, preheat oven to 140°C (120°C fan-forced). Grease 1 large loose-bottomed 25cm tart tin. Place the coconut, egg whites and sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. Press mixture firmly into the base and sides of the tart tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until just golden. Thinly slice the pineapple and set aside on a lined baking sheet. Place the pineapple slices in an oven preheated to 100°C (80°C fan-forced) for 1 hour or until dried. While still warm, press the pineapple blossoms into a muffin tray for form flower shapes. Allow to cool completely. To make the filling, whisk the cream, eggs, sugar, pineapple juice and colouring together. Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and carefully pour the filling into the baked tart shell. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until just set. Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating until completely set. To make the topping, whisk the egg white unti soft peak stage then gradually add the sugar to form a glossy meringue. Pile on top of the set tart and toast with a blowtorch (or preheat our oven’s grill to it’s highest setting). Decorate the tart with the pineapple blossoms.

Watch the video below for the full instructions:

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Instant 3-Ingredient Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

Instant 3-Ingredient Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

by | Jan 11, 2017 | 1 comment

My fondest memory of strawberries is the strawberry jam my mom used to simmer up when I was a child – she’d buy them in bulk when they were in season and cheap and torment us all by filling the house with the smell of sweet strawberries and boiling sugar on what always felt like the hottest of summer days! It was, appropriately, hard work which resulted in the sweetest of rewards!

And speaking of sweet rewards, do you remember the days when delicious, sweet strawberries were only available during summer? When you’d spot that first punnet on the supermarket shelf and do a little happy dance on the inside? (or on the outside – I don’t judge). While they seem to be on shelf all year round now, I flat out refuse to buy them out of season – they never taste quite as good as when you have to wait for them don’t they? And while my fondest memories of them do involve jam, I’m not about to sweat myself to death over a stovetop to relive my childhood memories (sorry mom!). So instead, I’m telling you to go the opposite way and not cook anything at all!

This strawberry FRO-YO (as the kids are calling it now-days or Frozen Yoghurt to the rest of us) is so easy I’ve called it instant and the only reason it is delicious is because all the glory goes to the strawberries and their natural sweetness (so you may not even need the honey!). While strawberries scooped my vote (see what I did there!) you may want to go with pineapple or mango or passionfruit or blueberries – the best thing about this recipe is it can be whatever you want it to be!

Instant 3-Ingredient Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

Serves 4-6

 

250g strawberries, hulled, chopped and frozen

1 cup (250ml) full cream plain yoghurt, frozen in ice cube trays

2-3 tbsp honey, to taste

 

Place the strawberries, frozen yoghurt blocks and honey into a blender with ¼ cup water and blend until smooth and thick. Use a little water or milk if necessary. Serve immediately or pour into a freezer-proof container and freeze until firm.

 

 

TIP For a creamier frozen yoghurt, add a few more spoonfuls of yoghurt. Swop out the strawberries for any other summer fruit.

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake with Raspberries

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake with Raspberries

by | Jan 11, 2017 | 1 comment

They say you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream. And that’s sort of the same thing isn’t it?! Well how about buying the ingredients to create this spectacular show-stopper of a beauty guaranteed to bring you happiness. This ice cream cake is so ridiculous easy to make I should be embarrassed for even sharing it. But I’m not.
This recipe combines two of my childhood memories; I’m sure I’m not the only one to remember licking melted dribbles of artificially-flavoured strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream off my fingers. And of course, the ice cream had to be served in those hideous pink cones!  The other childhood memory is trips to Milky Lane for soft serve – which meant an award for best parents for mom and dad!  I would sit and swoon over the intricate ice cream cakes that were made to order – if you managed to score a Milky Lane ice cream cake for your birthday party then you were the luckiest kid ever.
 
 Despite the kitsch-ness that we associate with Neopolitan ice cream, it actually has a far more dignified history. Invented in Italy (Naples to be exact) it was apparently first made up of the colours of the Italian flag – pistachio, vanilla and cherry! Over time, pistachio and cherry (sadly!) got ditched for the more popular chocolate and strawberry. I’ve subbed the chocolate layer for a brownie base but if that’s too much effort, then go for chocolate cake, crushed chocolate biscuits or even just good ol’ chocolate ice cream!

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake

Serves 10-12

 

300g The Kate Tin Dark Baking Chocolate, roughly chopped

150g unsalted butter

2 tsp vanilla

150g caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

75g plain flour

2 tbsp The Kate Tin Cocoa Powder

1 tsp salt

1L vanilla ice cream, softened

1L raspberry, strawberry or mixed berry sorbet, softened

Chocolate sauce, to decorate

Fresh raspberries, frozen, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 20cm spring form cake tin with baking paper. For the brownie base, melt 200g chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla together in a heatproof bowl, set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then leave to cool for a few minutes. Beat in the eggs, then sift in the flour, cocoa and salt and fold in until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Stir in the remaining chocolate. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top starts to crack but the centre remains gooey. Turn off the oven and leave the brownies inside for a further 5 minutes before removing. Leave to cool completely in the tin. Loosen with a palette knife, clean the tin and place the brownie base back in the cake tin. Spread over the softened sorbet and place in the freezer to set. Top with softened vanilla ice cream and and freeze until set. Remove from the mould, top with chocolate sauce and decorate with raspberries.

 

 

TIP

Frozen Chocolate Tiramisu

Frozen Chocolate Tiramisu

by | Dec 6, 2016 | 0 comments

I love it when a dessert TELLS me to eat it and even more so when it says it in Italian! Tiramisu means, ‘pick me up’ and yes, I think I will pick you up, and then I’ll put you in my mouth! This is an easy summer dessert that’s super-impressive to serve guests – especially when you say it with your best Italian accent. The Italian in my house is rather precious about tiramisu – although I think all Italians feel this way.  When I once proudly skipped into the room with what I thought was one of my best ideas ever; caramel tiramisu, he announced that it was a despicable idea. How dare I contaminate a perfectly delicious dessert with CARAMEL!? So when I tried my luck at suggesting a frozen version and he didn’t cancel our wedding plans, I was relieved. And of course, pushed my luck and suggested we add a chocolate layer as well. Might as well take advantage of the seemingly good mood he was in!  And so, this frosted version has a chocolate layer – because there are a lot of things Mr Italian and I disagree on, but when it comes to this we agree; chocolate makes everything better!

Frozen Chocolate Tiramisu

Serves 6-8

 

1 cup freshly brewed, strong coffee, cooled

18 finger biscuits

4 egg yolks

½ cup caster sugar

500g mascarpone cheese, softened

2 tbsp coffee liqueur or grappa (optional)

60g The Kate Tin Dark Baking Chocolate, melted

250ml cream, whipped

The Kate TIN Cocoa Powder, for dusting

 

Line the base and sides of a standard loaf tin with baking paper, leaving a 5cm overhang at long ends. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar for 5 minutes or until light, pale and creamy. Whisk in the softened mascarpone and liqueur (if using) – don’t overmix. Dip 6 biscuits, 1 at a time, into the coffee mixture, turning to coat. Place, in a single layer, at the bottom of the loaf tin. Pour over half the mascarpone mixture then dust with cocoa powder. Place another layer of soaked biscuits on top. Fold the melted chocolate into the remaining mascarpone mixture and pour that over the biscuits. Top with a last layer of soaked biscuits. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and freeze overnight or until firm. Allow to soften at room temperature for 5 minutes before turning out onto a plate. Top with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

 

TIP If you’re worried about the raw egg yolks, gently whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl over gently simmering water until warm to the touch, then whip with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.