What am I... REVEALED!

At the beginning of July, I posted this link with a photo of a recipe in progress. Just to recap, this is the picture that I posted both on the blog as well as on my personal Facebook page: 

 I got some really interesting guesses and someone did finally figure out what this was a photo of.  

This is the base of my very first batch of strawberry ice cream! I typically get into the groove of making ice cream particularly during the summer months. Last summer I made coffee ice cream (which was amazing!) and a double chocolate mint ice cream (vanilla ice cream infused with mint from my chocolate mint plant and then white and dark chocolate chunks in it). 

Lately, I've been craving very fruity based things and with two amazing farmers' markets as well as local farms in my reach, how could I not use what I have in my grasp? I'd picked up some local beauties and knew that their sole purpose would be to make ice cream! I found this amazing recipe at Blissfully Delicious that I knew would be just what I was looking for. It's simple, straightforward and looked heavenly. I will admit that beyond the above picture, I don't have any pics except for the finished product (yup, another case of food blogger-cide!) I promise, the recipe will guide you through everything you need to know :)

Here goes:

Recipe borrowed from Blissfully Delicious and is adapted from David Lebovitz via Fine Cooking

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Table salt
5 large egg yolks
1 lb. fresh or frozen strawberries, trimmed, pureed, strained, and mixed with 1/2 cup sugar (or less, if your berries are very sweet) - I actually skipped the straining, added some small chunks of strawberries into the puree and I only added about 1/4 cup of sugar as my berries were gorgeous!

Directions

• In a medium saucepan, mix 1 cup of cream with the milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Warm the cream mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water. Set a smaller metal bowl (one that holds at least 1-1/2 quarts) in the ice water (be sure to use a metal bowl, it helps cool things down even faster). Pour the remaining cup of cream into the inner bowl (this helps the custard cool quicker when you pour it in later). Set a fine strainer on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl.
• In a steady stream, pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.
• Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof rubber spatula until the custard thickens slightly (it should be thick enough to coat the spatula and hold a line drawn through it with a finger), 4 to 8 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 175° to 180°F at this point (My thermometer's battery has died so I just relied on the running my finger on the back of a wooden spoon test and all was well!) Don’t let the sauce overheat or boil, or it will curdle. Immediately strain the custard into the cold cream in the ice bath.
• Cool the custard to below 70°F by stirring it over the ice bath. Stir the strawberry puree into the cooled custard.
• Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. Then freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Transfer to an air-tight container, and freeze for at least 4 hours or up to 2 weeks.
• NOTE - This recipe made too much mixture for my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker so unfortunately we had to eat some of it like it was a milkshake. Not a single person in my house complained!!!

I ended up loving this so much that I made it again a week later! My Dad, who doesn't do desserts EVER, claimed that this was as good as Haagan Dazs' Strawberry ice cream. I'll allow a bit of that to be related to me being his daughter, but otherwise I will take his honest opinion.

I absolutely love seeing the chunks of strawberry in the ice cream. It made it all that much better. Please, please, please say that you will try this recipe soon!!! It's worth it, I promise.

Hugs to you all and happy Monday!

t

Baby Shower Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Photo courtesy of Zazzle.com

I'm just going to come out and say it! I LOVE STRAWBERRIES!!! With the crazy weather we had at the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring, the strawberry crops haven't fared well at all this year. This in itself breaks my heart but I do enjoy when I can get my hands on some tasty berries regardless. In celebration of the delicious berries that I picked up at Strawberry Creek Farm a few days ago on the way home from the cottage, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe that has scared the pants off of me for the last 3 or so years... Strawberry Meringue Buttercream!!!!

Let me explain that typically I use a few different kinds of frosting. When I bake cupcakes and know that I will be transporting them all over the place, I use a recipe that can withstand temperature changes. Other times I use a simple recipe of butter, icing sugar and whatever flavouring I'm looking to achieve. I rarely make a traditional buttercream that requires egg whites to be heated and then whipped for ages before adding a ton of butter. These buttercreams are called meringue buttercreams. I have successfully made a chocolate one before and have tried the strawberry one before but needless to say, I ended up crying because it flopped... or so I thought....

Dina, a friend of ours, first introduced me to this strawberry meringue buttercream and so what better place to start than in her kitchen watching her make it. After watching the master at work, I realized that the last time I made this strawberry buttercream, if I'd just kept beating it, I would most likely have been successful!!! (UGH! Good to know NOW!) Regardless, the ever gracious Dina showed me everything I needed to know and truly boosted my confidence to try again. Thus, when my darling friend Katie (from work) asked me to bake cupcakes for a baby shower she was hosting, I knew that the strawberry meringue buttercream needed to happen.

I apologize for the over exposure but I wanted to show you the cutest baby bottles that I found to top the cuppies!!!

While I won't go into great detail on the recipe, I will summarize the process:

• Puree strawberries & strain (or not)
• Heat egg whites and sugar to a point where you can only hold your finger in them for 10 seconds before wanting to cry
• Whip the egg whites (hopefully with a stand mixer) until cool and huge and fluffy!
• Add butter in very small additions. When the frosting looks like it's curdled, keep whipping!!!!!
• Add your strawberries (and a tiny bit of strawberry flavouring)
• Savour the deliciousness that you have just slaved over!

 I won't lie, I almost cried!! These cupcakes turned out beautifully!!!! On top of their appearance, they tasted heavenly. I made half of them just my plain vanilla cupcakes and the other half were red velvet. The strawberry buttercream was delicious on both!!!

Welcome to my heaven:

 We can all die and go to strawberry buttercream heaven! A special thank you to Dina for making sure that I was comfy with this recipe!!! You rock my socks, lady!!!!

Happy Baking!!!

T

xoxo