Blueberry Cake Muffin Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches

A tablespoon of freshly grated lemon zest is the ingredient that pushes this simple, no-churn ice cream into the realm of perfection. The lemon juice also plays a role as it coagulates, that is, thickens the mixture, ensuring that no churning is required for a creamy but light texture. This ice cream can be started in the evening, allowing time for a few hours of freezing, and then a brief stirring. The rest of the freezing can happen overnight.

Ingredients
makes about a litre, adapted from Dori Sanders

• Lemon zest, finely grated, 1 T
• Lemon juice, freshly squeezed, 1/4 cup (60g) (from about 2 lemons)
• Sugar, 1 cup (200g)
• Salt, big pinch
• Heavy cream, 1 cup (235g)
• Whole milk, 1 cup (245g)
• Blueberry cake muffins (my recipe is here)
• Fresh blueberries for garnishing

The zest which is just the yellow part (be careful not to include the white underpart) needs to be finely grated or minced so its presence is hardly detected, except as refreshing bits of goodness.

Put sugar, zest, juice, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk till blended.

Pour milk and cream into a measuring pitcher/cup/jug. Whisk to blend and add gradually, all the while whisking, to the zest/juice mixture. Whisk for about two minutes or until you can't hear or feel the sugar scraping against the bottom of the bowl.

Pour into a square, metal cake pan or in my case a rectangular metal bread pan. Cover tightly with foil and freeze. After three hours, uncover and stir, making sure you scrape off the frozen parts adhering to the sides and corners of the pan. Recover and refreeze until it is firm which took about three hours for my freezer. Any surplus can be stored in a lidded, plastic container in the freezer.

Spread a thick layer on the bottom of a split muffin and top with the other half. Sprinkle with fresh blueberries.

It melts fairly fast which is a delight as it soaks the muffin with all its delectable glory.

Don't hesitate to scoop out more ice cream in order to do justice to the rest of the muffin!

À la prochaine!

Mint Blackberry No-Churn Ice Cream . . . and preserving sweet red peppers

Angoulême experiencing several days registering over 90°F (32°C) heightened my already significant appreciation of ice cream. Splashing cold water on my face cooled me from the outside while eating ice cream did that from within, a two-sided approach unbeatable both in its efficacy and sensory pleasure.

Churning breaks down any ice crystals so when not using an ice-cream maker, it is important to have ingredients with a low-water content such as fat, sugar, air, and alcohol. Condensed milk which is sweetened evaporated milk will freeze into a creamy mass especially if whipped cream which adds more fat plus air is folded into it. Since there are both blackberries and mint from our potager, they went into this ice cream. For about a litre/quart, add a handful of fresh mint leaves to 237 ml/8 fluid oz of heated-up cream, cover, and steep overnight in the fridge. The next day, strain the cream.

The wild area in the back of our garden consists mostly of brambles. The berries are smaller and more fibrous than the blackberries that already have been harvested from our cultivated bush.  But what flavour! Deep and encompassing. To make the coulis, put several large handfuls of berries in a sieve placed over a bowl and crush them well with a fork. Sweeten the juice with powdered sugar and thicken it with some cream.

Makes around 237 ml/8 fluid oz

Whip the cream. Put 237 ml/8 fluid oz of condensed milk into a bowl. Plop the whipped cream on top.

Gently fold in till it is blended but still airy.

The best way to achieve clearly defined swirls which is not what I did is to put a layer of partially frozen ice cream, dribble the blackberry coulis, and then swirl with a butter knife. While stirring only the latest layer, repeat till tub is filled. Instead I added the coulis just following the folding of the condensed milk into the whipped mint cream and before freezing. After a couple of hours in the freezer, most of the coulis sunk to the bottom so I gingerly stirred it throughout which resulted in a splotched appearance which was fine since I love all things piebald. Freeze about 4 hours.

The mint imparted a herbal freshness, while the blackberries added mellowness

Being somewhat melty, this ice cream appealed to my inner child who had a soft spot for ice-cream soup. All-in-all, this method produced an excellent result. Its texture is the creamiest I have ever had, not much effort is required to make it, and if you love the taste of the Indian frozen dairy dessert, Kulfi, which consists mainly of condensed milk, then this is the ice cream for you. The condensed milk is a flavour in itself, a slightly carmelised one, providing a subtle background for other ingredients so it may not appeal to purists.

In the potager, Corno di Toro Rosso, an Italian sweet red pepper, is beginning to be harvested with the bulk anticipated in about a month.

Grilling on all sides till charred about 15 cm/six inches under the broiler, placing in heat resistant ziplock bags for ten to fifteen minutes to loosen the skin then removing it, and chopping the flesh followed by freezing is an excellent method of preservation.

These will be used in Roasted Red Pepper White Bean Soup (includes detailed instructions for roasting peppers) and Roasted Garlic Sweet Red Pepper Fennel Spread/Dip.

À la prochaine!