Lemon Curd Ice Cream
This is one of the easiest ice creams to make. You don’t need an ice cream machine to make it and there are only three ingredients, if you count the lemon curd as one ingredient. I did make my own lemon curd- recipe follows, but you can just use a jar of store bought. It has the nicest flavor and texture.
This ice cream came about because I had made lemon curd for a party and had some left over. I also had whipping cream that needed to be used up. I combined the two and it was even better than I thought. Two friends have tried it so far and both really liked it.
Here is the recipe.
Lemon Curd Ice Cream
1-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups lemon curd
1/2 c. powdered sugar
In a medium mixing bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in the lemon curd and sugar and place in a freezer container and freeze until ready to eat. Makes about a quart. I told you it was simple!!!
Lemon Curd
1/2 c. lemon juice
zest from one good sized lemon- you should have 2-3 teaspoons
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
6 T. unsalted butter- cut into little cubes
In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Whisk the mixture until the eggs are well blended. Cook over medium low heat, whisking often, until the mixture thickens. This will take 5-7 minutes. Whisk more often as mixtures warms and starts to thicken. Better to heat over lower heat and take longer than cook over too high a heat. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Once the mixture is thickened , transfer to a bowl or jar. Cover the surface with a piece of plastic wrap to keep the surface from developing a skin- like any pudding will do. Chill until ready to use. Makes about 2 cups. Will keep in fridge a week or two.
Mini Turtle Cheesecakes – No Bake
These might be one of the easiest desserts ever!! The base is filo (phyllo) shells you can buy at most grocery stores. The filling is a mixture of cream cheese, sugar, melted chocolate and whipped cream that is piped into the shells. Add a few toppings, chill and you are ready to serve. They look and taste amazing.
When you are pressed for time these are a nice dessert to make. Plus, they actually taste great and look adorable. Since we used mini chocolate chips to melt, a few were saved to sprinkle on the top. I thought that was a great idea. Thanks, Teresa!!
If you can’t find filo shells I have also included directions to make your own using phyllo dough, Recipe is at the bottom of the post.
So here is the recipe. Enjoy.
No Bake Mini Turtle Cheesecakes
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packages (15 count each) Athens Mini Filo Shells
Caramel sauce and finely chopped pecans, for garnish
In a large mixing bowl (with whisk attachment if using stand mixer), beat the heavy cream until it thickens and stiff peaks form, roughly 3-4 minutes (when you pull the beaters up, peaks will form and not fall over). Transfer to another bowl and keep cold in the refrigerator. In the same mixing bowl (no need to clean bowl – switch to paddle if using stand mixer), beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated.
Pipe the cheesecake filling into each filo shell then top with caramel sauce and pecans. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Best served the same day as making.
How to Make Phyllo Cups
5 sheets phyllo pastry
¼ cup unsalted butter melted, more as needed
Preheat the oven to 375°F. If phyllo dough is frozen, completely thaw it according to package directions. Lay one sheet of dough out and brush with a light coating of butter. Top with a second sheet and brush with butter. Repeat with remaining dough until you have 5 layers. Cut into 3.5″ x 3.5″ squares. Gently press into a mini muffin tin. Poke the bottom of the dough with a fork to allow steam to escape. Bake 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently press the center using a small spoon. Return the cups to the oven and continue baking 4-6 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and immediately remove from the muffin pan. Phyllo cups are very delicate and should be stored in a single layer in a hard container. They can be made up to 1 week ahead of time and refrigerated.
Note: I have also made these with 4 sheets instead of 5 and they still worked.
Using Phyllo (or Filo) Cups
Whether they are store bought or homemade, phyllo cups are a fun and easy way to make both savory and sweet treats. They can be filled with cheeses, veggies, smoked meats, nut and herbs for appetizers. For desserts, use puddings or custard, fruits, nuts, chocolate, whipped cream and small candies. Be creative and have fun. You can bake in them, or add ingredients that don’t need to be baked.
“Melon Ball” Sorbets
I remember making melon balls for fruit salad, when I was a kid. My mom showed me how. It always seemed like a special occasion when we made them. I had to learn how to use the melon “baller” to get pieces that were all perfect little rounds.
I will admit, I haven’t made melon balls in a long time, but I still like the way they look.
I used melon balls at the inspiration for this dish. Funny thing is- there isn’t any melon in the dish. I made three different sorbets- strawberry, mango and kiwi. Each one is meant to resemble a different melon- watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. You can, of course, make sorbet from melons. I just didn’t happen to do that.
They can be served alone and make a light, wonderful dessert. You can add a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream, if you like. They can also be served with cakes or cookies. You can even add some to a glass of lemonade or a summer cocktail, just for fun.
This dessert is easy to make and a nice alternative to ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, I love ice cream, but sometimes I want something lighter. Nice for those who are lactose intolerant, too. Once made, you can have them on hand for dessert anytime.
Strawberry Vanilla Sorbet
2 c. fresh or frozen strawberries (allow frozen berries to thaw a little first)
1/4 c. sugar, or to taste
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. vanilla
Place ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Place in shallow pan and freeze. If you are using frozen berries re-freezing will take only about 1 hour. Up to 30 minutes before serving remove sorbet from freezer and allow to soften enough to break into chunks. Place in processor and blend again until very smooth. Return to freezer until needed.
Mango Honey Ginger Sorbet
2-3 large, ripe mangoes, seed and peeled
1/4 c. honey, or to taste
2-3 t. fresh grated ginger
Place ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Place in shallow pan and freeze. Up to 30 minutes before serving remove sorbet from freezer and allow to soften enough to break into chunks. Place in processor and blend again until very smooth. Return to freezer until needed. For an even smoother sorbet, you can blend it another time.
Kiwi Lime Sorbet
6 kiwi, peeled
juice of 1 lime
1/4 c. sugar, or to taste
Place ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Place in shallow pan and freeze. Up to 30 minutes before serving remove sorbet from freezer and allow to soften enough to break into chunks. Place in processor and blend again until very smooth. Return to freezer until needed.
To serve the sorbets, use a cookie scoop to make the “melon” balls. I made them as I was serving them, but you can also make the balls and return them to the freezer until ready to serve.
Strawberry Ice Cream Cake Roll
This is the perfect summer dessert. Fresh berries, a light, citrus-scented cake and ice cream. What more could you want?
When you say cake roll, I think a lot of people first think of a pumpkin roll or perhaps a Buche de Noel (yule log). There are so many more desserts you can make with them. Cake rolls can be made in many flavors and they can be filled with custard, frosting, fruit, ice cream and more.
For this sponge cake roll, I used homemade strawberry ice cream to fill it, recipe follows. You could use store bought ice cream, if you prefer.
Start with the sponge cake roll recipe below, and use whatever flavor ice cream you like. You’ll need about a quart of ice cream- or a little more.
Once finished, you just wrap it up and pop the cake in the freezer until needed. Great to have on hand for summer parties and cook outs. Perhaps a nice dessert for Father’s Day? You can decorate with fresh berries when serving. Blueberries would make this a fun red, white and blue dessert for Memorial Day or the 4th of July.
Sponge Cake Roll
This sponge cake roll can be filled with whipped cream or ice cream, or use your favorite filling.
5 eggs, separated
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2/3 cup cake flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons melted butter
Beat egg yolks until thicken and lemon colored; gradually add 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, the lemon juice and the lemon zest. Beat egg whites until almost stiff then gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold yolk mixture into whites. Sift dry ingredients into a separate container; add to egg mixture, folding in carefully. Fold in melted butter. Pour batter into waxed paper-lined 10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Turn onto a clean kitchen towel which has been generously dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Trim edges, if necessary; roll cake up, towel and all, while still warm. Let cool completely. Unroll and fill with whipped cream or ice cream then re-roll cake. The trick is to let the ice cream soften up a few minutes before spreading it on the cake. But don’t wait too long. Rather than trying to let the ice cream get soft enough to spread I used a spatula to sort of cut slices of ice cream and place them on the cake. Store ice cream cake roll in freezer until ready to slice and serve.
*If you don’t have cake flour you can make your own. Measure out a cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour and replace them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. For larger amounts place 7 cups of flour in a bowl and combine with 1 cup of cornstarch. Mix well or even sift together. Store in an airtight container.
Strawberry Ice Cream
2 c. chopped strawberries
1 c. sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 c. cream or half and half or a combination. You can also use some milk or even almond or rice milk.
Additional sugar to taste
Place strawberries, vanilla and sugar in saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and chill. Combine chilled berry mixture with cream. Add additional sugar if you like. Remember that once it is frozen the ice cream will not taste as sweet so make this mixture a little sweeter than you want the final product to be. How much sugar you add varies with personal taste, and how sweet the berries are. Place in an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions. Once finished put in an air- tight container and place in freezer. Makes about 1 quart.
How to Use French Sorrel
Sorrel is also known as French sorrel and garden sorrel. It’s a member of the dock family and its less cultivated relatives can be harvested in most any field. The sorrel grown in herb gardens produces larger leaves, and is milder in flavor, than its wild cousins. French sorrel produces large, pointed leaves on 6″ stems. When in flower, the plant sends up flower stalks that can reach more than 3′ in height.
Sorrel is a hardy perennial and will produce tasty leaves for many years, once established. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil. The leaves have a sour, almost lemony flavor that is used in dishes like sorrel soup. The lemony/sour flavor makes sorrel a natural match for seafood.
Young leaves can also be served raw in salads. To encourage new, tender growth sorrel can be cut back to the soil line. New leaves will start to grow soon after cutting back. Young sorrel leaves can be added to soups and sauces, egg or pasta dishes. Because sorrel leaves are high in oxalic acid, they should be eaten in moderation. Or, the leaves can be blanched and rinsed to reduce the oxalic acid.
Sorrel can be started from seed, either indoors or directly sown in the garden. You can also buy plants at garden centers that carry herbs. It can be hard to find plants in some areas.
When I was a kid, my Busha (Polish grandmother) would make sorrel soup from wild sorrel. I remember harvesting the tiny leaves in a field. She needed a brown paper grocery bag full for a batch of soup. You can imagine how delighted I was to discover that there was a domestic version I could grow at home- with much larger leaves.
Here are some of my favorite recipes using sorrel.
Sorrel Soup
2 medium onions, chopped
2 T. oil
2 lbs. potatoes. Peeled and cubed
1 rib celery, sliced
1 qt. chicken or vegetable stock
1 qt. milk
1/3 –1/2 c. flour
1 lb. Sorrel leaves, washed and spun dry, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
In soup pot sauté onions in oil until tender. Add vegetables, stock and 3 cups of the milk. Simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. In a container with a tight fitting lid place the flour with the remaining milk and shake until mixture is smooth. Pour into hot soup and simmer 3-4 minutes. Use more or less flour depending on how thick you like your soup. Toss in sorrel, adjust seasonings and serve. Garnish with snipped chives, if desired. Serves 6-8.
Sorrel Pesto
1 c. tightly-packed sorrel leaves
½ c. olive oil
3 – 4 cloves garlic
salt to taste
½ c. pine nuts, sunflower kernels, pecans or walnuts, toasted preferred
1 c. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Hot sauced to taste
Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth. Adjust seasonings. Use with chicken or fish. Sorrel Pesto is also good on potatoes, or tossed in a spinach salad with some wine vinegar. Great on grilled vegetables, too!
Sorrel Sauce
This sauce is good with fish and chicken or on baked potatoes. You can also use it as a dip with veggies.
½ c. mayo
½ c. sour cream or Greek yogurt
½ c. fresh chopped sorrel leaves
2 T. minced green onion
1 T. chopped fresh parsley
2 t. fresh lemon or lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
dash red hot pepper sauce
Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Adjust seasonings. Chill.
Blueberry Crumb Cake
This has always been a favorite cake of mine. The mixture of moist cake and berries would be great on their own, but that crunchy, crumb topping- oh my! Talk about a wonderful combination.
It isn’t a difficult cake to make at all. It is an extra nice cake to take along to picnics and cook outs since there is no frosting to worry about. It can be served plain, or served with a scoop of ice cream or some whipped cream.
So here is the recipe. Enjoy!!
Blueberry Crumb Cake
For cake batter:
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ stick (¼ cup) butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
1 egg
½ c. milk
1 pint blueberries, fresh or frozen
For topping:
½ c. sugar
¼ c. flour
½ t. cinnamon
½ stick (¼ c. butter, chilled and cut into bits)
Combine dry ingredients and set aside. In mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and milk. Add flour mixture gradually until just mixed in. Fold in blueberries. Grease and flour an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan and add prepared batter. Combine topping ingredients until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in pan and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven and bake for 35-45 minutes. Use toothpick to test.
Note: I have used a 9-inch round pan and it worked fine.
Frozen Cherry-Strawberry Cheesecake
This frozen cheesecake was so easy to make. The ingredients were combined, then frozen. No ice cream maker required. It took me about 10 minutes to put together. With hot weather coming this week, frozen treats seem like a good idea.
I wasn’t sure what to call it at first. It looks like an ice cream, but it isn’t. The secret ingredient-cottage cheese. The cottage cheese was combined with sugar, fruits and flavorings in a food processor until very smooth. Then crumbled graham crackers were added so it is more like a cheesecake, so that is what I called it. I could see making this with other fruits. I made it because I had a big carton of cottage cheese that I wanted to use up. The cherries were in my freezer already and I had just gotten fresh strawberries.
If you want it to be a little creamier, you can add some whipping cream.
Frozen Cherry-Strawberry Cheesecake
1 (28 oz.) carton of cottage cheese
Sugar to taste, I used about 1 cup – you could sweeten with honey or maple syrup, too
1 c. pitted sour cherries- or more if you like
1 c. sliced strawberries- or more if you like
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. vanilla extract
9 graham crackers, crumbled
Combine first 6 ingredients in a food processor or blender until very smooth. Taste to see if you want to add more sugar. Pour into a 2 quart bowl and stir in the crushed crackers. Place mixture in a freezer safe container that has a lid. Affix the lid and freeze. Makes 5-6 cups.
Note: I could see a lot of possible variations for this recipe. I used cinnamon graham crackers, but it might be fun to use chocolate graham crackers. You could use other fruit. I used what I had on hand. Peaches or other berries might be fun. I think the next one I make I will try adding lemon curd and lemon zest for a lemon cheesecake.
Ham and Cheese Filled Bread
This bread is always a crowd pleaser and looks pretty, too. It’s also easier to make than you might think. The dough is a pretty basic yeast dough that is rolled out, filled with ham, cheese, mustard and honey then the dough is folded up over the fillings and baked. Details directions follow.
I have made this bread with all sorts of fillings. Its a great way to get creative, have some fun and even use up leftovers. I will be starting my kids’ cooking camps soon and we always make some variation of this bread in camp. You can make vegetarian versions, too.
Enjoy.
Ham and Cheese Filled Bread
3 ¼ c. all purpose or bread flour, you can add a little rye flour, too
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 package quick-rising yeast, or a scant tablespoon of yeast in bulk
1 c. hot water
1 T. oil
¼ c. spicy mustard – or any mustard you like
2 T. honey
8-12 oz. sliced ham
4-6 oz. sliced cheese – I like cheddar or Swiss in this recipe but any melty cheese works
Set aside 1 cup of the flour. Combine remaining flour with the other dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in water and oil and gradually stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle about 16 x 8. Spread mustard and honey down center middle of dough. Top with meat slices and cheese. Cut one-inch wide strips of dough from filling to edge on both sides. It will sort of look like fringe. Alternating sides, fold strips up and over the filling at an angle. Carefully lift loaf onto greased baking sheet and place at an angle. Cover with a towel and place sheet on top of a roasting pan half-filled with simmering water for 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400-degree for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers.
Note: The variations for this bread are almost endless. Some favorite combinations are a Reuben or Rachel, roast beef and cheddar, chicken, broccoli and cheese, Spinach with ricotta or feta and onions, pizza, assorted fillings. You get the idea. Use your imagination and have fun. Just be careful not to overfill, or the bread will be hard to move, use fillings that aren’t too runny and always fill with cold ingredients so the dough won’t get a soggy bottom.
Note: If you want to use regular yeast use warm, rather than hot water. Also, skip the step of placing the dough over simmering water. After kneading cover dough and let rise 45 minutes. Punch down and assemble as in original recipe. Cover with a towel and let rise until dough looks puffy, about 40 minutes. Bake as directed above.
These breads can also be frozen.
Fairy Butter
If you never heard of fairy butter before you are not alone. I never heard of fairy butter until I read an article about it. Now I love it. It was also a big hit at a brunch with a friend. At the brunch it was served with rolls and bagels.
The recipe is actually very simple, just 4 ingredients. Butter, cooked egg yolks, rosewater ( or orange blossom water) and a little sugar. Such simple ingredients, but the final result was almost magical. After tasting it, I ended up making a second batch right away. It was really good. Even better than expected.
I subscribe to a newsletter from Altas Obscura. Please check out their website. They posted the recipe for fairy butter with its history. That is where I found the recipe. It was popular during Colonial days. The mixture is pressed through a fine sieve that will produce golden threads. The recipe also suggested decorating your fairy butter with edible flowers. I was lucky to have plenty to choose from in my garden. I used pansies, elderberry flowers, false strawberries and perennial geraniums. I had recently received rose water from a friend, so it seemed natural to make something with it. Almost fateful.
Now I want to host a tea party, just to try fairy butter on scones and crumpets!!!
So here is the recipe. Enjoy! And don’t forget to check out Atlas Obscura. I even have their book on obscure recipes. Fun site.
Fairy Butter
2 hard cooked egg yolks
1 Tablespoon rosewater or orange blossom water – I used rosewater
2 teaspoons sugar – you could probably use honey or maple syrup if you prefer
1 stick- 4 oz. of butter, softened I used salted butter
Combine the first 3 ingredients, blending until smooth. The original recipe suggested using a mortar and pestle. I just used a mixing fork and later a small spatula. Then add in the butter and mix until smooth. Now press the mixture through a fine sieve to produce thin, golden threads. Decorate with edible flowers. (This is where I ended up going off recipe a little. I wasn’t happy with how it looked at first. I think my butter might have been too soft. Maybe I should have used a mortar and pestle. In any event, I ran it through the sieve a few times before I liked the way it looked. I placed the fairy butter on a round dish and decorated with edible flowers.)
Blueberry Galette
A galette is a cross between a pie and a tart. Rather than placing the crust in a pie pan, the crust is rolled out and the fruit is placed in the middle. The edges of the crust are folded over the fruit, leaving them exposed in the middle. Galettes have a rustic charm. They are also easy to make.
I will be serving this for dessert later. It was one of those times that what I had on hand worked together perfectly. I had an open jar of blueberry pie filling and leftover kolachy dough. Made sense to use them together.
I used homemade blueberry pie filling, but you could use store-bought, if you prefer.
The ingredients are pretty simple, pie crust and pie filling. You’ll need enough pie crust dough for one pie and one cup of blueberry pie filling per galette. After I folded over the edges, I brushed them with a little milk and sprinkled the edges with sugar, to help the crust brown nicely.
Blueberry Galette
Crust for one pie- recipe follows
1 cup blueberry pie filling
milk
2-3 T. sugar
Roll out crust like you would for a pie, about a 10 or 12 inch circle. Place crust on a baking sheet. Spoon filling into the middle of the crust. Fold edges of the crust over the fruit filling, leaving about a three inch circle exposed in the middle. Brush crust with milk and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove to a rack to cool. Serves 4-6.
Here is the recipe I used for the crust. It would make enough for about 3-4 galettes. We used most of the dough for hand pies in cooking camp and I had leftover dough. It can be frozen, too.
Eva’s Kolachy Dough
3 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. salt
1 c. butter
3 eggs
2 pkts. Yeast
½ c. warm milk
In mixing bowl, combine flour with baking powder and salt. Cut butter into flour until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside. Place eggs in a small bowl and beat until smooth. In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add to egg mixture and stir to combine. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined. If mixture is sticky add a small amount of flour. Roll dough out on floured board. Thinner the better, as this dough will puff some when baked. Unlike a traditional pie crust dough, this one does not need to be chilled. It is also very easy to roll out. Use about 1/3- 1/4 of this dough per galette. Extra dough can be frozen to use later.
