Ben & Jerry's Style Strawberry Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry's is slowly making an inception across Australia! I noticed the other day that it's now stocked at Caltex service stations, and also at the deli down the road from me!

As the rest of Australia falls in love with the creamy confectionery, i have my own secret weapon - home made ice cream! The reason i say my recipes at Ben & Jerry's style are the way the custards are made. Traditionally, an ice cream custard is make by bringing up egg yolks to a certain temperature and then mixing in the egg whites. With this style, not so! It's much easier. There is no preheating involved in this style of ice cream, and I'm yet to experience any shortfalls in taste or texture as a result.

This particular ice-cream celebrates the deliciousness of summer strawberries, sweet and slightly tart, cutting through the rich creaminess of the ice cream. 

Blackberry Frozen Yoghurt

Summer lovin' is all about getting reacquainted with my icecream machine! But hey, we're (trying to be) on a health kick here so lets bring on the frozen yoghurt! I was really happy to find how well this recipe worked out- it was so creamy and delicious it really wiped the floor of those supermarket frozen yoghurts. My guess is that it comes down to ingredients - using good quality yoghurt as the base is a must!

Passionfruit Cheesecake Icecream

Yum! Don't you love when a bunch of leftover ingredients sitting around lead to an awesome culinary creation: cue: 1 packet of cream cheese, 1 frozen container of passionfruit curd leftover from sponge cake, and an abundance of eggs (48 to be exact). Put them all together and what does that make: passionfruit cheesecake icecream!

Actually, to be honest, credit must go to my mother. I had originally decided to make passionfruit curd icecream, but it was mum who thought of throwing the cream cheese in there. A family of diabolical geniuses or what!

Butter Pecan Icecream

Yes, i've been absent without leave for quite some time now! But that doesn't mean i haven't been cooking away. I've simply been too engrossed in eating my creations before i get a chance to photograph them.

To get your tastebuds a-tingling, and your saliva a-flowing after a long hiatus, let me introduce to you the best icecream i've ever made! Taken from the recipe for a well known icecream brand, it is also one of the easiest icecreams to make too. No risk of curdling THIS custard!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of pecan halves
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 cup full cream milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar

Method

Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat.

Once melted, add the pecans
Saute until the butter is juuuuust beginning to brown, and the pecans are very fragrant.

Pour off the butter into a cup and reserve the pecans.
Crack the eggs into a deep bowl and whisk until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes)
Add the sugar in 5 lots, whisking with each addition, then whisk for a further 1 minutes
Add the cream, milk, and melted butter, whisking to combine well
Transfer to a jug and chill in the refrigerator (say 2 hours)
Transfer the mixture to an icecream maker and freeze as per manufacturer's instructions.
Just before the mix is fully frozen, add the pecan halves
Enjoy!

Homemade Banana & Coconut Icecream with Crisp Toffee Coated Strawberries

A crackle, a crunch, as crystal of sweet toffee surrender to your mouth, before the sweet, slightly tart stickiness of strawberry envelopes the senses. Another bite, rich and creamy and undeniably tropical, recalling beachside cocktails serve in hollowed out coconuts: sound good? Read on. 

So my first experience with my latest impulse purchase, an icecream machine, was a bit of a disaster. I decided to jump right in and make a hazelnut gelato, and, being my first time making icecream i curdled the custard by overheating it. I was devastated! All that work squeezing milk from crushed hazelnuts, all that money spent on eggs and cream, all gone!!

Well i had to persevere, and since my visit to Thailand my mind has been all about tropical desserts. The icecream in the recipe is loosely adapted from yet another Luke Nguyen recipe however i'd tried to make it a bit richer and a bit more decadent.