THE SEMI-GUILTY PLEASURES OF SUMMER

  Summer desserts revolve around the bright flavors of fresh fruit. Ice cream, sorbets and pie/crisp/cobbler/crumbles are time honored treats. Last week, Linda brought some of her raspberry sorbet into work, and it was amazing. I couldn't believe there was no dairy in it, because it was so creamy. 

   I bought an electric ice cream maker just before Father's Day so that we could have homemade strawberry ice cream to celebrate the dads in our family, and I've since made cherry ice cream, which is pictured here. Both were made using a cooked "custard" base, but you can also make a quicker version without the eggs and the cooking.

   One tip I'd like to pass along:  don't plug in you electric ice cream maker and go visit your next door neighbor for 40 minutes, or you may come home to find your kitchen filled with smoke and your electric ice cream freezer motor burning out. Just a precaution!

Follow the instructions that come with your ice cream freezer; it will explain how to layer salt and ice and give churning times. Rock salt is usually specified; its large crystal prevents the ice cream from freezing too quickly, which results in grainy textured ice cream, but in a pinch you can use other salt.

 Custard -base ice cream recipes call for cooking a mixture of eggs and milk until slightly thickened. Custard ice creams are rich in flavor.

OLD FASHIONED VANILLA ICE CREAM*

   2 cups granulated sugar

  1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

  1/4 teaspoon salt

7 cups milk

  

5 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups half and half

2 3/4 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan.  Slowly pour in the milk while stirring constantly, over medium heat.

Very slowly add the beaten eggs and continue stirring constantly.

Reduce heat t low and cook until mixture thickens slightly.

Slowly add vanilla, half and half and heavy cream.

Pour into a large bowl and refrigerate 2-4 hours until mixture is chilled.

Pour mixture into the canister of an electric ice cream freezer follow instructions for operating your freezer (i.e., loading canister, packing salt and ice, and churning time). 

   *To turn this into fruited ice cream, sprinkle 4 cups chopped fresh fruit pieces with sugar to taste, let macerate in fridge while custard is cooling.  Add to mixture just before pouring into the canister. I've used this recipe to make strawberry and cherry ice cream.

NEW FASHIONED VANILLA ICE CREAM

6 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)

4 1/2 cups half and half

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in canister of an electric ice cream freezer. Only fill canister 2/3 full, as mixture expands during freezing.  Stir until sugar is dissolved. Follow instructions for operating your freezer (ie.e, loading canister, packing salt and ice and churning time)

Fruitfully yours,

Karin

Linda's Raspberry Sorbet

We all enjoyed Linda's raspberry sorbet she made this week. It was so creamy its hard to believe it is dairy free! This recipe is from Saveur and makes 5 cups. If you like a chunky textured sorbet you can add whole raspberries to it at the last moment as the recipe calls for but we prefer a smoother textured without whole fruit.

Ingredients

1.5 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 lb fresh raspberries (about 5 cups) 

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a 2 quart saucepan, bring 2 cups water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve. Reduce heat to low and simmer, without stirring to make a syrup, for 5 minutes.

2. Pour the syrup into a medium bowl, stir in vanilla extract and transfer to the freezer to let chill for 15 minutes. 

3. Puree 1 lb of the raspberries (about 4 cups)  wight the syrup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Scrape the puree through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard the seeds. Stir lemon juice into the raspberry puree and pour it into a 2 quart ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufactures instructions until almost set but still a little slushy, about 25 minutes. 

4. Add remaining raspberries (about 1 cup) and continue freezing in the ice cream maker for about 5 minutes. Transfer the sorbet to a plastic container and freeze until completely set, about 1 hour. 

Alisa's Marionberry pie/crumble hybrid 

We are in the middle of berry season as I type this and I'm always feeling the need to enjoy every berry while we have them. We are getting some very limited deliveries of speciality berries currently that always tempt me to take home a half flat. We have been enjoying tayberries, marionberries, blackberries and boysenberries. We don't get them every day and quantities are limited so do call first if you have a specific variety in mind - (425) 486 - 6888. Specialty berries are all sold only by the half flat and are 17.99. 

I took home a half flat of marionberries this week and after eating 1/3 of them on the way home I invented a pie/crumble hybrid at midnight - one of the upsides of having insomnia while 8 months pregnant. In the morning I enjoyed it with greek yogurt for breakfast - a delicious summer breakfast! 

Ingredients

4 half pints of marionberries

2 cups sugar

1 stick of butter

2 cups whole oats

1 pre-made crust (feel free to make one from scratch - they always taste better) 

Directions

In a saucepan melt 1/2 of the stick of butter and add your berries and 1 cup of sugar. Feel free to add more sugar if you like a sweet pie - I like it a little tart still.  Simmer down the berries  for 5 minutes until they are saucy but not totally broken down. 

In a second sauce pan melt the other 1/2 stick of butter over low heat. Add the other 1 cup of sugar and all the oats and stir the oats to coat them in the sugar/butter mixture. Once the oats are coated turn off the heat. 

Fill your pie crust with your berry mixture and then top with the oat crumble. I had extra dough so I added some decorative dough hearts. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the berries are boiling and the crust/oats have a golden color. This is best eaten cold - it sets up better for cutting slices then when it is hot out of the oven. 

Stay sweet!

Alisa