Ice Cream Attempt #3

Last week I was feeling pretty calm and confident and I knew that I had an evening along so I decided to take on ice cream. Real French ice cream. There are technically 2 styles of ice cream. French and Philadelphia style. French refers to ice cream in which an egg custard is made as the base of the ice cream. Philadelphia style just incorporates the ingredients into the ice cream maker to be chilled. So, when you see something called French Vanilla, it's not the type of vanilla or flavouring, but the way the ice cream was prepared and should contain eggs. I picked my test recipe. Vanilla cheesecake. I had bought fresh ripe cherries and was going to try blending those in as well. I also had sugar-free pound cake in the freezer that I bought when it was half off (my goodness, is it ever expensive to buy from Safeway otherwise!) for a future reduced sugar trifle.

Ice cream recipe

I read through this recipe a number of times before starting the process. Since custards I know to be a precise art, despite never having made one before, I wanted to be prepared. Ingredients out and at room temperature, tools and whisks at the ready, my ice bath in the sink waiting...

The first step was blending the cream cheese with the cream. 35% whipping cream, in fact, so I chose the reduced fat cream cheese. Maybe once I master ice cream, I'll feel confident enough to start improvising more on the ingredients and fat contents of each ingredient, but not just yet.

Cream cheese base

Now, this mixture goes into a saucepan to heat up, but I decided that before I did that, I would get the eggs prepped and ready so I wasn't doing 2 things at once. I had time so no sense in rushing myself. Eggs went into a metal bowl and with my new hand mixer, I blended them until they reached a delicate pale shade of yellow. Half of the sugar also went into this mixture so I wanted to be sure that it was very well incorporated.



Eggs, being whipped until light yellow and slightly thickened

 Now came the fun part. The precision part. This is when I like to be alone in the house while I am cooking. Full concentration. I feel like a chemist, pouring over some hair-brained experiment, being careful not to blow up the house. The cream mixture is now supposed to reach a simmer on medium heat. This means that steam will begin to rise from the liquid, but it should not boil. A careful watch is needed here. As soon as the mixture simmers, it should be taken off the heat, with a hand mixer at the ready. This is why I prepped the eggs ahead of time now... So, now you must temper the eggs. In the end, what needs to happen is that the eggs need to also be part of this cream mixture and simmering, as it's going to be the thick custard base for the ice cream. But, what would happen if you just dumped in the eggs, or heated eggs over the stove? Scrambled eggs, that's what. While I am a relatively adventurous ice cream eater, eggs are not going to be in my top 10 must try list. That is where tempering comes in. It means that you slowly raise the temperature of the eggs, slowly enough and with enough movement to keep the temperature rising slowly, that they do not cook, but instead bind with the other yummy fats and create a custard. How I did this with wonderful results was to turn on the hand mixer and start beating the eggs again, while pouring a steady but slow stream of the hot cream mixture into them, making sure they were well incorporated. After about 1/3 of the hot mixture was added, the eggs were tempered and now I put the cream saucepan back on the heat, and poured the tempered egg mix back into that pot. Now, I could raise the heat of the custard mixture, to create the creamy thick base I was looking for.

Cream mixture with tempered eggs added

Hard part number one done. Hard part number two coming up next. While many books suggested that I go by sight and timing (about 6 minutes) for the next step, which is bringing up the temperature of the custard mix while mixing it until thickened, I decided to use the thermometer method this book suggested and also time it. I have a candy thermometer that I have never used to make candy with (although I see that being a soon-to-be-tested experiment) so I had that out and ready. The problem came with attaching it to the pot. I immediately found out that the height of my pot walls wasn't high enough to hold the thermometer without it's tip touching the bottom of the saucepan. Hmm. I knew that this would skew my reading, so I used my spoon rest as an aid and off I went!

Custard mixture at its optimal 170F

Mixing the custard base as the temperature slowly rose, being careful not to scorch the milk. Finally, at 170 F, I did the spoon test. For a perfect custard, a wooden spoon dipped into the liquid should hold a firm trail if you swipe your finger down the centre of it. So, spoon dipped in, finger traced a line down the spoon, and the line remained, so it was done. Off the heat to cool. To speed up the cooling process, one if the ice cream books recommends using an ice bath. I had this ready to go. I filled the sink with cold water and the rest of the bag of ice that C was using for his drinks (sorry, hubs) and sat the metal bowl on top of the water, careful not to get any into the custard, and then whisked and whisked until the custard was cooled. Then, the custard went into the fridge for one more hour, just to be sure.

Custard: wooden spoon finger trace test

After an hour, I set up the ice cream machine and immediately poured in the chilled cream cheese custard. After about 20 minutes, the mixture was firming up in the frozen bowl.

Cream cheese ice cream base

I chopped up some ripe cherries, cursing that I didn't have a cherry pitter and trying carefully to not get any of the blood red juice on myself. On the wooden counter, yes, that was inevitable, but I kept wiping it up. It honestly looked like a scene from Dexter, if Dexter investigated vegan murders.

Cherry massacre of 2011

I chopped up the pound cake and before the ice cream was at its thickest consistency, carefully dropped in the add-ins and was sure to use a knife to push down the fruit and cake, lest it spill over the top. Another 5-10 minutes churning and it was done.

Fresh cherry cheesecake ice cream

I gave C a spoonful to try fresh (which is really the best way to eat it since it gets much harder than commercial ice cream once frozen and needs 10 minutes on the counter, at least, before serving) and his eyes rolled back into his head and his body sighed and pitched, and he gave me a huge hug and told me he loved me. He declared it the best ice cream ever and proceeded to scoop out what I missed from the frozen drum and lick it all up. So, test number 3 was a hit. Very cheesecake tasting. The cherries got a little icy in the freezing as they were fresh and full of juice. The pound cake added a perfect soft and chewy texture to the silky base. I was going to make this for my grandma's birthday but I am debating doing a French vanilla base and using maraschino cherries instead.



Family Treasures and Banana Surprises

Thursday evening I had made plans to visit my parents and my mom was going to dye my hair for me. I hadn't seen them in 3 weeks because they were away at the cabin and I was definitely craving some family time. I had bought a box of colour that was purple-ish and had just got my hair cut too. My hair-dresser, Elaine, always does a great job and I am surprised she's not out of breath after thinning my crazy mane. In any case, I was relaxed after a pampering hair cut, the sun was out, the day was beautiful, and I was on my way to my parent's lovely house on a man-made pond.

When I got there, my parents had finished eating but my mom said there was lots in the fridge and she was right! Elk sausage and fresh from the garden baby courgette homemade pizza, some fresh garden veggie dark quinoa salad, fresh cut up veggies, olives, garden fresh Swiss chard, hard boiled eggs, salad, etc. I opted for the pizza, fresh Swiss chard, and brown quinoi salad.

Dinner at my parents

My parents are both really good cooks, although my mom does most of the every day cooking and my dad enjoys the special event meals or recipes (fruit cake made with a bottle of Grand Marnier, nougat, tarte Tatin, etc). My mom made what you see here and it was all so amazing and fresh! The best food every is fresh, healthy and not made my me so I feel spoiled :)

Another view of the Swiss chard and some of the veggies from my parent's garden

After savouring dinner, I had a slice of pumpkin cake that my mom made (not shown) and was asking her about the leftover canned pumpkin that she had. She told me that she was going to make Curried Pumpkin Soup with hers and that is was one of her favorites. Since I had leftover pumpkin as well from the Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, I needed a recipe or idea to use it up too. I knew that soup was good so she pulled out her recipe box so I could copy it out.

Seeing my mom's recipe box is a little like getting to see the family treasures. I get very excited to flip through the well-worn, food stained, torn recipe cards that contain the mysteries solved of all of my childhood and adult favorites that my mom cooks. Recipe cards are secret treasures. I have a box of them as well and some are more worn that others and I doubt I would let just anyone rifle through them either.

My mom's treasures

 She found the soup recipe so I copied it out and figured that I would make it on the long weekend. With my recipe cards, I write out the ingredients and directions in my own way, the title (often if it came from a family member, their name goes on the card too. E.g. Mom's Curried Pumpkin Soup), the amount of servings that it makes, and after making it, a rating. A+ are go-to recipes. Tasty, easy, well-received. Notes are often made by recipes in my cookbooks or magazines in case I made changes and tasted better, or if I wanted to add in a tip.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

After having my hair dyed and spending some time with my awesome parents, I drove home with my husband just arriving himself. It was about 10pm. Now, before all of this, I had an idea in my mind about making a recipe from a Taste of Home Magazine that I had been eyeing for a while. It was for a banana cheesecake. I had bought bananas at Superstore whose purpose would only be for baking. I don't like bananas. Every 6 months or so, I get the notion that my taste buds will have changes and I will like them this time. So, I try a banana and it is always the same unappetizing disappointment of trying to gingerly finish chewing the mushing piece of fruit in my mouth and swallowing it with the least amount of tasting as possible. So, these bananas would give their life to a higher calling: cake.

Now, here's the problem with cake. I can't see the purpose of making one for the 2 of us when we'll just polish off the whole thing in a couple of nights (or less). Some people may be looking at their partner going, "what's the problem with that?" but I keep a food log to stay on track with my diet (which is not a "diet" but a lifestyle) and I cannot meet my caloric intake by eating cakes all day. I like to make cakes for occasions. I was talking to one of the women in my office about her long weekend plans and she was telling me that she was actually going to be gone after that and not coming back until September! She said that she was getting surgery. I didn't press for what but started thinking, what better occasion than a "wishing you a speedy recovery and happy long-weekend" cake!

So, at 10pm, I got to work.

The recipe calls for making a cheesecake layer that sits atop of a typical graham crumb crush with a pudding layer on top. The graham crust is made by mixing graham crumbs, melted margarine and some sugar together, pressing it on the bottom and up the sides of a 9" spring form pan, and baking it until golden. If I did it over again, I would make the crust thinner and go up higher on the sides as it shrunk down during the baking time.

For the cream cheese layer, it was really just a block of reduced fat cream cheese, whipped with sugar and an egg. Then, light Cool Whip was folder in.

Cream cheese layer with powdered milk and chopped bananas waiting

 Next, bananas were chopped and placed on top of the crust. I used about 4 bananas in this recipe, two for this part. Then, the cream cheese mixture was spread over top. This was a little tricky to do without moving the bananas around.

graham crumb crust with bananas

Next, the pudding layer was made. Easy. Instant banana pudding powder (which I could only find in No Name brand, and unfortunately, they did not have a reduced sugar or fat free one) is mixed with milk, in this case, reconstituted powdered. Then, you mix that up until it thickens, which only takes a moment. It does proclaim to be instant, after all. Now, fold in the rest of the Cool Whip.

pudding layer being mixed

 More sliced bananas go on top of the cream cheese layer, then the pudding layer gets poured on top. I decorated the top with leftover slices of banana, some graham crumbs, and a few lemon balm leaves (are mint is not growing as quickly). Into the refrigerator overnight. Now, bedtime!

the finished product

 I emailed P at work, telling her that some bananas had made a sacrifice for her and dropped off some paper plates at her desk and told her to check the fridge. She was pretty happy and started asking around the office who wanted some cake. It was only about 9am but it was pretty well received none-the-less.

Banana Cream Cheesecake

It seems that the no-bake banana cream cheesecake was a success. Everyone who had a piece had smiles on their face and I would like to think that their Friday of a long weekend was made just a little bit better. I did end up trying a small slice and it was pretty good, but not really my thing. A crowd-pleaser for sure though. The nice thing is, this recipe is one of those flexible ones. The cream cheese layer could be flavoured and a different pudding mix could be used in the other layer. Chocolate or ginger cookie crumbs could be used, a different fruit or chopped nuts or something else could be layered within the cake. The directions in making it would remain the same but the possibilities are endless!

Maybe if I made this again, I will try doing a Kahlua and chocolate version, or maybe a lemon and strawberry one, who knows?



inside view of the cake



All I know, is that at lunchtime, I went to see if there was any left, and all I found was a washed spring form pan, knife, and cookie sheet...



Treasures and Kindness

First off, I would like to note that this is not the first time I wrote this post. I wrote a huge long inspired post on Friday night about all of this, and then, before I could post it, my cursor navigated away from the page, deleting it! I tried in vain to get it back but it was too late. With that, I closed my laptop, and went to the gym.

I would love to be able to blog every evening so that all of the post arrive right after I make something. Unfortunately, when one gets home around 8pm and then dinner is at 8:30/9pm most nights, that gets a little tricky.

Thursday after work I got my haircut. To most people, this isn't a big deal but I only go about 3 times a year so it feels like such a luxury! I love getting my hair washed and then the final product seeing how much she's thinned it out so it's not so heavy anymore is bliss! Especially in the summer. So, smiling to myself after leaving the salon, I made a relaxing sunny drive to my parent's place in Riverpark South since my mom agreed to dye my hair. I like to get a cut and colour all at once so I can surprise my husband so this really worked out nicely. He was at his parents doing some work so we'd meet up when we both got home later.

Granted, I had not been to the gym but I was starving! My mom gave me a big hug when I walked in, and so did my dad, since I hadn't seen them in over 3 weeks because they had been at the lake. I definitely miss my parents when we don't see each other that often. I like spending time with them and they have the most beautiful relaxing house and yard, overlooking one of those man made lakes. Since moving to this house, my mom has finally got the garden that she wanted and now they are growing their own vegetables, berries and herbs (and I will definitely be reaping the benefits once those zucchini plants start to go wild, which suits me just fine!).

After hugs, my mom asked if I had eaten and directed me to all of the leftovers that they had in the fridge. My parents cook and eat pretty healthy and with my general healthy eating (I say generally because although on Thursday I had eaten fairly decent, as I write this on Monday, my weekend was absolutely horrifying). I opted for a couple slices of homemade pizza with baby courgette and elk sausage, some brown quinoa salad with chopped veggies, and from-the-garden sauteed Swiss chard. Mmmm!

Nothing like healthy fresh food that was cooked by someone you love.

Baby courgette and elk sausage pizza, Swiss chard, and brown quinoa salad with fresh veg and balsamic dressing

After eating, my mom and I were talking about good things to use up pumpkin with since we both had about a cup leftover (mine was from the pumpkin pie ice cream). She told me that her favorite was Curried Pumpkin Soup. She's made it for me before and it's definitely great, so I asked to copy out the recipe. She got out her recipe box and found it and then I started thumbing through the well-worn cards.

My Mom's recipe box

There is something to beautiful about being allowed to look through someones recipe box. There are family secrets in there, most loved meals, cards that can make an event. They are historical short stories passed down from generation. They can show the evolution of pallet. Being privy to look at a good cook's recipes is like being allowed to watch a master working on a painting. They are glimpses into the art, the creative, and the process. You have earned the trust and the privilege to be allowed a peek. I told my mom that if she ever wants to leave anything to me, I would like her recipes. That would be one of the things that would mean the most to me. Both of my parents have contributed, and I can tell whose handwriting is whose. There's that wonderful tactility again, being able to run your hand over the card and feel the soft indent that the pressure from the pen left, feeling old dried remnants of some ingredient that accidentally leaked onto the card and was quickly wiped off. These are precious items and if you are ever allowed the honour of going through someones recipes, treat it as a gift with respect and care.

My mom's copy of Curried Pumpkin Soup and my copy of it

After copying out the recipe, hair dying commenced, which was a hilarious and fun evening of chatting, telling stories, and catching up. I had a nice visit with my parents and wanted to stay longer, but it was already 9:30pm and I had a 30 minute drive home and still, I had a plan that I wanted to execute that night.

Ingredients out for the banana cream cheesecake

I had been eyeing a recipe in one of my Taste of Home magazines for about a week or so. Taste of Home, was an excellent cooking magazine, great for beginner cooks. I would recommend getting your hands on some older copies from the library if you can, the ones before they started putting ads in them. The quality has gone down since then. They also have cookbook collections like "Mom's Best Meals". Anyways, the recipe was for a banana cream cheesecake and I had just bought some ripe bananas for baking with. The other day, I found out that a lady at work was going to be off after the August long weekend for surgery and wouldn't be back for a month after that. I very covertly found out if she liked bananas and cheesecake (it was not covert at all, I sent her an email saying I was taking a poll on who like bananas or cheesecake...). Turns out she did so it was game on. I figured a nice treat before a long weekend and surgery would be a nice way to start the Friday.

So, I got home at 10pm and while catching up the day with my husband, started prepping.

First, like most cheesecakes, you make a crust. Graham crumbs, sugar, and melted margarine. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a greased spring form and bake until golden. I think this recipe called for too much margarine as it took a long time to get the crust to the right firmness and it shrunk a lot from the sides.

Graham crumb crust with sliced bananas, cream cheese mix spread on top

While the crust was going, the cream cheese layer was started. Light cream cheese whipped with sugar, and light Cool Whip folded in.

The top layer was banana pudding, which I made with powdered skim milk, and folded in the rest of the Cool Whip.

Cream cheese layer in pan, pudding layer being prepared

Basically, these 2 layers were spread over some sliced bananas placed on the crust and then in between the layers and after decorating the top a little, the whole thing went into the fridge overnight.

The next day, I emailed the work lady after dropping off paper plates at her desk, telling her that the email would explain what these were for. She was onto me with the poll but was nonetheless thrilled when she saw her banana cream cheesecake that was hers for the eating and the sharing with whoever she wanted. I took a slice to my boss who loved it, and grabbed a sliver for myself for later. I didn't feel like having cake for breakfast.

Banana Cream Cheesecake finished product

It turned out quite well. It was very light and refreshing and the flavours were mellow and sweet. I think that I would do a thicker layer of cream cheese next time, and add some gelatin to the pudding mix so it sets better. Or perhaps freezing it would have worked too.

All in all, everyone that was given a piece seemed pretty happy, which made me feel quite good and definitely did start off the Friday of a long weekend quite nicely.

Banana Cream Cheesecake inside view