Who Doesn't Love Strawberry Ice Cream?

We have a full house this summer, with two of my cousins visiting and staying with us. One of my cousins adores strawberry ice cream. I modified a raspberry ice cream recipe to create strawberry ice cream. There really is no comparison to the store-bought variety (as good as Tillamook ice cream is!). The fragrance of strawberries fills the air as you church your ice cream. And every bite is absolutely strawberry-y. None of the fake strawberry powder used here!

Strawberry Ice Cream 
modified from The Perfect Scoop

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups strawberry puree (about 2 lbs fresh strawberries)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Warm whole milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape continuously to prevent sugar from burning. 
2. In a separate bowl, beat together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks into the saucepan. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula and scraping the bottom as you stir, until mixture thickens and coats spatula. 
3. Pour heavy cream into a large bowl and stir the custard into the heavy cream. Mix in the strawberry puree and lemon juice, then cool the bowl over an ice bath. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then churn following the instructions of your ice cream maker. 

Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream

I tried my hand at ice cream making (again) this week for my mom's birthday. I've had my Cuisinart ice cream maker for almost a year now, but I had yet to produce really, really good ice cream that could rival the store-bought variety. The first few times, I was disappointed because my ice cream never quite firmed up and was more of a frozen yogurt consistency.

This time, I pulled out all the stops to achieve really good homemade ice cream (and justify my ice cream maker purchase)! I followed the Green Tea Ice Cream recipe from The Perfect Scoop, which is the most highly reviewed ice cream making book I could find. My freezer bowl was placed in the coldest corner of my freezer for months awaiting the day of its use - this is excessive, but I would highly recommend keeping your freezer bowl in your freezer at all times... because you never know when you may suddenly crave some ice cream! I chilled all of my ingredients, went out and bought whole milk rather than use the 2% variety I had on hand, and dished out for some real green tea powder (available at Uwajimaya). 

The result was stunningly, delicious ice cream than beats out Dreyers, Breyers, Tillamook, and even Haagen-Dazs! Rich, creamy, and full of green tea fragrance in every lick! 

Ice Cream Maker: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-30BC-Indulgence-2-Quart-Automatic/dp/B0006ONQOC

Ice Cream Making Book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Scoop-Granitas-Accompaniments/dp/158008219X/ref=pd_sim_k_3/185-0027444-8215476

Green Tea Ice Cream (from The Perfect Scoop)

makes about 1 quart

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
4 teaspoons matcha (green tea powder)
6 large egg yolks

Directions:

1. Warm milk, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan. Pour cream into a bowl and whisk in green tea powder, set mesh strainer on top. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg mixture back into sauce pan. Stir mixture over medium heat with heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until mixture thickens and coats the spatula. 
3. Pour custard through strainer and stir into cream, whisk vigorously until custard is frothy to dissolve green tea powder. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
4. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these beauties for Ann's bridal shower earlier this month. The cupcakes were an absolute hit! I'm not exaggerating - even those who usually shy away from cupcakes asked for a second helping! I made an assortment of cupcakes from scratch - red velvet, lemon, and cherry almond.

The most versatile and crowd favorite (if pressed to choose) would probably be the red velvet cupcake. This red velvet cupcake is an extremely moist cupcake; I pored over the 700+ reviews on this Allrecipes recipe and incorporated the most common recommendations. Then I made a whipped cream cheese frosting, piped it on top with a fancy frosting tip, and topped with sprinkles! Please don't cut corners and buy the canned frosting... I promise that the attached frosting recipe is easy and tastes much, much better!


Red Velvet Cupcakes (modified from Allrecipes.com)
makes 30 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 ounce red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. 
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, food color, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture until just blended. Do not overbeat! Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. 
3. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost with desired frosting. 

Tip: If you're like me, you don't want to go out and buy buttermilk just for this recipe. Make your own! Place 1 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup, then add milk until the 1/2 cup mark. Let it thicken at room temperature for about 10 minutes prior to using.


Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting (from Allrecipes.com)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar (may substitue with 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. For best results, chill bowl and beaters prior to beating whipping cream. In a small bowl, with electric mixer beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. (Test for stiff peaks: stop mixer, lift beaters out of the cream, and peaks should keep their shape or stand pertly.)
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream. Chill in refrigerator until use. 

Tip: If frosting is too soft or runny, may try adding a packet of unflavored gelatin to stiffen the frosting. 

Three Cup Chicken

Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji) 

About 2 pounds chicken wings, separated at wing and tip joints
1 ginger root, sliced
1/3 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup cooking wine
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce (or use 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup water)
3 to 4 chunks of rock sugar (or use 3 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar)
About 1 1/2 cup basil leaves, rinsed

Directions:

1. Heat sesame oil in a large cooking pan. Once hot, saute sliced ginger until aromatic. Add in chicken pieces and cook until slightly browned on all sides. 
2. Add cooking wine, soy sauce, and rock sugar to pan, then cook on medium heat with pan covered for about 20 to 30 minutes. Gently turn chicken pieces over every 10 minutes. Taste sauce at this point, and add more soy sauce, sugar, or water based on taste. 
3. Add basil leaves to chicken, and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These cookies are absolutely delish! Soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookie base with an added punch with the addition of a peanut butter cup in the middle. I couldn't resist... this morning I had to have one for breakfast!


Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 mini peanut butter cups

Directions:

1. To unwrap peanut butter cups in the least messy way possible: freeze the peanut butter cups prior to unwrapping. Then, keep the unwrapped peanut butter cups in the freezer or fridge until just about to use them. 
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
3. Combine butter, white sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Then add in flour, salt, and baking soda, and mix well. (Optional: Refrigerating the dough makes the dough easier to shape during the next step.) 
4. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets or mini muffin tins. 
5. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Cool and serve. 

Lemon Birthday Cake

Whenever birthdays roll around, I am always at a loss at what to bake. It's too easy to just reach for the boxed chocolate/vanilla/funfetti cake mix and call it good.  If I am to spend all the work in baking a birthday cake from scratch, I want one that tastes much, much better than the boxed mix variety.

Luckily, today I had plenty of time + the perfect cake recipe + the necessary ingredients on hand. Of course, testing this recipe for the first second time, I spent waaay too much time (~3.5 hours) and used waaay too many pots/pans/bowls. My kitchen sink is piled high with dirty dishes as we speak. Yet, hopefully I don't scare you away from making a real made-from-scratch cake! With practice, you and I can streamline the process and whittle down on time and pans used.

A few tips:

• I didn't have buttermilk on hand. For 1 cup buttermilk, I substituted 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice. White vinegar can also be used instead of lemon juice. 
• My cake layers turned out dome shaped, rather than flat. In the future, I would cut the cake layers to be flat, so assembling the cake would be easier and the finished product more presentable.

Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Icing
makes a 9 inch cake
modified from Nathan's Lemon Cake (www.myrecipes.com) and Ina Garten's Lemon Curd (www.foodnetwork.com)

Cake
Flour, for dusting
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Lemon Curd (makes about 1 1/2 cups)
about 2 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup sugar
1/8 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 9-inch cake pans by coating with cooking spray and dusting with flour. 
2. Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking, soda, and salt.
3. Beat granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter in large bowl until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, beat well after each addition. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar/butter mixture. Beat in 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. 
4. Pour batter evenly between the 2 cake pans. Tap pans sharply to remove air bubbles. Bake for 32 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cakes completely. 
5. Lemon Curd: Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon zest in food processor; pulse until lemon zest is finely minced into sugar. Cream butter and beat in sugar/lemon mixture. Add eggs, lemon juice, and salt; mix until combined. Pour mixture into saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool or refrigerate. 
6. Lemon Icing: Combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. 
7. Place 1 cake layer on a plate and spread lemon curd filling on top of cake. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread icing over top of cake. Store cake in refrigerator. 

Fit for a Wedding?

My baking MO is definitely cute individual-sized cakes- muffins, cupcakes, mini cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, individual tartlets. An added plus- they're perfect for gift-giving. Although, I basically ate the whole tray of these bomb.com cheesecakes myself!

I embellished the mini cheesecakes by creating two layers- vanilla and chocolate. Not only is the two-tone result gorgeous, the bit of chocolate cheesecake in each bite adds even more decadence!


Mini Black-and-White Cheesecakes (modified from allrecipes.com)
serves 12

1 cup crushed wafer cookies
2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners. 
2. Combine crushed cookie crumbs and butter, then press a tablespoon into each muffin tin. 
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Then beat in sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until smooth. Divide cream cheese mixture into 2 equal parts. Melt chocolate chips until smooth, and stir into one part of the cream cheese mixture.
4. Evenly divide regular cream cheese mixture between muffin tins. Then evenly spoon chocolate cream cheese mixture on top. 
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until center of each cheesecake is just wobbly and outside of cheesecake is firm. Remove from oven and cool. Serve chilled with fresh fruit and powder sugar. 

More pictures... drooling may commence!