Apple and Cinnamon Ice-Cream

Sorry this is so late – I promised it ages ago when the apples were in high season, but uni essays had to take priority!

So, apple and cinnamon – a good mix.

This is a little autumnal treat. Eat it on its own or serve with a nice hot pudding. What about a winter crumble with apple and cinnamon ice cream on the side?

Enjoy!

Apple and Cinnamon Ice Cream 

(1L ice cream container)

-1 cup whole milk -3/4 cup granulated sugar -2 cups double cream -6 egg yolks -2tsp ground cinnamon

-2tbsp butter -2 large apples, cored and diced into chunks -1/4 cup dark brown sugar -1tsp ground cinnamon -1/4tsp ground nutmeg

1. To make the ice cream base: in a large pan, add the milk, 1/4 of the sugar and the cream. Bring just to the boil.
2. In a large bowl, mix the rest of the sugar and the egg yolks together. Carefully pour in the heated milk mixture and start to whisk it in.
3. Once combined, mix in the ground cinnamon thoroughly.
4. To make the apple compote: melt the butter in a non-stick pan. In a bowl, toss the apple with the brown sugar and spices. Tip into the pan and heat, stirring often, until the apple is tender and the sugar has melted. This should take a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
5. If using an ice cream machine, follow the manufacturers instructions. If making it by hand, pour the ice cream base into a large ice cream container. Scrape in the cooled apple mixture and stir in, using figure of eight movements. Seal and place in the freezer. Every half an hour, remove and repeat the same figure of eight swirls. Continue until the ice cream has set. Serve.

Red Cabbage

Just look at that red cabbage… homegrown and harvested from the plot yesterday.

It was the first time I have ever grown red cabbages before and I thought it was so beautiful, I decided to eat some. I went from cabbage hater, to ‘green cabbages are ok’ to ‘wow, red cabbages are good cooked too!’

Why should we eat cabbages?

89g of raw cabbage contains –

• Protein: 1g
• Fibre: 2g
• Vitamin K: 85% of the RDI
• Vitamin C: 54% of the RDI
• Folate: 10% of the RDI
• Manganese: 7% of the RDI
• Vitamin B6: 6% of the RDI
• Calcium: 4% of the RDI
• Potassium: 4% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 3% of the RDI

Vitamin B6 and folate are essential for many important processes in the body, including energy metabolism and the normal functioning of the nervous system. Cabbage is especially high in vitamin C, a potent antioxidant that may protect against heart disease, certain cancers and vision loss. While both green and red cabbage are excellent sources vic C, red cabbage contains about 30% more. One cup (89 grams) of chopped red cabbage packs in 85% of the recommended intake for vitamin C, which is the same amount found in a small orange. So I might avoid Fresher’s flu…

Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage contain many different antioxidants that have been shown to reduce chronic inflammation. Sulforaphane, kaempferol and other antioxidants found in brassicas are likely responsible for their anti-inflammatory effect.

Cabbage is full of gut friendly insoluble fibre, a type of carbohydrate that cannot be broken down in the intestines. Insoluble fiber helps keep the digestive system healthy by adding bulk to stools and promoting regular bowel movements. Cabbage is also rich in soluble fibre which has been shown to increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut. These bacteria perform important functions like protecting the immune system and producing critical nutrients like vitamins K2 and B12. Eating cabbage keeps your digestive system happy.

Red cabbage contains powerful compounds called anthocyanins. They give this vegetable its vibrant purple colour. Anthocyanins are plant pigments that belong to the flavonoid family. Many studies have found a link between eating foods rich in this pigment and a reduced risk of heart disease. Cabbage contains more than 36 different kinds of anthocyanins…

How to eat it?

Raw is probably best as most of the nutrients will be withheld that can sometimes leave during the cooking process. But I find raw cabbage icky. Steamed is the next best, followed by boiled, roasted, fried.

We boiled it and ate our red cabbage with lots of other homegrown produce for dinner – potatoes, sweetcorn, green Savoy cabbage, carrots, runner beans and courgette. It was beautiful and yummy and helped to ease my sore gut that had been suffering all day. See – homegrown produce is so good for you!

Update: one more pumpkin left to harvest… the other plants have all turned brown and died from powdery mildew so I cut their fruits off and took them inside to cure (more information here for those who are interested: Curing pumpkins). I’m leaving the last one on to make sure it ripens more and will take it away when the plant finally has to go.

Blight has hit the veg garden and the potatoes are starting to go – thank goodness it came so late this year as the main crop potatoes have managed to grow properly before the disease came. The tomatoes are going to suffer and I am expecting a lot of green ones to fall off soon but we did pretty well with the red tomatoes being grown outside this year in this once in a lifetime heatwave.

The autumn harvest of raspberries is being as wonderful as always. We had them last night for dessert along with homemade chocolate brownie ice cream and cookies and cream ice cream (recipes can be found on my Beagle Baking blog:

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream

https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/cookies-and-cream-ice-cream/  ).

Courgettes, courgettes… update

So it has FINALLY rained.

I don’t like rain, but I am actually happy it is here because it has been weeks without a drop and I am relieved to be given a night off from watering the parched plants.

So as you may have guessed from the title, we have a fridge full of courgettes (zucchini). They are going in everything I am cooking at the moment, such as my dinner from tonight, dahl. For the recipe, check out my Courgettes page, Carrot and Courgette Dahl.

Eaten with, of course, runner beans, and some kale. Using homegrown onion, garlic and mustard seeds as part of the spice base.

Runner beans: froze two bags today, cooked one container that I picked today for dinner tonight, and have another whole container to do tomorrow… before picking the next lot. Does anyone else feel like they have suddenly become blind while picking beans and always seem to miss some that turn into GIANT beans?

Bought a new bean slicer to replace the old one we broke which is making life a little simpler again. Anyone else tried standing there for over an hour slicing runner beans with a knife? I could not move my legs they got such bad cramp…

Pumpkins are beginning to grow – exciting!

Picked the few raspberries that are growing at the moment along with blueberries and wineberries today to eat with homemade cookies and cream ice cream for dessert (recipe on my other blog, here: https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/cookies-and-cream-ice-cream/ ).

And to top off the day, it was nice to see and get a photo of something other than squirrels at the bird feeders… A nice woodpecker instead.

 

So many strawberries… Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

It is so dang hot.

Not that I’m complaining, I love you sun,

But it is getting tricky to get the courage up enough to venture out into the heat trap in the veg garden to pick the fruit.

Someone told me this has been a really good year for strawberries, all due to the time the rain fell this winter (which I thought was all the time. Incessantly. Non-stop). It has certainly been a good strawberry year for us. I’ve been eating them all the time for last couple of weeks.

On top of the strawberries, the raspberries have taken off, along with the red currants, boysenberries, jostaberries and the blackcurrants. I think I almost had a breakdown end of last week due to the overwhelming amount that needed to be picked.

This blurry photograph is of 45 minutes picking of just strawberries. I didn’t even get half way through the patch, and I have eaten a few handfuls from the container already…

Strawberries are those red gems in the veg patch. They are so good for so many different recipes. You have Strawberry Jam, Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam, Strawberries and Elderflower Cake. Strawberries are amazing with natural Greek yoghurt, chocolate cake (which we have been having a lot of, of course), chocolate mousse, mashed with banana (oh, childhood), banana and strawberry smoothies. But one of my recent-ish discoveries has been how good strawberries go with just plain old vanilla ice cream.

It is no surprise that they go wonderfully well with some food chocolate ice cream (because what doesn’t go well with chocolate ice cream?), but as I am not someone particularly ecstatic about the idea of vanilla ice cream, I was very surprised when I had to eat it for dessert at one time in my life, how well the mixture went together.

The subtle vanilla twang and the creamy consistency of the ice cream got marvellously with this juicy berry, but it also looks so spectacular together: the red and white colours mixing together.

I have been replicating that dreamy match lately with some homemade vanilla ice cream (oh yes, I have recently discovered how yummy and easy it is to make ice cream, even without an ice cream maker).

So, lots of strawberries? No problem! Here is your next recipe…

Strawberries and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

(Serves 6)

-8 egg yolks -225g granulated sugar -300ml double cream -500ml full fat/whole milk -1 ¼ tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl.
2. In a saucepan, bring the cream and milk just to boiling point. Pour the warmed contents of the saucepan into the egg yolk bowl and mix thoroughly.
3. Add the vanilla extract and mix in well.
4. Pour into an ice cream container and freeze until solid, about 6-8 hours.
5. Allow to defrost slightly before serving in scoops with fresh strawberries scattered over the top.

Recipe: Stewed Plums

My mum is very into her stewed plums at the moment since I made plum crumble this year. Fortunate as we have so many Victorias (no greengages 😦 ) that I don’t know what to do with them all. I have no space in the freezer to keep them for jam and no time to make jam!!!

She begged me one evening for more stewed plums on their own without the crumble. It was really quick, easy and got rid of a container full of them. Great!

She loved eating them just plain but she also had some with yoghurt. Custard would be delicious with it. It only takes about ten minutes and makes a really quick and simple dessert or snack.

Stewed Plums

-400g plums -1-2 handfuls of granulated sugar

1. Remove the stones from the plums by cutting them in halves. Place in a non-stick pan over a high flame.
2. Add the sugar and stir into the plums. Allow the plums to heat up and start bubbling before turning down the flame down to a low heat. Continue to stir to encourage the plums to break up.
3. Leave simmering for at least 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve plain or with yoghurt, ice cream, cream, custard or with pieces of shortbread or plain sponge cake. Store left overs in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze.

Before…

After

Blackberry Curd Cake

https://wordpress.com/post/bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/877

So… making raspberry curd and it using to make a pink cake just wasn’t fun enough. I had to try blackberries too!

We’ve had such a good harvest of blackberries this year thanks to the delightful rain we have in Surrey currently. Really, it can stop now, we’d like summer back please.

I made good use of the harvest by trying to make another berry curd.

Stirring the blackberries into the curd

After making the curd I tried to create another fruit curd cake. I was afraid that it was going to be quite bitty because blackberries have so many seeds, but honestly I didn’t even really notice it. It tasted very fruity, was a pink/purple colour with dark purple speckles from the bits of berries. The cake had a crusty top but a soft, light sponge. It was very quick and easy once the curd was made.

If you don’t fancy the cake or have far too much curd left over, try using it as a topping to ice cream – my brother recommends it!

Blackberry Curd

– 4 egg yolks – 250g sugar – 200g butter – Zest and juice of 2 small lemons – 200-300g blackberries

1. In a pan, whisk together the yolks and sugar until combined.
2. Mix in the butter and lemons. Over a low flame, whisk the mixture, as if you are making custard, until it has thickened. This should take 20-30 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the raspberries so that they breakdown and the mixture becomes pink coloured.
4. Leave it to cool completely before using it in a cake, spreading it on bread, or storing it in preserved jars in the fridge for up to a month.

Blackberry Curd Cake

– 75g butter – 150g sugar – 2 eggs – 150g self-raising flour – 1 tsp baking powder – 6 tbsp blackberry curd

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 1kg loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Beat the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until creamy.
3. Mix in the eggs, followed by the flour and baking powder.
4. Finally, mix in the curd until thoroughly combined.
5. Scrape the contents of the bowl into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Test to see in the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean, it is done.
6. Leave the cake to cool in the tin before transferring it to a wire rack.
7. Serve the cake in slices with more of the curd spread on top. Store in an airtight container for three days.

Here is the link to my Raspberry Curd Cake and my Lemon Curd Cake.