Cherry Guava Ice Cream

It's a strange time of the year to be eating ice cream I know, but it seems that all the best ice cream fruits are in abundance in late autumn. Here in Hawke's Bay we have such a fabulous lineup: figs feijoas, cherry guavas, medlars, sweet persimmons, cape gooseberries, white sapote, kiwifruit, mandarins and so much more. One of the easiest fruit trees to grow in a home garden is the cherry guava (Psidium cattleyanum). An evergreen and elegant small tree that never fails to bear fruit, year after year.

I have written about making guava jelly and paste just here.

Every year I make at least one or two jars of ruby red guava jelly. Guava has the best flavour of all the jellies, I reckon.

My Nan used to make guava jelly, but you know I never saw her do anything else with the leftover pulp. A few years ago I decided to press the cooked berries through a sieve and of course you then ditch all those hard seeds. There is so much goodness in guavas- just what we need heading in to the winter months, 

This year as I was making paste with the pulp I remembered the guava ice cream recipe that my lovely dutch friend Margaret shared with me. She even gave me a little to try. The flavour is truly exquisite and the texture sublimely creamy, however, I can't quite justify the extreme sweetness of all the sugar and condensed milk that was in the recipe. So I made up my own version which I think will be happily flexible. I really don't think you can go wrong with it by adding a bit more of this and not so much of that. Next time I might try honey instead of condensed milk for instance.

This recipe is great for using up the half a jarful of jelly or paste that you often end up with when you're making preserves. Since there is only two of us I was happy to make a small batch so here's the general idea:

After I have strained the cooked fruit and used the liquid to make the jelly, I push the rest through a sieve. I then return the pulp to the saucepan and add perhaps a cupful of sugar. This mixture is then simmered to reduce (stirring often) for 10 minutes or so. If you want to make paste/cheese there's a whole lot more cooking to do so before you get to that stage take out 1 cupful of pulp, set it aside and leave it to cool completely.

Beat 125 mls of cream, add a 1/4-1/3 cup of condensed milk and then fold in the cooled pulp and a tablespoonful of jelly. Lastly add a splash of rosewater. Taste to see if it's how you want it. That's it. Freeze. This batch stayed soft and very creamy once frozen.

Katie X

Elephant Milk!

Last Christmas, there was an unexpected stall at our Farmers' market run by some parents from Napier Central School. They were selling a book called Neighbourhood Eats. It was so beautifully presented & entirely made by the parents & PTA as a fundraiser. It's a gorgeous book, so we bought a copy. We love to support local endeavours. So.. this Christmas we decided to make the Elephant Milk, from the desserts section.

The recipe was provided by Cameron Huckle- a family favourite from Granny in Zimbabwe.

 Elephant milk has in fact been known to me for quite some time. Only, 40 years ago we called it Lemon Crunch Pie. You can find that recipe just here. One of the easiest dessert recipes ever & almost certainly universally loved. The only difference between Lemon Crunch Pie & Elephant milk is two egg whites & a tweek on the method- so just go with whatever works best for you.

Simply pour a can of sweetened condensed milk in to a bowl, add 300mls of cream, half a cup of lemon juice (preferably a Lisbon type- better flavour & setting effect) & the finely grated zest of the lemon. You can skip the zest if you prefer.

Beat altogether until thick, like whipped cream.

Beat the two egg whites to soft peaks & then fold those through the lemony mixture.

 Now pour in to bowls, tea cups or a large bowl  if you prefer & pop in to the fridge to set, or freeze for a couple of hours or overnight to make ice-cream, or pour over a biscuit base & there you have Lemon Crunch Pie- the easiest cheesecake you will ever make. The mixture can also be layered with crushed biscuits, nuts & custard.

 Since I made this at Christmas I have served this ice-cream with lychees, fresh shredded coconut (that I recently discovered in the freezer at the local Asian shop) White Soul strawberries, a ripe Kawa kawa fruit pulled off the stem & finally a drizzle of Linden honey.

 It tastes absolutely amazing together! But as Felicia was want to say- "If you like that sort of thing!"

 These Linden flowers are from a Silver Linden tree & we found them flowering on Christmas day. Their scent is like nothing else on earth- heady Linden plus deep jasmine notes- steeped in a light honey (I used Tawari) for a day or so & you have a truly magical elixir.

So...either keep it simple, or let your imagination run wild. I did!

Katie X

Dreamy Fig Ice-cream

Fresh figs truly make the best ice-cream & it's really, really simple to make.

Being such a fragile fruit they often go off quicker than we can use them or they ripen all in a rush.

So...firstly- they freeze really well & can be slow baked any time of the year from frozen.

Secondly, the fresh fruit slow bakes so beautifully- just uses as is or...best of all, turn those succulent baked figs in to the most delicious ice-cream you've ever tasted.

So many different varieties & colours in the fig world.

They can be simmered in a pot..

you can find the recipe for simmered figs just here.
Or, you can spread them in a baking dish & bake them for an hour- an hour & a half on 120-130 C until they look much like this...

Each time I bake figs they come out a little different but always so delicious.

So here's the basic recipe for the ice-cream:

Slow bake as many figs as you have to work with.

Cool- blend with a hand mixer or in a small processor, bullet etc until fairly smooth.

The balance is 1/2 & 1/2 to get the texture of the ice-cream just right.

1 cup of baked fig pulp to 1 c of whipped cream

To the cream add 1 tsp of vanilla essence & either honey or maple syrup to taste.

To a 2 cup ice-cream I would probably add a tbsp of honey/maple syrup.

But taste it & see what you think.

No, no don't eat it all- it needs to go in the freezer first!

Ginger is a nice edition on occasion.

Freeze in a flatfish dish with a lid.

Serves perfectly, straight from the freezer & really doesn't require much else.

Just that simple.
Love Katie x

Easiest Ever Mango Ice cream!

This is the easiest ice-cream you could ever make & so super delicious, I can't believe I didn't know about it before now!! Having enjoyed a little pot of mango ice cream at an Indian evening recently, I instantly "got" all the flavours in that first astonishing mouthful.

So here's my take on that amazing-ness.

We enjoy good quantities of healthy fats in our diet so we won't be fussing about the cream component & never buy commercial ice cream, the added sugar I feel is a reasonable amount in the overall scheme of things.

So....

Whip 500 mls of cream until making soft peaks

Add 1/3- 1/2 can of condensed milk (I might try honey next time round but the condensed milk gives such a yummy flavour to the ice-cream)

 Beat in the condensed milk & half a can of mango pulp such as the one in the photo- available at Indian shops & priced at around $5-$7. Can contains 95% mango pulp & around 5% sugar, which isn't too bad really. No other additives. 

Pour in to a large container or lots of small ones for serving.

Please do lick the bowl!

 Cover & freeze for around 12 hours.

 Stand for a few minutes before serving.

 The texture remains soft & creamy & requires no churning or mixing- isn't that brilliant!

Catherine

Fabulous Feijoas: Really Easy Icecream

Feijoas are just so yummy & one of the very best things about autumn in New Zealand.

I love the fragrance of a basket full of these delicious wonders!

 they need nothing more than to be eaten with a spoon...well lots of them at once  actually : )

however...they also make the most heavenly icecream!!!

Scoop out a whole pile of fruit..discarding any that are a funny colour inside

2 or 3 cups full should do it

pop them in the food processor or use a stick whizz thingy & process them until you have a lovely smoothish pulp

  Add a tin of sweetened condensed milk

and fold in to this mixture 500ml of whipped cream

cover with glad wrap & freeze for 3 or 4 hours

yummmy!!!

If by any chance there's any left over for another day you'll probably need to sit the bowl out of the freezer for a few minutes to let it soften up a a bit.

This is a good basic recipe for using to make all kinds of fruit icecreams. I often use really thick Greek yoghurt & honey instead of the condensed milk & cream..not quite as creamy but still delicious!