Category: Ice Creams/Sorbets

Helish Ice Cream

Ice Creams/Sorbets Baroness Tapuzina

The Hebrew word for Cardamom is הל or hel. I love the flavor of cardamom and sprinkle it on apricot or peach tarts before I put them in the oven. It adds a nice spicy touch to the fruit.

It was suppose to be 40C (now they say 36C) tomorrow, so I decided that this is a good time to pull out the ice cream machine and make some cardamom ice cream. I have never made it before.

The best version I have ever had is at the best fish restaurant in Israel, called Uri Buri in Acco (Acre). They make all of their own ice creams and they are creamy, flavorful and lovely. In fact, all of their dishes are amazing. I promise I will blog about the restaurant.

This recipe has an incredible creamy luscious texture, a subtle taste of cardamom that explodes onto the palate after you get it into your mouth and it is totally sinful. This is a very rich ice cream, so a little goes a long way.

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Cardamom Ice Cream
Ingredients
  • 20 green cardamom pods
  • 425 ml approx. 1 pint double double (heavy) cream
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoons caster granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup mascarpone
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
Instructions
  1. Crush the cardamom pods, tip them into a saucepan and mix in the cream. Set over a low heat, bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Cover and leave to infuse for one hour. Meanwhile, find two large bowls, one of which will sit comfortably inside the other. Fill the larger bowl with ice and rest the smaller one on it. Set aside.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until they become pale and fluffy, then slowly stir in the cardamom cream. Return to a clean pan and place over a low heat. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the mix forms a thick custard. This will take between 10 and 20 minutes. Do not let the custard boil or leave it unattended at this stage, as it can easily split.
  3. As soon as it forms the thick custard, remove from the heat and tip into the bowl sitting on the ice. Keep stirring until it is tepid, then strain into a clean container, cover and chill.
  4. Once cold, process the custard in an ice-cream maker, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The House that Escoffier Built

France Ice Creams/Sorbets Travel Baroness Tapuzina

I tend to do a lot of research when planning a trip. I always buy a guidebook and look for interesting places to visit on the internet. I spent weeks collecting information for our trip to Provence, including printing out maps on the Michelin website. It was quite helpful and we used those maps for our various day trips that we made.

One of those places that I insisted on visiting was the village of Villeneuve-Loubet, because it is the childhood home of Auguste Escoffier and his birth home contains the Musee de l’Art Culinaire, or Museum of Culinary Art.

This museum is dedicated to Auguste Escoffier, “King of Chefs and Chef to Kings”, the creator of the famous Peach Melba, strawberries Romanoff and who, according to his obituary in a British newspaper, “put frogs’ legs on the West End menu.”

The museum has eight rooms that display souvenirs, objects, sugar sculptures and utensils from his time, a collection of menus and a number of photographs and articles.

One of the museum’s eight exhibit rooms features the fireplace and spit used by the Escoffier family.

A photograph of the Australian opera star Nellie Melba is signed “A Monsieur Escoffier avec mes remerciements pour la creation Peche Melba,” (To Monsieur Escoffier with my thanks for the creation of Peach Melba) and dated 1914.

The museum has menus from his days at the Carlton and at London’s Savoy Hotel, as well as menus for the coronation dinner honoring King George V.

I recommend stopping and seeing this interesting museum and walking around the beautiful village.

I know I should show you a picture of the Peach Melba or Strawberries Romanoff I made, but I haven’t made either one. However, in keeping with the ice cream that you serve with the peach melba, I thought I would give you a recipe for a luscious coffee ice cream with a warm ganache sauce.

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Coffee Ice Cream with Warm Chocolate Ganache
Adapted recipe from Cat Cora's Kitchen: Favorite Meals for Family and Friends by Cat Cora
Ingredients
For the ganache:
  • 1 cup finely chopped premium bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
For the ice cream:
  • 1 cup whole Italian-roast coffee beans
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 8 large egg yolks
For the assembly:
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts roughly chopped
Instructions
Ganache
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Whisk the mixture until the chocolate has completely melted and forms into a thick sauce. Use immediately or keep warm over a hot water bath on very low heat until ready to use.
Ice cream
  1. Crush the beans into coarse pieces by placing them in a ziploc bag and smashing them with a rolling pin. Add the crushed beans, the milk, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 cup cream into a saucepan . Place the saucepan over medium heat and slowly bring the milk mixture to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat as soon as bubbles break the surface. Steep the coffee beans in the milk mixture for at least 1 hour. Strain the mixture and set aside. Discard the coffee beans.
  2. Have ready a large bowl filled with ice water. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 3/4 cup sugar until the mixture becomes pale yellow and forms a ribbon.
  3. Reheat the coffee-flavored milk mixture, bringing it to a simmer. Immediately remove it from the heat, and with the mixer on low speed, slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the beaten eggs and sugar. While mixing, add the remaining hot milk mixture in a slow, steady stream until incorporated. Scrape the mixture from the sides and the bottom of the bowl mix well, and pour through a sieve into another bowl. Add the remaining 1 cup cold cream and stir well to combine.
  4. Place in the ice bath. Stir until the mixture has completely cooled. Transfer the mixture to a covered container and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until ready to churn.
  5. Churn the ice cream and place in the freezer for about 1 hour.
Assembly:
  1. Place two scoops of ice cream in a bowl and pour the hot ganache over the ice cream, top with whip cream and the chopped hazelnuts.