Homemade mango ice cream

Nothing says summer more than a tray of ripe mangoes on the kitchen bench. We've been feasting on the sweet juicy orange flesh for the past week while the boys are on school holidays.

With the excess mangoes in the Sow's Ear we decided to make mango ice cream. There is nothing better than ice cream with a sweet mango tang. It is so delicious and we've been enjoying this homemade treat for the past two days.

A scoop of homemade mango ice cream

I have a confession: we have an ice cream maker which we don't use as often as we should...but it does get more of a work out in the summer months, particularly to make frozen yoghurts.

I stumbled upon a mango ice cream recipe while Googling with wild abandon - I wanted something fairly quick and easy which I could make with the kids. I had to bastardise the recipe somewhat as I didn't have everything on the recipe list and it worked out very well indeed.

This is a very simple recipe, as you don't need to cook a custard or wait for it to cool. It's just a blend and churn recipe. The key I think is to have something 'citrussy' to cut the sweetness of the mango (lemon and limes do the trick, while orange would add a different dimension). I also used cold mangoes straight from the fridge. You can be mean with the amount of sugar required - mangoes are sweet enough without adding any excess sugar.

This is a recipe which I tweaked and can confidently say works; it makes approximately 1.5 litres of ice cream.

Homemade mango ice cream

Ingredients:
3 ripe medium sized mangoes
juice of one large lime
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cups sugar (scant cups)
2/3 cup of low fat milk
2/3 cup of thickened cream (generous cups)

Method:
Cut the flesh from the mango and put it in a blender. Add all the other ingredients except the cream and blend until completely smooth. It should almost be the consistency of a thick smoothie. Afterwards gently fold in the thickened cream.

I used our Kitchenaid ice cream attachment to churn the mango ice cream. Everything needs to be super-chilled to get to that ice cream-like consistency. It took about 20 minutes of churning on low speed to make the ice cream.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until it becomes thick and an ice-cream consistency. Pour into a container (I used a retro Tupperware container) and freeze until set. Et voila! Mango ice cream.

Retro Tupperware comes in handy!
We've almost finished the ice cream...we're on one scoop rations to make it last.
But it is so easy to make; I'll probably make more tomorrow.

Poached Pears in Sauterne

Good news. Jason's sporty little French car is ready to be picked up from the mechanic. What a relief! Life is always a bit glum when Jason has car problems...

On Bastille Day, I prepared some French inspired dishes to cheer up a disillusioned Jason. While the French might not have great cars, you really can't argue about the quality of their food. French food rarely disappoints.

Here is a very simple dessert recipe (from a very old Women's Weekly) which I made after a hearty French lunch of Lamb Bretonne. The dessert was an absolute winner in every respect - Beurre Bosc pears are in season in Australia at the moment and fruit is always a nice end to a big meal. Delicious.

Poached Pears
6 pears (Beurre Bosc)
1/2 cup sauterne (or sweet dessert wine. I used a Tamar Ridge Botrytis Riesling from Tasmania)
1/3 cup water

Mocha Sauce

200g dark chocolate, chopped
300ml thickened cream
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder or a shot of espresso


Poached Pears method:
Peel pears, leaving stem intact. Trim base so pears will stand upright, place pears in large saucepan.
Pour sauterne and water over the pears, bring to the boil. Cover, reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes or until they are just tender.

Serve hot or cold with sauce.

Mocha Sauce method:
Combine chocolate, cream and coffee in a saucepan, stir constantly over a low hear without boiling until smooth.

Poached pears sauterne with mocha sauce

Bon appetit!

Amateur food stylist

Ambitions of a career in food styling and photography are probably not high on my list...Although I did answer the call for assistance when the boys' school asked for some retro 'food of the decades' photographs to include in a commemorative recipe book.

I enlisted the help of my hard-core modernist mates (because they own all the cool stuff) to help me style a couple of the decades. It was such a fun afternoon pretending to be Donna Hay...she doesn't have to worry about her empire...or maybe she should...!!

Here are a few shots to symbolise the 40s, 50s and 60s, Queensland style.

This is a 1950s cocktails by the pool photo.
The drinks are just food colouring and we  had to use oregano because we didn't have mint. Shh! Don't tell anyone...

This is a 1960s fondue shot. We used real fondue made by the lovely Yvette, who had all the fondue accoutrements at the ready.

This is the recipe for the master fondue. It was delicious.
I'm going to raid my parent's house to get their fondue set!

1940s style mixing  cake batter.
We were mixing up Kentish cake, which is Nana comfort food

Photographing all that food has renewed my interest in cooking...Anyone hungry?

Anzac cake on Anzac Day

Today we remember the fallen. You can't help but feel moved when the Last Post is played. For me it is a reminder of the sacrifice made by all those who have served during times of conflict...and not just 'our' side.

This morning Jason took the older boys to our local service as is our tradition every year. One son marches in Scouts, while the other marches with his school.

After the service, some of our good friends gathered at the Sow's Ear for morning tea. It's a nice easy day to catch up with friends we do not see often enough.

I decided to try out an untested recipe called the Modern Anzac Cake from Tamara Milstein's Bake your cake and eat it too.

Modern Anzac Cake
I used by new Florence Broadhurst cake plates too

It's based loosely around the Anzac biscuits which were sent to the soldiers during WWI. It consists of a rather moist cake batter which is then topped with an Anzac biscuit-like topping. The contrast between the different textures made it a little bit more interesting than the standard Anzac biscuit.

Here is the Anzac Cake recipe for those who are interested in baking:

Ingredients:
Cake:
125 g butter, softened
200g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
85g ground almonds
3 tablespoons cocoa
30g shredded coconut
200g self raising flour
320g sour cream
125ml strong black coffee

topping:
150ml water
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons golden syrup
80g butter
150g flaked almonds (I didn't have any and just put in extra coconut and oats)
30g shredded coconut
30g rolled oats

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 24cm cake tin (I just lined the bottom and sides with baking paper).

Cream the butter and sugar together until thick and pale, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine almonds, cocoa, coconut and flour.

Fold half the flour mixture into the batter with the sour cream and combine gently. Add the remaining flour mixture with the coffee and mix well.

Bake for one hour until puffed and cooked through.

Meanwhile, place the water and sugar in a small saucepan and heat gently while stirring to dissolve sugar. When the mixture begins to boil, simmer for 5 minutes, brushing sides of the pan with a pastry brush to ensure sugar granules do not stick.

When the mixture is pale gold, remove from the heat and stir in the golden syrup, butter, almonds, coconut and rolled oats. Stir thoroughly, returning to the heat if necessary to help you mix the ingredients well.

After the cake has cooked for one hour, remove from the oven and pour mixture over the cake, then return to the oven for 10 minutes or until the topping has set.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Use a knife to loosen any toffee from the sides of the tin, then remove the cake and cool completely on a wire rack. (we ate it warm  but it is nicer cold)

Anzac cake

It is very sweet but marries nicely with a good cup of coffee.