No Churn Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

If I were to put my house up for sale the estate agent would no doubt market my kitchen as compact, or bijoux.  That's small to me and you folks.  I could probably swing a kitten in it (note the use of the word probably, I have never attempted to), but think I would struggle with a full grown tabby.  It is a perfectly functional kitchen.  It is my favourite room in the house, filled to bursting with my very favourite things.  I spend so much time in there I like to have my favourite things around me so I can look at them each and every day.  It is full to capacity though. 

My teeny tiny baking supplies press is groaning under the weight of bags of flour and sugar and tubs of sprinkles and bottles of essence.  I always open the door with one hand blocking my face for fear of what missile will explode free from it's designated spot at the prospect of freedom from the squashed confines within.  With space being so limited I also have to show great restraint when it comes to my lust for new and sparkly kitchen machines and gadgets.  I have a food processor, a blender and a hand held electric whisk and for now I shall have to be content with my lot because there is no more room at the inn.  My longing for an ice cream maker will have to remain just that.  But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy home made ice cream.  Not since I discovered a no churn ice cream that only requires enough shelf and freezer space for a loaf tin.  Result.

Here is my version of Strawberry Ceesecake Ice Cream.  I have tried another flavour and will post more as I try them out.  I hope you enjoy this one.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

1 tin of Condensed Milk
600ml Double Cream
1tsp Vanilla Extract
8oz of Cream Cheese
300g of Strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
2tbsp fresh Lemon Juice

1.  Place the strawberries in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth puree.

2.  Place all of the ingredients(including the pureed strawberries) into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until thick and quite stiff.

3.  Transfer the mixture into a loaf tin, cover with cling film and freeze until required.
4.  Allow to soften slightly before serving.

CPM: Chocolate, Peanuts & Marshmallow (GF)

*Before we get started, apologies for the atrocious pictures in this post, I was feeling a bit lazy. Soz!*

I was watching Food Network the other day, not like me I know, when this popped up.  It was one of those snippets of a Food Network chef talking about 'The best thing I ever tasted...'.  You know the ones I mean.  The theme for this particular one was sugar and Chef Duff from Charm City Cakes was in the hot seat. 

I wasn't paying too much attention to him as I was also scribbling something or other onto a piece of paper at the same time.  I very rarely just do one thing at a time, I always have one eye here and t'other there.  It's just the way I like to roll.  Even when I look like I am only concentrating on the task at hand my brain is generally 2 hours ahead thinking of the next thing I intend to do.  Anyhoo, I digress.  My attention turned solely to the tv when the chef who had created Duff's favourite dessert started to describe it.

First you pop 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream into the bottom of a glass, then you scatter on some sweetened peanuts, follow that up with a layer of chocolate ganache and then top the lot with some warm marshmallow fluff.  Naturally at that stage I found myself on my knees licking the tv screen. (Note to self, dust the tv.) 

I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of recreating this sweet confection and kept dreaming about it for the 24 hours that followed, so last night I gave in and made it before dinner.  I know, I shouldn't have but I was alone in the house and it was a good hour and a half before dinner so I did it.  This is one of my favourite things about being an adult, you can decide what to eat and when and if you want to eat dessert before dinner, you can go right ahead and do it!

As this was not part of an actual cookery show there was no recipe to accompany it.  The following is a rough guide:

CPM: Chocolate, Peanuts & Marshmallow
(the following quantities are for one serving but can very easily be multiplied)

*** NB Check that the brand of marshmallows you use are gluten free if making for someone with coeliac disease***

2tbsp Salted Peanuts
A squeeze of Honey
A handful of white Mini Marshmallows
4tbsp of Milk
3 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream
3-4tbsp of Chocolate Sauce

1.  An hour in advance of assembly place the peanuts into a small bowl.  Squeeze over just enough honey to coat them all evenly.  Cover and set aside until required.
2.  Place the mini marshmallows and milk into a small saucepan and set over a low heat to melt.

3.  While you are waiting for the marshmallows to melt remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften slightly.
4.  Once the marshmallows have melted remove them from the heat. 

5.  Place the 3 scoops of ice cream into the glass.  Flatten down with the back of a spoon.  Spoon the peanuts on top of the ice cream.  Cover the peanuts with the chocolate sauce.  Finally, cover the chocolate sauce with the melted marshmallow. 

6.  Grab a BIG spoon.  Lock yourself in a room on your own and dig in.  It is very important to get a bit of each layer in every spoonful.  Trust me, you will be glad you did.  Enjoy!

Notes:

• I had no vanilla ice cream in the house so used a homemade honeycomb one I had been meaning to taste.  It worked perfectly and I will post the recipe for that soon.
• Marshmallow fluff is not something that is readily available here.  I know Avoca sell a jar of pink marshmallow fluff but I think the melted marshmallow I used worked perfectly well.  Actually, I know it worked perfectly well because it was feckin delicious.
• I used a shop bought chocolate sauce but feel free to make your own ganache if you wish.  If I was serving it as a dessert I would most probably opt for a homemade version.

My Dad

As it is Father's Day today I thought it appropriate to dedicate a post to my dad.  Daddy's are great, aren't they?  Mine is no exception to the rule.  In fact, I think he is the best in the business. 

He is a quiet man, who loves the comfort of his own home.  He meets his brother and friends on a Sunday afternoon for a drink, his tipple of choice is a pint of Smithwicks with a Guiness head and after a few of them he loves a Gin and Tonic with lots of ice and a slice.  The rest of the week he can be found at home, sitting in his back garden on a sunny day developing a tan to rival George Hamilton, and in his living room in the evening watching movies with his surround sound at full blast so that the whole house rocks. 

He has the sharpest sense of humour and also the filthiest, a trait I am ashamed to say I have inherited from him (I am a lady the majority of the time).  He knows lots about lots so is a great go to guy when you need an answer or an explantion for something.  He is the worlds biggest Frank Sinatra fan and has a voice to rival him, he used to sing in a band when he was younger you know.  He is the vainest 71 year old I know, he insists on dieting so as not to put on weight, he lashes the Nuxe oil in his hair when he is going out and is always a dapper little fecker in his suit and matching shirt, tie, handkerchief and cufflinks.

When we were younger he was the only man when you had an ouwie, he would sort it out in an instant.  If we happened to be in trouble for what ever reason and doing some 'time out' in our bedroom he would come home from work give us some money and send us off to the shop for a treat.  This did not go down well with my mam.  He lived qietly in a house with 4 women and didn't complain much (note the use of the word much, he can be a moany old shite when he wants to be), but he loves all of his girls relentlessly and since he lost his best pal he took on the role of both mother and father and has excelled. 

He is always there for us three, quietly in the background ready to step up when we need it.  He does all of the little jobs we ask him to and never complains that they are an inconvenience to him.  He buys us little treats on his trips to town and on a Saturday when we descend on his house we go to the shop and as he picks up sweets for his grandchildren he also pops something onto the counter for his three grown up girls.  He throws us a few bob every now and then for a nice lunch or to treat ourselves to something and when we go on holiday we get some money for a few drinks while we are away.  You see no matter what he is doing his grilies three are always in his thoughts.

In recent years he has been blessed with three grandchildren by my two sisters and while his love for his daughters overflows, the love and pride he has for his grandaughter and his two grandsons is a whole other story.  You can see it oozing from him when he is in their company.  They are like the elixir of life for him.  He might moan about the standard aches and pains of any 71 year old when we talk to him on the phone, but put him in a room with these three little people and he has the energy and agility of a 21 year old.  He rolls around on the floor, runs, jumps up and down and throws them around as if they were light as feather rag dolls laughing and roaring with fun.

So there you have it, a glimpse of the man I call dad.  He is truly wonderful and we are all blessed that he is ours.  Happy Father's Day dad, you are most definitely the best in the business, your the boss!

As I have said, my dad goes out for a little drink on a Sunday afternoon, and has done so since forever.  When we were little we would enjoy our Sunday roast and then dad would make us up a delicious dessert.  I haven't had it for years but can still taste it.  It was the simplest thing in the world but was a firm favourite on a Sunday in our house, so in honour of my dad I am going to treat myself to a coke float.  What treats did your dad make for you when you were little?

Coke Float

1 tall glass
1 generous scoop of vanilla or raspberry ripple ice cream
Coca Cola

1.  Place the ice cream in the bottom of the glass.
2.  Pour the coca cola over to fill the glass.
3.  Enjoy!

Apologies for the photo quality that follows but the blazing afternoon sun does not make for clear close up photos and the shade of my parasol wasn't much better.

I want me mammy

So I'm currently laid up in bed with a rather bad ear and throat infection and feeling just generally crappy.  It is on days like this that I long to be at home in my childhood bed being looked after by my mam.  My hubby is here and he has stockpiled the fridge with ice pops to cool and soothe my throat and bought some chicken soup to make sure I eat something and keep my energy up.  Average treatment from someone who loves you and wants to help you feel better.  But, my mammy he is not.

No one can nurse you like your mammy can nurse you.  Dosing you with sugary pink Calpol on the dot every four hours, making little cotton balls to keep the cold out of your aching ears, running a strict hot water bottle rotation to ensure the cosiness of your bed is never compromised and cooking delicious batches of chicken broth the mere smell of which harnessed powerful healing properties.

My mam was relentless in her care of her girls whenever we were struck with a virus or infection or tummy bug.  She played the role of nurse to perfection preempting our needs so as to always appear at our bedside at just the right time with the perfect remedy.  Dry toast just as hunger started to set in following a tummy upset, cough medicine at 2am during mid sleep coughing fits that she never slept through, steaming chicken soup to help break a cold and the remote control on that last day of bed rest when really we were well enough to go to school but she pretended not to notice to allow us one last day of indulgence.

A constant across the spectrum of illnesses are the things that I would love right now.  A wibbly wobbly bowl of jelly and ice cream and an ice cold glass of 7UP.  I remember sitting on my mams lap in our doctors surgery and when he handed over the prescription for that yucky banana flavoured medicine he would always add "and plenty of 7UP and some jelly and ice cream".  On leaving the doctors we would walk across the road to the chemist to pick up the said scustin' medicine and then drop into the shop to pick up a packet of jelly and a block of HB vanilla ice cream.

I dodn't think it matters how old we are, we are never to old to crave the love and care of our mammy when we are ill.  I unfortunately do not have the luxury of my favourite nurse anymore so will have to adjust my expectations in line with the level of care offered by my wonderful husband.  What I do have and am grateful for are the memories of those days to keep me warm and bring a smile as I shiver here in my sick bed.

Big Boys Ice Cream Sandwich

So these recipes are not filled with nostalgia for me and I have no long formed happy memories of them. They were not made by my mam when I was a child, but more recently by me for my husband.

You see he is a bit of a fitness freak, not a pick of meat on his bones the fecker and he eats rings around himself, who moans every time I bake something special for him. "Ah no, you shouldn't have made that for me, I can't be eating all of those calories when I'm in training." Now don't ask what he's training for, a cake eating contest is quite possible, because despite all of his protestations I always wake the next morning to find a generous slice has disappeared. And he always throws in a little negative comment about the cake in hand - "it's a bit dry/rich/chocolaty etc. for my liking", yet he manages to scoff the majority of it proclaiming it's to prevent it going to waste. Waste! Not likely, there is always someone willing to take a slice of caca milis off my hands if it happens to be going a beggin', but he is such a little trooper he sacrifices himself for the cause and manages to squeeze in another slice.

I decided to treat him over the weekend as he is carrying a bit of an injury. I say bit, I mean he is only a breath away from passing over to the other side. Last week he mentioned to me that he had a 'twinge' in his back. Not much was said following this comment and so a few days later I asked him to bleed the rads, all shocking exciting stuff. So there he was bent over the rad in the kitchen doing the macho job to please his helpless little wife when all hell broke loose. Water started spraying up the walls drowning the place while he was writhing around howling like a banshee. After a couple of seconds in shock, speed dialling Noah and his team of Ark builders and getting the digits scalded off meself trying to get the nut (no, not the hubby) back into the rad I managed to decipher the screams coming from him and they went something like this - "aaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwww meeeeeee baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccccckkkkkkkkkkk, meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!" Apparently, whilst bent over the 'twinge' turned into a major spasm which lead to the very dramatic display I was now witness to.

Now when I find myself in a severe amount of back pain(which I have done in the past) I tend to stay still to avoid aggravating the situation further, but it would seem he is of the Premier League Football school of pain and quite obviously attended a masterclass with Ronaldo judging by the show he put on. If I had it on camera and put it up on You Tube I'd be shocked (seriously) if he wasn't up for an Oscar come February. Since then I have had a bit of a busy week running hot baths which always seem to be a little hot for his delicate skin (Jaysus he's an awful baby), getting heat packs, picking stuff up that he can't bend over for, running up and down the stairs for all the crap he has forgotten and moving furniture so he doesn't strain himself watching the aul' telebox! Honest to God, the carry on of him. Now obviously he's perfectly capable of all these little tasks when he thinks I'm not looking but as they say, why bark eh?

But you know how it goes when the man in your life is struck down with man flu or some such ailment, you have to lavish them with love and sympathy. So, I did what any dutiful wife would do and I made his favourite toffee sauce to go with his favourite honeycomb ice cream and as an extra special treat some scrummy chocolate chip cookies that he has been happily dunking in his tea since, sitting on the now jauntily angled sofa and grinning at me like a prize winning gurner. Well, if he's happy he's not moaning which means I'm happy, so every one's a winner baby!!!

Toffee Sauce

• 100g/4oz Butter
• 175g/6oz Brown Sugar
• 100g/4oz Caster Sugar
• 275g/10oz Golden Syrup
• 250ml/8fl oz Single cream

Place all of the ingredients into a saucepan and boil for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly until the sauce is smooth.
(Place in a sterilised jar in the fridge and it will keep for a few months, well supposedly)

Honeycomb Ice Cream

Walk to your nearest supermarket/gelateria and buy a tub. I have a lot of time on my hands but unfortunately not that much!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Will yield 2 dozen + depending on size

• 300g/12oz Butter (at room temperature)
• 1 Egg
• 375g/15oz Caster Sugar
• 450g/18oz Plain/Cream Flour (sieved)
• 1/2tsp Baking Soda
• 250g/10oz Chocolate Chips

1. Line a baking sheet with some parchment paper, preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas Mark 3.
2. Beat the butter, egg and sugar in a food mixer using the paddle attachment until combined.
3. Mix in the flour, followed by the baking soda.
4. Add in the chocolate chips.
5. Wrap the cookie dough in some cling film and pop into the fridge for 1 hour.
6. Roll out the dough onto a floured board to a depth of 5mm.
7. Cut out the cookies using a pastry cutter and place on baking sheet.
8. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden. (It is OK if the cookies are a little wobbly in the centre, they will cool with a delicious chewy texture.
9. Cool on a wire rack if you can resist the urge to eat immediately!

I combined all of the above to make a delicious ice cream sandwich drizzled with the toffee sauce (generously drizzled that is).