Five years (and a few days) and a special dessert

Every year, around this time, I buy chestnuts, lots of them, to use in savory and sweet dishes or to eat them simply roasted on a cold evening. Chestnuts to me represent autumn and winter, yet this time I made something that I’d normally make during the summer. I made ice cream, chestnut ice cream.

I had a very specific dish in mind. I wanted to make a dessert, a somewhat special dessert for a special day in late November, which was the day this little blog of mine, this cherished part of the internet, turned five.

FIVE. I truly can’t believe I have been blogging for this long. I don’t think I’ve ever been this committed to anything for five years. It feels weird, yet fantastic. It feels like a huge accomplishment but I’ll be honest with you. This past year it’s been a struggle to keep up with this blog. The notion of giving it up crossed my mind and it was the first time I really did not care about it that much. I didn’t want to post as regularly, I wanted to keep things to myself more, live life without having to think about taking photographs of the food I cook or jotting down recipes with every little detail, and words didn’t seem to flow out of me as easily and as much as they used to.

However—and that is a big however—the fact that I found this anniversary worth celebrating, led me to the realization that I do still enjoy blogging, that I do enjoy this type of communication I have with you, the readers; those who quietly pass by, those who always leave a few words that make me feel that what I’m doing here is worthwhile and is being appreciated, those who send me emails with pictures of dishes they cooked from the blog, those who share their knowledge of food with me and who teach me new things, even those who are sometimes a bit harsh or abrupt in their comments; because I truly love creating recipes and sharing them here, with each and every one of you, and it brings me joy having you as my companions on this journey.

So, I had this idea to make a chestnut ice cream but then I thought, it’s winter, I want something else to break that icy feeling. I thought biscuit, and then sablé breton came to mind, a crumbly, sandy biscuit that’s not too sweet and has a light saltiness to it to add another dimension to the dessert. And then I wanted another component, like a sauce, chocolate of course, but with something else in it, to make things more interesting. Alcohol always works with chocolate and then I thought of Armagnac. The best.

A thick sauce that’s creamy, rich, and deeply chocolaty with a kick from the Armagnac, poured over the nutty and smooth ice cream that is cold but earthy at the same time, and the biscuit, that crumbly, buttery, crispy and slightly thick biscuit, adding another texture in the palate, creating a unique dessert. That was the dish I had in mind, and that’s what I made; a balanced and delicious dessert worthy of the five year anniversary of my blog.

So, happy birthday little blog. I really do love you with all my heart.
And thank you to all of you who have been following my adventures in the kitchen these past five years. Hope you join me for the next five to come.

And if you’re in the mood for more recipes with chestnuts, check out these recipes:
Sweet Chestnut Cream (Crème de Marrons)
Chocolate and Chestnut Truffles
Chestnut Cream Truffles
Chestnut Tiramisu
Chestnut Soup with Port
Chestnut Crêpes with Creamy Wild Mushroom Filling

Chestnut ice cream on sablés bretons biscuits with chocolate-Armagnac sauce

Sablés bretons are traditional French butter biscuits from the Brittany region.

You can easily serve this dessert after a festive meal during the Christmas holidays or on New Year’s as it’s so easy to make ahead; the biscuits can be made 1-2 days ahead, the ice cream 2-3 days ahead. The only component of the dessert I’d advise you to make on the day is the chocolate-Armagnac sauce. It is most flavorful the first day, but you can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Also, you can just make any of the three components of the dessert for different occasions. The sablés make the perfect holiday cookies, the sauce can be served over poached pears or quinces for a quick desert, and the ice cream, well, it pretty much is perfect on its own.

The proportion of the biscuit, which is about 1.3 cm thick and 8-8.5 cm in diameter, works great for one large scoop of ice cream and for one serving. You can also cut out the biscuits smaller so you can have more portions of the dessert.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

for the sablés bretons (makes 8-10 large biscuits, 8-8.5 cm diameter)
200 g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt flakes (I used Maldon)
125 g caster sugar
3 large eggs yolks
150 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and very soft

1 large egg yolk + 1 tsp cold water, for egg washing the sablés

for the chestnut ice cream (makes about 1 kg)
250 ml fresh, whole milk
250 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
50 g caster sugar
300 g sweetened chestnut cream (ready-made or homemade*) or chestnut jam

for the chocolate-Armagnac sauce (makes about 1½ cups)
170 g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
80 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
1 tsp vanilla bean baste (or pure vanilla extract)
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp Armagnac (or Cognac or brandy)
20 g (1½ Tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces, at room temperature

*If you make my homemade sweetened chestnut cream, make sure to prepare it a day before you make the ice cream and keep it refrigerated.

Special equipment:
for sablés bretons — stand mixer or electric hand-held mixer, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking sheet, baking paper, 8-8.5 cm round cookie cutter, pastry brush
for ice cream — heatproof spatula, fine sieve, plastic wrap, ice cream machine
for chocolate-Armagnac sauce — heatproof spatula


Preparation

for the sablés bretons
In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder and sea salt flakes and mix with a spoon.

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl), add the sugar and 3 egg yolks and using the paddle attachment (or a hand-held electric mixer) beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, for about 2 minutes. Add butter little by little, beating well after each addition, until fully incorporated and you have a smooth mixture. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until a dough starts to form.

Lightly flour a clean work surface and empty the dough on top. Knead lightly to form a uniform dough, shape it roughly into a ball and then into a flattened disk, and place it between two sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll it out 1 cm thick. Transfer it onto a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until it is firm.

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Prepare the eggwash by adding in a small bowl 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp cold water and mixing well with a fork.

Remove the dough from the fridge, remove the top sheet of baking paper and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the rolled-out dough. Using a fork, make a criss-cross pattern (see photo for reference) which is the traditional pattern for the sablés bretons.

Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake dough for 6 minutes. Remove baking sheet from the oven and, using an 8-8.5 cm in diameter cookie cutter, cut 8-10 rounds and return baking sheet in the oven. (See photos for reference). Bake for further 8-9 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to slightly cool on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes. Then, using the same cookie cutter as before, carefully and cleanly re-cut the sablés and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Don’t throw away the small pieces of biscuit that you’ll be left with. Use them as a crispy topping for ice cream.

You can keep the sablés bretons at room temperature, in a cookie tin, for a week.

for the chestnut ice cream
In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the milk and cream and heat over medium-low heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan, being careful not to boil the mixture.
In a medium bowl, add the eggs yolks and sugar and whisk well with a wire whisk until light and smooth.
Very slowly, pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking quickly and continuously so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour mixture into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spatula, for 5-6 minutes.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve and into a clean bowl. Add the vanilla bean paste (or extract) and salt and stir well. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes and then add the sweetened chestnut cream or chestnut jam and mix with a wire whisk to incorporate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or until the mixture is cold.

Empty the mixture into your ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Once the ice cream is ready, empty it into a container suitable for the freezer and freeze it for at least 4 hours before serving.

for the chocolate-Armagnac sauce
Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain-marie) and melt, stirring often with a spatula. The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water otherwise the chocolate will burn.

In the meantime, in a small pan, add cream and heat over low heat until bubbles start appearing around the edges of the pan.

Once the chocolate is smooth and melted, turn heat off so the water stops simmering underneath, but do not remove the bowl from the top of the pan so it stays warm. Immediately add to the melted chocolate the heated cream along with the vanilla, the salt and the Armagnac, and stir well with the heatproof spatula to incorporate until you have a smooth sauce.
Add the small pieces of butter one by one, whisking with a wire whisk continuously to incorporate each piece into the sauce before adding the next piece. This will ensure that the mixture won’t split. You should end up with a smooth, shiny and somewhat thick chocolate sauce.

Empty it in a bowl and if you plan on using it on the same day, keep it at room temperature. If you plan on using it the next day, cover it well with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. You can reheat it in a bain-marie or in the microwave, being careful not to burn it.
You can keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days but it has the best flavor on the day you make it.

assembling and serving the dessert
When you have all the components of the dessert ready, start assembling your dessert.
In individual plates, place one sablé breton biscuit. On top, add a large scoop of chestnut ice cream and then either serve the chocolate sauce on the side, in a small container, or pour the sauce over the ice cream.
Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

The summer of ice cream

At the beginning of summer, I said this was going to be the summer of ice cream and it was. I made so many types of icy treats, I can’t even believe it.

Many of them were memorable, some were mediocre and a few of them were flops. You got to have some of those too, right? Just for good measure.

The list is big but let me give you an idea:
Cantaloupe sorbet
Ginger ice cream
Pineapple and coconut semifreddo
Balsamic roasted strawberry ice cream
Greek frappe coffee ice pops
Peach and blueberry sorbet
Stracciatella ice cream (I still dream about this one)
Blackberry ice cream

Alas, I didn’t have the time to photograph most of them, which is kind of sad because I’m dying to share the recipes, but I did get the chance to photograph the blackberry ice cream that I made just a few days ago.

Blackberries are perhaps my favorite berries even though blackberries are technically fruits. That dark blue, glistening color and the smooth texture of their plump little drupelets is irresistible to me. I love eating them just as they are, savoring their sweet and tart notes, but in ice creams, jams and tarts, they are even more delicious.

Blackberries are full of antioxidants, vitamin C and fibers but I wouldn’t want to sell you this ice cream as a healthy one. Well, it has cream, eggs and sugar so who would I be kidding. It has, however, an amazingly fresh and fruity as well as slightly mellow creamy flavor with a hint of vanilla and lemon, paired with a rich, velvety texture that is highly addictive. Not to mention that gorgeous purple color. I could eat scoop after scoop without ever wanting to stop, but I had to control myself. Will you be able to?

Reminder: the Yummy Supper cookbook giveaway is still running so go to this post for a chance to win a copy. Thank you to all who have already left their comments!

Blackberry ice cream
Adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones

Use fresh sweet blackberries but if the ones you find are on the tart side, add a bit more sugar to the blackberry pureé (about 20 g more).

Yield: about 1 kg

Ingredients

for the blackberry pureé
300 g fresh blackberries
80 g caster sugar
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

for the ice cream base
6 medium-sized egg yolks
120 g caster sugar
440 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
190 ml whole milk
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: small food processor or blender, fine sieve, plastic wrap, ice cream machine (optional yet preferable)


Preparation

make the blackberry pureé
In a small saucepan, add blackberries and sugar and stir well. Place pan over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes or until the blackberries soften and the liquid that they have released has somewhat reduced, stirring frequently.
Let cool slightly. Transfer the berries, their juices and the lemon juice to a small food processor or blender and pureé until smooth. Pass half of the mixture through a fine sieve and into a medium-sized bowl, pressing with a spatula to extract as much pureé as possible from the berries. Discard the solids and pour the rest of the pureé into the bowl with the strained pureé. Stir gently to combine, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

make the ice cream base
In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks and half the sugar (60 g) and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed saucepan, add the cream, milk, the rest of the sugar (60 g) and salt, place over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and heat until the mixture is warm but not hot.
Very slowly, pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking quickly and continuously so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour mixture into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spatula.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve and into a clean bowl. Add the vanilla extract and stir well.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and a little water, and place the bowl with the ice cream mixture on top. Stir the mixture with a spatula in order to cool it down. Once cool, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Whisk the blackberry pureé into the chilled ice cream base and pour it into your ice cream maker. Continue, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream maker, empty the ice cream mixture into a container suitable for the freezer. Put mixture in the freezer, take it out after 40 minutes and whisk it very well. You can also beat it with a spatula vigorously (or you can use a blender, or even a stick blender).
Continue doing the same thing every half hour, until it's too thick and frozen to beat or whisk. The whole process will take about two and a half hours.

Coffee granita with coconut whipped cream

This week has been a shitty week for so many reasons, I’m thrilled it’s over and done with. All’s well that ends well but some scars are still there.

A sweet thing in my belly will make me forget many things and this granita is doing its best to accomplish that.

You know how when you make ice cream you seek that smoothness, that soft mouth-feel and richness? You know, the one that makes you eat one scoop after another without consideration of the consequences.

With granita you need almost the opposite. You need a crunchy, almost squeaky texture with the ice crystals bursting in your mouth when you bite into them, releasing their refreshing juices and, hopefully, intense flavor.

When you have a granita that also disguises as your daily coffee then it’s not only delicious and tempting but also extremely dangerous. “It’s just coffee, let’s have one more, let’s put some extra coconut whipped cream on top”. Because, yes, the best thing to serve this coffee granita with is coconut whipped cream which, if you are not already aware of, it’s the best thing ever.

Coconut whipped cream is coconut cream whipped to a billowy perfection. You put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight and miraculously, the cream (fat) separates from the coconut water. You scoop out the cream, whip it together with some icing sugar and vanilla, and that’s it. As simple as that.

The coffee granita topped with coconut whipped cream and some dark chocolate shavings is like a luxurious icy cappuccino, with the strong flavor of coffee, with the Kahlua intensifying it, adding sweetness and a burst of alcohol, and the creamy, thick coconut whipped cream giving an exotic touch to it all.

It’s the best dessert to serve after dinner and it’s perfect for a crowd; unfussy in preparation, easy to serve, and totally delectable.

PS. A little while ago, I had the pleasure of receiving three packets of whole coffee beans from Puro Fairtrade Coffee. S and I absolutely loved the flavor and aroma, especially of the 100% Arabica beans. Apart from that, though, what we appreciated is the fact that it’s fairtrade and that the company has an admirable mission of saving rainforests. Read the company’s mission statement and watch their video. It’s very interesting.

Coffee granita

I used 100% Arabica which is one of the best types of coffee and is considered to be the first one that was ever cultivated. Use whichever type of coffee beans you enjoy. Freshly ground coffee is superior both in taste and fragrance so if you have the chance to buy it, then do so instead of using a packaged, ground one from the super-market.

I ground the whole coffee beans and prepared the coffee in a French press. The heady aroma of freshly-brewed coffee is tantalizing. Make sure to prepare your coffee strong, not weak, as its taste will get lost when frozen.

Yield: 10 small glasses

Ingredients
500 ml freshly brewed, strong, hot filter coffee
90 g demerara sugar
20 ml Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur

Special equipment: shallow baking tray or dish 33 x 24 cm in size (approximately), suitable for the freezer, plastic wrap


Preparation
Make the coffee and while still hot, pour it into a large jug and immediately add the sugar. Stir well to dissolve. Give the coffee a taste and add more sugar if needed. Keep in mind that it must be sweeter that you would prefer or drink it normally because once frozen, the sweetness will mellow. Leave aside to cool completely.
Add the Kahlua and stir.

Pour the mixture into a shallow, large baking tray/dish suitable for the freezer and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in mind that the widest the tray the quicker the granita will freeze. If you use a smaller tray, the granita will take a very long time to freeze.

Freeze the coffee granita mixture for about 1 hour or until the liquid starts forming crystals around the tray. Take it out of the freezer and scrape the granita with a fork, breaking up the ice, and put it again in the freezer. Repeat the same process every hour, until the granita is completely frozen. This will take about 4 hours, depending on how strong your freezer is.
In the end you must have a mixture that resembles icy snow.

You can eat the granita now or keep it covered with the plastic wrap. It keeps well for 4-5 days but it’s at its best during the first two.

Coconut whipped cream

Use full-fat coconut milk as the low-fat one does not separate, and make sure it is of good quality.
It’s best if you leave the coconut milk in the fridge for 24 hours before attempting making the whipped cream. I always have a can in the fridge just in case.

You can use other sweeteners besides icing sugar, like honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, coconut sugar, etc.

Coconut whipped cream is ideal for vegans and those who are lactose intolerant. As you can imagine, it has a strong coconut flavor so in case you don’t enjoy it, you can make a dairy whipped cream using full-fat cream to top your coffee granita with.

Use coconut whipped cream as you would regular dairy whipped cream: for cakes and cupcakes, coffee and ice creams, to top puddings, pies, tarts and mousses, etc.

Yield: about 1½ cups

Ingredients
1 can coconut milk (400 ml), full-fat
2 Tbsp icing sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: stand or hand-held electric mixer


Preparation
Place the can of coconut milk in the fridge the night before, or preferably 24 hours before you want to make the whipped cream. During this time, the coconut cream (fat) will separate from the coconut water. The cream will be on top, the water on the bottom of the can.

When you open the cold can, you will see the hard cream on top. Scoop it out carefully using a spoon until you reach the water at the bottom of the can, and add it to the bowl of your mixer or in a large bowl (if using a hand-held electric mixer). Don’t add the coconut water that has remained at the bottom of the can. You can use the water in smoothies, drinks etc., or discard it altogether.

Using the whisk attachment, if you’re using a stand mixer (or using your hand-held mixer), whisk the coconut cream to loosen it a bit. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for 8-10 minutes, until you have a light and fluffy mixture with soft peaks.

You can serve it immediately (preferably) or keep it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap for later use (up to 3 days). If you leave it in the fridge for more than a few hours, it will stiffen. You will need to whip it again in order for it to become creamy and light. The flavor is not affected and it will still taste delicious after 2-3 days.