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!!

Bananas, chocolate et al

Whereas everyone seems to be making apple pies and pear tarts, I am making frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles, desiccated coconut and ground pistachio.

I don’t care for the seriousness of autumn, I want to hold on to the playfulness of summer. It is still rather warm out so these were a brilliant idea to cool us off somehow in the most sweet and colorful of ways.

I considered making an ice cream, but, to be honest, I have had my share of ice creams this summer and I have somewhat retired my ice cream bowl. As we speak, it is not sitting in my freezer, but comfortably in its box.

I’m also kind of in a state of watching what type of sweets I make, meaning that I prefer them on the less-sugar side (even though as we speak, I’m dreaming of a cupcake recipe I want to make that’s full of sugar) so I decided to make something that I can call healthy-ish, or something like it.

These chocolate-covered bananas are so fun and easy to make, effortless really, and a joy to eat. Crispy, crackly chocolate, firm, cold, sweet banana; perfection!

For those of you who are not keen on autumn and share my need to keep summer close, make these and enjoy them under a glorious sun.

Frozen chocolate-dipped bananas with desiccated coconut, pistachios or sprinkles

I used extra-virgin coconut oil to thin out the melted chocolate in order to have a thin coating rather than a brick-like one and it gave the bananas a faint flavor of coconut that was beautiful. If you’d rather not have that flavor, use odorless and flavorless vegetable oil to mix with the chocolate.

Use bananas that are firm yet ripe. If they have a few brown spots like mine, that’s okay. You want them to be flavorful but not soft, otherwise they will break when you insert the stick.

Yield: 16 banana sticks

Ingredients
8 large, ripe yet firm bananas
200 g good quality dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
1½ Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (or sunflower oil)
Desiccated coconut
Sprinkles
Coarsely ground unsalted pistachios

Special equipment: popsicle sticks, large tray suitable for the freezer, baking paper


Preparation
Peel the bananas and cut them in half crosswise. Insert a popsicle stick slowly and carefully half way into the banana, being careful not to puncture through the fruit.
Place the banana halves onto a baking paper-lined tray suitable for the freezer and place them in your freezer for 20 minutes. Don’t cover them because we don’t want any moisture to form on top of them.

Place the chopped chocolate and coconut oil (or sunflower oil) in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain marie) and melt, stirring often (or you can use the microwave). The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water. Stir gently with a rubber spatula and once the mixture is smooth and melted, remove bowl from the top of the pan and empty into a jug or a tall container to make dipping the bananas easy.
Let it cool until it is warm but not hot.

Note: this chocolate mixture will not be the same as this chocolate shell as it contains less coconut oil so it doesn’t get hard in a few seconds. Instead, it takes a few minutes to set which gives you ample time to cover in sprinkles, coconut etc.

Remove the bananas from the freezer and one by one, dip them into the chocolate. You can either dip the whole banana into the chocolate or dip half of it. I prefer them half-dipped. Let the excess chocolate drip off for a few seconds and then either roll them in sprinkles/coconut/pistachios or sprinkle on top. If you roll them, they will be more covered than if you simply sprinkle them.
Place the bananas on a new piece of baking paper (and onto a tray) and return them to the freezer, uncovered. They need about 2 hours to be frozen.
Serve them either straight from the freezer, or if they’ve been in the freezer for more than 2 hours, transfer them to the fridge for half an hour or to your kitchen counter for 15 minutes to soften a bit.

If you plan to keep the bananas in the freezer for more than a day, cover each one well in plastic wrap or put them in a freezer bag or in an airtight container. You can keep them like that for 1 week.

Coconut love

What a difference a week makes. Last week it was cold, dark and raining almost every day and now the sun is shining, with the occasional rainstorms of course because this is the Netherlands after all, and it’s really hot. It’s proper summer around here and what’s better to have during days like these than a cold dessert in the form of round icy scoops of coconut deliciousness.

S and I have declared this the year of the ice cream. We have been indulging in homemade ice cream for more than a couple of months now, through rain or shine, warm or cold weather, and we have officially become addicted.

One of my latest obsessions is coconut and I’ve been using it in many of its forms in every type of dish. Coconut oil for pan-frying fish and steak, coconut flour and sugar for waffles and cakes, coconut milk for smoothies, desiccated coconut for ice creams.

I have tried several coconut ice cream versions with various results, yet I always return to this one. It’s a keeper. It is pure, authentic ice cream, with no nonsense ingredients but the stuff proper ice cream should be made off; eggs, milk, cream.

It’s rich, smooth and creamy and it coats your tongue with its velvety texture while the full flavor of exotic coconut lingers on. But you know me, I always need my chocolate fix, so I had to pair the ice cream with a chocolate sauce. Not just any chocolate sauce though, a chocolate sauce that once you pour it onto the cold ice cream, it hardens and becomes a beautiful shell that cracks with the touch of a spoon.

It’s like those shells that store-bought ice creams have and that you think you can never recreate at home. It turns out, you can, and it can also be healthy and ridiculously easy, with only two ingredients: dark chocolate and coconut oil. It takes five minutes to make and it is spectacular. Frankly, I wanted to pour it over everything but I restrained myself. Even if you don’t end up trying this heavenly ice cream, which you would be crazy not to, you should at least try this insanely delicious chocolate sauce.

PS 1 A little while ago, the site New Diaspora asked me for an interview (ooh that sounded fancy!). If you're interested in learning a few more things about me, then click here to read it.

PS 2 I changed the blog’s header, sidebar, social media buttons and text font and I’m so excited because I have wanted to do this for a while but never could find the time. I made all the changes myself, and being a total novice on matters of design, it makes me even more proud of the outcome. I felt my little space here needed to be rejuvenated and a picture of chocolate sorbet with berries for my header did the trick. By the way, you can see it on this post.

Hope you like it, tell me what you think!

Coconut Ice Cream
Slightly adapted from The prefect scoop

The coconut flavor in this ice cream comes from desiccated coconut that’s been toasted and then steeped into the milk. It gives the ice cream a robust flavor of coconut without being overwhelming.

Yield: about 1 liter

Ingredients
70 g desiccated coconut
150 g caster sugar
Pinch of sea salt
250 ml fresh, whole milk
500 cream, full-fat (35%)
5 large egg yolks
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: fine sieve, ice cream maker (optional yet preferable)


Preparation
In a small skillet, add the desiccated coconut and place over medium-low heat. Toast, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the coconut starts releasing its aroma and begins to brown. As soon as you notice that it starts to change color and darken, turn heat down to low and be extra vigilant as the coconut can burn easily. Continue toasting and stirring non-stop until the coconut has taken on a golden to light-brown color. If at any point you smell that it’s burning, remove from the heat and stir well. The process of toasting will take about 4 minutes.
Empty the coconut in a bowl.

In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed saucepan, add the sugar, salt, milk and 250ml of the cream. Heat over medium heat until the mixture is warm but not hot; don’t bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the toasted coconut and stir well. Cover the pan with the lid and let steep for 1 hour at room temperature.

After the hour has passed, rewarm the mixture over medium heat. Again, be careful not to bring it to the boil. Set a fine sieve over a medium-sized bowl and pass the coconut-infused mixture through the sieve and into the bowl, pressing down on the coconut with a flexible rubber spatula to extract as much of the liquid and flavor as possible. Discard the coconut.

In another medium-sized bowl, add the remaining 250ml of cream and set over it the fine sieve.
In a third medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks and using a wire whisk, whisk well. Very slowly, pour the warm coconut-infused 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 the fine sieve and into the bowl containing the cream. Stir well with a spatula until well blended and add the vanilla extract. 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 rubber 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.
Then whisk the mixture 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 chilled 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.

Chocolate Sauce/Shell for ice cream
Adapted from Jeni’s splendid ice cream at home

I only use unrefined, extra virgin coconut oil because it’s healthy and has no chemical additives. It has the flavor and aroma of coconut, more or less prominent depending on the brand. In this sauce, you can certainly taste it along with the chocolate.
Perhaps some of you don’t enjoy the flavor of coconut but if you use flavorless/odorless coconut oil it will most probably be refined and thus unhealthy for you. Also, the flavor and texture of the sauce won’t be pleasant. It is in fact terrible; believe me I’ve tried it.

Coconut oil must be kept at room temperature and like butter, it has a high melting point, which means that it melts very easily and it hardens as soon as you chill it. At room temperature, in the summer it is liquid whereas in the winter it is hard.

Yield: about 280 ml

Ingredients
200 good quality dark chocolate (55-70%), chopped
100 g extra virgin coconut oil


Preparation
Place the chopped chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain marie) and melt, stirring often. The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water. Stir gently with a rubber spatula and once the mixture is smooth and melted, remove bowl from the top of the pan and set aside to cool slightly.

Pour it over your cold ice cream, be a little patient and watch it harden after 30-50 seconds. Dig in with your spoon and crack it open.

You can use it immediately or keep it covered, at room temperature until you want to use it. If it hardens, melt it again using your microwave or in a bain-marie.