Summer Fun: We Scream for Homemade

I think we might remember this as the summer of homemade ice cream.  We started with Strawberry Soda Ice Cream for 4th of July weekend.  As we were polishing it off, I realized that the base would work well with any fruit, just substitute the correct fruit-flavored soda or use cream soda.  So, yesterday we made Peaches and Cream Ice Cream.   MMMMMmmmmm!!!  Just as good.  And so easy (if you have an ice cream maker, that is.  Haven't tried it in a roly ball yet.)

A few tips:

• you can use an equal amount of fresh fruit;
• if using frozen, be sure to let it defrost fully, so it's juicy and tender--this helps spread the flavor;
• cut or mash fruit into tiny pieces both to spread around the flavor and to avoid hard frozen chunks (unless you like those);
• though the original recipe doesn't say to, I put the mixture back in the freezer for awhile to make it nice and cold--that way, it freezes faster and my ice cream maker doesn't work as hard.

And some ideas, beyond strawberry and peach:

• Pina colada:  small chunks of pineapple with coconut milk substituted for the half and half (or whipping cream--I'll have to try both!)
• Chocolate-cherry:  cherry soda, bits of cherries (frozen or fresh), and chocolate chips
• Mango-pineapple:  bits of mango (frozen or fresh), mango nectar to substitute for soda, coconut milk for the half and half (or whipping cream)
• Orange creamsicle:  orange soda and bits of mandarin oranges
• Melba:  cream soda, bits of peaches and raspberries, perhaps some Torani raspberry syrup
• Coke or Root Beer Float:  use Coke or Root beer for soda and just forget the fruit!
• really, the possibilities are endless, all with the same base recipe . . . .

So you can bet we'll be trying a batch regularly!

Mommy Hungry's Homemade Fruit-Soda Ice Cream

Adapted from the Strawberry Soda Ice Cream recipe by Laura Duckworth in Food Network Magazine.

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3/4 cup fruit-flavored soda or cream soda
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup frozen or fresh fruit, defrosted and mashed (I use a very generous 1 cup)


Whisk the condensed milk, half-and-half, flavored soda, cream and fruit in a medium bowl.  Place in freezer for 30-60 minutes until mixture is chilled. Churn in ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's instructions.  Eat right away or freeze in airtight container until firm, at least 2 hours.

Summer Fun: Soda Spree

We got an early start on celebrating Mama's birthday today, when we bought the SodaStream that Sis decided Mama should have.  With Goo here for the birthday party weekend, we thought making sodas would be great fun.  So, after a delicious brunch and some exploring of a small stream, and after a swimathon at the Y where we played water basketball, we picked up some ice cream and other supplies and headed home.

We made glass-sized tastings of several flavors, using SodaStream concentrate, including half and half Lemonade and Ice Tea, cream soda, orange soda, and grape soda (all of which were brightly colored and overly sweet).  Then we raided our fridge and combined several of our syrups--strawberry shrub, blackberry syrup, and Ribena black currant syrup (alas our elderflower had turned)--to carbonated water.  In all cases, we probably under-measured the syrup and made rather weak drinks.  But when we added vanilla ice cream to the grape soda ("a purple cow") and to the orange soda ("creamsicle"), we were quite pleased.  Mama even likes it straight, as seltzer (which is how Sis's teacher, from whom Sis got the idea, uses her machine), while I find it "salty."

Later, as we watched The Lego Movie (one of their birthday presents--it's visually amazing and quite humorous), I made a soda I came across when researching SodaStreams:  Vanilla Earl Grey, or what I should call, London Fog on Ice.  It reminds me of the hot London Fog I make in the winter.  It also reminded me of the wonderful sodas we had in Philly at Franklin Fountain and the ones in the cookbook Soda Fountain, from the Brooklyn Farmacy, that was recommended by NPR.

Clearly, homemade syrups are the way to go.  They would make for once fancy lemonade stand.


-=-=-=-=-=-
London Fog on Ice

Makes 1 1/2 cups of syrup

1 vanilla bean, halved and split

1 cup sugar

3-4 bags of Earl Grey tea

1 cup water

Soda water

Half-and-half or whole milk

To make the simple syrup, combine the vanilla bean and sugar in a small saucepan. Rub the vanilla bean into the sugar with the back of a spoon until the mixture is fragrant. Add the tea bags and water. Cook over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Turn off the heat, and use tongs to remove the tea bags right away to avoid bitterness. Allow syrup to cool before using.
To make the soda, fill an 8-ounce glass with ice. Fill three-quarters full with soda water. Add 1/8 to 1/4 cup syrup, depending on desired sweetness. Top with half-and-half and more soda, if desired.

from NPR piece

Scratch 'n Sniff

I have never, as far I know, made pudding from scratch. Until today.

Having made some strawberry jello for Bud (from a box, but I'm going to tackle making homemade flavors with gelatin this summer), Sis and I decided to make chocolate pudding with my new box of cornstarch. We made up a double boiler with a pot and stainless steel bowl and made up whole milk with 1% and half & half (that's 3 tb half & half with milk added to one cup, so here 1/2 cup + 1 tb half & half plus milk to add up to 3 cups). I had Ghiradelli double chocolate chips (6 oz = 1 cup). And we had pudding makings! Sis very carefully babysat the milk/cornstarch, less carefully helped clean up the ingredients during a lull and spilled almost the entire rest of my new box of cornstarch (that's 16 oz or so on my floor, folks), but c'est la vie. You don't cook with kids if you want your kitchen to be clean. Back to the pudding: the smell alone as we added the chips to the thickened mixture was divine as it all melted together. Mmmmmm, incomparable. And I haven't even had a real bowl of it yet, just lickings from the spoon, which was all that was left after the kids wiped clean the bowl of the double boiler and the bowl into which we strained the pudding, almost lump free because Sis stirred so well.

It's going to be a good snacktime.

(And if that's not enough, I have some new "early American" GMO-free small-kernel popcorn from Little Pops I can make! Since we've forsaken microwave for stovetop-popped, thanks to Mama Teacher.)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in the top of a double boiler, simmering gently and stirring occasionally to scrape down sides. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon (about 15 minutes), add the chocolate and continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. (I wonder if you could add almond or orange extract instead??)

2. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and distribute into serving bowls.

3. Cover with plastic wrap (placing wrap actually against the pudding if you don't like skin) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

from Smitten Kitchen via John Scharffenberger