TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

Since the weather is beginning to warm up here, ice cream was the perfect choice for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie adventure. Becky, of Project Domestication, chose Burnt Sugar Ice Cream.

It reminds me of Dulce de Leche, or Caramel, ice cream, either of which is fine with me.



First, you start by caramelizing some sugar until it is a deep amber. Then you pour in the milk and cream mixture, stirring continuously until the caramel eventually melts and is incorporated. Egg yolks are added next, carefully, so they don't scramble. The final mixture is heated to 170 degrees, which took me less than a minute. I did strain the base into a bowl, just in case, but there were no eggy bits left behind.


While the base was chilling, I remembered that I hadn't place the ice cream maker canister back into the freezer after its last use. Shoot. That meant no ice cream for Sunday dessert. So, the ice cream was made on Monday afternoon after all components were thoroughly chilled.



It was a big hit! While you could top it with sauce or other sweet bits, it is really delicious as is. This is certainly an ice cream flavor that I will make again.

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

This catch-up post will be short and sweet, just like these biscuits.


Truly quick to make, they rose beautifully while baking and came out with a natural splitting point. I ate the last two this morning for breakfast, drizzled with honey.




The biscuits are reminiscent of my favorite scone recipe, made with heavy cream instead of butter.




Since I always have heavy cream on hand, I'm sure these biscuits will become part of my baking repertoire.

Melissa of Love At First Bite chose this week's recipe, which can be found on her blog. And, when you have a spare moment, stop by the TWD blog for more challenges and comments.

BB: Jam & Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

I should be working right now. I should be catching up on all my unfinished tasks. But I'm not.

Instead, I'm working at catching up on baking. Infinitely more fun and rewarding than anything else.


First up are the jam thumbprint cookies for Barefoot Bloggers. I only made one third of the recipe, but I wish I'd made more. These are truly delicious. I used some boysenberry jam for the centers and unsweetened coconut for rolling. I believe you could substitute finely ground nuts for the coconut. The basic cookie part is just a butter cookie, a really scrumptious butter cookie.

Here's the baking progression.





Over 300 recommendations can't be wrong. These cookies would be perfect for any party or function as well as for just plain cookie-eating. They are lovely to behold and have that wonderful buttery-goodness taste. Thanks to Cassandra of Foodie with Little Thyme for a great choice.

Daring Bakers: Steamed Suet Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.


This month's challenge was to make a traditional British steamed pudding, using suet, if possible. I've made steamed puddings before, especially around the holidays, but I've never used suet. That was my challenge.


I found a meat market that had suet on hand, so I stopped by and picked up half a pound.




Since it resisted crumbling, I had to render out the fat. Over slow heat, this took about two hours.




All the remaining ingredients were ready to go, so it only took minutes to mix once the rendered suet had cooled. I made a very simple pudding, using grated lime rind as a flavoring.


The steaming setup was a pot within a pot. I let it cook for three hours.





My mold is deep and the amount of batter was small, so, although the pudding rose, it didn't fill the entire mold.




It did, however, unmold quite nicely. The pudding was a bit on the crumbly side, with an interesting flavor profile that is hard to explain. I suspect it is related to the rendered suet. I had a piece with some golden syrup poured over it. I plan to make some lime sauce to complement the lime zest and I think that will hit the flavor spot.




Thanks to Esther and the Daring Bakers for another interesting challenge. For recipes and background information, do stop by Esther's blog.

TWD: Sleep deprivation causes baking error

Saturday morning I got up at 6:30 am. I finally got to bed at 3:30 am Tuesday morning. That's something like 45 hours with no sleep. I had a project to finish and send in, so that's what had to be done. I'm still recovering.

Obviously, not quickly enough.

Note the lovely, delicious cream scone with strawberries.



It took me several days to realize that I had baked the wrong thing. I think I was supposed to bake sweet cream biscuits. These are not them. My apologies to Melissa.




They were good, though. I froze half, unbaked, and baked the remaining ones, which I used for shortcake.


The ingredients listed currants, but I never could find them included in the mixing/baking instructions. Unwittingly, I just left them plain, which worked out nicely.

I don't know if the TWD rotation has included these scones, but I'm ready for it way in advance.



So, now that I have a small amount of breathing room, I will be off to the kitchen to correct my mistake. The biscuits will be late, as will the BB thumbprint cookies, and probably other baked goods as well.


I'm treating myself to a weekend mini-vacation to visit a friend, who is chef at a tapas/wine bar in Buellton, my mother in Santa Maria, and a cool quilt show at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.


No more all-nighters for awhile.

Brunswick Stew

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den.. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-Be Southerners” by Matt Lee and Ted Lee”, , and from the Callaway, Va Ruritan Club.

This was a hearty challenge indeed. I only made half a recipe, but it nearly filled my 7-quart pot, and is continuing to provide ready-made dinners at a time when my work load precludes a lot of cooking. I used Version #1, the long-cooking one.




Rather than the traditional rabbit or squirrel (or kangaroo), I chose to use chicken and pork. I took my time browning the meat and used homemade chicken stock, so the flavors of the stew were very well developed. As it sits in the refrigerator, the flavors continue to improve.




Since I'm in the final hours of a large project, my post will be short. For more opinions and the recipes, head over to the Daring Kitchen. Suffice it to say, the stew was easy to prepare and tastes lovely. We all enjoyed it.

TWD: Delayed Swedish Visiting Cake

My apologies to Nancy. I'm deep in the final throes of a project, so, even though the Swedish Visiting Cake is quick to make, mine will be late.

I have made this several times before, and I was Sure that I had photographed it. (Isn't that what we do now with nearly everything we bake?)

Well, if I did, it is well buried somewhere on my computer. I can even picture it in my mind! (That's not a sign of going crazy, is it?)

Since I can taste the cake just by thinking of it, looks like I will have to bake one to satisfy that craving. Stay tuned.