Friday 12 July 2013

Something for the weekend... make your own Ice Cream!

Finally the hot weather has arrived and London is prettier for it... so many gorgeous people in gorgeous summer frocks (and the boys look pretty awesome too... but not in frocks though!), it really is something quite extraordinary but the best accessory by far is some home made ice cream! But don't wear it... As I can confirm it is quite a task to remove a chocolate ice cream stain from a dress!

Because we love trying new things and as I am "babysitting" a friend's ice cream maker I thought I'd give it a go! I was thinking of trying a few fruity ones but in this household chocolate rules and so... I complied and made some super chocolaty stuff courtesy of the fab cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
I have to say that it got a huge thumbs up! Easy to make - even though I was slightly in a flap when I read the part of making a sugar syrup but it was more straight forward then it looked - and is so delicious... it's pretty close to a certain Danish Ice cream company but...better!!!
Though to me it was super duper it needed to pass my fussiest taste tester's approval which it did, he actually said:
"Wow, it's like eating frozen chocolate mousse!"
And if the other half's happy with it then mission accomplished so I highly recommend this recipe...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/superrichchocolateic_14295 

Easy Tiger, there's enough for everyone!
Plus as I had a bit of mix left over - it wouldn't all fit in the churner- which means the old noggin started to work overtime!
I couldn't just chuck it away so I thought about experimenting with it and as it had eggs and butter it was a perfectly good cake base so to the mix I added 2 table spoons of self raising flour. The consistency should be like that for a sponge cake mix but still quite runny.
I trialed one straight away and it was pretty good though what I found next would completely change the recipe and I can confirm that it's well worth the wait! The first trial was good... it was more of a gooey sponge cake which hey... I still ate and enjoyed immensely but take it from me be patient and it gets better!
What I found is that if you let it set in the fridge overnight that it becomes more of a souffle, chocolate fondant type of dessert and that is absolutely a winner with me!
So what you'll need to do is: fill your ramekins about 3/4 of the way, cover with clingfilm, leave over night in the fridge to set then zap in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds (if you're making 2 at a time and you have an 800 W microwave it'll take circa 30 to 45 seconds).

Let's just say that it blows all those "cakes in a mug" recipes out of the water... kind of reminds me of the Gü Desserts souffle pots! Warm, gooey, super dark chocolate heaven which will go amazingly well with the above mentioned ice cream... though you might go into a chocolate coma! Oh well... it'll be worth it!

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