Lime cheesecake ice cream with gingerbread

The weather is finally warm enough for ice cream here in Australia, so once again it's time to start making it. Homemade ice cream is exciting because you can make whatever flavour you like. There are barely any restrictions when it comes to what you can make at home. Super fun.

I have this terrible, terrible love for this incredible bad for me lime cheesecake yoghurt they sell at the super markets. There's nothing good in it whatsoever; it's got tons of sugar and an odd fake flavour about it. This weird yoghurt, that I love but shouldn't, inspired me to make this ice cream.

Luckily this ice cream doesn't have a weird fake flavour about it. It's much nicer than cheesecake flavoured yoghurt I hold so dearly. The creamcheese and lime complement each other nicely, and the gingerbread on the side go pretty well too. All and all a lovely treat, perfect for the spring weather.

If I were to change anything about this recipe it would be to infuse lime peel in the milk. I thought about doing it for my ice cream but totally forgot about it by the time I got around to making the recipe. Infusing the lime with the milk would make the lime taste much stronger and, in my view, much more delicious!

Lime cheesecake ice cream with gingerbread

From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Makes about 700ml

• 225g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon lime
• 250ml sour cream
• 125ml full cream milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Cut the cream cheese into 1cm pieces. Zest the lime directly into the blender or food processor, then add the cream cheese, sour cream, milk, sugar, and salt and puree until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator until cold.

Once cold, strain the cream cheese mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Transfer the strained mixture into an ice cream maker and cheese according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Once frozen, transfer to a container and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours.

Gingerbread pancakes with maple pears

You know those mornings when you wake up and you feel far worse than you did the night before, the mornings when you head is ringing, your mouth is dry, and your eyes are glued shut from sleep? Yeah, I know what you're thinking, I know you're thinking "it's called a hangover!", which would be right except I'm talking about the mornings you wake up feeling like you'e got the worst hangover in the world but you had nothing to drink the night before, or the night before that, or even the night before that. It's punishment without a crime.

Can you tell I had one of those mornings? It's okay though because bad mornings are easily fixed with a delicious breakfast and these pancakes do a superb job!

There's nothing quite like pancakes for breakfast. There's something utterly indulgent having enough time in the morning to make a breakfast that doesn't consist of just cereal or toast.

That being said, ordinarily I would make plain ol' jane pancakes with blueberries, if I'm got any in the house. However, when I was standing in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea and feeling sorry for myself I knew ordinary pancakes would not do. After hunting around a bit, I came across this recipe for gingerbread pancakes I knew they were destined to be my breakfast. Coupled with maple roasted pears they're a delicious morning treat.

The only problem with these pancakes? I had to make them myself.

Gingerbread pancakes with maple pears

serves 1-2

Gingerbread pancakes

(adapted from What Megan's Making)

100g (3/4 cup) plain flour
40g (1/4 cup, packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of cloves
65ml (1/4 cup) water
65ml (1/4 cup) milk
1 large egg
30g (1/8 cup) butter, melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.

In a separate bowl or jug, combine the water, milk, egg, melted butter, and lemon juice. Whisk to combine and pour into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Whisk gently until the mixture is just combined and then stand for 15 minutes.

Brush a non-stick fry pan or crepe pan with a small amount of butter and then heat until hot but not smoking.

Working in batches pour 1/4 cup amounts of batter on to the frypan and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the surface the undersides are slightly brown. Flip pancakes and cook for a further 1 minute, or until the pancakes are cooked through and the edges are slightly brown. Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate, cover in aluminium foil, and keep warm in the oven until required. Repeat process until all the batter is used up.

Serve with maple pears and cream.

Maple pears

(adapted from Gourmet Traveller)

125ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup
thinly peeled rind and juice of half a lemon and half an orange
1 firm, but ripe, pears

Peel, core, and quarter the pears. Sprinkle with a small amount of lemon juice and set aside.

Combine the maple syrup, citrus rind and juice in a medium sized frypan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and then add the pears. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the pears tender and the maple mixture is thick and syrupy. Transfer to a serving dish and keep warm in the oven until required.

Poached pears with pain d'epice

Everyone seems to have a different way of poaching pears using completely different ingredients. I've tried a number of recipes some that use wine and some that don't, and this is my favourite. The poaching liquid can be made with or without wine, depending on what what happen to have on hand. I've done it both ways and have been equally happy with the taste.

Pears are one of my favourite fruits for cooking, I love the texture they get after they've been cooked and how the simply ooze taste. The great thing about poached pears is that it's incredibly simply to vary the flavours based upon your preferences. These pears taste distinctly of vanilla, cardamom, and lemon - all good things in my books. The original recipe is served with labneh and pistachios. I decided to serve them pain d'epice, making for a warming and spicy combination.

The poached pear recipe comes from Decadence: Desserts by Philip Johnson, which is one of my favourite books. I've made at least half the recipes over a number of years and I've only had one failure which was entirely my fault and still tasted amazing. The book itself isn't very large but the recipes are so good it just doesn't matter.

And now for the Pain d'Epice. traditionally contains rye flour, however I didn't have any in the cupboard so I had to resort to to using wholemeal flour. Texture-wise the top of this is kind of chewy and a little odd. I sliced off the top crust of mine as I didn't like it - the insides are quite tasty though. The aging it for a day or two helps to soften it up but, personally, I would prefer it it were softer from the beginning.

I greased and lined my tin but if I were to make this again I would omit the lining. The texture of the crust is much nicer in the parts that were directly in contact with the sides of the tin. I'm sure someone wiser than me knows why this is the case but until they tell me, I can't explain it!

Poached pears with pain d'epice

Poached pears

(adapted from Decadence: Desserts by Philip Johnson)

250ml (1 cup) water
250ml (1 cup) Sauvignon Blanc
300g (2 1/3 cups) caster sugar
4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
Zest of half a lemon
1 vanilla bean, split lengthways, seeds scraped
3 medium sized ripe but firm pears

Combine the sugar, water, and wine in a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cardamom, cinnamon stick, star anise, lemon zest, vanilla bean, and vanilla seeds. bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel, halve, and core the pears leaving the stems intact.

Reduce the heat to low, add the pears, then cover with baking paper and a plate to keep the pears completely submerged. Poach gently for 12-15 minutes, or until tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to a bowl, then pout half the poaching liquid over them. Set aside to cool.

Strain the remaining poaching liquid through a fine sieve and return to a saucepan over a medium heat. Discard the aromatics.

Bring the poaching liquid tot he boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by one-third. Set aside until required.

Pain d'epice

(adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Shere)
makes one 23cm (9-inch) loaf.

160ml (2/3 cup) hot water
120ml (1/2 cup) honey
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cognac
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
A pinch of ground cloves
A pinch of white pepper
Peel of 1 small orange
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
135g (1 cup) wholemeal flour
85g (3/4 cup) plain flour
70g (1/2 cup) lightly toasted, un-blanched almonds, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F), grease a 23cm (9-inch) loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the 1/2 the wholemeal flour and 3/4 of the plain flour, whisking to combine.

Measure honey into a large jug and pour the hot water over, stirring well to combine. Stir in the sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the cognac, then all the spices and the orange peel.

Make a well in the center of the combined flours, and gradually whisk in the honey mixture, taking care that no lumps form. Whisk in the remaining flours, combine until the batter is just smooth. At this point, according to the recipe, the batter can be covered and set aside in a cool place for up to 5 days to age.

Just before baking, add the shopped almonds and stir until completely mixed. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven at 200°C (400°C) for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180°C (350°F) and continue to bake for 50 minutes or until well done an a skewer cones out clean.

Once cooked, remove the loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack. brush loaves with warmed honey. Once cool, wrap the Pain d'Epice in plastic and age for 1-2 days before serving.

Gingerbread

My oven can be relied on to do one thing and that's be unreliable. If a recipe says "bake for 30 minutes" it's a guarantee that the bake time will be anything but 30 minutes. It doesn't matter if the oven is up to temperature or that it took 30 minutes last time. My oven is the king of inconsistency.

So, naturally, the first time I made this I shouldn't have trusted my oven, or the cake tester for that matter. They both lied. I tested it and then took it and went to turn it out of the tin and "splat!" runny cake mix all over the bench.

Of course, I reacted in the most mature way possible. I stamped and let out a large whine. Yeah, mature.

Normally I'd give up and just spend the rest of the day sulking but not this time. The oven was already hot, the recipe was simple to put together and I even had a spare loaf tin. As they say, Try and try again.

The second attempt was a success. The Cake/quickbread cooked all the way through - thankfully. I don't think I would have been able to handle another failure.

This is a really simple recipe but it's nice and comforting. It tastes like gingerbread but in loaf form which works well for me because I adore ginger. As it cooks it fills the house (well, my tiny house at least.) with the most wonderful smell. Definitely going to make this again!

Gingerbread

(from Delicious Magazine: Sweet)

100g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter
100g (3.5 oz) treacle
100g (3.5 oz) golden syrup
110g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
200g (2 cups) self-raising flour
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
2 eggs
125ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Grease and flour a 26cm x 7cm (10" x 3") loaf pan.

Place the butter, treacle, golden syrup, and sugar in a pan over medium heat. Stir to melt the butter and then set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour and spices into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.

Fold the slightly cooled syrup into the flour and then add the egg mixture. Stir to combine, then spoon or pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes and then turn out on to a wire rack. Serve warm with ricotta or butter.

Gingernuts

We're not big Christmas people in my house, I think if it weren't for the decorations covering the shops we'd probably forget about it entirely. That said, there is one thing I go out of my way to embrace at Christmas time; that thing is gingerbread.

Gingerbread is without a doubt my favourite biscuit. There's something utterly filling about it. The spices tantalise the taste-buds and leave me completely content. The combination of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and whatever else you put in them is delicious.

Everyone seems to have the own preference for gingerbread. There seems to be no agreement about how they should be. Some like them soft; others like them crisp. Some like molasses; others can't stand it. Some use fresh ginger whilst others use ground ginger straight from the container.

The gingerbread I made today are more gingernuts to me, they're very crisp and sweet. No decorative shapes or royal icing. They have a hint of molasses but it doesn't dominate the other flavours. They're simple and delicious. That said, this recipe is quite versitile, for more bread-y gingerbread roll the dough thick.

Gingernuts

(adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking)
makes about 36 biscuits

375g (3 cups) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cloves
110g (1/2 cup) butter, softened
50g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
1 egg
50g (1.7 oz) molasses
175g (6 oz) golden syrup

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined, then add the molasses and golden syrup and continue to beat until throughly mixed.

Add the flour in 2 to 3 batches, combining each batch lightly before adding the next. Beat until the dough comes together. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water if required.

Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.

Remove one batch of dough from the refrigerator and, between 2 sheets of baking paper, roll out to 3mm (1/8") thickness. Using any cookie cutters you like, cut out shapes and transfer them to the prepared trays. Bake for 7-15 minutes depending on the size of your biscuits. The biscuits will be lightly brown when cooked and will not stick to the paper when lightly tapped. Roll out and cut the second batch while the first is still cooking.

Once cooked remove from oven and cool on trays for a few minutes. Once firm, transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.