Orange and Beetroot Ice Cream

I've never been into weird food. Lamb's brains, liver, bacon flavoured soda. I'll pass.
I'm anxious when I hear about people adding cauliflower to their sweets, and even have my reservations abut zucchini in chocolate cakes, although I hear at least that one is quite nice.
So, adding pureed beetroot to ice cream is a real leap for me. I happen to love beetroot, despite its staining tendencies, and fell in love with the thought of churning hot pink to fuchsia coloured ice cream in my machine.
I figured someone had probably already invented beetroot ice cream, so I googled it and found a recipe for it on a lovely blog. The pictures were amazing, and yes, the ice cream was fuchsia!
Somehow mine didn't turn out so hot pink, but it was a lovely shade of pink, and tasted even better than I thought it would. When you hear that a vegetable has been added to ice cream, it can make you pretty weary- so I have to say I was absolutely pleasantly surprised. Of course you are all wondering what it tastes like. Well the first flavour that hits you is that of oranges-a delightful citrus that hints at marmalade and is simultaneously fresh. There are subtle notes of beet on the end. I wouldn't go as far to say that you can pick out the flavour distinctly, but there are definitely beetroot qualities, a certain earthiness, a tang. There are no strong flavours, it is a very smooth and harmonious combination, a delicate quality to the ice cream, along with a silky smoothness that lacks in many home made ice creams.

ORANGE AND BEETROOT ICE CREAM  (Adapted from Saveur)

2 cups milk
4 tsp corn flour (or corn starch)
1 1/4 cup thickened or heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup (or golden syrup)
pinch salt
peel of 1 orange
3 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup pureed beetroot (I used beetroot from a 450g can, drained.)

In a small bowl, place 1/4 cup of the milk with the corn flour and set aside In a medium saucepan, place the remaining milk cream, sugar, syrup and salt and whisk to combine.
Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Add the orange peel and cook for 4 minutes Stir the milk-cornflour mixture until combined, and add to the saucepan. Return to the boil and cook, stirring until thick, for about 2 minutes. Remove about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture and place in a small bowl with the cream cheese. Combine thoroughly until smooth. Add this to the saucepan. Stir in the pureed beetroot.
Chill the mixture until completely cold. I left mine overnight in the refrigerator. Then strain the mixture to remove the beetroot and orange peel. Follow the manufacturers instructions on your ice cream machine for the final step. When churned, place in the freezer for several hours to freeze before serving.

Makes about 1 litre

Choc Malt Tim Tam Ice Cream Bombe

A good husband has to get his wife her crave in the middle of the night at least once during a pregnancy. Not pickle and peanut butter sandwiches. Chips smothered in jam? What's the weirdest pregnancy craving you've ever heard of or had? Those hormones do some crazy things to you. As if it isn't bad enough getting up every hour to go to the loo, or having to getting teary over spilled milk, you occasionally have to wake up wanting some bizarre edible (or non edible) in the dead of night.
He's a good man. Better than life itself.
And who doesn't crave Tim Tams in the middle of the night--seriously?

"Mummy's made an ice cream bombe, and it's going to explode on your taste buds!"

"Nooo! That doesn't sound good..."

Here I am now feeling super sorry for all those of you who do not live in a place like Australia where Tim Tams can be found in every grocery store. You really are poor unfortunates and what ever do you do when you have a Tim Tam craving? Now that's a question I would like answered!

CHOC MALT TIM TAM ICE CREAM BOMBE (Adapted from Not Quite Nigella)

600ml cream
1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup Milo powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 packet Tim Tams
3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted

Place the cream, sifted icing sugar and vanilla essence into a large bowl. Whip until soft peaks form, then evenly divide the contents into two bowls. Set one bowl aside, and in the other add Milo and cocoa powder. Whip to thoroughly combine.
Take a mold such as a bowl that is approximately of 5 cup capacity. Smooth the chocolate mixture into the base and sides of the bowl to coat evenly. Spoon quarter of the vanilla mixture into the middle. Break up 3/4 of the Tim Tams and layer with the vanilla cream, a quarter of the mixture at a time. Cover the top with foil or cling wrap and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight. Reserve the remaining 1/4 of the Tim Tams for decorating the top of the bomb at a later stage.
To remove the bombe from the mold when frozen, prepare a large bowl with enough boiling water in it that it comes to the rim of the mold when submerged (be careful not to let the water come over the top of the rim and spoil the ice cream!) Let the mold sit in the hot water long enough to soften the edges slightly, then remove from the water. You may like to use a smooth knife to help ease the bomb up from the edges of the mold, before turning it upside down on the serving platter. Gently ease the bomb out. Smooth away any scrapes that may have occurred on the bombe's surface with a hot knife. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the bombe and top with the remaining crushed Tim Tams. Return to the freezer or serve.

Serves approximately 6-8

NOTES: If you have an ice cream maker, before smoothing the chocolate cream into the mold, place it in the machine for a few minutes to churn and semi freeze. Then spread into the mold. This makes for a lovely moussy layer when cut. You can also do the same with the vanilla layer, giving the whole bombe a better end result texture.

The cream is whipped into soft peaks, then divided into two bowls. To make the malt flavoured ice cream, milo powder and cocoa is added and beaten, then smoothed into the ice cream mold. The vanilla mix is then layered with the broken tim tams to form the centre of the bomb.

After freezing, the mold is removed from the freezer and unwrapped. It is put into a bowl of hot water to soften the edged, then gently removed with the help of a knife, and turned out onto the serving platter. A smear of hot chocolate is poured onto the top before serving.

Strawberry Ice Cream like Ben & Jerry's

I realise that most of the people who view Lick the Spoon are Americans, and so I think this needs to be addressed. A lot of people have been asking questions about measurement conversion. A lot of people have been commenting back telling others where to go. I appreciate the involvement, and I fear this is going to be a continuing thing around here. I'd love to please everyone, but I just cant convert every recipe into five different measurement styles for your convenience--I simply don't have the time.
All my measuring cups are in the Australian sizes. I prefer to use cup and spoon measurements where I can, it just makes the baking process go a bit quicker when I have kids hanging from my legs. Of course I use the scales where I have to (in grams, usually), and I use both imperial and metric measurements depending where I source the recipe from. I know this inconsistency is the source of some annoyance, but for the moment it will continue.
It was only very recently that someone brought to my attention that Americans have their own size of measuring cup, and measurements such as I tablespoon did not equal 3 teaspoons in all parts of the world. This can all get very, very confusing.
I have found, for everyone's benefit, a great link with all the conversion tables anyone could wish for. No, I am not going to do it for you! With the internet at our fingertips it's simple to do yourself. Just click on the link below:

CONVERSION TOOL

I am ever so happy to continue answering people's questions about substitutes and descriptions of some ingredients that are not common in their countries, but please, do not ask for measurement conversions. There are so many sites that can easily convert these figures for you. I'm always converting American recipes over, so I figure it's just as easy for everyone else. I hope everyone understands and finds the above link as helpful and useful as I have! It's the best conversion chart I have seen to date.

Now. I hope no one found that too unpleasant.
Onto sweeter things. I found this recipe for Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Ice Cream. Well, apparently it's as good as Ben and Jerry's ice cream, although I can't tell you. I never could convince myself I loved ice cream so much that I could spend so much money on a tiny tub. If it is on a par with Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, then you've just scored about 1.5 litres of it for about $5.
I can't tell you if it really is like Ben and Jerry's, but I can tell you everyone who tasted this ice cream loved it. It's by far one of the best homemade ice creams I have ever made. The website where I found it had a five star rating from everyone that had made it. Now I think that's saying something!
I made a few alterations to the original recipe, but only because I don't fancy big chunks of strawberries throughout my ice cream. There's something about chunks that puts me off. It's to be smooth, creamy and silky in my books. That's ice cream.
What is it like?
Smooth and creamy yet still light,  this pink strawberry ice cream has a lovely hint of lemony zest. It's so refreshing with the addition of lemon, it just makes the strawberry flavour sing. Oh my. There is no way I made enough of this ice cream! I think I can survive another tropical summer with a tub or ten of this by my side.

B&J's STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM (Adapted from Food.com)

2 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Hull and chop the strawberries. Place them in the blender and process into a fine puree. In a medium sized bowl, place the strawberry puree, lemon juice and 1/4 of a cup of the sugar, and refrigerate for an hour.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs for two minutes, until light and fluffy. Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add strawberry puree mixture and mix until well combined. Gently stir in the cream. Pour into your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's directions to churn. Freeze in an airtight container. Thaw for 5-10 minutes on the bench-top before serving.

NOTES: You can use either fresh or frozen berries. I used frozen and it was sublime!