Blueberry Lemon Sour Cream Ice Cream

A rich, sweet and delicious ice cream made with only a few key ingredients: blueberries, sugar, lemon, heavy cream, sour cream and a splash of vanilla. How easy is that? After a few hours freezing time you will be able to sit back, relax and indulge in an incredibly smooth and creamy summertime treat. This ice cream would also be especially good served with a slice of dense and heavenly scented vanilla pound cake.

LET'S GET STARTED !

RECIPE:
adapted from Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

WHAT YOU NEED

your trusty ice cream maker
a small food processor or hand-held blender

1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKE IT

IN MEDIUM SAUCEPAN, combine first 4 ingredients
HEAT slowly over MEDIUM heat until mix starts to simmer.
STIR continously until berries start to pop and release juices (4-5 minutes)
REMOVE FROM HEAT and puree with food processor or hand-held blender
ADD cream, sour cream and vanilla
PULSE to combine
PLACE in refrigerator for 1 hour
REMOVE and add to ice cream maker basin.
BLEND AND FREEZE according to manufacturer's instructions. I have a Cuisinart 2 QT machine and I stir for 25 minutes, transfer to a freezer container and freeze 4-5 hours.

ENJOY !!!



Also seen here:

Chocolate Glazed Baked Donuts

It is officially a toss-up. I am hooked on cupcakes AND donuts! I cannot decide which I like more. And then the thought struck me. Why choose? Cupcakes one day, donuts the next. See , there is heaven on earth after all!

Today I wanted to bake donuts versus deep-fry them but my cookbooks lacked a chocolate baked donut recipe. Deciding to be resourceful, I headed over to Lara Ferroni's website and lo and behold, found a perfect recipe. And voila, an amazing chocolate baked donut was born. I topped them with a simple chocolate glaze and a few sprinkles for fun.

Lara is the author of my most recent purchase, Doughnuts, Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home. This recipe is exactly that: simple and delicious!


I did adjust Lara's recipe somewhat by substituting sour cream for yogurt and adding the scrapings of one vanilla been in lieu of vanilla extract. Plus the sprinkles were my idea :)

So let's get started, shall we? You will have these baked, eaten and devoured in under 20 minutes. How great is that ?!

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

DONUTS

1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
75 grams sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup full fat sour cream
1 teaspoon scrapings of one vanilla bean
1 large egg at room temperature

GLAZE

3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2-3 tablespoons milk

MAKE IT

SPRAY donut pan with baking spray
PREHEAT oven to 350F
IN LARGE BOWL, sift together first 4 ingredients
WHISK in sugar, salt and nutmeg
ADD butter and mix into flour mixture with fingers until crumbly (as if making a shortcrust)
IN MEDIUM BOWL, WHISK together remaining donut ingredients
ADD WET ingredients to dry, folding in with rubber spatula just until combined
PIPE batter with round open piping tip into donut cavities
BAKE 8 minutes
LET DONUTS cool slightly in pan 5 minutes then remove donuts and transfer to cooling rack placed over waxed paper

IN MEDIUM BOWL, sift in icing sugar and cocoa
WHISK together and add milk until desired glaze consistency is reached

DIP tops of donuts into glaze and return to rack, right side up, to allow glaze to set
SPRINKLE with candy confetti

ENJOY !






Also seen here:

Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Donut Drops

Deep-fried donuts! Anything better? Not much. I love donuts. In fact I can safely say it is 3rd on my list of addictions. Thankfully that list ends at #3. First off, my #1 addiction is coffee. If I don't have it to start off the day then let's just say my mug shot could be on the evening news. #2: SALT! Many moons ago when I was just a little girl, my dad bought me a pony. And that little pony was lovely. A furry and brown Morgan horse and by far, the most gentle pet I have ever owned in my life. Anyway, I digress. What I remember most is watching him go crazy with his salt block. He would lick that thing on and off day and night. I couldn't understand why he liked it so much. Fast forward to today - I totally understand. In fact I am considering buying myself one and keeping it under my desk. Thankfully my blood-pressure is low, always has been, so I am safe - for now. But #3 on my list is what brings me here today - DONUTS ! Any kind - fried, baked, yeast-based, old-fashioned, cake style, French crullers, fritters. I will eat them all.

On Lemon Drop I have 2 blog posts now related to donuts: A regular baked version topped with chocolate glaze and a gluten-free baked lemon donut. The fact is I went with baked for both because I am afraid of oil. First, second or third degree burns are simply not what I wish to experience now or in the future. I grew up with a fear (thanks, Mom) of splattering oil. I figured daring to deep-fry donuts would result in a trip to the nearest emergency room so for years I have avoided it. Until today. What changed today? Today I bought a new book called Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni.

A fantastic book! The photos are glorious. The recipes are divine.

Immediately I hit a snag. I didn't have any yeast handy and the majority of the recipes at the beginning of the book are yeast-based. But then I saw the recipe: Old-Fashioned Sour Cream !
No need for yeast and these guys are deep-fried ! So I decided to make them asap. Instead of going for the traditional donut shape I went with little circles instead. Pretty much "donut-holes". I prefer to call them Donut Drops.

Words of caution: be careful not to over-bake. Do not let them cook longer than 2 minutes MAX on one side before flipping. If your dough is 1/2" thick then I say turn them over at 1 minute. Also, keep the oil at 350F. This can be challenging but necessary. Too cool and the donuts will just be greasy sponges. Too hot and they will cook too fast on the outside with uncooked centers.

LET'S GET STARTED!

You will need an oil/candy thermometer and a deep pot. I used my dutch oven.


Have your biscuit cutter handy. The smallest out of the stack

I let these cool about 5 minutes before spooning 1 teaspoon of glaze over each one.
They would also be lovely topped with sifted powdered sugar.

RECIPE*:
* Recipe adapted from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni.

This made 22 donut drops for me with a 1 1/2" small biscuit cutter

WHAT YOU NEED

DONUT DROPS

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg ( I like nutmeg in donuts so added this to the recipe)
pinch of salt
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/4 cup full fat sour cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or veggie shortening. I used Crisco shortening
Vegetable oil for frying ( 2 inches deep with 2 inches above the rim of a suitable pot)

VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup icing sugar, sifted
3-4 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKE IT

IN MEDIUM BOWL, sift together first 5 ingredients
IN LARGE BOWL, combine sugar, sour cream, egg and shortening.
BLEND with a whisk until thoroughly combined
SLOWLY add flour mixture to egg mixture, folding in with a spatula, until thoroughly combined and dough is smooth and uniform in texture
COVER with cling film and put in refrigerator for 15 minutes
HEAT oil to 350F
ROLL out dough onto floured surface to 1/2" thickness
CUT out circles with small biscuit cutter
WORKING with 5 donut drops at a time, place cutouts into hot oil with a heat-proof spatula/skimmer
LET COOK 1 minute, turn over and let cook another minute
PLACE cooked donut drops onto paper towel to drain
MOVE to cooling rack which is placed over a cookie sheet lined with wax paper
CONTINUE cooking donut drops until all dough is used.

MAKE GLAZE:

WHISK together icing sugar, milk and vanilla extract
WITH A TEASPOON, pour glaze over donuts
LET sit 5 minutes until glaze sets

ENJOY !

P.S. Not one burn ! I am 100% burn-free :)

Also seen here:

Birthday Cake Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

My daughter asked me to make one, yes, ONE, cupcake for her friend at school as it was her birthday. I readily agreed being the loving and sweet mother I am.
And, I will admit, because I knew this would mean leftover cupcakes here for me, I mean "the family", to enjoy.

I wanted the cupcake batter to have a birthday cake feel to it. I remembered how my kids used to love Birthday Cake ice cream which was all the rage a few years ago. It had blue frosting swirled into the ice cream, some pink too if I recall correctly, and sprinkles thrown in for fun.

Instead of trying to swirl frosting into the cupcake somehow, I simply used my Wilton gel food dyes and streaked the batter with pink and teal coloring before filling up my muffin tins and baking away.

I then topped them with a strawberry cream cheese frosting and white sprinkles. I used my Wilton 2D piping tip to create the rose affect.

LET'S GET STARTED!


You will need your coloring gels handy
Pink and Teal
Grab several toothpicks as well; we will use them to
streak the color into the cupcake batter


and your 2D Piping Tip to make the Rosette topping


Now on with the show !

RECIPE: WHAT YOU NEED

WHITE CUPCAKES*

*Recipe Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

Standard muffin tin lined with paper liners.
Recipe makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulate white sugar
4 egg whites at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (7 ounces) cake flour. Weigh it out first then sift it !
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (3 ounces) sour cream at room temperature
Pink and Teal Gel Coloring
Toothpicks

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3 oz plain cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups powdered/icing sugar, sifted
2-3 drops Strawberry Extract Oil (not the regular extract, but the oil, as it has stronger flavor and more truer to the taste of real berries) A little goes a long way!
Pink Gel Coloring
Sprinkles

MAKE IT

CUPCAKES

IN LARGE BOWL, cream together butter and sugar, MED speed with electric mixer 4-5 minutes
IN SMALL BOWL, WHISK together egg whites and vanilla just until combined
ADD EGG MIXTURE, one tablespoon at a time, to butter mixture blending well after each addition.
SCRAPE down sides of bowl when required
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt
ADD 1/3 DRY INGREDIENTS to butter mixture, mix until combined
ADD 1/2 OF THE SOUR CREAM, to butter mixture, mix until combined
CONTINUE THIS PATTERN ending with flour.
ENSURE batter is well combined and no dry areas remain
WITH YOUR TOOTH PICK, scoop out some pink gel coloring and add it to your batter in different areas.
DO the same with the teal gel coloring
WITH YOUR TOOTHPICKS, swirl the coloring throughout the batter. You want mostly clear lines of color, do not over-blend or you will have on strange colored cupcake !
FILL muffin tins 3/4 way to the top

BAKE 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
ALLOW TO COOL COMPLETELY on a cooling rack





FROSTING:

IN LARGE BOWL, cream together butter and cream cheese, MED speed with electric mixer 4-5 minutes
ADD icing sugar and beat, MED speed, another 2-3 minutes
ADD strawberry extract blending until thoroughly combined
WITH A TOOTHPICK, add in a little pink gel food coloring. Blend and add more til you have the depth of color desired
PIPE frosting onto cooled cupcakes and finish off with sprinkles

For the birthday girl who is turning 16:
Her very own cupcake all tucked away in its little carrying case.

The yellow circle and #16 were made easily with candy melts.

Double Vanilla Sour Cream Cake

I started making Dorie Greenspan's French Yogurt Cake but became sidetracked due to lack of ingredients, a main one being yogurt. But then I saw a new container of full-fat sour cream in the fridge and thought, why not !

I also love vanilla and had recently picked up some gorgeous Madagascar beans. There is nothing like seeing the flecks of vanilla bean in a cake to really make one feel all earthy and warm. So in went the scrapings of one vanilla bean and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.

The end result is a moist, rich and beautifully infused vanilla cake.
This will be perfect for dessert topped with macerated strawberries and whipped cream.

LET'S BEGIN

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup ground almonds - remove any lumps
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 cup flavorless oil (ie canola or safflower. I used Becel)

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
GREASE a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan
IN LARGE BOWL whisk together first for 5 ingredients
ADD remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth - do not over-whisk to ensure a light cake
POUR batter into prepared pan and smooth the top

PLACE loaf pan on a cookie sheet
BAKE for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
ALLOW to cool in pan 5 minutes
ALLOW to cool completely on cooling rack

ENJOY !!!!

Welcome, Pancake Tuesday !

Today, March 8th, is Pancake Day ( also known as Shrove Tuesday), the last day before the period that Christians refer to as Lent. And what is the tradition, you ask? The tradition is to EAT PANCAKES !

Why pancakes? Because Lent is a time of abstinence and therefore Shrove Tuesday is looked upon as your last chance to dive in, indulge and enjoy all those foods you are not permitted to eat during Lent. Pancakes are one of those indulgences as they contain fat, butter and eggs; none of which are allowed during Lent.

My daughter attends a Catholic school and today they are celebrating Pancake Tuesday with a pancake lunch. If you knew my daughter personally you would know that she likes to go all out on festive occasions, today being no different. What that means is pancakes for all 3 meals. This morning though was a cheat. She had EGGOs as I slept in a bit and Dad was in charge of breakfast. Lunch is being handled by the school and you guessed it - Pancakes are on the cafeteria menu.

So this leaves me handling dinner. Lucky for me I have all the ingredients I need. I have strawberries, pure maple syrup, whipping cream and all the must-haves to make my fave pancake recipe: Ina Garten's Sour Cream pancakes.

I have tried alot of pancake recipes and none compare to Ina's version. These are thick, light and rise up like clouds. It is the addition of sour cream that makes these "da bomb". If you haven't tried them yet, then you MUST and today is a great day for you to do so !

The recipe was originally featured in the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook. I have this book and I cherish it. When the pages are dog-eared and stuck together with butter, there is flour caking up in the creases, the cover is a bit torn... well you know it is very well used and dearly loved.

I top the pancakes with macerated strawberries, maple syrup and a dollop of vanilla-infused whipped cream for the crowning glory. For side dish choices I like ham, bacon, sausage - all 3 work very well.

So go ahead and indulge tonight with a pancake dinner. You deserve it!

RECIPE as posted on the Food Network

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes*

*Feel free to omit the bananas if you want to - I do. The only other alteration I do is add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the batter.

Ingredients nocoupons

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Unsalted butter
• 2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
• Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Photo courtesy of © Olga Nayashkova | Dreamstime.com

Vanilla Sour Cream Cupcakes with Fudge Icing

These lovely little jewels are dense and moist thanks to egg yolks and sour cream. Top them off with a chocolate fudge icing and you are in business !

This recipe is one of my faves; simple yet effective !!! I found it years ago in a fantastic baking cookbook.

The icing is just a buttercream base with added melted semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate. You cannot go wrong with buttercream !

A vanilla buttercream icing would work just as well. And for Easter, think about tinting it a pastel shade of green, yellow, pink or blue !

The Secret (to a superb yellow cupcake) Lies Within.

For those not lucky enough to own this little gem,
I will repost the recipe here with a few alterations.

Cook's Illustrated Magazine - Baking Illustrated. America's Test Kitchen.

LET'S GO !!

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup fine white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large egg at room temperature
2 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (love Madagascar vanilla in these!)
1/2 cup full fat sour cream at room temperature


FOR THE ICING:

2 ounces of dark baking chocolate
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (you can go with baking chocolate or even chocolate chips)
2/3 cup unsalted butter @ room temperature
1 1/3 cups sifted icing sugar
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
GREASE 12 muffin cups or LINE with paper liners (I am always a fan of liners!)
IN A LARGE BOWL, whisk together first four ingredients
WITH ELECTRIC HAND-MIXER, add all other ingredients and blend until combined
DIVIDE batter evenly among muffin cups
BAKE for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
ALLOW to cool in muffin tin 5 minutes
REMOVE cupcakes and allow to cool 1/2 hr on a cooling rack before icing

Ready to be iced

MAKE THE ICING:

CHOP chocolate into small pieces
IN A SMALL MICROWAVE SAFE BOWL, combine dark and semisweet chocolate
MICROWAVE 30 seconds at 50% power
STIR and microwave again 30 seconds at 50% power
STIR and if melted then great ! If not, back in it goes
ONCE MELTED, allow to cool to room temperature
IN SEPARATE LARGE BOWL, whip butter with electric hand-mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes at medium speed)
SIFT in icing sugar and mix until blended (1 minute at medium speed should do it!).
ADD vanilla extract and mix til combined.
ADD cooled chocolate mixture and blend until well combined.

ICE the cupcakes: I used a 1M Swirl Wilton piping tip.

My little assembly line

The Desired Result