Ice Cream Ireland

I have been playing with slideshows, which I think could a great addition to a food blog such as mine, especially for recipes or tips and tricks, instead of a video.

The above was created in slide.com. It sure is a pain, though, to figure out how to make it work with Wordpress. (It’s quite easy with other blogging programs…)

Technorati tags: slide, food, blog, new, ice cream

Here in Dingle/An Daingean/Daingean Ui Chuis, we have received our ballots for the plebiscite regarding the name change.

Two interesting points:

1. It’s hardly a secret ballot, since you have to sign and put your address as well as having it witnessed. That doesn’t seem to make sense in terms of the rules of referenda which refer to secrecy… 
2. There has been much made in the press about the Irish vs. the English name, but there is another big factor - there are few Dingle people that I know who consider “An Daingean” to be the correct Irish name - it’s “Daingean Ui Chuis”. So the “yes” camp includes the unlikely pairing of Irish language purists and anglophiles…

I always feel happy for referenda - it’s power to the people and true democracy at work. However, I don’t believe the plebiscite is binding so it will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

The deadline for the ballot is October 19th, and whatever happens, Dingle/An Daingean/Daingean Ui Chuis will be happy for all the publicity …

Technorati tags: Dingle, An Daingean, Daingean Ui Chuis, name, plebiscite, ballot  

 

Here’s a little video of Christophe pulling chocolate ice cream from the machine…

Technorati tags: ice cream, chocolate

 With Wiebke our baker out on maternity leave, I decided to vary things up slightly for the Dingle shop. I’ve always been a big fan of fudge, so I decided to try a combination fudge with dark and white chocolate. It came out very well, and here’s a recipe if you want to try it!

You will need a thermometer. The temperatures are very important!

Kieran’s Fudge Recipe

Ingredients:

1000 gm caster sugar

500 ml cream

120 gm 70% chocolate

120 gm white chocolate

80 gm butter

What to Do 

1. Take half the sugar, half the cream and half the butter and combine with the dark chocolate in a good, thick-bottomed pan (it shouldn’t be too small, or it’s more likely it will burn).
2. Melt over low heat, stirring until chocolate and sugar are dissolved.
3. Cease stirring, increase the heat, and bring the temperature to 115C.
4. Place the pan in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process (you can use your sink, half-filled with water).
5. Cool until 80C. Beat with wooden spoon until fudge lightens in colour and becomes more solid.
6. Pour into baking tray and cool until the fudge sets.
7. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients and the white chocolate.
8. Cut and serve.

(Note: I put in some of the Valrhona craquantes into the white chocolate fudge just before pouring it into the pan and gave it a quick stir. The chocolate melted, and that’s what gives it the marbled effect…)

Technorati tags: fudge, chocolate, white, candy, recipe

 I won’t bore you in the future with baby photos of my new niece, but for those family, friends, and relations who have been asking for photos, I put a few on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28835008@N00/

 

We’ve just signed off on proofs for our new packaging, and we’re very excited! Many thanks to Kevin at Sexton Design for his great work…

The changes aren’t huge, but they are important. We’ve added nutritional information, which was well over-due, as well as photos of the ingredients of our four best selling flavours. Hopefully we’ll have the new tubs by Christmas…

 I wrote here about ice cream cakes, and I’ve been playing with a meringue base for them. We have excess egg whites from making our ice cream, so it makes sense. Besides, it would make the ice cream cakes gluten-free.

Meringues are not hard to make, and they are a great treat. Whether on their own or as a nest for another dessert (as in with the raspberry sorbet in the photo above), they are a real crowd-pleaser. I like them with a little hint of lemon.

Murphys Meringues Recipe

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites

300gm (1.5 cup) sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tablespoon lemon juice

What to Do

1. Preheat the oven to 140C.
2. Butter a large baking sheet.
3. Beat the egg whites (if using an electric mixer, do this at medium speed rather than high speed, which will take a bit longer but give the meringues more strength) until fairly stiff.
4. Beat in the sugar in a slow stream, and then add the vanilla and lemon, mixing all the time.
5. Beat until very stiff and shiny.
6. Using two spoons, place on the baking sheet. It should make 10 large meringues, so divide accordingly.
7. You can shape them as you wish!
8. Bake for 45 minutes.
9. Cool on wire racks.

Note: If you want to make nests, the easiest way is with a piping bag. Start in the centre, work out in a tight spiral, then build up the sides… 

Technorati tags: meringue, recipe, ice cream, dessert, baking

 It’s not so nice outside our shop in Killarney at the moment, as they are digging up the street. The idea is to make Main Street more pedestrian-friendly by widening the sidewalks and reducing the traffic down to one lane, one way.  

So, for the next 6 months or so, we will be trading in a construction zone. We can only hope that work will be completed as promised in March.

Although it would seem that Main Street will look well after the project is done, it’s a question whether further pedestrianization of towns is a good thing.

On the one hand, it’s great to put in benches and have wide sidewalks. On the other hand, the more you restrict traffic into a town, the more likely it is that people will find it too difficult to come in and do their shopping on the outskirts. It’s already a bit of a chore to navigate into the centre, and parking is limited and expensive.

Tralee is a case study, and it wouldn’t inspire confidence. Streets have been completely pedestrianised, the square redone and blocked from traffic, which looks nice and is pleasant for strolling and shopping.

The problem is that fewer people seem to be coming into the Tralee centre for the pleasure. It’s just simpler to go to Manor West Shopping Centre, outside of town, which is easy to get to and has plenty of free parking…

Technorati tags: construction, Killarney, Kerry, Main Street, town, shopping