Ice Cream Ireland

This is a recipe from the book, and it is a flavour we haven’t made for a while. The reason I’m posting it now is that we had a customer asking for it, but it’s one of those flavours that just doesn’t seem to sell in the shop. French people like it, which is why we call it “pistache,” but otherwise it seems to have a very narrow appeal.

I think this is a shame, because pistachios are delicious nut and make a delicious ice cream. My brother Seán is so addicted to them that you can usually find him by the trail of his pistachio shells. In the ice cream, we have added a traditional hint of almond. The recipe calls for pureeing the nuts, and we will leave it up to you how smooth you wish to make it.

PISTACHIO (PISTACHE) ICE CREAM

Ingredients:

• 130g sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 240 ml cream
• 200 ml milk
• 100 g shelled, roasted pistachios
• 1/8 teaspoon natural almond essence

What to do:

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
2. Bring the milk to a low simmer.
3. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
4. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat.
5. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
6. Immediately remove from the heat.
7. Allow to cool.
8. Put the pistachios in a blender or food processor, adding just enough of the custard to help it mix. Blend until smooth.
9. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
10. Fold (gently stir) in the rest of the custard (without the nuts).
11. Add the almond essence.
12. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, adding the pistachio puree when it is somewhat solid.
13. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Yield: 8 servings

Notes:

1. Make sure your pistachios are good and crunchy. If not, you can always put them in the oven at around 100C for twenty minutes or so, but keep an eye on them that they do not burn!
2. You don’t have to blend the pistachios until smooth if you like the crunch. Just pulse the blender a few times to break up the nuts a bit.
3. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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 Even though whiskey cream might strike some Irish people as more of a Christmas flavour, I find it a delicious ice cream flavour and thought it would be a good ice cream for St. Patrick’s Day.

It has a simple, clean taste, and I suggest and strong-flavoured whiskey (we use Kilbeggan). Although I’d never add food colouring to any of our ice creams, if you want to dye it green for the big day, work away…

If you’re wondering who that is in the photos, it’s Gary, our new Killarney shop manager, who was gracious enough to pose.

Murphys Irish Whiskey Ice Cream

Ingredients:

130g sugar 

5 egg yolks 

240 ml cream

200 ml milk 

45ml (3 tbsp) Irish whiskey 

What to do:

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. 
2. Bring the milk to a simmer. Remove from the heat.
3. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
4. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat. 
5. Stir continuously until the custard thickens (around 65C) and just coats the back of a spoon.
6. Allow the custard to cool.
7. Mix in the cream and the whiskey, beating for one minute.
8. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.

6 Servings

Notes: 1. Make sure you add the liqueur when the mixture is cool, or the alcohol will evaporate.

2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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 OK. I know a hot toddy sorbet is an odd concept, since a sorbet is hardly hot, but it is tasty, and I wanted to share it. We made this flavour for the Malton Hotel in Killarney, and it’s been quite popular in our shops as well. Warning: it packs an alchoholic punch!

Murphys Hot Toddy Sorbet

Ingredients:

• 340 gr sugar
• 500 ml spring water
• 100 ml whiskey (we used Kilbeggan)
• 75 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey (or more to taste).
• 2 cloves.

What to do:

1. Boil the water with the cloves, then remove from the heat.
2. Remove the cloves.
3. Stir in the honey and sugar, until completely dissolved.
4. Cover immediately and cool completely.
5. Stir in the whiskey and lemon juice.
6. Taste it to make sure you like it!
7. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring at 1 hr intervals to break up the ice.

Notes:

1. It’s hard to make sorbet without an ice cream machine. You will need to interrupt the freezing process and stir, or you will be left with a block of ice! The more times you do this, the better the consistency will be.

2. Since both honey and whiskey vary so much in flavour, make sure you taste this before you freeze it, and add a bit more if you wish…

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 One of the most dramatic flavours I encountered on our Tokyo trip was black sesame ice cream. It has a nutty, roasted flavour and it tastes like no ice cream I’ve tried before. Of course, black sesame is used quite a bit in Asian cooking, but it seems very well suited to ice cream. This is not a flavour for everyone, but there are people who have tasted it in our shops over the last week who have simply raved. If you want to try it, here’s a recipe:

Murphys Black Sesame Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 125g sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 230 ml cream
• 200 ml milk
• 40 g black sesame seeds

What to do:

1. Put the sesame seeds in a sauce pan over medium heat and stir until they start popping and you can smell the flavour.
2. Remove from the heat and cool.
3. Transfer to a blender and blend it until fairly smooth.
4. Beat sugar and egg yolks together until pale yellow.
5. Bring the milk to a simmer.
6. Beat the milk into the egg and sugar mixture in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat.  Stir until the custard thickens (around 65C).
7. Allow the custard to cool.
8. Whip the cream and fold into the mix.
9. Stir in the sesame.
10. Freeze the ice cream using a domestic ice cream machine.
11. Otherwise, cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals.

6 Servings.

Notes:

1. If you have trouble finding black sesame, check your local Asian food market.

2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

Technorati tags: chocolate, milk, ice cream, recipe

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 I really like the combination of strawberry and meringue, especially for Valentine’s, and I’ve also posted a strawberry and meringue dessert option here. This time, I wanted to try heart-shaped, strawberry-flavoured meringues, to give out as treats in the shops this weekend. It worked quite well, although the colour wasn’t as pink as I had hoped. They are very tasty, though, and they look quite decorative as well.

In case you’re wondering, the boy in the photos is my nephew Ryan, who is here in Dingle from Germany, on his mid-term break. He loves cooking, and after a very small amount of instruction, he turned out to be quite proficient at the piping! 

Murphys Strawberry Mini Meringues 

Ingredients:

• 3 medium egg whites
• 130 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon strawberry coulis (recipe here, but leave out the sage!)

What to Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 100C.
2. Beat the egg whites in a dry glass or stainless steel bowl (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 foamy.
3. Add the lemon juice.
4. Continue mixing until they are fairly stiff.
5. Beat in the sugar in a slow stream.
6. Beat until very stiff and shiny.
7. Mix in the strawberry coulis.
8. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe out little hearts on a baking tray or silicone mat.
9. Bake for 60 minutes.
10. Cool on on the mat, then carefully twist to remove.
11. Store in an air-tight container.

Makes about 60 small hearts.

Notes:

1. If you want to make meringue nests, start in the centre, work out in a tight spiral, then build up the sides.
2. Please do follow my instructions about the mixing speed. If you mix them on high, the meringues will not be as strong and could develop unsightly bubbles.

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I’ve been worrying quite a bit lately, since the Venetian, my pregnant partner is not a big chocolate fan. She’ll eat white chocolate sometimes, she doesn’t mind milk chocolate, but she’s does not care at all for the dark stuff. For me, an insatiable chocoholic, the idea of offspring without real chocoholic tendencies was deeply troubling.

A couple of days ago, J.P. made some milk chocolate ice cream in production, and I brought a tub home. The Venetian ate some, and the baby inside her, normally a gentle soul, went absolutely nuts. It kicked, jumped, and probably did ecstatic cartwheels, such was the commotion in the belly for the next half hour. The Venetian was astonished, and it was the first proud moment for this Daddy (to be). I think there is very little doubt that the chocoholic gene has been passed on.

This is a delicate flavour for those with delicate tastes, when it comes to chocolate. Although we call the ice cream “Milk Chocolate,” we actually use 70% chocolate, just less of it. For our tastes, actual milk chocolate puts too much fat into the ice cream.

Murphys Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 125g sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/4 vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 1/4 teaspoon natural vanilla essence
• 230 ml cream
• 200 ml milk
• 60 g bittersweet (70% chocolate)

What to do:

1. Melt the 70% chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water or a microwave. Take care – chocolate burns easily!
2. Beat sugar and egg yolks together until pale yellow.
3. Add the vanilla bean to the milk and bring to a simmer.
4. Turn off the heat and remove the vanilla bean.
5. Add the milk to the melted chocolate in small parts, mixing thoroughly until fully combined.
6. Immediately beat the milk/chocolate into the egg and sugar mixture in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into pan and place over low heat.  Stir until the custard thickens (around 60C).
7. Allow the chocolate custard to cool.
8. Whip the cream and fold into the mix.
9. Freeze the ice cream using a domestic ice cream machine.
10. Otherwise, cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals.

6 Servings.

Notes:

1. This ice cream will only be as good as the chocolate you use. Find the best you can!
2. The boiler or container in which you melt the chocolate must be completely dry or the chocolate can clump.
3. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and keep at that temperature for three minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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 One of the ingredients used in a lot of Japense desserts is kanten, also known as agar-agar. It’s a gelling agent made from seaweed, and not only is it flavourless and vegetarian (gelatine is derived from animal products), but it’s high in fibre, and contains 0 calories. In fact, it spurred a diet fad in Asia, known as the Kanten Diet. In Japan, we found it as jelly cubes in desserts such as Anmitsu, sometimes served with ice cream, or in traditional Japanese sweets.

I brought back a packet from Tokyo, and when I saw a beautiful-looking punnet of raspberries in the supermarket, I had to use it! Here’s what I did:

Kanten Cubes with fresh Raspberry

Ingredients:

• 4 gm kanten (agar-agar) powder. If you can only find the flakes, you’ll probably need to use more…
• 350ml water
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
• 1/2 a lemon
• About 12 fresh raspberries

What to do:

1. Put the water in a saucepan, and sprinkle over the kanten powder.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the lemon juice.
5. Pour into a 6″ square container, and allow to cool at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
6. It should have thinkened a bit by now, so put in the raspberries in neat rows, pushing them down so that they are covered by the liquid.
7. Cover and refridgerate.
8. To serve, remove from the container and cut into cubes.

PS. Agar-agar is most likely available at your local whole foods shop.

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 Here are some brandy snaps I made, and if you’re looking for an easy baking treat, it doesn’t get much easier than this. I rolled these, but you can also leave them flat. They are just as tasty! For good measure, I dipped mine in chocolate… I adapted the recipe from an old Cordon Bleu dessert book. 

Happy Christmas!

Brandy Snaps

Ingredients:

• 230 gm butter (room temperature)
• 230 gm sugar
• 230 gm flour
• 80 gm golden syrup
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• 1 tablespoon brandy

What to do:

1. Heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease a baking tray. 
2. Put the golden syrup, butter and sugar in a pan and cook over medium heat until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, ginger, and brandy.
4. Put small, teaspoon portions on the baking pan, about four inches apart. I used a piping bag, which makes things easier, since the dough is a bit sticky.
5. Bake for 7 minutes, until golden brown. 
6. Remove and allow to cool on the baking tray for about five minutes before removing. 
7. That’s it!
8. If you want to roll them, as I did, butter the handle of a wooden spoon. After you remove the cookies from the oven, leave them for a minute or so (or they will fall apart), then wrap them around the spoon handle, holding them in place until they take the shape. 
9. If you want to dip them in chocolate, melt about 100 gm chocolate. Transfer to a small cup or bowl. Dip the cookies, and place on a non-stick baking sheet until they are dry. 

Makes about 40 cookies.

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