dessert – KP The Real

Mango Lassi Ice Cream

April 17, 2024Leave a comment

Refreshing and sexy. Something about mango and cardamom just tastes sultry. Inspired by the Indian beverage, this ice cream is a mix or fresh mango, milk, and Siggi’s drinkable yogurt. The yogurt is not heated in this process, hoping to preserve it’s healthful bacteria. The fresh mango brings natural sweetness, and is a low calorie but highly nutritious fruit.

You will need an ice cream machine and 2 days to allow for ice cream base to cool for at least 8 hours. Makes 4-6 servings.

1 cup strained, fresh mango puree (1 large mango)
1 cup whole or 2 % milk
1/3 cup + 2 tsp cane sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup Siggi’s Plain Drinkable Yogurt

Put freezer bowl of ice cream maker in your freezer. Remove mango skin, and the flesh from the pit. Puree mango flesh in a blender and then pour through a fine strainer. You will need 1 cup of mango puree. In a sauce pan, combine puree, milk, sugar, salt, and cardamom. Wisk to combine and place over medium heat, whisking often. Heat until warm. Whisk together egg yolks then temper with warm mango and milk. Return tempered yolk mixture to the sauce pan and whisk, until tiny bubbles appear. Continue to whisk with temp on medium-low, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat allow to cool, then stir in yogurt. Place mixture in the refrigerator and chill over night. When thuroughly cooled, place in ice cream machine and churn until fozen. Enjoy right away or freeze in an airtight container.

Hot Chocolate Ice Cream

February 12, 2024Leave a comment

Chocolate ice cream with a little kick. That’s hot. Nothing says LOVE like a little spicy chocolate ice cream on Valentine’s Day.

You will need an ice cream maker and you’ll need to plan a day or two ahead. In advance, freeze ice cream maker container. Ice cream base needs to chill over night or 6-8 hours. For a more solid ice cream, you will want sufficient time to freeze ice cream after it is done in the machine.

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp ground cayenne
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup cane sugar
4 egg yolks

Start by melting the 3/4 cup of semi sweet chocolate, and set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine cream, milk, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and whisk to combine. Put sauce pan over medium low heat. Heat mixture, whisking often. While milk warms, separate eggs, leaving yolks in a medium bowl. When mixture begins to steam and bubbles start to form, pour about 1/2 cup of milk mixture into yolks while whisking. This is “tempering” the egg yolks. Add about 1/3 of the milk, whisking. Return milk and yolk mixture to the pot of remaining milk, and return to stove. Continue heating milk, whisking, over medium low heat until it reaches 170 degrees, or starts to bubble slightly. Add melted to chocolate and whisk to mix. Remove mixture from heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on top of milk. Once milk has cooled, place in a container with a lid and place in refrigerator, to cool completely. Once milk has cooled completely, following ice cream machine directions, pour into ice cream maker. Eat as soft serve right away, or return to the freezer to become harder before serving.

Peppermint Ice Cream

January 21, 2024Leave a comment

Did you buy candy canes for Christmas and not eat them too? I bought candy canes for garnish for the last recipe I posted. The box of candy canes moved around my house for a month before I acknowledged that I wasn’t going to eat candy canes, I was just going to keep moving them if I didn’t find another use for them. This recipe is an ice cream base infused with candy canes, giving a minty finish and smooth home made ice cream texture. No clumsy, sticky chunks of candy cane here. I would even top a scoop with espresso, if I had an espresso machine. Guess I can’t have ALL the machines.

Peppermint Ice Cream. Ice cream machine needed. This amount fits comfortably in one batch in a Cuinsinart ice cream machine.

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup 2% milk
2/3 cup natural cane sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 candy canes
4 egg yolks

Start this process a day or two before you need the ice cream. Freeze the freezer container of the ice cream maker the day before. Also, make the base mixture and refrigerate the day before. In a sauce pot combine heavy cream through candy canes. Crack eggs and separate yolks into a medium bowl. Whisk the yolks and set the bowl aside. Heat milk mixture over medium heat, whisking until candy canes and sugar have dissolved. Pour a small amount of milk mixture into the egg yolks to begin tempering the yolks. Slowly add more milk mixture, whisking, until you’ve added 1/3 of the milk to the yolks. Once whisked together, pour yolk and milk mixture back into the pan of remaining milk. Whisk until temperature reaches 170 degrees or mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain if necessary and pour ice cream base into a bowl or container, and refrigerate covered, over night. Following ice cream maker instructions, pour base mixture into ice cream maker. Serve right when mixing is done for a soft, fluffy consistency, or put ice cream in the freezer to enjoy at your leisure.

Vegan Peppermint Chocolate Mousse

This is an easy, festive, dessert that even non vegans will love. The base is tofu but it’s so chocolatey and minty, you’d never guess.

You will need a blender or food processor to make this recipe. The recipe below makes 4 dainty servings. You could easily double it to make more, but I would make it in two batches to prevent over filling a food processor or not blending evenly.

2 candy canes
1 block of silken tofu
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice (this takes away some of the tofu flavor)
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup + 2 T quality cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
roughly 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Start by crushing the candy canes and setting aside. These will be used to garnish the final product. Next, drain the liquid from the block of tofu. Place the tofu, lemon juice, and sugar in a blender or food processor. Blend thoroughly, stoping to scrape down sides occasionally, until tofu is uniformly smooth. Next add cocoa-salt and blend more, scraping down sides to ensure even blending. This can be served right away, or placed in a container with a tight fitting lid and refrigerated until ready to use. Do not garnish with crushed candy canes until ready to serve.

eggnog ice cream

December 5, 2023Leave a comment

All the holiday cheer, you hate to drink, frozen into a cool Christmas ice cream.

This recipe does require an ice cream maker, which I recommend getting. The container of the ice cream maker will need to be frozen before starting the base. It will take about 30 minutes to make the ice cream base, but that base mixture needs to be refrigerated over night before pouring into the ice cream maker. Plan on a two day process. Once in the ice cream maker it takes roughly 30-45 minutes but check your maker’s directions. This is an alcohol free recipe. I used Southern Comfort’s brand of eggnog which does not contain alcohol but tastes like there is some flavor in there. You could add booze to your base recipe but it will effect the freezing temp, so be aware of that. If you add to many gluggs, it might not freeze at all.

2 cups eggnog
1 cup of 2% milk
1/2 cup natural cane sugar
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks

Separate egg yolks into a medium bowl. You do not need the whites so save them for breakfast. Add vanilla to yolks and set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine eggnog through nutmeg. Over medium-low heat warm milk, whisking to dissolve sugar. Be careful not to scorch milk mixture, watch the temperature of the stove and gently raise the temperature until warmed and sugar has dissolved. With whisk in hand, gently pour a small amount of milk into egg yolks, while whisking. Slowly add more milk, whisking, until you have added about 1/3 of the milk into the egg yolks. This is “tempering” the egg yolks. You are slowly warming them to prevent making scrambled eggs. Now pour the warmed yolks back into the pan, whisking. Using a rubber spatula, scrape any remaining yolk into the pan. Whisk the milk and egg mixture on the stove over medium heat. You want to warm the milk to about 160 degrees, and the mixture should coat the back of the spoon. Once this is achieved, remove pan from the heat and allow to cool. Once the mixture has cooled, place the mixture into a container and refrigerate over night. The next day, pour mixture into ice cream maker and mix until ice cream has formed. Eat right away or transfer into a container with a well fitting lid and freeze. Cheers! Happy Holidays!

Basil and Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

This is a light, frosty ice cream base that pairs nicely with the fresh basil of summer. I used what I had on hand, 1/2 and 1/2, and 2% milk, and liked the outcome. By infusing the milk base with basil you achieve a subtle, even surprising basil flavor, without chunks of the herb ending up on your palate or in your teeth.

Fairly easy. Active time: 1 1/2 hours. Wait time: 4-6 hours Requires an ice cream maker.

2 cups loosely packed whole, fresh basil leaves
1 cup 2% milk
2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
3/4 cup + 1 tsp cane sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate

Combine basil through salt in a small sauce pan. Slowly bring to a light simmer. Reduce heat to low and allow to steep for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will infuse the milk with the flavor of basil. While the milk steeps, crack eggs, separating yolks from whites. Save the whites for another use (breakfast). Put the yolks into a medium bowl, add vanilla, and whisk to combine. After 30 minutes has passed, strain the milk mixture, discard the basil leaves and return milk to the saucepan and place pan over low/medium heat. Now you will need to *temper the egg yolks.

Tempering the egg yolks slowly, and carefully brings up their temperature so they do not curdle or scramble when combined with the warm milk mixture.

You have the pan of milk, slightly warm, and a bowl of yolks. Place a kitchen towel under the bowl of yolks to secure it in place on the counter. Carefully pour about 1/3 cup of the milk into the bowl of yolks, while whisking the yolks. That is tempering. Now slowly pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the milk mixture, whisking the pan of milk. Use a rubber spatula to get all the egg mixture into the pan. Heat the pan on low, whisking for a few minutes. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add 1/4 of the chopped chocolate and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Make sure you also freeze the container of your ice cream maker overnight. After the ice cream base is cold, pour into ice cream maker along with the remaining chopped chocolate and follow machines instructions. After it’s thickened into ice cream place in a freezer safe container and freeze.