Buttercream in a Flash!

I think I'm starting to get a hang of this buttercream thing. I think it helps having different recipes to test out various methods. This time, twenty-something chocolate cupcakes were topped with strawberry buttercream, which were then topped with the previously mentioned special-for-purchase raspberries.

The cake I used was a classic dark chocolate cake that I've used for years - it's extremely reliable, light (yet rich), fluffly (yet dense), and delicious. There are definitely a lot of smudge marks on that page! It was a last-minute frosting job - the event I was going to was further away than expected and it was a last-minute decision to attend. I'm glad I did!

As a result, as soon as I got home, the butter got softened, and away we go!

Recipe?

The short form - 3 egg whites + 1 cup sugar, whisked over simmering water until the sugar was dissolved and the mixture was warm to the touch. Stick that bad boy in a mixer and whip until good 'n ready - and then gradually integrate a cup of butter and cup of jam. Yeah - not for the dieters, for sure, but it was delicious! And easy!

It does look a little....congealed, right? But even in the Martha vid - they looked kind of gloppy. I'm wondering if the jam separates the fat a bit to make it not-as-appetizing-looking.

So apart from that horrendous first buttercream, I'm 2 for 3! Let the good luck continue!

(below left: up close shot of the cupcake, below right: tray of cupcakes)

Recipe for Ice Cream

A variation on my America's Test Kitchen base, plus a little something extra:

3 cups of whole milk/half&half (I use a combination of the two to make 3 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
vanilla
1 tablespoon Amaretto
4 egg yolks
1 lb strawberries

Prepare strawberry base:
In a saucepan, cook strawberries over medium-low heat until a good deal of liquid/juice has been produced (roughly 3/4 - 1 cup), gently crush remaining berries.
Strain and return liquid to saucepan, reduce by a quarter - add berries back in and chill until ready to use.

Prepare ice cream base:
In a saucepan, heat up milk/cream, 1/2 cup sugar, salt and Amaretto until right below boiling point - and steam is coming off the liquid.
Whisk together egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Temper yolks with 1 cup of liquid, and then add tempered yolks into the saucepan.
Strain ice cream base into a bowl set over an ice bath.
Once cool, stir in strawberry base.

Chill 'n churn.

Flaaaaaake!

That's my Amy Winehouse moment. She wails, "Blaaaaake"; I wail, "Flaaaaaake". By 'Flake', I mean that delicious chocolately imported goodness that can be found at any reputable retailer. I don't really remember the first time I had a Flake bar. But I didn't like it. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that when I actually ate it, it was half-crumpled, being a survivor of a trans-Atlantic flight from London. But my second Flake experience was with a full, luscious, intact Flake bar that crumbled at the lightest of touch. And it was...delicious. But back to the main point of this post - strawberry ice cream!

I admit, I have more fun thinking of ice cream mix-ins than I do the actual ice cream. Nuts, fruit, chocolate, cookies…whatever’s in the pantry tends to go in – as well as flavor complements. I had made a rough list of ice creams I wanted to make – I love how completely flexible and adaptable ice creams can be – just make your base and add away! One ice cream I think I will make in the fall, will probably be a maple-apple-spiced ice cream. Oh yum. Like..apple pie filling…in ice cream! You get your pie a la mode in a scoop! Anyway, I’m getting carried away in my fantasyland here.

Let me set the stage:

Base? Strawberry ice cream.

Mix-in? Leftover chocolate cake.

Kick it up a notch? Flake chocolate bar.

I was writing a shopping list and at the end I wrote, “Flake. Aaaagggghhhh!”

I love, love, love Flake bars. I love that they look like chocolate ribbon candy – with the gentle folds of chocolate piled into a 7” stick of goodness. How do they do that, anyway? That folding thing? What I like to do is crunch up a Flake bar IN THE WRAPPER, open one end and dump a load of chocolate in my mouth. Like one of those Pixie sticks. (you should see how I dissemble a Caramilk-Rolo)

Oh my god. Could you imagine? Orange or lemon sherbet with a Pixie dust swirl? Be still my beating heart.

Strawberry + chocolate = good times indeed.

*the latest David Lebovitz blog post has a recipe for Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream. I shall return triumphant with the results!!