Triple Chocolate Ice Cream

Ice creams are available in stores under various brands in numerous flavors. And consumers are really spoilt for choice. And top with, majority of brands comes with attractive offers. So when one has too many options to choose from, why would you go for a home made ice cream. As for me there is some satisfaction when you make your own than buy it straight from the shelf. Not that I don't buy them at all. But when you are making it at home, you are free to play around the flavors and the ingredients that go into it. This chocolate ice cream is a result of one such experiment. I started with the idea of adding cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor. While I took out the ingredients, the chocolate bar inside the fridge caught my attention. That also went in to the ice cream. And finally added the chocolate chips for the extra flavor. There isn't like too  much of chocolate, isn't it.

You need

• Milk - 1 cup
• Fresh cream - 1/2 cup
• Sugar -1/2 cup
• Chopped chocolate - 1/2 cup
• Cocoa powder - 1 tblspn
• Corn flour - 2 tspn
• Chocolate chips - 2 tblspn

Method

Take the chopped chocolate in a MW safe bowl. MW for 1 to 2 minutes. After a minute, check if it is melted fully. Keep in intervals of 30 seconds. If melting it on stove top, do it using the double boiler method. Add the cream to the melted chocolate. Whisk well to blend chocolate and cream.

Make a paste of the corn flour with few tablespoons of milk. Boil the remaining milk. When the milk starts boiling, add the corn flour paste and cocoa powder. Stir well to prevent lump formation. Finally add sugar. When the sugar is fully dissolved, remove from fire. Add the chocolate+ cream to the milk mixture. Whisk to blend everything well. Cool and transfer to shallow freezable container. Make sure the height of the liquid is not more than 1 1/2 inch in height. This will ensure easier setting of the ice cream. 

Once the ice cream is slushy, break the ice crystal with a spoon or fork. Leave it to set again. Repeat it for 2 more times. When you are leaving  it for the final setting, stir in the chocolate chips.  Ice cream will set in another 3 hours.  The ice cream is enough to serve 3 large servings. 

Note: Once you have the final liquid mixture ready, you can pass it through a fine sieve to filter out the undissolved chocolate particles, if any. Though this is optional, this will give a more finer texture to the ice cream. I skipped this.

I am sending this chocolate ice cream to the Kids Delight-Cool Comforts, hosted by PJ, an event started by Srivalli


Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me 

Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials:Harini, Vaishali, Suma, PJ
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt ~ Blogging Marathon#5

Its fun to be back to blogging, after a break, as part of the blogging marathon, initiated by Srivalli. When Srivalli announced BM#5, the last group was the one that suited me. And I was not sure If I will be able to post soon after my vacation. Since I enjoyed the previous marathon, which was a first for me, decided to join and chose the Summer Coolers theme. So, starting today, you can see varieties of summer coolers here. I hope I can  bring in variety here.

I had some frozen strawberries. I went for a frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. This dessert was very light and very refreshing. Its a very easy recipe. Just blend all the ingredients and freeze.

You need

Strawberry - 15 nos (I used frozen)
Sugar -1/3 cup
Hung curd - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1/2 tspn

Method

Hull the strawberries and halve them. Take the halved strawberries and sugar in the blender jar. Pulse to make a fine puree. Add in hung curd and lemon juice. Pulse to blend everything well. Check the sweetness and add more sugar to suit your taste. If the berries are not sweet enough, you might want to add some more sugar.  Transfer to a plastic or steel tiffin box. Freeze till it is set. Take it out and break the crystals using a fork and put it back in the freezer.    Repeat this for 2 more times and finally leave it to set for 3 or 4 hours. Scoop and enjoy. 

The frozen yogurt had set nicely. But, by the time I could arrange and click, it started melting.

This frozen yogurt goes to the Kids Delight-Cool Comforts, hosted by PJ, an event started by Srivalli

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing BM#5 along with me
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets:Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Cool Lassi(e), Harini, Vaishali, Suma
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers:Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Coffee Ice Cream ~ Summer Special

Its going to be three weeks since I posted a recipe here. The break was not intentional. Two back to back trips and some deadlines to be met at work, I did not get the time or the inclination to blog. And I could not visit any of the blogs too.  After a break, I have the starting trouble to get it started.  For the last two days, I have been trying to post a recipe and finally I am at it. I decided to post an ice cream which is apt for the summer. I referred the recipe at Tarla Dalal's.  I followed ingredients mentioned in the recipe  but went with my intuition regarding the quantity. You don't need an ice cream maker for this and yet get a soft, creamy ice cream.

You need

• Milk - 1 cup
• Fresh cream - 1/2 cup (I used Amul)
• Cornflour - 1/2 tblspn
• Sugar - 1 tblspn
• Instant coffee granules - 2 tspn
• Hot water - 1 tblspn

Method

Take milk in a bowl. Stir in the corn flour and mix so that no lumps are found. Heat the mix and bring it to a boil. Add sugar. Keep stirring so that no lumps are formed and it doesn't stick to the bottom. When the milk turns slightly thick, remove from fire and leave it to cool. 

Add fresh cream, coffee solution and vanilla essence to the milk mix. Whisk to blend. Freeze in a shallow steel container. After two hours, when it is almost set, whisk to break the crystals. Use a wire whisk or a hand blender. Freeze again and repeat the whisking once more when it is set. Then freeze it for 4 hours to set it completely.

Remember to increase the cooling temp of your fridge. Also chill the container before adding the ice cream mix for faster freezing. Adding chilled cream also helps.

Scoop and enjoy the ice cream. The quantity was enough to serve 3. The coffee flavor was very strong. Adjust the amount of coffee granules according to your taste. When my cousin tasted the ice cream, he was surprised to taste coffee flavor and asked me which brand sells this flavor. Should I say anything more about the taste and texture of the  ice cream.