I don’t know what is going on in our house. I rarely make sweets, especially in the summer time, but the past two weeks I have made two different desserts and two kinds of ice cream. Of course BL hasn’t complained, but it deserves some contemplation.  I blame the insanely hot weather for making me turn to my ice cream maker more than usual. (And everyone knows that the best way to enjoy ice cream is over baked fruit crisp).

Usually fruit salad is my dessert of choice during the summer. Sure, I love ice cream but I tire of it quickly and the thought of cookies and cake doesn’t get me that excited when it’s 104 outside. But baked fruit crisp? Suddenly all those thoughts go out the window. I went to the farmers market on Sunday to get ingredients for my salsa and couldn’t help but scoop up a few peaches and plums in the meantime. Who can resist that definite taste of summer, a ripe piece of stone-fruit? I love the addition of plums to a normal berry or peach crisp. The slightly sour taste from the plums balances any overly sweet pieces of peach.

Did I mention I have been eating this for breakfast this past week? Mmm, I can’t get enough.

Ingredients:
Crumb topping:
3 tbsp. maple syrup
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or can sub almonds)
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 cup whole wheat flour

Filling:
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. lemon juice
6 cups chopped stone fruit, I used a combination of plums and peaches
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. whole wheat flour

Place chopped stone fruit into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with maple syrup, lemon juice, flour and sugar. Lightly toss to combine.

Place fruit mixture into a lightly-sprayed baking dish.

For the topping, combine the flour, oats, chopped nuts, brown sugar and salt. Add in the oil and maple syrup and stir with your fingers or a fork. You want to create little clumps of batter to place onto the fruit.

Using your hands or fork, place crumble topping onto fruit.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Serve warm… with vanilla ice cream. I made some organic vanilla bean ice cream last Sunday to go with this and it was the perfect way to end the week.

Thanks to one of my sweet clients, I was gifted with a giant bag of fresh cherries last week. Usually I have no trouble eating my body weight in fresh fruit but by Thursday I was getting bored and needed to use up the last bit.

I was thinking of cherry pie, the favorite picnic staple, perfect for all the potato salad we have been having around here.

But… I was bored with pie. I started making my dough and lost any desire for a slice of cherry pie. It just seemed too heavy a dessert, and probably one I would be eating in it’s entirety since BL isn’t the biggest cherry fan.

You know what’s not boring? Mini cherry pies. Cute little handheld desserts perfect for sharing with the neighbors. I get to save 1 (or 3 but whose counting?) pies for myself and gift the rest away. The perfect pay it forward gift from the cherries I had been given.

Mini Cherry Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. whole cherries
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 + 1 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

Dough:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold Earth Balance baking sticks (or non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening)
1 tbsp. sugar
7 tbsp. cold ice water

In a stand mixer, food processor, or large bowl combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt. One tbsp. at a time, add the butter. If using a stand mixer or food processor- pulse until the butter is incorporated in. If using a large bowl, cut the butter in with two knives or a pastry cutter. Keep doing this until all the butter is added and the dough looks like coarse meal.

One tbsp. at a time, slowly add the cold ice water to the dough and pulse or stir until it comes together. You might not need all the water. When finished, turn the dough onto a cutting board/smooth surface and combine to make a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for ~1 hour to chill.

Meanwhile, make the cherry mixture. Pit and chop the cherries. Combine all the ingredients for the filling except the cornstarch. Heat over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes until cherries have reduced and the sugar has dissolved. Place the cornstarch into a small bowl and add 1 tbsp. of the liquid from the heated cherry mixture. Stir together until the cornstarch has dissolved and place into the cherry-sugar mix. Keep stirring over medium heat another 10 minutes until mixture has thickned. Remove from heat and let cool.

Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 6 balls. Roll each ball out into a circle. (If I was more of a pastry chef I could tell you the size of the circle but I am lazy and didn’t measure… ) Place ~2-3 tbsp. of cherry mixture onto the center of the pastry circle and fold over. Crimp or crease the seal to close. Be careful not to add too much filling that the dough doesn’t crimp.

Place the pie onto a baking stone and continue to make the rest of the pies. With a sharp knife, make 2 slits in the top of the pie to let steam escape. Bake at 365 for ~20 minutes until crust is browned.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let cool.

Eat one and give to friends!

 

I can’t help but snicker a bit when I walk into the frozen treat section at the grocery store. Really!? $5.99 for a pint of mango sorbet? When I can make my own at home using just 4 ingredients? Sticking it to the man one pint of ice cream at a time.

Summer is in full swing around here and a bowl of ice cream or sorbet is the perfect thing to cool off with. While our house has lots of victorian charm, it also lacks central heating and air. A big bummer when temperatures reach 106 like they did last weekend. Sure, sticking my head in the freezer helps for a moment but I would much rather cool off with a big bowl of mango sorbet. It is so refreshing! Luckily I have BL around to help me eat it so I don’t have to admit that I may or may not have eaten the entire thing myself this week.

Mango-Mongo Sorbet

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut milk (use the kind in the carton, like the one by Silk)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups mango chunks (frozen or fresh)
1 lime, zested and juiced

Toss the mango, sugar, lime zest and juice into a blender and process until silky smooth. Add the coconut milk and puree for another minute- until combined. Place into the fridge to cool for 1 hour.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and process according to your manufactures directions.

Serve immediately (it will be similar to soft-serve in texture) or place in the freezer to harden.

Optional- you could add a thickener to this- like xantham gum or arrowroot if you wish. I didn’t add it to this recipe as I wanted this recipe to be as uncomplicated as possible.

What flavor of ice cream would you like to see next?

Another ice cream recipe for you! If you missed the previous two, last week  featured chocolate-banana-peanut butter “Elvis“ Ice cream and Maple Pretzel.

This is one of my favorites, a combination between vanilla ice cream and cherry pie. I received a big bag full of fresh cherries from my CSA this week and thought this ice cream would be the perfect place to showcase them. Adding crumble topping and creamy almond milk makes this even more special than regular cherry ice cream. I have had so much fun creating these ice cream recipes, perfect for these 100+ degree days we have been having in Sacramento.

Cherry Crumble Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups soy creamer
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. Xantham gum (can also use 2 tbsp. arrowroot powder)
1 cup chopped cherries
Crumble topping (recipe below)

In a blender combine the almond milk, xantham gum, sugar, and cinnamon together. Add the soy creamer, vanilla extract and pulse together a few more times.

Place in the fridge for 1 hour until chilled. Put into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. The last 5 minutes of freezing, add the chopped cherries and crumble.

Crumble Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Combine the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Three more ice cream recipes to come!