Showing posts with label Decadent Desserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decadent Desserts. Show all posts
My sister has been following a low carb diet for a few weeks now. She is pre-diabetic and was also wanting to lose a few pounds. She is quite skinny compared to myself, but I suppose that is why.
She makes the effort to take the pounds off as soon as a few extra start to creep on. Sigh . . . I wish I was more like that. I am rather hopeless when it comes to weight loss. Dieting has only ever made me fatter.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Yesterday when we went into Kentville to go to the Doctors we stopped at Bulk Barn so she could get some strawberry extract. She was wanting to make this low carb strawberry ice cream recipe which she had found here.
I looked at the recipe and thought to myself, that almost looks too good to be true!! It looked to be ultra creamy and delicious.
And made in a mason jar? Say what??????
She made it last night and dropped me off a small container of it on her way to work today and oh my goodness! This is AMAZING!!! It is as delicious or maybe even more delicious than regular strawberry ice cream. And it contains only 3 carbs per serving!
Plus you don't need any special equipment to make it. No ice cream machine. No churning involved. Its easy peasy and all you need is a 2 cup (1 pint) mason jar with a tight fitting lid to make it and five minutes of time! I kid you not!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE EASY LOW CARB STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
Just a very few ingredients, a mason jar and five minutes of time!
- 2 medium (40g) strawberries
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
- heaping tsp strawberry extract
- 1/8th tsp red food coloring
- 3 TBS (24g) Swerve icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
It doesn't say how large the berries are, but I would imagine they are medium sized. Not the small ones. The author does recommend weighing out the ingredients rather than measuring them.
Cooking and baking by weight is more actually accurate. There is no room for error. A gram is a gram is a gram. Cooking scales are readily available these days. I bought mine on Amazon.
Mason jars are the jars which are normally used for canning. I dare say you could use any straight sides jar for this however, so long as it holds 2 cups/1 pint and has a tight fitting lid.
Swerve is a brand of sugar replacements. You can readily buy it in some grocery stores here in Canada as well as online. It measures one to one with sugar, and comes in granulated, brown, and confectioners/icing sugars.
It is meant to be eaten on the day. The original poster recommends that if you are going to keep it for more than one day you substitute a portion of the Swerve with Xylitol (1 to 2 tsp), or halving the recipe.
Do note that Xylitol is toxic/harmful to pets. Make sure that any dishes used are rinsed within an inch of their life so that there was no risk to your pets!
Swerve, on the other hand, is completely safe for pets. Although in all honesty I wouldn't still be careful.
HOW TO MAKE EASY LOW CARB STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
Wash the berries, pat dry and hull. Cut into small dice. Set aside.
Place the remaining ingredients into a mason jar with a tight fitting lid. Add the berries.
Shake the jar for several minutes until the cream thickens and almost doubles in size.
Place the jar into the freezer and leave to freeze for 4 to 5 hours. Scoop and enjoy!
This was incredibly delicious. So rich and cream and very nicely strawberry flavored. I am keen to try some different flavors if I can.
My favorite ice cream of all is Vanilla. (I know boring.) I think it would be very easy to make in the same way. Or Banana ice cream using diced banana and banana flavoring. Mind you, you can just freeze banana and blitz it and it is pretty much like ice cream anyways!
The possibilities are endless though when you start to think about it!
I really like that it doesn't make a ton of ice cream, so there's not a lot around to tempt you with after. Three scoops is quite manageable. If you made a vanilla one you could stir sugar free chocolate chips into it and have chocolate chip ice cream.
I really, really hope that you will be inspired to want to make this Low Carb Strawberry Ice Cream for yourself. I know it is sure to become a favorite and frequent treat in my home from time to time! Its amazingly delicious!
Easy Low Carb Strawberry Ice Cream
Yield: 3 scoops
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 5 HourTotal time: 5 H & 5 M
This is deliciously simple! Rich, creamy, keto friendly, sugar free, and low carb. You will need a mason jar that holds at least 2 cups or one pint.
Ingredients
- 2 medium (40g) strawberries
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
- heaping tsp strawberry extract
- 1/8th tsp red food coloring
- 3 TBS (24g) Swerve icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
Instructions
- Wash the berries, pat dry and hull. Cut into small dice. Set aside.
- Place the remaining ingredients into a mason jar with a tight fitting lid. Add the berries.
- Shake the jar for several minutes until the cream thickens and almost doubles in size. Place the jar into the freezer and leave to freeze for 4 to 5 hours.
- Scoop and enjoy!
Notes
Best if eaten on the day. If you are planning on freezing this for more than a day it is recommended that you use allulose instead of the Swerve confectioners sugar. This helps to prevent the ice cream from freezing solid.
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One of my all time favorite things to bake is Lemon Loaf. I have been baking lemon loaves since I was a very young cook. In fact I think one of the first things I remember baking is a lemon loaf and I remember my mother baking lemon loaves for tea parties she was either hosting or attending.
I have baked many many lemon loaves throughout the years, and used a lot of different recipes.
One lemon loaf is one which I bake uses lemon curd. Lemon Curd Drizzle Cake is one of my all time favorites. It is a recipe I adapted from a cookbook The Good Granny Cookbook, put out a number of years ago by Jane Fearnly Whittingstall (Hugh's mother.)
It has a beautiful flavor. Its moist and delicious and incredibly lemony. I had to leave my copy of this book in the UK and have not been able to replace it. Sigh . . .
Today I am sharing with you my old standby when it comes to lemon loaf. This is a recipe which I got from my old Purity Cookbook. I have had this book for about 45 years. The first time I saw it was at my ex sister in laws house.
Her's had a coupon at the back that you could send away to get another copy of copies of. She generously gave me a coupon and I sent away for one for myself. As you can see it is well loved, and dog earred.
One way of telling how good a recipe book is by seeing how splattered the pages are. You can tell this is a popular recipe in my kitchen as the pages are indeed very splattered and stained from years and years of baking.
Some people might not like having something like this in their cookbook library, but for me, this is a true treasure. I would not part with it for any amount of money, and this Glazed Lemon Loaf recipe is one of the reasons why!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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One of the reasons I love this lemon loaf recipe so much is that it is quick and easy to make. A child could make it. Also it is very moist and delicious with a beautiful crumb.
It is a bread you really cannot improve upon. I have added a few things to the technique of making it through the years which I have adapted from other bakers, such as rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar for the recipe.
This is something I learned from Dorie Greenspan. It helps to release all of the oils from the lemon zest and yields even more lemon flavor!
I used to belong to a baking group called Tuesdays with Dorie and this is one of the things/techniques I learned from being in that group.
Every Tuesday we baked a different recipe from Dorie's baking book, Baking, From My Home to Yours. It was a great way to connect with other baking bloggers and make new friends. If you have never joined a baking group, I highly recommend doing so!
HOW TO CHOOSE LEMONS FOR BAKING
I know you shouldn't really squeeze fruit that you are looking to buy, but in the case of lemons and limes, squeezing lightly goes a long way towards picking out the best fruits.
First of all you should pick lemons which have a bright and blemish free skin. They should not appear withered in any way, and most especially at the stem end of the fruit. If it is wrinkled or dry looking here, don't choose it. Old fruit. Dry fruit.
A good lemon will also feel quite heavy in your hand. This means that the lemon has a higher juice content. If a lemon feels really light, it is probably quite dry. This applies to any citrus fruit.
Give them a light squeeze. Just gently press with your thumb. If it gives a little, then this is a juicy fruit. If there is no give, then it is probably (once more) a dry fruit.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE GLAZED LEMON LOAF
Simple baking ingredients. These things are always found in my kitchen.
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (45g) chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
To glaze and finish:
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- Icing sugar to dust on top when serving
The finishing glaze is entirely optional of course, but it really does add a lovely lemon flavor to the loaf. I also like to pretty it up with a light dusting of icing sugar.
HOW TO MAKE GLAZED LEMON LOAF
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter your loaf tin and then line it with a strip of paper leaving an overhang on two sides for each of lifting out.
Rub the sugar and lemon zest together in a bowl until very fragrant. Add the butter and cream the two together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until thoroughly combined.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, making three dry and two wet additions. Combine lightly after each.
Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the top over.
Bake in the preheated oven for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave to cool for five minutes and then if glazing, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth and drizzle over top.
Leave to cool in the pan lifting out to remove.
Dust with icing sugar and cut into slices to serve.
Note: If you are using the toasted walnuts, stir them in last, prior to spreading the batter in the prepared tin.
I really enjoy this cut into thin slices (about 1/3 inch thick) and lightly spread with softened butter. Loaves such as this slice much easier if left overnight before slicing.
This is the perfect lemon loaf recipe. There are no bells or whistles. Simplicity speaks for itself with the end result being a lush lemon loaf with pure lemon flavor. This always goes well with a hot cup or tea or coffee!
Glazed Lemon Loaf
Yield: 1 (9X5X3) loaf cake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 H & 10 MTotal time: 1 H & 20 M
This sugar glazed quick bread loaf is beautiful served with a nice hot cuppa tea or coffee. Adapted from a recipe in the old Purity Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (45g) chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
To glaze: (optional)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
- Icing sugar to dust on top when serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter your loaf tin and then line it with a strip of paper leaving an overhang on two sides for each of lifting out.
- Rub the sugar and lemon zest together in a bowl until very fragrant. Add the butter and cream the two together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, making three dry and two wet additions. Combine lightly after each.
- Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the top over.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for five minutes and then if glazing, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth and drizzle over top.
- Leave to cool in the pan lifting out to remove.
- Dust with icing sugar and cut into slices to serve.
I want to start off by warning you. This is a snacking cake that you are going to absolutely fall in love with. Seriously.
Just the title alone. Browned Butter, Pecan and White Chocolate cake. What in that title is not to love! This is the penultimate snacking cake! Your life will never be the same!
This is a dream made in heaven. Lovely and moist from the use of yogurt in the batter and filled with lots of toasted pecan nuts and white chocolate.
More nuts and chocolate are sprinkled on the top along with a bit of demerara sugar for crunch. I love demerara sugar.
The star of this show is the browned butter however. The smell of that browned butter is enough to get my taste buds tingling.
Combine that with the brown sugar and my taste buds went into heavenly overload. Even if it wasn't the most delicious snacking cake on the planet I would bake this cake again and again just to smell that combination! Seriously!
This recipe was adapted from the baking book by Yossy Arefi entitled Snacking Cakes. I cannot recommend this book enough. Every recipe I have baked from it has been excellent.
HOW TO BROWN BUTTER
Browned butter has a toasty, nutty flavor and enhances just about everything it touches especially cakes. Some people might find the idea of browning butter a bit intimidating. I know I used to, but its really a very simple process.
You want to use a saucepan with a light colored inside bottom. This is so that you can see the color of the butter changing as it browns. A ceramic non-stick coated pan works beautifully as everything just slides out when its done.
Put your butter into the sauce pan and then heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, scraping up the bits from the bottom and the sides of the pan if necessary. This will take about 3 minutes. The butter solids will turn golden brown and the mixture will smell nice and nutty.
Take the pan off the heat immediately as the butter will continue to brown in the pan. I recommend tipping it out of the pan right away and into a heat safe bowl. That way your butter won't burn. You can let it cool while you gather the rest of your ingredients together.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BROWNED BUTTER, PECAN & WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE
Simple baking ingredients. With the exception of the white chocolate you will probably have everything you need in your kitchen to bake this delicious cake today.
- 1/2 cup (120g) lightly salted butter
- 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 3/4 cup (165g) whole milk yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups (160g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup (75g) toasted pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup (85g) chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
- 1 TBS turbinado sugar (demerara)
She recommends unsalted butter. I cannot afford to keep two kinds of butter in my single person kitchen and so I keep lightly salted butter and cut back on the salt required in the recipe. European style butter like Lactantia is the best. Oh how I miss Danish butter.
I always use large free range eggs. It is a personal choice for me and if I can get brown so much the better.
Don't be tempted to use low fat plain yogurt. This is one recipe where you want to go full fat all the way. Rich and silky.
I used a bar of Green & Blacks Organic white chocolate for this. It is infused with vanilla and makes for a very delicious result, but you can use ordinary white chocolate chips if you wish. I just find them to be a bit sweeter and so prefer the white chocolate bar.
HOW TO MAKE BROWNED BUTTER, PECAN & WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE
Its a very simple cake to make once you have browned your butter. Most snack cakes are. Begin by preheating your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter your 8-inch cake tin and line with a strip of parchment paper which hangs over two sides for ease of removal after the cake is done.
Brown your butter as above and pour into a bowl. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
Add the brown sugar and the eggs to the melted butter and beat until frothy and well combined together. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, salt and nutmeg, beating in until smooth and well emulsified.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk into the wet mixture until smooth and well combined.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in 6 TBS (37g) of the toasted pecans and 1/4 cup (42g) of the white chocolate.
Spread into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bang on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle the remaining toasted nuts and white chocolate over top. Finally sprinkle with the turbinado sugar
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes until risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave in the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before lifting out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days. This is an excellent cake to serve for snacks or even a simple dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
Well, maybe you won't thank me . . . because it is a pretty hard cake to resist. It is a cake you will find yourself thinking about at 3 a.m. and sneaking down to the kitchen to have a tiny nibble of. Trust me. Highly moreishly addictive, if only for the smell alone.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Browned Butter, Pecan & White Chocolate Cake
Yield: One 8-inch cake
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
The balance between the flavors of the browned butter, toasted pecans and white chocolate in this cake is perfection. One of the best snack cakes I have ever baked.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120g) lightly salted butter
- 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 3/4 cup (165g) whole milk yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups (160g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup (75g) toasted pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup (85g) chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
- 1 TBS turbinado sugar (demerara)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square baking tin and line with a strip of parchment paper which hangs over two sides.
- Melt the butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir over medium heat with a wooden spoon until the butter solids turn golden brown and smell nice and nutty. This will take about 3 minutes. Pour into a bowl. Leave to cool slightly.
- Add the brown sugar and the eggs to the melted butter and beat until frothy and well combined together. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, salt and nutmeg, beating in until smooth and well emulsified.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk into the wet mixture until smooth and well combined.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in 6 TBS (37g) of the toasted pecans and 1/4 cup (42g) of the white chocolate.
- Spread into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bang on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle the remaining toasted nuts and white chocolate over top. Finally sprinkle with the turbinado sugar
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes until risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Leave in the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before lifting out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.
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