birthday cake

Yesterday morning, rather than ordering our usual sugar pretzel and bun at Bageriet, we celebrated with two slices of prinsesstårta (princess cake). With layers of lighter-than-air sponge, raspberry jam, vanilla custard, and whipped cream, all enclosed in a thin layer of marzipan, it is indeed fit for a princess--or a birthday girl!

Princess cake is usually topped with a pink marzipan rose. But why stop with one rose when you can have a whole bunch (spotted outside Liberty)...

and maybe a few scoops of ice cream too, or at least a new book (from the new Foyles) to add to the ice cream-making library:

Because surely there must be some consolations for turning another year older...

a jolly nice day

We don't get to North London often, but we simply had to visit KERB's Ice Cream Adventure at King's Cross! So we made a complete day of it, starting at Kipferl in Camden Passage, a modern Viennese cafe with the most delicious breakfasts and good strong coffee:

Properly caffeinated, we popped along to Loop, where I resisted the pull of the sock yarn, but did leave with a card of vintage French buttons.

Just past Angel, we stopped by The FARA Workshop, where young designer-makers rework clothing and fabrics donated to the FARA charity shops, upcycling them into new, one-of-a-kind fashions.

The shop's stylish collection includes both men's and women's wear with a modern, minimalist cut--think Japanese pattern books--and all the sewing is done on-site, so even on a Saturday, you can see the sewists at work:

Then it was just a short hop on the Tube to King's Cross and Granary Square for KERB:

We were sidetracked by the House of Illustration's Quentin Blake exhibition, a definite must-see,

but we could only hold out for so long before diving into the ice cream!

We sampled some amazing flavors at Sorbitium Ices: Toasted Rice and Coconut, Fresh Peach, and Rose Geranium...

But our favorites of the day were from Jolly Nice... G had Beer and Bar Nuts to go with his half-pint of lager from the beer tent (!) and my top pick, after several scrumptious samples, was Pineapple Custard--absolutely divine! And the nicest vendors too:

Now that's a jolly nice day indeed!

bodacious blackcurrants

In the past, I've steered clear of anything and everything blackcurrant-flavored, associating the taste with cough syrup (which I also avoid).

But when my ice cream guru Kitty Travers published her recipe for Blackcurrant Ice Cream in The Observer, I began to have second thoughts. And when the temperature in Teddington hit 30°C, I decided it was time to give it a go...

and ended up making one of my favorite ice creams yet!

As G has always like blackcurrants, we have two bushes on our plot. Which was convenient, as Kitty's recipe calls for 5-6 blackcurrant leaves to make an infused custard. The leaves impart the most amazing, yet completely indescribable flavor. So much so, I actually considered making an ice cream from just the leaves, only to discover later that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has published a recipe for Blackcurrant Leaf Sorbet.

So now I've been converted to both the fruit and the leaf. Who knows what's next...!

crème de la crème

Pitango Gelato is my all-time favorite gelato shop. Blending organic milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and produce from local farms, Pitango makes super flavorful gelato with a lovely clean finish.

© Pitango Gelato

Sadly, the branch near my mum has been discontinuing my favorite flavors one-by-one: Fior di Latte, Crème Fraîche, Yogurt, Black Tea... I hesitate to mention my current favorites for fear they could be next!

© Pitango Gelato

But I need no longer mourn the demise of Crème Fraîche, as I've just made my very own batch, again using a recipe from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop:

Amazingly, it has the same creamy texture, slightly sharp flavor, and smooth finish as the Pitango version. And while I'd always rather go to Pitango, I suppose I better start looking out recipes for some of my other favorites...just in case!

mmm-mmm malt

When I was little, my dad would occasionally take me out for malts at our local ice cream shop. These are some of my happiest memories of time with my dad and perhaps account for my enduring love of tall, frothy malts in ice-cold, stainless steel cups. Someday, I dream of having one of these:

But in the meantime, I'm quite happy with a scoop of Malted Milk Ice Cream, made from the recipe in David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop:

A generous measure of malt powder gives this ice cream a super velvety texture, as well as that very distinctive flavor. Mmm-mmm malt!

celadon and cucumber

I usually find the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition disappointing. But as we had the invite and I'd marked the date on the calendar, it seemed a shame not to go. And I'm so glad we did.

There were still some truly awful pieces, but the standard seemed higher than in previous years. The redesigned print rooms featured works by some of my favorite artists, including Larch by Angie Lewin:

But it was this piece that completely made the exhibition for me, Edmund de Waal's white lacquered cabinet containing 70 celadon and white vessels:

© Edmund de Waal

I just finished reading The Hare with Amber Eyes last week, so stumbling on this work seemed fitting. Sadly it had already sold. But I suppose that's just as well: no need to talk G into remortgaging the flat!

For more affordable enjoyment, we made a detour on the way home to Maltby Street Market. While Neal's Yard Dairy, St John, and Monmouth Coffee all have premises here, we were on a mission to sample Kitty Travers' La Grotta Ices.

© Phaidon Press and La Grotta Ices, London, UK

A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, Kitty makes and sells artisanal ice creams from the back of her little white van. She was named in Coco as one of the world’s top 100 up-and-coming food personalities, and last year her company was named Best of the Best in the first British Street Food Awards.

And her ice cream is indeed the best of the best! G had Candied Kumquat and I had Cucumber and Sour Cream, already melting here in the hot Saturday sun:

Simply amazing! I'm so looking forward to opening the carton of Pea Pod Ice Cream we packed into our cool bag. And not only are her ice creams lovely, Kitty is really lovely too. I wonder if she'd consider training an apprentice...

lemon licks

Such wonderfully warm and sunny weather obviously calls for even more icy treats. So we have a tub of fresh Lemon Gelato chilling in the freezer too, though I don't think it'll be there long...

I've been on the hunt for the perfect lemon ice cream recipe for ages, and I reckon I've finally found it in my Ciao Bella book.

The author's wife loved it so much she insisted they serve it at their wedding, and I can see why. So smooth and creamy, it has just the right hit of lemon flavor. Plus it's the loveliest shade of pale yellow, just like my Easter eggs from Jo,

making it the ideal Easter Weekend ice cream! Happy Easter!

tasty toffee

G used to enthuse over my homemade ice cream. But now he's more excited about what we're putting on top: the Toffee Sauce from Rachel Allen's Home Cooking.

Just five ingredients weighed into a saucepan and five minutes of bubbling and stirring produce over a pint of liquid heaven. Poured on warm, it quickly sets into lovely gooey strings:

It apparently keeps for months in the fridge, but I don't think ours will be around that long!

rhubarb refreshment

I must admit I'm not as keen on rhubarb crumble as I should be, considering we have four very prolific plants. But all is not lost, as I've finally found a rhubarb recipe I love, Rhubarb Ice Cream:

Based on a Delia recipe, this ice cream is nothing short of amazing: the perfect balance of sweet and tart and so easy to make. And unlike most ice creams made without eggs, which set terribly hard in a home freezer, this one stays super smooth and creamy.

The ideal way to serve up a seemingly limitless supply of rhubarb, particularly on such an unseasonably hot and steamy weekend.

spice and ice

While visiting my mum, I discovered a fabulous new gelato shop, Pitango Gelato:

The Fior di Latte, made from locally sourced, organic milk and cream, was pure, creamy gelato heaven. I also tried the Cinnamon, which was wonderfully spicy--perfect for the festive season.

Now back in Teddington, and longing for a scoop of Cinnamon, I whipped up a batch of David Lebovitz' Cinnamon Ice Cream:

Made using Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients cinnamon--ginormous cinnamon sticks from the Seychelles--it boasts a very deep, very spicy, very adult cinnamon flavor. If an ice cream could be described as warm, this would be it...just the thing for frosty afternoons!

blackberry bliss

While our blackberry plants produce pretty fab fruit, they only produce a few berries at a time: just enough to scatter over cereal or plain ice cream...if you haven't eaten them all in situ!

Thank goodness Rachel's plants are more prolific, and after a morning of picking on her plot, we had enough berries for Blackberry Ice Cream:

Despite owning a shelf-full of ice cream books, I couldn't actually find a recipe for blackberry ice cream. So I used the Raspberry Ice Cream recipe from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop, swapping blackberries for raspberries.

The result was deliciously creamy with a bright flavor and equally brilliant color: more berry bliss!

gorgeous gooseberry

I was hoping for blue skies for my Gooseberry Ice Cream photo shoot, but we seem to be having nothing but gray lately. Then again, this fantastically tart ice cream could liven up even the grayest day:

This year, I used the recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's The River Cottage Year, which I definitely prefer to the recipe I used last year. It was a bit more work, but completely worth it. The most difficult part was actually picking the gooseberries: those thorns are vicious!

We had quite a big crop this year, so I've also frozen two kilos for later use. After a few hours in the freezer, the gooseberries roll around like big green marbles. Fabulous fun...or perhaps I'm just too easily entertained!

i scream, you scream...

What could be nicer in the midst of a heat wave than a big scoop of Raspberry Ice Cream:

While I have made this recipe before (from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop) it seems especially good this year. It could be the weather, but I think it must be the raspberries from Rachel's plot!

lavender licks

This is the Lavender-Honey Ice Cream from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop:

I did consider adding a bit of lavender color, but in the end decided to go au naturel.

The dried lavender is added in two stages: first the honey is infused with lavender (for one hour), then the completed base is infused with lavender (overnight in the fridge). I was worried the flavor might be overwhelming, but it's really quite delicate.

Lavender-Honey Ice Cream and bright blue skies--a virtual holiday in Provence!

mad for maple

While I like nuts in my cookies, I prefer my ice cream unadulterated, so this is David Lebovitz' Maple Walnut Ice Cream without the walnuts:

He suggests using dark amber syrup, which results in a lovely rich yet still delicate flavor. And the texture is so smooth and creamy. It may not look exciting (well, except for the drips here) but it's truly divine: I think I may have a new favorite flavor!

I dream of visiting a sugar shack during the six-week maple sugaring season, between February and April, when the maple sap is distilled into syrup:

It takes about 40 gallons of sap (three trees worth, here dripping from the tap) to make just one gallon of syrup!

Virtually all the maple syrup available in England seems to come from Canada, but being American, I fancy a trip to Vermont or Maine. Indeed, I used to live just over the state line from Vermont--what a missed opportunity!

not-so-plain vanilla

This is the Vanilla Ice Cream from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop...

...and it's anything but plain. Made with both vanilla extract and a whole vanilla bean, it's very intensely vanilla-y.

The seeds remind me of a favorite family tale of an older relative who threw away a brand-new carton of premium vanilla ice cream, mistaking the black spots for bugs--whoops!

berry good, part two

The promised Cranberry-Orange Sorbet from David Lebovitz’ The Perfect Scoop:

I’m still an ice cream girl at heart, but sorbet seems like a nice alternative to the rich desserts that predominate (particularly in England) during the holidays.

It’s the most brilliant pinky-red color and incredibly tart. As Adam would say, ‘a party in the mouth!’

triple scoop

Just because it's cold outside doesn't mean we stop making ice cream! I once read an article about kitchen organization that suggested putting the ice cream maker away during the winter to clear counter space. I think not!

The reason there haven't been any ice cream posts lately is because the last three ice creams have been, well, beige. So not terribly photogenic. You can see what I mean with the Pear-Caramel Ice Cream:

It's quite tasty, although I think I might use a more intensely flavored pear next time (I couldn't find the two recommended varieties at Waitrose).

The other two beige-y ice creams were Malted Milk Ice Cream in October (G's new favorite) and Cinnamon Ice Cream in November (made using cinnamon sticks rather than ground cinnamon for a more subtle--and really pleasing--cinnamon flavor).

All the recipes were from my favorite ice cream book:

But now with the holiday season here and so many rich treats about, I think a light Cranberry Sorbet could be just the thing...

last hurrah

I think this will be our last frozen treat from the allotment this summer (what little summer we've had): raspberry ice cream.

Definitely a big step up from the sherbet. I'm afraid sorbets and sherbets just don't do it for me. I crave the lovely creaminess of ice cream!

And I just noticed how autumnal the lawn is starting to look with its scattering of leaves...

another scoop

Presenting our latest frozen dessert from the allotment: raspberry sherbet. It has the most amazingly vibrant raspberry flavor.

The recipe is from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop, my frozen dessert bible. I was hoping to make raspberry ice cream but was limited by the ingredients I had on hand. So ended up working in true allotment spirit and 'made do'!