Friday, September 12, 2014

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream and Giveaway - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 5


I started out with the idea of making the classic Rum and Raisin Ice Cream, but just when I had all the base ingredients blended and poured into the ice cream maker, I realised that we'd run out of rum! So I grabbed the bottle of brandy that was at hand and decided to make a Boozy Raisin Ice Cream instead.

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream

Before I move on to the recipe, I'd like to share that the good folks at Vegan MoFo are running a giveaway of one of my creations. Click on the pic below to enter to win my Vegan Superstar Handmade Pendant. :)


The pendant above will be shipped worldwide. I have a more localised giveaway coming up next week right here on my blog. It may or may not involve vegan ice creams. :D Keep an eye out.

Now on to today's recipe...

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream

100 g Cashews
100 g Raisins soaked in 100 g Water
100 g Merry Whip Non-Dairy Cream
50 g Sugar
500 ml Cold Water
50 ml Brandy

- Place an airtight container in the freezer to chill
- Soak raisins in water for 2-4 hours in the fridge
- Grind the cashews to a fine powder
- Set aside a handful of the soaked raisins
- Add the remaining raisins, along with the soaking water and blend to a creamy paste
- Add the cold water and sugar and blend well
- Freeze in an ice cream maker according to instructions
- In the last few minutes of the freezing process, pour in the brandy
- Transfer the ice cream to the chilled container and stir in the raisins that had been set aside
- Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours
- Scoop and enjoy! *hic*

Boozy Raisin Ice Cream

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 4


Ack! It's the 10th already and I'm still on my 4th post. I have a lot of catching up to do.

When I decided to do the Ice Cream theme for Vegan MoFo this time, I knew I'd be experimenting with atleast a few "weird" flavours. I mean, where's the fun in just making predictable, sweet ice creams and leaving it at that? :P

So on Sunday I put together a crazy combination of peanuts, chillies, garlic, jaggery and tamarind and turned it into ice cream. It's sweet, spicy, tangy and meant for the adventurous soul. Dudes and dudettes, I present the...
Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream!!! :D

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream

Spicy peanut sauce is the *best* dip in the whole wide world. I can never get enough of it!!! So it just made sense that my first savoury ice cream was based on it. :)

This ice cream is on the crunchy, icy side but the texture suits the flavours well. It is super easy to make too.

I've used just two chillies because the ones I grow in my Veganic Terrace Garden are super spicy. You can adjust the quantity depending on the kind of chillies you get your hands on.

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream!!!

100 g Peanuts
100 g Jaggery
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Tamarind Paste
2 Chillies
4 Garlic Cloves
1 ltr Water

- Toast the peanuts and let them cool
- Grind all the ingredients together into a creamy paste, with a little water
- Add the remaining water and blend well

- Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions
OR
- Transfer to airtight box and freeze for 8-10 hours
- Blend again
- Refreeze for another 8-10 hours

- Scoop and enjoy! :)

Spicy Peanut Sauce Ice Cream

Before I signed off last Wednesday, I promised you pictures from my baking and cooking workshops at Carrots. Here they are...

On Thursday, 4th September I first had a Decadent Cakes baking class, followed by a session on cooking an Oil-Free Healthy Indian Meal:

Baking & Cooking Classes

On Friday, 5th September I had a workshop on Sweet Soulful Breads:

Baking & Cooking Classes

I love teaching and I find that I'm always in my element during my classes. I'm so grateful that I now have a beautiful space like Carrots to conduct these workshops. I don't have to be stressed out about the prep work. All I need to do is hand over a list of ingredients and my boys from the kitchen set things up perfectly for the class!

And having the service guys from downstairs nearby through the sessions is very helpful too. Anything I might need gets brought to me in a matter of minutes. At the end of a lengthy session of standing and talking, I'm about ready to crash. It's a huge blessing to be able to just sit down and relax while the clean-up gets done by my helpful team mates. :)

I'm looking forward to doing more and more of these one-on-one workshops and some group demos too. If you'd like to attend one of my Vegan Kitchen Ninja Series workshops, check out the list of classes here and schedule your private session.

I'll leave you now with a bonus recipe video that we shot at Carrots on Thursday. Here, Gokul and I show you how to make a quick, easy, healthy, oil-free Coconut Mint Rice. Enjoy! :)

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Blueberry Ice Cream - Vegan MoFo 2014 Day 3


After making the first two ice creams for Vegan MoFo at Carrots, today I decided to make some at home because my Ice Cream Monster wanted a whole batch of ice cream just for himself! :p

I started the day by digging around in the kitchen to see what ingredients I could use in today's recipe and was delighted to find a long forgotten pack of dried blueberries at the bottom of the dry fruits drawer in the fridge. I'd purchased them a while ago from Manak Mewa (just off Commercial Street). Those people have all kinds of awesome dried fruits and nuts...local, exotic, what have you! And their prices are pretty decent too.

I decided to make plain blueberry ice cream. Turned out to be a great decision! Pure blueberry goodness with no other flavours getting in the way. It's a really simple 5 ingredient recipe (well, 6 if you count the pinch of salt). You can blend up the mix really fast and it's ready to be frozen.

I made this one with an ice cream maker. Turned out a lot creamier and quicker this way. But you can use the freeze-blend-freeze method to make it too.

On a side note, shouldn't blueberries actually be called purpleberries? Just look at the gorgeous colour!

Blueberry Ice Cream

Before I move on to the recipe, I wanted to give a quick shout out to RandoMoFo - the bestest way to blog hop throughout the Vegan Month of Food! Take him for a ride and you'll see what I mean.

I won't be blogging tomorrow or the day after because I'm swamped with a bunch of Vegan Kitchen Ninja Classes on both days. I'm really looking forward to teaching cooking and baking, and there's a lot of prep work to do. I'll be back here at some point over the weekend with pictures from the classes. And more ice cream recipes of course. :)

Blueberry Ice Cream

Blueberry Ice Cream

100 g Cashews
100 g Vegan Whipped Cream (Rich's or Merry Whip)
50 g + 50 g Dried Blueberries
50 g Sugar
500 g Cold Water
Pinch of Salt

- Grind the cashews and half the blueberries into a fine powder
- Add the sugar, salt and a bit of water and blend to form a creamy paste
- Pour in the remaining water and blend well
- Now add the whipped cream and blend on low speed for a few minutes
- Your ice cream base mixture is ready
- Freeze this in your ice cream maker according to the instructions
- Transfer to an airtight box and stir in the remaining blueberries
- Freeze for another hour or two
- Scoop and enjoy! :)

Blueberry Ice Cream