Category Archives: Dessert

When Life Gives You Too Many Eggs…Make Eggnog

Posted on October 30, 2009 by | 13 Comments

Our chickens have started laying and they are going rock steady.  I had pre-ordered eggs from Dry Creek farm and my dear friend Charlotte brings them with the milk each week so suddenly we have a fridge full of eggs!  And that is never a bad thing in this house.

Because my preschooler goes on pancake benders I make them as healthily as possible, so that they replace any meal he might refuse.  That means loading up on eggs, cultured buttermilk and healthy coconut oil.

As long as he eats something like that I also let him have healthy homemade ice cream with lots of egg yolks.  I’ve finally come to realize that if you use just a small amount of maple syrup, whole milk and lots of egg yolks it’s pretty much a glass of milk with an omelette.  And I can’t always get him to eat omelettes.  The word ice cream, however, will stop him in his tracks any time of the day. 

Since they started laying I find myself checking on the coop two or three times a day just to see what is out there.  It’s always so fun to peek in and see little orbed treasures waiting for me.  It was even more fun when our Easter Egger started laying and we suddenly had blue/green eggs in the mix!

chicken-nest

Today when I went out there was only one egg and everyone was busy eating grass and scratching for bugs – no one looked like they wanted to nest.  A few more trips outside revealed no new eggs.  I had already given up for the day when I went to take out the recycling.  There almost under the deck was a chicken nesting in the rhodedendrum.  When I came back out with a load for the compost she had moved on.  I hung over the deck to look where she had been laying and found two eggs waiting for me.

I decided I’d better check out a few of their other favorite spots.  In the sheltered window well where they hang out in the rain I found two more eggs.

I’m guessing this is where the Easter egg hunt originated.   It looks like I’ll be going on one every day now!

Suddenly faced with so many eggs and the weather so fowl (get it?) we decided to make some pumpkin eggnog.

I used about 3 egg yolks, 3 cups of milk, sugar to taste, a dash of vanilla and liberal grind of nutmeg. The secret ingredient though – the pumpkin puree we had just made up for the pumpkin cookies. I added about a tablespoon per cup. The flavor? Fresh pumpkin pie – the flavors of autumn and perfect for two Halloween crazed kids.

pumpkin-nog

→ 13 Comments

Posted in Chickens, Dessert, Local Dairy - Where To Get It And What To Do With It, Pumpkin, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods

Tagged ,

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

Posted on September 6, 2009 by | 6 Comments

Who doesn’t love a snickerdoodle? Or ice cream? Together they are other-worldly, especially on summer’s fruit crips and cobblers.

We try to limit our intake of sweets but I’ve got two young kids with sweet teeth so I try to beef up any desserts or treats we have. This ice cream is no exception. It’s extremely nutrient dense despite the addition of sugar, which means I let them eat ice cream more then most other treats. My ice cream is pretty much a sweetened omelet in ice cream clothing.

The ice cream base is my standard vanilla bean base which I adjust according to what is in season. I might fold in rhubarb compote, summer peaches or berries, jam, or steep a handful of chocolate mint leaves in the milk and sugar for half an hour to impart a mint flavor. You can add cocoa powder with some additional sugar to turn this into chocolate ice cream.

But right now we’re talking about snickerdoodle ice cream. The same great taste you loved as a kid but grown up.

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

1 cup milk
1/3 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg (optional but I’m a nutmeg fiend)
dash sea salt
5 egg yolks from pastured eggs, lightly beaten (you can use fewer but you won’t get the same richness or texture)
2 cups cream

In the top of a double boiler over simmering water combine the milk, sugars, vanilla bean, spices and salt.

When the milk mixture is almost to boiling pour a little of it into the egg yolks, stirring well. This step will warm your egg yolks which will help when you add them to the hot milk. If you add them cold they will turn into instant omelet.

Add the egg yolk mixture to the milk in the double boiler in a slow stream, whisking continuously. Cook, stirring constantly, over hot water until the mixture thickens. When it coats the back of a spoon it’s done. Let it come to room temperature. Remove the vanilla bean, scraping to remove the seeds inside. Add the seeds and the cream to the mix then refrigerate it for several hours. If you try to freeze it before it is thoroughly cooled your ice cream texture won’t be as nice.

When it’s thoroughly cooled, churn in your ice cream maker about 20 minutes until soft-serve texture and then freeze in your freezer. If you like you could even serve this with snickerdoodles.

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Local Dairy - Where To Get It And What To Do With It, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods

Tagged ,

Homemade Chocolate or Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

Posted on March 30, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Since buying this Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
we’ve been on an ice cream bender lately. After all those years of trying to get toddler’s weight up (with both of my kids) I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this one sooner. Organic milk and cream, maple syrup, egg yolks – it’s the stuff I was fortifying their sippy cups with anyway.

The great thing about making your own ice cream is that YOU control the quality of the ingredients so really there is no reason to say no. Ice cream on pancakes? Well why not? And let’s just take breakfast shake to a whole new level…

Today’s ice cream was a chocolate one that went very quickly from amazing chocolate ice cream to out of this world chocolate ice cream by the addition of my Theo cocoa nibs and our cajeta.

Ingredients

2 cups organic, non-homogenized half and half or whipping cream (better yet raw from pastured cows if you have a reliable and safe source)

2 cups organic non-homogenized milk (ditto on the raw from a trusted farm)

2-5 large egg yolks depending on how rich you want this to be

2/3 cup maple syrup or organic cane sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch sea salt

Combine the half and half, milk, cocoa powder, salt and maple syrup in a sauce pan and whisk over low heat until the cocoa powder and sugar are dissolved. Set it aside.

Whisk the egg yolks well and then add about 1/4 cup of the milk mixture to them to warm them up so they don’t cook in the hot milk mixture before you get them incorporated. Add the yolk mixture to the cocoa mixture in the pan, whisking well. Return the pan to the heat and cook over low while constantly whisking for about two minutes, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla, mixing well. Chill the mix for several hours or overnight. Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the directions. Once your ice cream is soft set swirl in cajeta and cocoa nibs (or nuts and marshmallows, or dried cherries or candied orange peel or powdered espresso or leftover broken candy canes…)

Be sure and hide this from the kids or it will be gone before you know it.

Variation for chocolate mint ice cream: Last summer we discovered that you can take a handful of fresh mint and steep in the warm milk for 10 – 30 minutes prior to making this ice cream. The result is a chocolate mint ice cream without having to buy any mint extract.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Local Dairy - Where To Get It And What To Do With It, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods

Tagged ,

Cajeta – Goat’s Milk Dulce de Leche

Posted on March 29, 2009 by | 6 Comments

cajeta

If you are a caramel fan have I got a treat for you! A few week’s back I made cajeta from my goat’s milk from St. John’s Creamery. It took longer then I expected but the resulting sauce was amazing.

Cajeta is the goat’s milk version of dulce de leche and it’s made by cooking milk, cornstarch, baking soda and sugar for hours until it boils down into a thick, rich, caramel sauce.

cajeta cooking

We’ve eaten it on ice cream, pancakes, waffles and added it to yogurt the last few weeks. The kids of course adore it and we’ve been sneaking it as well.

Here is how to make it:

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3 quarts whole goat’s milk

3 cups sugar

In a bowl make a slurry of the corn starch, baking soda and some milk to dissolve the powder.

In the pan add that slurry, the remaining milk and sugar and stir well.

Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly then reduce the heat to a simmer and let it continue to simmer for several hours until it is as thick as you like it.

I cooked mine for about 3 1/4 hours until it was a thick syrup like honey. You can stop cooking sooner if you want a runnier sauce for mixing with milk. You can also make this with cow’s milk but it’s called dulce de leche. I’ve heard of folks using this between cake layers, swirled into brownie batter, as a pudding parfait layer or swirled into ice cream.

I’ve had mine in a jar in the fridge for several weeks and it’s just as good as the day I made it. I’m not sure how long it will last so I plan to freeze dollops of it on wax paper first then put it all in a ziplock in the freezer to take out when I need it. At least that way I won’t be snitching it every time I open the fridge!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Local Dairy - Where To Get It And What To Do With It, Recipes for Seasonal and Local Foods

Tagged ,