In honor of national Ice Cream Month: Easy coffee ice cream (recipe by Nigella Lawson)

Did you know July is national Ice Cream month in the USA?  No, well neither did I … until last sunday.  Because sunday July 19th 2015 was national Ice Cream day and it was all over instagram. 

whisk the cream until thick

All day long all I could think was: "how did I not know this?” followed by "why don’t we have a national Ice Cream month?  it’s just genius”.

Ice cream has always been a weak spot for me, you can wake me up in the middle of the night for it and I’ll kiss you (knowing I’m not a morning person that says a lot).   I’ve never made ice cream myself, I don’t have an ice cream maker and I’ve never found a recipe that could convince me to try other methods.  Until now.This is a recipe from Nigella Lawson (Nigelissima) and it’s called No Churn Coffee Ice Cream.  

add the sweetened condensed milk

Aaaah, Nigella Lawson, you can always count on her to come up with a recipe that is so decadent that when just reading it, it will add 10 pounds on the hips.  I remember watching one of her shows where she made a batter, put a Bounty candy bar through it and then fried it.  I was absolutely shocked, I really didn’t know what to think: was she a crazy lady or sheer genius?  

add the coffee powder

I have to say that the upside of making this ice cream myself is that I don’t eat as much of it as I would store bought ice cream.  Simply because I know what’s in it and let’s just say, it’s no light version … but moderation is everything so a little bit now and then really won’t harm you.

pour in a container and freeze for at least 6 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 300 ml (around 10 oz) of full fat cream
• instant coffee powder

Whisk the cream until thick (not standing in peaks but more like clotted cream), add the can of sweetened condensed milk and the instant coffee powder.  Pour the mixture into a container, close it and freeze it for at least 6 hours.  Before serving it let it soften a bit.

let it soften

And there you have it: the perfect no hassle coffee ice cream. 

and enjoy!!

I will be making this recipe again but maybe without coffee  and with dulce de leche instead of normal sweetened condensed milk.  I can’t wait for that one because hey, it’s Dulce De Leche Ice Cream.  Pretty sure the world is all good after having a bowl of that …

Sunday Treats: Roasted Chickpeas

These have been going around on the internet like crazy and yet I'd never made them before today.  I really can't say why that is,  I love to snack and I try to stay away from potato chips as much as I can but when my man opens up a bag I go all out.  Roasted chickpeas are said to be a great substitute for potato chips.  You can flavor it anyway you want, I used paprika and chili powder.  You can also make a sweet version with honey and cinnamon.  The options are endless here so let your creativity go!

Open a can of chickpeas, rinse them and let them dry.

Mix them with one tablespoon of olive oil and the spices of your choice.  Spread them out on a baking tin, covered in baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).  Bake them for 15 minutes, toss them around and bake again for 10-15 minutes and your done.  These are very crispy when hot but soften when they cool down.  You can eat them as a snack or mix them in with your salad.

Recipe: healthy banana bread

I really can’t help it but when I come into my kitchen en find my banana’s looking like this I get really excited (and yes, some days that means doing a little happy dance in the kitchen).   Because banana’s this ripe have so much potential.  You can freeze them and make a healthy milkshake (no ice cream needed), make some banana ‚ice’ cream out of them (with a spoon of peanut butter for me please) or you can use them for baking and even though the weather is way too hot to do any sort of cooking or baking, I just had to make some banana bread.  

This is a healthy version, no added sugar and made of oats and oat flour.   When the weather is as hot as it is these days, my appetite just drops to almost nothing.  Ice cream for lunch and a small salad at night is all I need but I admit, Ice cream for lunch isn’t the healthiest option.  So now I can just take a slice of this banana bread with me and eat for lunch.  It’s very filling so it will satisfy me until dinner.  With the oats in there, it’s like a full meal for me.

I’ve made this banana bread 3 times before and even my man, who usually doesn’t eat anything sweet, loves this one.  

I got this recipe from the instagram account of gigisele, a dutchie who’s into fitness and healthy eating.  I really love her account!

Ingredients:

• 130 gr (or 1 cup) oat flour 
• 30 gr (1/4 cup) oats
• 2 tl (tsp) baking powder
• 2 tl (tsp) cinnamon - if you don’t like cinnamon you could leave it out but it does give an extra dimension to the flavor without being overwhelming
• 3 bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• a handful of (frozen) blue berries
• 4 dates
• baking tin (like a loaf tin)

How to:

• preheat the oven to 220°C (428°F)
• mix the bananas, eggs, egg white and dates (I do this in a food processor)
• add the oats, oat flour, baking powder and cinnamon
• carefully add the blue berries
• put baking paper in the baking tin
• pour in the mixture
• sprinkle some oats on top of the dough
• bake for 50 minutes
• to make sure the top doesn’t burn, I put some aluminum foil over it about 20 minutes in the baking process

Let it cool down and enjoy!