Blueberry Pavlova

Mike held up a 2-pound box of blueberries at Fred Meyer hopefully and requested a Pavlova for dessert. I couldn’t say no. I’ve made a lot of pavlovas and I seem to use a different recipe every time. This time …

Fresh Rhubarb and Candied Ginger Ice Cream

My step-dad gave us some rhubarb from his garden and it is too hot to make pie. I had recently noticed a Facebook Post about rhubarb ice cream but it involved lots of eggs and custard-making which sounded too fussy for me. I’m lazy.

I looked around the web and found this recipe from Taste of Home. I only changed it a little, because I am incapable of following a recipe without changing anything.

I’m sure roasting the rhubarb would produce a greater depth of flavor but I did not want to turn on the oven in this heat so I just cooked it on the stovetop with the sugar. I cut the sugar in half because I knew I was going to use crystallized ginger instead of fresh because I love it. I added a little honey too.

Recipe:

3 cups sliced fresh rhubarb
1 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
juice of one small lemon
1 teaspoon chopped candied ginger

First I chopped up the rhubarb and tossed it in a pot with the sugar and honey and cooked it on med-low heat till it was saucy. I didn’t time it but I’d say it was 15 minutes or so. Then I put it in the fridge to cool.

I chopped up the candied ginger.  When the rhubarb was cool, I stirred in the lemon juice to loosen it up a little, then added the milk and cream.  I stirred in the ginger and loaded it into my Cuisinart ice cream maker. So easy!!

Swedish Cream

I love Swedish Cream.

Smooth, pure white, creamy richness beautifully balanced by a fresh, tangy fruit sauce is my idea of a perfect desert. I was talking about it with my bestie, Darla a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. My husband had never had it and explaining it to him didn’t do it justice. I decided to give making it a try. I looked at a lot of recipes online and decided to try this recipe from Your Home Based Mom 

It turned out really well but there are a few things I would change next time. The cream seemed a little sweet to me (hubby liked it the way it was) so I might lower the sugar to about ½ a cup next time, just to suit my personal taste. Also I used vanilla paste that has sugar in it so that could be the problem. I felt the vanilla was a little strong – I might cut that down to just a teaspoon. Using vanilla extract instead would probably solve both these problems.

The other proportions were perfect though; it turned out thick, creamy and smooth.

The sauce is what I would do differently. I would probably use just ¾ c of water and cook it a little less. I liked this sauce but I want something more intensely berry flavored.

It did hit the spot. I should have made servings half the size I did, though. They didn’t look that big to me but Mike and I were both about to tap out about halfway through. It is pretty rich.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Cream

• 1 Tablespoon plain gelatin
• ¼ C cold water
• 2 C heavy whipping cream
• ¾ C granulated sugar
• 1 C plain greek yogurt
• 1 C sour cream
• 1½ tsp vanilla paste or extract
• Raspberries for garnish

Raspberry Sauce

• 1 pint fresh  raspberries, I added a handful of backberries form my back yard as well
• 2 C water plus 2 Tablespoons water, divided
• ⅓ C sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch

For the cream:

Mix gelatin into cold water and allow to stand for one minute

Combine whiping cream, sugar and soaked gelatin in a pan.

Cook over medium heat until gelatin dissolves, approx. 5 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and cool for 15 minutes

Mix in yogurt, sour cream and vanilla.

Pour mixture into individual cups. I used 4 and it was a little too much for one serving. Try 6 or 8. I actually used a wide-mouth canning funnel for this. It worked really well and kept the mixture from getting all over the edges of the glasses.

Refrigerate until firm.

Top with raspberry sauce.Refrigerate until the sauce is a little thicker so it will hold up the berry. It will still fall over easily but it’ll have a bit more support if the sauce is cold.

Raspberry Sauce

In a pan combine the berries, water and sugar.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Mash up raspberries pour through a strainer, pressing down on the solids with a silicone spatula to all the  remove seeds.

Add cornstarch to remaining 2 Tbsp water, stir until smooth. make suer you get all the lumps out.

Add into raspberry mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly.

Cook over low heat until reduced down a little.

Cool in the fridge.

Add to top of Swedish Cream.

Here are a bunch of gratuitous images of this decadent dessert just because I’m so excited to know how to make it:

 

Recipe only sligtly altered from Your Home Based Mom