With some days still nearing 30C, I think that cold canapés are still in order! So, in a twist to sweet sorbets, I made this savoury granita, great for an end-of-summer party!
Bloody Mary Granita Canapés
Posts tagged Frozen delights
What I ate: 2 Ingredient Mango Froyo
Summer, the season of sweet ripe fruits and plenty of inspiration! So what do you do when you buy mangoes in bulk and they’re ripening at a faster pace than you can eat them? Make delicious desserts of course!
There is definitely a place for elaborate ice creams and cold, icy sweet treats when the mercury is rising and sweat is beading on your forehead, but I find that it’s so easy to fall into the trap of depending on a large amount of frozen treats to cool off.
Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream
Sometimes you plan to do things, and sometimes things get away from you. I had originally wanted to do a pumpkin ice cream for the Christmas/Thanksgiving season, but kept putting it off and putting it off…and so here it is now!!
I used this David Leibowitz’s recipe for pumpkin ice cream, just with a few tweaks here and there. I steamed the pumpkin instead of roasting it, because I wanted a slightly lighter flavour, and instead of the 180g of pumpkin puree the recipe called for, I used about 540g, because that was the amount of pumpkin I had and I wanted to compensate for the more lightly flavoured pumpkin puree. I also used thickened cream, instead of double cream, which would have reduced the fat percentage even more. The result was a slightly denser ice cream, with slightly less air whipped in due to the lesser percentage of fat in the final custard.
It reminded me of warm, sweet, spiced pumpkin breads that I used to get from the bakery, but in a cold, creamy package. If you’re a fan of the pumpkin, I definitely recommend that you try this ice cream.
Party Food Roundup: The Sweets
CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!!! And with christmas being just two days away, I’m presenting my last roundup: the sweets. Everyone needs a little bit of sugar to keep them going, and here are my favourite sweet recipes for last minute desserts.
It’s hot and time for fruity sorbets. First up on the list, this Lychee and Lemon Sorbet: made entirely out of fruit juice, this sweet treat is incredibly refreshing to end the meal with.
2. Easy Lemon Tiramisu
Tiramisu – which means ‘pick me up’ – is a favourite at any party, and this lemon version a summery adaptation of a rich italian dessert. Find the recipe here.
3. Pineapple, Lime and Chilli Sorbet
I love the mixture of savoury and sweet, and the addition of chilli to this frozen treat is just perfect for the spice lovers, like me! Find the recipe for Pineapple, Lime and Chilli Sorbet here.
4. Jelly Slice
What to do when you’re told not to bring a thing? Jelly slice, of course!
5. Pomegranate Iced Tea
I remember going Christmas parties, and there’s always someone who always forgets the drinks. Well, you can always bring an iced tea to your next party! Recipe here.
6. Blood Orange Sorbet
I know I’ve put up a lot of sorbet recipes, but it is summer, and I’m using the excuse that I’ve bought an ice cream machine for me as an early Christmas present. Here’s a refreshingly tart recipe for a blood orange sorbet, made just with some juice and sugar!! Also works if you want to use pomegranate juice instead of blood orange.
Pineapple and Guava Sorbet
With the temperatures climbing, it’s time to once again dust off the ice cream machine, and get cracking on those frozen treats that make a hot day bearable.
This time I chose to go for a tropical themed sorbet because I love how it evokes images of being in the tropics, by the beach…and also because my local green grocer had a special on guava juice. I simply mixed pineapple one part pineapple juice to two parts guava juice, and dissolved 25% by volume of sugar – the magic sorbet ratio provided for by David Lebovitz.
Random Notes from Hawaii
Musubi
I went to Hawaii recently! And while I’ve got a lot of photos to process, and posts to write, I thought that I might start with all the random things that I thought was interesting in Hawaii.
SPAM is HUGE in Hawaii. Apparently, the people of Hawaii consume more SPAM per person than anywhere else in the US. Even on the shelves in the local grocery store, there are more varieties of SPAM than I’ve ever seen anywhere else. Musubi (pictured above) is an example of the omnipresent SPAM, mixed with the distinct Japanese influence from migrants after the war. A slice of SPAM is fried, coated in a terriyaki sauce, and placed on top of a shaped handful of sushi rice, secured with a piece of nori (seaweed).
I would suggest you give it a go if you visit Hawaii for the cultural aspect. It didn’t exactly rock my world in terms of flavour combination or innovation, but it’s still pretty cool and good fun. And surprisingly filling too, though for a complete meal I would suggest supplementing with some fruit/veg. 😉
In my late night prowling of grocery stores – they need more 24hr grocery stores around here! – I also found this!
These sugar cane stirrers are about as unprocessed a form of cane sugar you can get, I think. I’m sure that it would be great to sweeten your coffee or tea – they remind me of the Persian rock sugar stirrers that you can get – I bought some because I thought it would be cool to use as a sweetener/decorative item for a cocktail. The original thought was that I’d use it to sweeten a Caprioska, but I haven’t opened the packet yet. Given that Hawaii used to be known for its sugarcane plantations, these are not as common as I would’ve thought, but you can still get them in grocery and convinience stores.
Also in the grocery store – have I mentioned how much I love Foodland? – are their selection of ready-to-eat items.
My favourite breakfast while I was there was a simple half of a ripe papaya, with a squeeze of lime over the top. Simple but satisfying.
Poké is another ready to eat item from the grocery store, and I’ve developed a mild addiction to it. I’ve been back in Sydney for about a week now, and I’m still suffering from withdrawals.
From left: Tako poké, spicy ahi poké
Poké, from my understanding, is raw cubes of fish (or pieces of seafood), in a variety of marinades. Common ingredients in the marinade include garlic, ginger, shoyu, green onions. Spicy poké commonly uses kochujang, a korean chilli paste. Limu poké uses limu, which is the Hawaiin word for seaweed.
The most common fish I’ve seen used is ahi, which is tuna. Tako (Octopus) and salmon poké are also widely found.
If snacking on tub after tub of raw fish is a bit much for you, you can also get poké bowls, which are bowls of rice topped with poké. At about $5 a pop, those bowls became my go-to lunch options. There are also other pre-packed rice bowls with other toppings.
$6.95!! I don’t think I’d necessarily get a bowl with that much ikura that cheap in Sydney. Like I said, I’m suffering withdrawals big time.
And if you’re feeling the heat after a satisfying lunch, then try to drop by Waiola for a Hawaiin shaved ice. Delicious and refreshing, it’s basically finely shaved ice that melt like snowflakes on your tongue, covered in syrup. I got a banana and lime one – green and gold! – but you can get a whole variety of flavours, with various toppings like pearl and mochi.
The biggest thing that I’ve found is that the people of Hawaii are just so nice and hospitable. Every local that I’ve asked has happily told me their recommendations for foodie destinations, and even what their favourite dish on the menu is.
I miss Hawaii already. =(
Pineapple, Lime and Chilli Sorbet
Like any person with a new toy, I’m completely obsessed with different flavours of sorbets/ice creams/frozen treats right now. Anything becomes and inspiration, and everyone knows I love trying new things. Well, a long time ago I came across a recipe for Lime and Chilli Sorbet, and because limes can be expensive all by their lonesome, I thought to finish that tropical theme and use pineapple juice as well.
Lychee and Lemon Sorbet
It’s hot. It’s really hot. I know, I’m from Singapore and I should be used to heat worse than this right? And I should stop my whinging? Well whether I whinge or not, IT’S STILL HOT. And having been in Sydney for a few years now, I know that the hottest is still to come. So I think that it’s a good time to start making fruity frozen treats that will get us through to hot chocolate weather again.
As when I made my blood orange sorbet, the basic ratio is simple: for every cup of liquid, you add a quarter cup of sugar. So for this mixture, I used:
- 2 3/4 cups lychee juice**
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
**Not lychees in syrup. I bought unsweetened lychee juice in at a small green grocer, and it was a blend of lychee and grape.
Simply mix the lychee juice and sugar in a saucepan over low heat just till the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice, then chill in the fridge overnight and churn according to your ice cream maker instructions.
What I got was an incredibly refreshing sorbet that wasn’t too sweet because of the addition of the lemon. If you feel like the mixture is not tart enough for you, feel free to adjust it to your taste. As long as the basic ratio of liquid (unsweetened) to sugar is correct, you will still get a smooth, almost juicy frozen treat.
Just a little something to ease the summer heat to come. =)