Flour Child Bakery opens in Virginia Beach!

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Showing posts with label raspberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raspberry. Show all posts

Friday, June 26, 2009

White Chocolate Raspberry-Swirl Gelato

Remember a few posts ago when I mentioned the 6 egg yolks I needed to use? Well, how about some gelato?! I was flipping through the pages in Frozen Desserts from Williams-Sonoma and as soon as I saw "6 egg yolks" as an ingredient I stopped. The result: White Chocolate Gelato! But I can't just settle for that. I made fresh raspberry sauce to swirl throughout it! The raspberries at the grocery store were HUGE and gorgeous. I couldn't resist the Buy 1 Get 1 Free sign! (Btw, Josh ate the other container of raspberries by himself!)

The verdict: In my opinion, this gelato is about a 4 out of 5. Josh gave it a 5. Actually after his first bite, he gave me the look that said it was a 5. I didn't think it tasted like white chocolate. Maybe I didn't use the right white chocolate. Next time I'll go for Lindt (my fave white chocolate). Also, after about the third bite, my mouth was totally numb and I could barely taste anything. I think a pinch of salt would help wake my tastebuds up. Other than that, it's creamy and delicious!



This photo wouldn't be possible without Photoshop. My good camera is still at the campground, so I'm using my old one.This is what it looked like before I Photoshopped it! =\
PS: Can someone explain to me the difference between ice cream and gelato?? Thanks! :P

UPDATE: Okay, thanks to the varying facts and contradicting answers I got on the ice cream vs. gelato topic, I decided to do some reading and quote an answer from a trusted source. From The Dessert Bible by Chris Kimball:
"Ice cream and gelato are almost the same thing—basically just flavored, frozen egg custards—except gelato has more intense flavor and a lower sugar level. Gelatos are most often made with assertive flavors such as hazelnut, coffee, chocolate, or combinations... In the end, I decided that gelato is nothing more than the Italian word for ice cream, with one twist—the flavors are intense, much more so than with American ice cream, which is mildly flavored by comparison."
In that case, this gelato desparately needs its white chocolate flavor bumped up! :D

White Chocolate Raspberry-Swirl Gelato (adapted from Frozen Desserts by Williams-Sonoma)
Makes about 1 quart
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks
4 oz. white chocolate, chopped (next time I'd use 6 oz.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange-flower water or rose water, optional

Raspberry Swirl Sauce (my own recipe)
1 6-oz. container of fresh raspberries
1 tablespoon Chambord or any berry liqueur
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

In a saucepan, whisk together milk, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream until blended.

Place the saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves and small bubbles form around the edges, 4-5 minutes. Do not allow to come to a boil. Begin whisking the yolks while slowly pouring 1/4 of the hot liquid into the yolks. Then whisk the yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (160-170 degrees F), 4-5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the chopped white chocolate over the top of the custard and let stand 1 minute. Stir gently until the chocolate is melted and the custard is smooth. Stir in vanilla extract and flower water, if using. Pour the hot custard through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and cool completely in an ice bath, 30-45 minutes. Once the custard has cooled to room temperature, remove it from the ice bath. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a “skin” from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.

While custard chills, prepare the raspberry swirl sauce. In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce and pulse until well blended. Pour through a fine mesh sieve, and discard the seeds. Refrigerate until needed.

Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Gelato is finished when it reaches the consistency of thick whipped cream. Pour 1/4 of the gelato into a plastic freezer container. Drizzle some of the raspberry liquid over the gelato and swirl with a toothpick. Continue layering gelato and raspberry sauce, ending with the sauce. Cover tightly and freeze for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Cupcake Poll #22 - Where Have All The Raspberries Gone?

Last week raspberries went on sale. I guess they were trying to squeeze the last few raspberries into the store before the season ended, because those were the puniest looking berris I'd ever seen. I bought the only 2 containers that had good looking berries in them. I brought them home, froze them on a single layer on a baking sheet, and put them in a freezer bag (à la Alton Brown). Now it's time to use them! All three choices this week are recipes that contain raspberries. You will choose their fate!
<--- REMEMBER: Only votes in the poll on the left-hand sidebar will count. Comments are nice, but click one of those over there!
UPDATE: I'm making my dad's birthday cake today, so the poll has been extended to next Tuesday, Sept. 16!


This week's poll:
  • Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes:
    Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry jam swirled in, topped with chocolate raspberry frosting and a fresh raspberry!
  • Raspberry Buckle Cupcakes:
    Lemon cupcakes with a dollop of raspberry filling in the center, topped with a crumbly cookie dough topping!
  • Almond Raspberry Cream Cupcakes:
    Rich almond scented cupcakes sandwiching fresh raspberry cream!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Crystal Light® Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I've been so busy lately that I didn't get a chance to post a new cupcake poll for this week. So, I let Josh (my boyfriend) choose again! Lucky him, two of his favorite cupcakes in a row. :) He really loves bright-flavored cupcakes, so we sat at the kitchen table brainstorming cupcake flavors. Eventually, he thought of a GENIUS idea! What if I mix Crystal Light sugar-free lemonade mix into some cupcake batter and frosting to make a lemonade cupcake?!?!!? That kid has an awesome brain! I followed his advice and made up a recipe that is totally delicious. The cupcake is soft and moist with a nice lemony zing. The frosting tastes just like the raspberry lemonade. It's so creamy and refreshing. These cupcakes are fantastic for summer! Enjoy them with a nice cold glass of Crystal Light (they should be paying me for this kind of advertisement!).
PS: I figured out that the secret to perfect cupcakes is making them with a hand mixer as opposed to a stand mixer. I've found that stand mixers tend to over-mix the batter. But they're great for making frosting!
Ingredients (I later added another packet of lemonade to the recipe) Mixing the lemonade with milk.
All scooped and ready to bake!
Cooling...
Luscious, creamy frosting!
Pretty swirls of frosting. All fancied up!
These are original recipes.

Crystal Light® Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temp
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 packets Crystal Light® On The Go Raspberry Lemonade mix
zest of one lemon

Frosting
4 oz. Neufchâtel cheese (or cream cheese), at room temp
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons water
1 packet Crystal Light® On The Go Raspberry Lemonade mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk or sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating on high speed for 30 seconds between each addition. Scrape sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.
5. In a measuring cup, combine milk and lemonade. Mix well.
6. Add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. (You should have 3 additions of flour and 2 additions of milk.) Mix just until flour is incorporated.
7. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are fine). Cool on a wire rack. When cupcakes are completely cool, make the frosting.
8. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on high speed for 20 seconds. Slowly add confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until combined.
9. In a small measuring cup, mix water and lemonade until completely dissolved. Add lemonade mixture to the large bowl. Beat on high speed until frosting is thick and creamy.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 5

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Dean Jacobs® Cupcake Mix: White Chocolate & Raspberry

The winner of Cupcake Poll #19 is... White Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Raspberry Frosting! I bought the Dean Jacobs mix at TJ Maxx a few week's ago. The cupcakes were really easy to make. This was the first time in a long time that a recipe actually yielded exactly as many cupcakes as stated. The box said "Makes 12" and I got 12. What a miracle! The cupcakes came out very nice. They are soft and yummy. But they do not taste like white chocolate. They taste like a plain white cake mix with a very faint hint of raspberry (actually more like strawberry). The frosting doesn't taste like raspberry. It has a strange fruity taste, so I added some extract to help it out. We didn't have any raspberry flavoring, so I used about 1/4 teaspoon of strawberry flavoring. Overall, I'd say they really taste like Betty Crocker cupcakes covered in store-bought strawberry frosting. Delicious... but not quite worth $5.99.

IngredientsMixing for 2 minutes...
Ready to be baked for 16 minutes...
Cooling for 20 minutes...
Tada!
Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 2


PS: I'm working on an entry for tomorrow complete with a new recipe! I'll give you a hint... What's cool, creamy, and peach colored?