Happy Almost Australia Day everybody!
Well, my life has been pretty boring of late. It's pretty much been a case of rowing and napping, repeated a billion times. Oh, and baking of course :)
As I'm writing there are angry clouds in the sky, and gusts of wind rattling the poor trees, who are sick and tired of being pushed around. They've had to endure the less-than-lovely climatic conditions for the past few days (and let's face it, most of the summer), and it looks like they will have to put up with the mean, wild weather for another week or more!
This doesn't bode well for Australia Day, which is this Thursday for all you non-Australians out there. Australia Day is usually a time of hot, sunny, clear days, so most people would have had barbecues planned, or spending a nice, peaceful day out on the lake or at the beach... But perhaps not this year!
Perhaps a 'Christmas in July'-type event would be more appropriate. Australia Day-in-July?
Maybe I'll create a sandy beach inside my house, and turn all the lights and heaters in the house on, and play backyard cricket indoors, with all Mum's breakable vases around. Sounds good, right?
I thought I was being really clever by making these chilled-icy-treat versions of the traditional Australian lamington. I thought they could be enjoyed on an ideally sunny, outdoorsy kind of Australia Day.
But aargh damn you unpredictable 2012 weather! It would seem that you have tried to rain on my parade again! (See what I did there? With the weather pun? Hm?)
But nay! These will taste just as yummy inside my house, on my fake beach.
But seriously, people, I am pretty proud of my little Aussie invention here. Lamingtons (for those of you who are not Australian) are traditionally a small cake made out of two layers of vanilla sponge, sandwiched together with a layer of strawberry jam in the middle, and coated with a layer of chocolate icing and dessicated coconut. So I thought, hey, this could taste super good in icecream-form!
I made two types of ice cream - vanilla, and strawberry jam, and they taste just like the traditional cake, except smooth and creamy and cold! I put them on paddlepop sticks and coated them in the chocolate and coconut, and then WOW THEY LOOK REALLY SIMILAR TO
LAMINGTONS!
I was extremely happy with the way they turned out. They look so similar to the real thing on the outside, and then you bite into the middle and get the surprise layered hit of vanilla and strawberry jam and it's so delicious and fun to eat and gah I love them so much!
Yay for foods that look like other foods!
I hope you make them and enjoy them, whatever the weather.
Lamington Icecreams
Makes about 12
Ingredients:
2 cups full cream milk
A pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
4 cups thickened cream
8 large egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup strawberry jam
About 12 paddlepop sticks
350g dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
3 tbsp milk
1 cup dessicated coconut
Method:
Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan.When the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture is starting the bubble at the edges, add the vanilla bean paste and stir. Take off the heat.
Let's make a little ice bath! Place a big (2-litre capacity) bowl inside an even bigger bowl that is partially filled with iced water. Pour the cream into the top bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Pour a little of the warm milk mixture into the yolks, and whisk to combine. Then add the egg mixture back into the original milk mixture in the saucepan, and combine again.
Cook over low heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the saucepan constantly, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
Through a seive placed over the top of the bowl on top of the ice bath , strain through the custard mixture. Stir over the ice bath until cool, add the vanilla extract, and then divide into two smaller bowls 3/4 of one mixture in one, and 1/4 in another. Cover the larger portion of the two with cling wrap, and chill in the fridge for minimum 2 hours.
In the smaller portion bowl, mix in the strawberry jam until evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Cover and chill, minimum 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the vanilla mixture from the fridge and churn in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once frozen, but still soft, pour half of the icecream into a lined (cling or baking paper) rectangular or square slice pan, of about 25x20cm dimensions. Even out with a spatula, and freeze until hard. Freeze the remaining vanilla portion in a bowl or airtight container until ready for use.
Remove the strawberry jam icecream from the fridge, and churn in the icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. (You will need either a second, fully frozen freeze bowl to do this immediately, or you will have to fully refreeze the first one.) Spread a thin layer of the strawberry jam icecream over the frozen vanilla layer in the tray, and freeze again.
About 10 minutes before bringing out the layered icecream, allow the remaining vanilla portion to soften. Then, spread evenly over the strawberry layer and refreeze, minimum 1 hour.
Once frozen, take the icecream layers out of the tray, and, using a sharp knife, divide into 4x4cm squares. Work quickly! Stick a paddlepop stick into the middle of each one (as below), place back on lined trays or containers, and refreeze.
In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water on the stove, melt the chocolate and butter until shiny. Let cool for a bit, stir in the milk until combined and thinned out, and transfer to a tall and wide glass or jug. Line a baking tray, and shae out the coconut into a thin layer.
Again working quickly, remove the pops from the freezer, dip in the melted chocolate mixture, and then in the coconut, coating all sides. Place back onto the tray, and then quickly back into the freezer.
