Lemon Amaretti Cream Pots

"And now for something completely different" - as they used to say on Monty Python.  I have been meaning to post this one for a bit.  And I thought we needed a sweet treat as a change-up to my recent posts.

This is a super simple recipe, and very delicious.  The wonderful Nigel Slater has this one in his book the kitchen diaries.  I love Nigel, and I really enjoy his TV cooking shows.  I made this recipe for Lambs' Ears Cookbook Club, as Nigel's book is our whole-year go-to this year.

getting ready to fold in all the delicious bits

Serves 6 (or less - hehehe):

ingredients:

300 mL/10 oz double/thickened cream

250g./9 oz Greek-style yoghurt (i.e. thick and plain)

280g./9.5 oz good quality lemon curd (homemade would be good)  see Notes

60g./2 oz mascarpone (optional)

100g./3.5 oz amaretti biscuits, bashed up till you have sandy bits and chunky bits and gravelly bits   see Notes

a handful of slivered almonds for serving (optional)

amaretti

Method:

Whip your cream till you have soft peaks, then fold in the yoghurt, lemon curd and mascarpone

Now take your bashed-up amaretti biscuit crumbs and chunks, and tip them into your cream mixture

Fold them gently in, and spoon into small dishes/ramekins

Into the fridge for a few hours, then serve with small biscuits (maybe more amaretti?)

And add the slivered almonds, if using

Notes:

I ended up using 350g. of lemon curd!  So sue me; I like it :=)  And 190g. of amaretti

ingredients gathered

looking good

yes quite delicious

and I threw in some mini nocciola (hazelnut) wafer rolls

and here's some yoghurt

(Oh, did I mention it's my birthday on the 23rd?  Today as this is posted.  Heading out to Bookclub tonight at our local bookshop The Quick Brown Fox; we are reading The Nocturnals by Frances Whiting, a local writer and journalist.  And she will be there!!)

Walnut and Parmesan Ice Cream

Ice cream?  Almost Winter?  Does this compute?  Mais oui, mes amis.  Of course it does.  Ice cream is for every season, don't you know.  But Parmesan, you ask?  Well, only a small and optional amount, really - just for a bit of a laugh.  To be honest, Mr P. said he'd prefer it sans parmesan, but I liked it.  It did look slightly curdled, but I thought it tasted fine.  But leave it out if you are a wee bit afraid of the cheesy goblins a-coming for you :=)

I had been thinking about concocting this recipe for a while (I may have seen something similar on a YouTube video sometime).  And I had a jar of walnut butter (my brainwave) in the pantry, so I began ...

ready for the freezer

ingredients:

130g./4.5 oz walnuts, toasted   see Notes

30-40g./1-1.5 oz parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

450 mL/15 oz whipping cream - and whip it good!  You want soft peaks

1 x 395g./14 oz tin of sweetened condensed milk

50g./1.8 oz mascarpone

2 tsp vanilla extract

50g./1.8 oz walnut butter

100g./3.5 oz white chocolate chips

pinch of sea salt flakes

a healthy amount of chocolate sprinkles

ingredients gathered 

whip the cream, and add the other ingredients

well, now you add the walnuts and white choc chips

walnuts

Method:

First toast your nuts!  And grate your parmesan cheese

Yes, you guessed it - next, you place all the ingredients (except the nuts and choc chips) into a big mixing bowl, and combine well with a large spoon (or give it a quick whizz with the electric handbeaters)

And stir in the nuts and choc chips!

Pour/spoon the mixture into a lined loaf tin (you can line it with clingfilm or freezer liner) - make sure there is plenty of clingfilm so you can cover the top when you put it in the freezer

Throw on heaps of chocolate sprinkles then - 

Freeze overnight, taking out the tin about twenty minutes before you want to eat it

Decorate with more sea salt flakes, white choc chips and chocolate sprinkles when serving

Notes:

I toasted my nuts in the oven for about 10-12 minutes @ 170C/340F

I used extra sharp Parmesan, but a milder one could be good too

Try milk or dark chocolate chips, or other nut butters

add the sprinkles and whack into the freezer overnight

I gave a cupful to our lovely new-ish neighbour

one guess!

cheesy!

Blueberry Soup with Caramelised Nut Clusters

Aka: Blabarsoppa med karamelliserade notter!  Swedish, don't you know? :=)  Blueberry soup has me intrigued, as the influencers say.  Or as Cherry the English YouTuber often says - "Colour me intrigued!"  I've made an Israeli fruit soup many years ago which was pretty tasty: made with fresh cherries, which took me forever to de-pit with just a knife and fingers.  But blueberry soup is new to me, and possibly you.  And no need for a cherry and olive (de-)pitter gadget.  

This dish is from Rachel Khoo's The Little Swedish Kitchen.  You know that lovely English lass from the TV show (and book) The Little Paris Kitchen, who married a Swede and moved to Sweden.  Let's cut to the chase - I tried making another recipe from this book - a poached chicken breast with pickled strawberry salad.  My dears, it was not good!  The chicken is poached in milk and stock; sadly it turned out like old boots!  The crows ended up with that. The salad was just ... odd, and the flavours didn't go well together.  Abandon ship!

Phase 2: I made this soup!  Not quite sure if it's meant to be a dessert or a breakfast, or a starter to a meal, as the Israeli cherry soup was.  There were oddities in the recipe (bits left out), and I am feeling a bit antsy about Rachel's recipes now.  The nut clusters are not sweet (a good thing in my opinion), and the soup is very fruity, and for me, best served chilled.  But not sure I'd ever feel the need to make this one again, to be honest.  (But it's worth a try - honest!!)  With a bit more sweetener, and a bit of spice, this could be great for breakfast!

      

crunchy, a bit savoury, and very fruity!

Serves 4:

ingredients:

For the nut clusters:

100g./3.5 oz walnuts

100g./3.5 oz pecans

50g./1.8 oz almond or hazelnut meal (aka ground almonds, or hazelnuts)

50g./1.8 oz golden syrup     see Notes

a pinch of sea salt flakes

For the soup:

500g./18 oz frozen blueberries

1 banana, sliced

2 Tbs water

a pinch of sea salt

sugar or honey (optional)

4 heaped Tbs plain yoghurt, to serve -  Greek-style is great here!

yep, blueberries!

walnuts

one guess!  Yep, a bananaaa

Method:

On goes your oven to 200C/390F to get toasty, while you roughly chop your nuts, and toss with the nut meal, golden syrup and salt

Line a baking sheet with baking paper, and spread the nuts over

Bake for around 20 minutes till toasty and golden (or kinda dark in this case), stirring every so often

Now for the soup - the blueberries and sliced banana go into a saucepan with the water and salt

Whack on the saucepan lid, and let the fruit simmer on a medium heat for a few minutes, giving it a stir here and there

When the berries have softened (Rachel says melted), and it's starting to bubble, let it simmer for another 2 minutes

Cool for a few minutes, then zap in the food processor - you can add a bit of water if you want it a bit looser in consistency - I ended up adding 12 Tbs of water (12 x 15 mL=180 mL)!

And throw in a bit more sweetener, if you fancy (and maybe a tiny bit of cinnamon?)

Rachel says you can serve this warm or chilled, with a swirl of yoghurt and some nut clusters on the top of your bowl or mug

Notes:

I reckon you could use other berries or fruits of your choice, like the afore-mentioned cherries

Just FYI: 1 banana weighs on average 118g./4 oz; the ladyfinger I used weighed 170g., and after peeling was 90g.

If you don't have golden syrup, use honey or maple syrup - and I reckon you could add a wee bit more than 50g.!

I made this recipe for BKD Cookbook Club, hosted by Jo each month.  We are doing Scandi recipes this month, from a cookbook of your choosing.  I do actually have a massive tome of Nordic cooking, but grabbed Rachel's as it was close to hand.  

pecans

nutty clusters ingredients

and baked till golden (brown)

fruit ready for "melting"

mm, well, looking kinda weird but ...

blitzed in the food processor

spoon on the yoghurt and throw on your nuts! :=)

Peppermint Ice Cream Loaf (Or should that be Ice-Cream Loaf?)

Here it is!  One quick, final post for the year.  I thought I'd throw together an ice-cream loaf as it is stinking hot today (as YouTuber Emmymade would say - hehehe).  And in fact, she inspired me with her recipe for mint Viennetta!  Sadly, Mr P. does not like mint-flavoured anything so I will have to eat this all by myself.  Oh the tragedy!! :=)  

Mr P. did finish off the plate for me when I was putting the loaf back into the freezer last night.  Very brave of him, indeed.  He said he only managed it because there were wafers :=)  Now to co-erce my neighbours into taking a big (huge) slice of this!  

I know I've mentioned this before, but as a child, my family lived behind a butcher's shop in the mountains.  The butcher owned a goat, which he tied up in our backyard.  The goat would sometimes get off its tether (how?) and chew up mum's laundry on the outdoor washing line.  

There were not one but two outdoor loos (dunnies/toilets/outhouses) in the yard.  Surrounded by much, much mint growing wild.  You can imagine what we imagined the mint was doing!  It almost put me off for many a year, and I have never been able to bring myself to eat mint sauce.  Anyways, what a ramble.  Merry festive season to you all, my virtual and IRL friends!  See you in 2026, with bells on!!

for the peppermint lovers!  Delicious!

Sherry's Recipe:

Serves (maybe) 10-12?  (depends on the size of your slice)

Ingredients:

1 Litre/34 oz good-quality vanilla bean ice cream

1 tsp vanilla paste

1/4 tsp green food colouring

1/2 tsp peppermint extract   see Notes

2 Peppermint Crisp chocolate bars

2 mint Aero bars

2 Flake bars

250g./9 oz dark chocolate  (I use 70% Lindt), melted

2 x 125g./4.4 oz packets of chocolate wafer biscuits   see Notes

Chantilly cream:

200 mL/7 oz whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 Tbs icing sugar mixture

Method:

Start this recipe early in the day, or even better, the day before you want to eat it

Firstly, bring out the ice cream tub so the ice cream can get soft enough to mix the good stuff thru' it

Grab a loaf tin (mine is 23 x12 x 6 cm), brush a small amount (1/2-1 tsp?) of a neutral oil around the inside, and line with freezer film or plastic wrap, leaving a large overhang to fold over the whole shebang when freezing

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, and allow it to cool for 5 minutes or so

Spoon the ice cream into a large mixing bowl, add the vanilla, food colouring and peppermint extract, and stir thru' till beautifully green

Bash the heck out of the 2 Peppermint Crisp bars and one of the Flake bars (I used my cocktail muddler), into beautiful shards and chunks, and yep - stir 'em all in

Now start layering - spread a thin layer of the melted chocolate over the base of the loaf tin, then add a layer of the wafer biscuits

Next is a thick layer of the delightful green ice cream mixture, then another layer of the melted chocolate

On goes another layer of wafers, and ice cream, then place into the freezer for about half an hour, till the ice cream has firmed up a bit

And then top with the rest of the melted chocolate (you will probably need to zap it in the microwave again for a few seconds) and place back into the freezer for several hours, but probably best overnight

The next day, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla, and smear all over your green loaf which you have turned out onto a serving plate (which can happily go into the freezer)

Top with the smashed-up Aero bars and the other Flake bar

Back into the freezer for a bit to firm up, then bring it out for about 10 minutes so you can slice it up!

minty goodness - just don't plant it out near an outside dunny (toilet) :=)

Notes:

Try a bit less of the peppermint extract if you're worried that it may be too strong for you (and more of the food colouring if you want it incredibly vibrant green!)

FYI, I used one whole packet of the wafer biscuits, and about 2/3 of the second one

No idea if these chocolate bars exist in other countries, but just buy something with lots of peppermint flavour and chocolate - Peppermint Crisp has "green mint crystals", which are delightfully crunchy (and sometimes bloody!  I have cut the roof of my mouth more than once on them)

 

ingredients gathered

oil and line your loaf tin with freezer film or plastic wrap

spoon the ice cream into a large mixing bowl

stir in the colouring, extract and choc pieces

layer with the melted chocolate and wafers

spoon in the ice cream mixture and the melted chocolate

add another layer of ice cream

cover with the freezer film and place in the freezer

then add the final layer of chocolate

and smother with the Chantilly cream and shards of chocolate bars

not half-bad!

Pistachio And Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream aka Dubai Chocolate Ice Cream

I've read that it's becoming difficult to buy pistachios due to the Dubai chocolate craze.  Thankfully, I was able to buy a packet of shelled, unsalted kernels from a local (and expensive) grocer.  I'd thought about making an ice cream version, so I googled it.  Lots of versions came up, but some made a chocolate ice cream, to which they added the pistachio paste.  But I wanted mine to be green!

So this is my version of a Dubai pistachio and chocolate ice cream, using pretzels rather than kataifi.  To be honest, I couldn't be faffed finding the kataifi, and frying it up in butter!  "Salted pretzels will give texture and a bit of umami flavour", says I to myself.  (And you happily get rid of your aggressions with the bashing.)  So I made some chunky pretzel dust instead.  

There are a few steps to making this, but none are onerous, or particularly time-consuming.  You can do a bit at a time, or even some steps the day before.  Just whack it all together at the end, and freeze!  Be aware this is not a smooth ice cream, but has rather a grainy, and kinda/almost savoury facet to it.  But still delicious!

    

yep, looks fairly green, and a bit grainy :=)

Makes around 1.5L/51 oz:

ingredients:

70g./2.5 oz pistachios, toasted and chopped  see Notes

100g./3.5 oz pretzels, smashed with a muddler or rolling pin

200g./7 oz pistachio paste or cream  see Notes

40g./1.4 oz tahini   (I used hulled)

2 Tbs icing sugar  (for the paste mixture)

500 mL/17 oz thickened cream   see Notes

1-2 tsp vanilla extract   (I like lots!)

2 Tbs icing sugar (for the cream mixture)

a tin of condensed milk (395g./14 oz)

150g./5.3 oz chocolate bits/drops/buttons, or chop up a block!

Topping:

190g./6.7 oz dark and milk chocolate (your choice of % of each)

100 mL/3.4 oz thickened cream 

1-2 Tbs mascarpone (optional)

a handful (several tablespoons?) of toasted, chopped pistachios

a scattering of sea salt flakes (optional)

pistachios

pretzels

Method:

First toast your nuts (stir often) in a small frypan over a low heat, till they smell nutty, darken a wee bit in colour and start to make a popping sound - is that normal?  'Cos mine definitely popped!  And let 'em cool, then chop 'em up - as big or small as you like

Pretzel dust is next: take a big ziploc bag, tip in the pretzels, grab that muddler and whack 'em till you have a chunky dust: Do up the zip/seal first, you precipitate/reckless lot :=)

Scoop the pistachio paste and tahini into a medium mixing bowl, along with the icing sugar, and give it a whizz with your electric hand beaters - just to make a smooth(ish) paste/mixture

Now grab a large mixing bowl, pour in the cream, and add the vanilla and icing sugar

Give this a good whizzing, till you have soft but firm peaks - does this make sense?

Pour/spoon in the condensed milk to the cream (see how they reduced the size of the tin by 2 grams?  Cheeky!) and mix again till nicely combined

And spoon the pistachio mixture into the cream mixture, and give it another whisking till smooth

Stir thru' the chocolatey bits/drops/ chunks, the pretzel dust, and the nuts 

Spoon into your loaf tin lined with a generous amount of freezer film, or into an ice cream container with a lid (mine holds 1.4 Litres) - so I put the rest into a small container and gave it to our Persian friend who said it was soooo delicious, and made her day!

Pop into the freezer for an hour or so to firm up, before you add the topping - which you make by melting the chocolate and cream in a small-ish saucepan

Give it a good stir, and let it cool for a couple of minutes before adding the mascarpone, if using

Spread it thickly over the top of the ice cream (maybe even stir some of it thru the ice cream), scatter on the extra nuts and sea salt flakes, then back into the freezer (preferably overnight) till firm

Once again, I am letting you know this is NOT a smooth ice cream; it's kind of nutty and a bit chunky and grainy but delicious!

yes, you can use 2 of these, instead of the tin

Notes:

I suggest buying pistachio kernels that are shelled and unsalted

You can buy either pistachio paste or cream.  The paste is 100% nuts, with no additives so quite savoury in taste, while the cream has added sugar and oils 

I used thickened/whipping cream which has a minimum 35% milk fat - I had some leftover soft cream cheese too, so I added 2 Tbs, but not necessary at all!

Try this with your fave nut paste and nuts!  Be a rebel; doesn't have to be pistachios, 'cos they are dear, and may be hard to find

toast your nuts, baby!

and smash those pretzels!

ingredients gathered

whizz up the pastes and icing sugar

pour this mixture into the whipped cream mixture

I used white chocolate too!

melting the chocolate and cream for the topping

ready for the freezer

start scooping :)

rich and nutty, so scoop away :=)