Decadent Peppermint Tart Ice Cream

Who doesn’t love a little caramel and mint! Who doesn’t adore a scrummy peppermint tart!

Peppermint tart being a firm South African favorite – made up of layers of caramel, cream, tennis biscuits and peppermint crisp chocolate… hmmm… rich and decadent.

Now that Spring has arrived and warmer days dawn upon us… lots of sunshine and warmth still to come! We will all be scratching in the fridge and freezers for something cold to cool us down on those wretched hot and sticky days. I have to admit, I don’t ever look forward to summer… sigh!

I love ice cream and dessert. And I am in love with this ice cream base recipe because you can choose to make any flavor you like! Vanilla, chocolate, fresh fruit, nuts, cheesecake, caramel, burfi… oh, you name it and you can create it!

Best of all, you DON’T need to buy an ICE CREAM MAKER! Who has place for it anyway!

All you need is:

500 ml fresh cream

1 tablespoon sugar

2 caps vanilla essence

1 tin caramel treat

1 packet tennis biscuits

1 peppermint crisp chocolate, chopped

2 flakes, crumbled (optional)

1 teaspoon coffee (optional)

1 tablespoon of water

Mix the coffee and water. Leave aside.

Whip the fresh cream with the sugar, coffee and vanilla until stiff peak stage. Be very careful as you reach this stage as your cream can split very easily.

Empty out the caramel into a bowl and add a little of the cream to it. Stir well. Now add to the cream and fold in gently.

Break the biscuits into quarters and fold into the cream mixture, together with the chocolate.

Pour into a 2 litre ice cream container. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and use a skewer to blend it into the ice cream or sprinkle the top with peppermint crisp.

Place into the freezer without the lid. When frozen seal the ice cream with the lid.

Now that your ice cream is ready – enjoy with friends and family. The perfect way to cool down.

Notes:

– I used the mint flavored caramel treat. Using the regular one will work just as well.

– add more chocolate if you would like it more minty. The chocolate sauce at the end is optional.

– you can add coconut to this ice cream as an extra.

– if you do not get peppermint crisp and tennis biscuits where you live, use coconut biscuits and a peppermint chocolate that is available to you. Mint aero will also work very well.

– the standard base of this ice cream is 500ml fresh cream whipped with a tin of condensed milk folded through. You can then flavor this add you like. Just remember to always fold in whatever you add.

fresh cream ready to be whipped

 

Coffee awaits…

 

Whipped cream – stiff peak stage

 

Some cream to be mixed in the caramel

 

Cream and caramel mixed. This makes the folding process easier.

 

Caramel poured into the cream. Ready to be folded in.

 

Biscuits and chocolate getting folded in. 

 

Chocolate sauces blending

Easy Tin Roof ice cream – no churn

2 cups fresh cream, whipped
1 tin condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon caramel essence
Pinch of salt
2 cups roasted nuts
1/4 cup caramel
1 slab melted chocolate
2L tub or individual cups
Whip fresh cream until stiff peaks stage.

Blitz the nuts in your food processor until the nuts are a mix of crumbs and rough bits.

Mix the condensed milk, salt and essences.

Take 1/3 of the cream and mix into the condensed milk mixture. Then fold the rest of the cream and condensed milk. Add the nuts and continue to fold.

Fill your tub a quarter way up. Drizzle with caramel and chocolate then swirl with a skewer. Add more ice cream and continue with the caramel and chocolate until the tub is almost full.

Pop into freezer until frozen.

Enjoy!

Note :

I used 1 cup roasted pecans and 1 cup roasted almonds. I also added 5-6 tennis biscuits broken.

Burfi Ice Cream – no churn

I will look for any opportunity to try something new…

I have tried many flavours with this easy ice recipe. Strawberry, tin roof, chocolate tin roof, mini magnums, passion-strawberry, mango, apple crumble, pineapple and mixed fruit… AND NOW….

My take on BURFEE ICE CREAM…. I was quite surprised that it tasted so similar to the burfi ice that you would buy in store.

It tastes soooooo good! Nom, nom, nom…

Burfi Ice Cream Recipe :
500ml fresh cream
1 tin condensed milk
2 teaspoons crushed cardamon
2 drops rose essence
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 drops zaffron essence
1 teaspoon cardamon essence (optional)
1 handful roasted almonds, chopped roughly
1 heaped teaspoon milk powder
2 tablespoons lightly toasted coconut
Chopped roasted pecans for the top

Whip fresh cream with all the essences and crushed cardamon till stiff peak stage (lift beaters and it will hold its shape). Make a paste with the milk powder and a little water, add to cream and give one light beat.

Fold condensed milk into the cream. Add chopped almond and fold into mixture.

Pour ice cream mixture into a large loaf tin, container or even a 2L ice cream tub.

Sprinkle coconut and pecans on top. Cover with foil if using a loaf tin or seal with the lid and freeze.

Enjoy!

Note:

– I used Klim milk powder

– You can use rose water if you don’t have the essence. The rose essence is much more concentrated than the water.

– You could add almonds as your topping too instead of pecan.

– You can adjust the recipe according to your preferences.

– Add a teaspoon of cardamon powder and add more if you like the flavour. The above quantity is not overpowering.

– Add your own twists…. Share your recipe on what you have tried…

Caramel Tart

Rich, sweet caramel flavors perfectly layered with coconuty biscuit. This is the same as the usual peppermint tart but I don’t always add the mint chocolate. You can substitute the flake for peppermint crisp or aero mint or any chocolate you prefer.

1 packet tennis biscuit

1 tin caramel treat

250ml fresh cream

Flake

Whole nut slab, chopped

Whip the fresh cream till soft peaks form. Mix in the caramel, chopped chocolate and crumble flake. Layer the tennis biscuit into a casserole spread a layer of the caramel mixture and layer biscuit again… Continue to this until the mixture is finished. Refrigerate overnight.

Optional: Cut into slices, remove and place into muffin cups for a neat look. Pipe with fresh cream.

Creamy Vegetables

2 gem squash

1 butternut (medium sized)

1 tray yellow corn (usually 4 pieces on cob)

2 sweet potatoes

1 cinnamon stick (4cm long)

1 small green pepper

1 small red pepper

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tblsp butter

1 tin creamed style sweetcorn

1 cup fresh cream

Crushed garlic

Salt & pepper

Italian herbs

Cheese (optional)

Wash and cut vegetables and peppers into chunky pieces. The corn should be sliced to 3cm pieces.

Put all the vegetables and cinnamon into a big pot. Add 2 cups water and let the vegetables steam on a medium heat adding more water as you need. Let the water dry up completely once the veggies are cooked through.

Empty veggies into a casserole. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Saute onion in butter with garlic. Add sweetcorn. Stir well. Then add the fresh cream. Pour over vegetables. Top with cheese and sprinkle italian herbs over. Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes – 200 degrees.

Serve with saucy chicken, steak or even at your next BBQ/braai.