Peaches and Cream Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

I am Summer, come to lure you away from your computer... come dance on 

my fresh grass, dig your toes into my beaches.

Milk Chocolate and Caramel Popcorn Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

"It's the picnic principle. Things taste better outdoors. And if it's a 

forbidden thing, so much the better." - Franny Billingsley

Passionfruit Sandwich Cookies ~ #Creative Cookie Exchange

I finished eating my cookies before I finished drinking my milk, 

so clearly I need some more cookies.

Blackberry and Cream Monte Carlos - #CrativeCookieExchange

How do you celebrate the end of summer vacation?  I remember growing up in Australia, and it seeming like summer vacation would go on forever.  Of course being the land Down Under our summer vacation happened around Christmas.  I am looking forward to seeing how all of the members of the #CreativeCookieExchange embrace this theme.

Sticky Mango Shortbread Bars ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

Spring is in the air, birds are singing,  April showers have given way to May flowers, and amazing produce is showing up at the Farmer's Markets.  It makes perfect sense that our theme this month for #Creative Cookie Exchange is Seasonal Spring Baking.

Fruit and Veggie Quick Bread ~ #TwelveLoaves

The theme for #TwelveLoaves this month is Summer Fun!  I don't know about you but I am definitely ready for some summer fun and can't wait for the long weekend - although honestly my idea of fun may involve catching up on sleep.

Tropical White Sangria

Sangria is a fruit-based wine punch predominately from Spain and Portugal, and it is just the thing on a hot summer's day.  Not only is it very refreshing but there are so many different ways to make it.  Both white and red versions are very popular.

We decided to go with a white version, or sangria blanca, for our July 4th celebration.  We love sangria because it is not too heavy and you can adapt it to any fruit you may have on hand. You can also add as much, or as little alcohol as you want, and you can vary the soda to make a completely different taste.  We used seltzer water but you could also try club soda, lemon-lime soda, ginger ale, a flavored mineral water, or even an orange-based soda.  Like I said, the possibilities are endless.

After mixing up the basics we placed it in the refrigerator overnight.  You can serve it straight away over ice, but I prefer to let the flavors muddle a little.  Once we were ready to serve we added the additional fruit and the soda.

Tropical White Sangria

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 x 1.5 liter bottle of white wine - I used a moscato 
• ½ cup white sugar, dissolved in a little hot water
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup pineapple
• 3 oranges, sliced  
• 2 lemons, sliced into wedges
• 2 limes, sliced into wedges
• 10 strawberries, cut in half
• 6 lychee, peeled, seeded, and cut in half
• 3 x 355 ml cans club soda or spritzer water

Preparation

1. Pour wine in the pitcher.
2. Lightly squeeze the juice from the lemon and lime wedges by hand into the pitcher.
3. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and orange slices and add sugar.
4. Add the orange juice and pineapple juice - stir.
5. Chill overnight.
6. Add strawberries and lychee.
7. Add club soda or seltzer just before serving. 
8. If you'd like to serve right away, use chilled white wine and serve over lots of ice.  
9. Addition ideas - peaches, handful of fresh blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, a shot of cointreau, brandy or rum, a cup of citrus-flavored soda.

Recipe adapted from a sangria recipe on About.com

Roasted Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Growing up in Australia it was perfectly normal for us to throw whole bananas on the BBQ, and once they were ready we would split them open and enjoy the contents - sometimes with a little ice cream, but mostly just plain.  Roasting them like this brought out all of their sugary goodness and when we BBQ today, I still add some bananas to the grill.

I always try to have bananas in the house.  They are one of my favorite fruits and I love them in baked goods too.  They are even great in a curry.  Thank goodness they are relatively inexpensive here as I tend to buy the big bag of them from Costco.  My eldest daughter tells me that in Australia they are currently $14.00 per kilo, that is about $7.00 per pound!  This is due to a cyclone which ravaged the trees up north.

When a recipe for Roasted Banana Ice Cream appeared on Michelle's blog, Brown Eyed Baker, I knew my family would go crazy for it.  I really should have known to double the batch because there were some very sad faces when it was all gone in a few hours.  This is such an easy ice cream to make because it is not custard-based.  The hardest thing you will have to do is roast the bananas and lift your blender and ice cream maker out of the cupboard - if you keep these items on your kitchen counter then you just halved your workload.

As usual I had trouble sticking to the original recipe.  I wanted to make it a little more like Bananas Foster so I added some Malibu rum to the bananas prior to baking, I used orange juice rather than lemon juice, and I substituted 1/2 a cup of whipping cream for some of the milk.  I think that next time a little toasted coconut would make a nice textural addition too.  The flavor of the blended roasted bananas and the milk/cream base is amazing.  I think that I could have eaten it with a spoon before it was even churned.  I did restrain myself and the reward was definitely worth it.  This ice cream is swoon-worthy.



Roasted Bananas Foster Ice Cream

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons Malibu rum
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ teaspoons orange juice
• ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
• prepared caramel sauce, optional 

Preparation 

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Slice the bananas into ½-inch pieces and toss them with the brown sugar, butter, and Malibu in a 2-quart baking dish.
• Bake for 40 minutes, stirring once during baking, until the bananas are browned and cooked through.
• Scrape the bananas and the thick syrup in the baking dish into a blender or food processor.
• Add the milk, cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, orange juice and salt, and purée until smooth.
• Chill the mixture for at least 8 hours (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.
• Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions (if the chilled mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it to thin it out).
• Serve with a drizzle of caramel sauce, optional.

Recipe by Brown Eyed Baker and adapted from The Perfect Scoop.

To Try Tuesday - Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Growing up I had a choice of vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate ice cream. My favorite back then was always chocolate. Sometimes we had Neapolitan but the strawberry always seemed to be the last lonely flavor in the container. Times have certainly changed because I now love strawberry ice cream, especially home-made strawberry ice cream that tastes like cheesecake.
 

When I first saw this recipe over at Diethood I knew I just had to make it. Not only did the ice cream sound to-die-for, but Kate's photos are stunning. I know that the ice cream will be the first of many things I want to try from her blog - they all look so good!
 

It is hard to believe that this is not a custard-based ice cream because it is so creamy. It is also a snap to make because all of the ingredients, except for the strawberries, go into a blender or food processor. The mix then cools for about two hours in the refrigerator before heading into the ice cream maker.

This ice cream really is like eating a strawberry cheesecake. I loved it in a waffle cone because this kind of mimicked the base of a cheesecake. It might not look like there is much ice cream in the photo above but I made sure I pushed lots of it down into the base of the cone. I think this batch may have lasted just over 24 hours in our household, with lots of sad faces when it was gone. I know that I will be making it again very soon.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup of half-and-half (I used heavy whipping cream)
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of chopped strawberries (if you like more berries, add another 1/2 cup - I did)

Preparation

1. Cut the cream cheese into pieces.
2. Put all ingredients, excluding the strawberries, into a food processor or blender.
3. Mix until smooth.
4. Put the mixture into the refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours.
5. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
6. 3 minutes before the ice cream is done, pour the chopped strawberries into the mixture through the ingredient spout on the ice cream maker.

Recipe by Diethood via David Lebovitz (The Perfect Scoop)