Sunday, July 13, 2014

Honeyed Buttermilk Ice Cream in Kataifi Nests

It’s gotten to be that time of year. It’s the season during which all I want to eat is ice cream. Ice cream or sorbet or granita for every meal would be fine with me. Luckily, I received a review copy of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Desserts so now I have some new options to keep my all-ice cream meals more varied. Here, you’ll find the same fabulous style of ice cream-making as that in Jeni Britton Bauer’s first book. There are unique flavor combinations, there’s some cream cheese in the ice cream base to give the texture more body, and there are also gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan recipes. In this book, there are also cakes, tarts, biscuits, cookies, cream puffs, waffles, and empanadas. There are suggestions for sundaes and parfaits, ice cream bars, layered ice cream cakes, and even cocktails made complete with frozen treats. Last, you’ll find recipes for sauces and crunchy gravels, and of course, you can mix and match to create your own desserts. Let’s start with some of the ice cream flavors. The Cream Biscuits with Peach Jam Ice Cream has crumbled biscuits along with the jam mixed right into the ice cream. The Double-Toasted Coconut-Cajeta Ice Cream is suggested as a good option to make into a chocolate-dipped ice cream bar, and I’d love to try that. The sorbets have some lovely additions like sprigs of tarragon for the Grapefruit Sorbet and Jonesy old tawny port for the Melon Jonesy Sorbet. The desserts with multiple components include delicious-looking dishes like The Salty Grahama with Salty Vanilla Frozen Custard, Sliced banana, Whiskey Caramel Sauce, Salty Graham Gravel, and Whipped Cream; The Key Lime Parfait with Graham Cracker Ice Cream, Lime Curd, Chocolate Gravel, Whipped Cream, and a fresh cherry for garnish; and The Little Havana Cake with layers of Lady Cake, Guava Jam, Cajeta, Double-Toasted Coconut Ice Cream, Whipped Cream, and Meringues on top. Of all the tempting desserts, the first one I had to try was the Honeyed Buttermilk Ice Cream and the Kataifi Nests. 

The Kataifi Nests are delicate, little serving containers just the right size for one nice scoop of any ice cream or sorbet. I thought they’d pair nicely with a honey-sweetened ice cream. To make the nests, a package of kataifi, which is shredded phyllo dough, was thawed. Then, you just take a handful of strands of dough, and wrap them around one hand forming a circle. Set the circle on a baking sheet setting the loose ends into the circle. There will be stray strands of dough here and there, and that’s just what you want. Once you’ve formed as many nests as you need, they’re baked at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes until golden. When they come out of the oven, they’re brushed with melted butter mixed with honey and sprinkled with flaky sea salt. They can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container for a few days. For the ice cream, honey and cream were heated and stirred until the honey melted. Buttermilk was added, and the mixture was brought to a boil. A cornstarch slurry was made with a little buttermilk, and that was added to the boiling buttermilk mixture. It was cooked while stirring until thickened. In a heat-proof bowl, some cream cheese had been combined with salt, turmeric, and a pinch of cayenne powder. The hot buttermilk was slowly whisked into the cream cheese mixture, and then it was left to cool. I chilled it in the refrigerator overnight before churning the ice cream.

The sweet, salty, crunchy, honey-coated kataifi nests were ideal ice cream holders. And, the Honeyed-Buttermilk Ice Cream was just sweet enough and not too sweet with tanginess from the buttermilk. It was a lovely yellow color from the turmeric too. I topped the ice cream with some fresh, local mulberries. With all the other flavor options in this book and all the possibilities for embellishing them, I’ll have countless ways to satisfy my ice cream cravings. 

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21 comments:

  1. That's one of the loveliest presentations I've ever seen for ice cream. So beautiful!

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  2. Hi Lisa!
    Yep, July is most definitely National Ice Cream Month and for good reason I might add:)

    Your presentation is out of this world! The Kataifi Nests are adorable. Perfect little nests for a dollop or two of goodness. I never make my own ice cream but I must say, I'd be mighty tempted with a recipe like this. So very cool as is that book!

    Thank you so much for sharing, Lisa...

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  3. This presentation looks absolutely gorgeous, you definitely honour National Ice Cream month like it should be :D
    The nests are so delicate and I bet taste perfect with the sweet creamy ice cream!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  4. Divine! I love kataifi and all those lovely flavors.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  5. What a great idea! It looks incredible, Lisa.

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  6. What a little, beautiful masterpiece you made there!

    ela h.
    Gray Apron

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  7. wow, what an elegant sweet bites!!!
    lovely savoury sweet, crunchy kataifi...

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  8. Oh my! Such an irresistible ice cream dessert with a stunning presentation!

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  9. I'm all about ice cream right now so I love this, but I super love your presentation! What a great idea!

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  10. What a refined, amazing dessert.
    It looks so beautiful and I bet it tastes even better.

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  11. I just bought that book and made the graham cracker ice cream from it! Turned it into smores sundaes with choc chips on top and homemade marshmallow topping. So good.

    This honeyed buttermilk ice cream is SO next!

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  12. I love this recipe Lisa look absolutely beautiful, I love the nests!!!

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  13. well now I want an ice cream holder!
    you did such a good job with this; not sure if I could even attempt this without half that nest ending up in my hair or the floor. ;-)

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  14. not only is it gorgeous, it looks delicious too!

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  15. We're big ice cream fans too. But how come we never make any that looks this good? ;-) Gotta get the book, I guess, to learn how! Really good -- thanks.

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  16. Lisa, those kataifi nests are so charming and with honey buttermilk ice cream... who could resist?
    xoxo
    E

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  17. What stunning nests! I've always wanted to use kataifi in a recipe...and sweet nests are the perfect option! So elegant!

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  18. love the nest idea! classy ice cream flavor, too. :)

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  19. This is amazing looking, Lisa! Jeni is really brilliant. This kataifi nest takes the ice cream presentation to another level! Honey and buttermilk in ice cream sounds delicious.

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  20. What a superb dessert! That would make a very special end of meal treat for a dinner party.

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