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Name: coolcat
Location: Singapore

Just an ordinary person who dreams of doing something extraordinary...

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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Durian Ice Cream

So far my ice cream attempts have been quite successful. The most popular one is the durian ice cream. Everyone who sampled it loved it!
I have given Syafiq a small tub of the durian ice cream. He told me the first thought that came into his mind when he took the 1st scoop of my durian ice cream was he wished he had finished the whole thing before his fiancee arrived. It was the 1st time he felt reluctant to share something with his fiancee.
I gave my Aunt Noy 1 pint. She called to complain it wasn't enough and wanted more. Said she would buy the durians if I don't have the time.
Fandy declared he would not 'friend' me anymore if I did not pass him some more of the durian ice cream.
Looks like I have a winner here.
But I have to give credit where credit is due. The recipe comes from Esther Ho. I think she's working on her website now and will also be publishing an ice cream recipe book soon. I'll link to her website once I have it. The ingredients in her recipes are measured down to the last gram. You can't go wrong if you start with her recipes and once you gain confidence you can start experimenting. Like my neighbour Hui Leng, she made Tom-Yam sorbet. Sounds weird but tastes heavenly. My only complaint about Esther's recipes is the sugar. Too much. For my ice creams & sorbet, I cut the amount of sugar in her recipes by 10% to 40%.
Well, if you're residing in Singapore and would like to learn ice-cream making, drop me an email.
I really enjoy ice cream making. The steps are easy and the ingredients are easily available. No big oily mess to clean up afterwards too.
My friends are coming over for a bbq next weekend and I think Chardonnay sorbet will make a wonderful dessert. I'm trying out this recipe now. Hope it turns out well.

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posted at 10/01/2008 03:58:00 PM |

Monday, September 15, 2008

Coolcat's Creamery - New Recipes

So currently I've made
1. Death by Chocolate ice cream
2. Coffee ice cream (with & without liquer)
3. Orange sorbet
4. Hazelnut gelato
5. Hazelnut ice cream
6. Durian ice cream (My family loved this one, so did Fandy. seems like this is my best so far.)
7. Black Seasame ice cream (doesn't look very nice because of the greyish hue but taste good!)

Will be doing these 3 flavors this week. Hopefully I can find the time.
1. Tiramisu ice cream
2. Rum & Raisin ice cream (I love rum so I'll go buy a bottle of dark rum instead of using the rum compound)
3. Tom-Yam sorbet (I tried this at Hui Leng's. The contrast between the hotness of the Tom-Yam and the iciness of the sorbet was amazing! I love it! I got to try making this myself.)

I'm going for another ice cream workshop this weekend. It's gonna be a Wine & Liquor theme. Recipes we'll be learning are
1. Fruity Chardonnay sorbet,
2. Merlot ice spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg & clove
3. Orange liquor ice cream with choco swirl
4. Ice wine ice cream
5. Dark chocolate milo ice cream with Bailey's
Hmm.. don't think I should be driving after the workshop. heehee

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posted at 9/15/2008 11:33:00 AM |

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Odds & Ends

Finally things quiet down somewhat at the office. Managed to clear some of the backlogs. Was able to take a few hours off last Friday to watch WALL.E with my family. Re-started my gym schedule. I even have the luxury of time to have breakfasts with Gabriel after my gym sessions. Wat a relief!
Saturday, as usual, spent almost the whole day at United Sq. Had a jamming session with Firuz and 2 boys. But there no singer and no 1st guitar playing, so I had some difficulty. Keep losing my count after a while. heehee.. sorry lah.. still green lah! Drum exam is in November. That's less than 2 months. So I better start practising for it.
Had dinner at Youtei Sushi Restuarant. The one at United Sq. closed down and the staff was reassigned to the outlets at Marina Sq and Forum Galleria. Rachel & I were such regulars at the old United Sq outlet that we became friends with the waitresses and managers. So it was not just dinner but also to visit them too.
And after dinner, I went to Vino Vino to meet D. She & Akie bought me a bag. So sweet of them! Had a nice time chatting with D. Akie wasn't feeling too good, might have caught a chill. According to him carrying a brolly wouldn't look cool. Luth didn't look too well either.  Said he slept only 3 hours the night before.  But they still had to continue entertaining the patrons. Poor chaps.  Noticed Rafi, Zul and Ros yawning away earlier on too.  This was their 1st week of fasting so i guess they're still adjusting to it.
On Sunday I made orange sorbet. It was quite easy .. 300ml of freshly hand-squeezed orange juice, 30~40g of sugar depending on sweetness of the orange, 15g of Granfruttosa, and 1 tbsp orange zest. That's it! Simple yet delightful! I could use a juicer for the orange but I choose to hand-squeeze them cos the fibrous part will leave a bit of bitterness.  Rachel, the family fussbudget, loved it.
I was quite tired the rest of Sunday since I slept at 2 am. But I still had 3 baby showers to attend. Gu's, Anthony's and Leon's. Jeff passed me a gift for Leon and I almost gave it to Anthony by mistake.  I saw Anthony's iPhone.  He 'jailbroke' it and it looked totally cool!  I'm so tempted to try it myself.  Gotten the websites from him.  But I'm waiting for the release of iPhone 2.1.  Supposed to be today together with iTunes 8.  Let's see what improvements have been made.. and then I'll jailbreak my iPhone too!

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posted at 9/09/2008 12:29:00 PM |

Friday, September 05, 2008

Coolcat's Creamery - The Day After

All 3 ice cream flavors turned out quite good. Left them overnight in the freezer and this morning they were firm, not hard. Hmm.. not bad for a 1st-timer. heehee. But I need to make some adjustments to the recipes.
1. Coffee Tia Maria - Coffee strength is ok for me but may be a bit strong for others. So gotta cut back a bit so instead of 2 tbsp I'll use 1.5. I want to cut back sugar too. So perhaps 50~55g instead of 65g.
2. Death by Chocolate - I used 73% cocoa Courverture chocolate. Leftover from all the chocolate fondues. Hubs thinks chocolate's too strong. I thought it was just right. But again lesser sugar would probably be better. The orange zest added so much to the flavors! Love it!
3. Hazelnut Gelato - Again too sweet for my liking.
I'm bringing this batch to my mom's place. Need some feedback from rest of family before I try again. I still have enough cream and milk left to make another 3 batches.
Syafiq already reserved my 2nd batch! heehee

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posted at 9/05/2008 12:17:00 PM |

Coolcat's Creamery

where everyday is a Sundae..  heehee ..  

I made my very 1st ice cream 15 minutes ago.. and I love it!!  In fact the 2nd batch is churning now and the 3rd is aging in the fridge.
I was introduced to this homemade ice cream thing by my neighbor.  Met this lady Esther who teaches ice-cream making at her place and also sells the ice cream machines.  She carries 2 types of machines, Venetto Junior (S$88) and Venetto Pro (S$600).  According to my neighbor Ling, she got the Junior at 1st but within a week, she exchanged for the Pro version.  
Pro version has a built-in compressor, so you can continuously churn out ice cream, batch after batch. Whereas for the Jr  version, the bowl has to be placed in the freezer to allow the coolant to freeze.  So you can only make perhaps the most 2 batches and you'll have to throw the bowl back into the freezer to cool it down again.  But the main advantage of getting the Pro is because it handles liquor ice cream very well.  Adding liquor to the mixture will lower the melting point, hence the Jr will not be able to keep the mixture cold enough to form firm ice cream.
Since I'm rather fond of liquor ice cream, no need to guess which one I bought.
I'm making up for lost time and decided to make 3 types of ice cream at one go. 

* * *

My 1st ice cream : Death by Chocolate

  • Recipe :
      • 1 egg
      65g sugar
      120g milk
      110g cream
      70g dark chocolate (Couverture)
      Orange zest (IMO.. a must!)

  • Method :
      • 1. Whisk egg & sugar until thickened
      2. Melt chocolate in double boiler
      3. Add in milk, a little at a time, stirring continuously
      4. Add cream, egg mixture to the chocolate and heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 7~10 mins)
      5. Plunge hot mixture into an ice bath
      6. Put mixture into the fridge for at least 2 hours
      7. Churn chilled mixure in ice cream maker until soft ice cream is formed (~20 mins)
      8. Freeze ice cream until firmly set (2~4 hours)

    * * *

    My 2nd ice cream : Coffee Tia Maria

  • Recipe :
      • 1 egg
      65g sugar
      120g milk
      230g cream
      2 tbsp instant Expresso coffee powder
      2 tbsp Tia Maria (can replace with Coffee Kahlua or Bailey's Irish Cream)

  • Method :
      • 1. Whisk egg & sugar until thickened
      2. Add cream & milk and simmer over double boiler
      3. Heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
      4. Plunge mixture into a ice bath
      5. Put mixture into fridge for 1~2 hours
      6. Dissolve coffee powder in a little hot water
      7. Mix in Tia Maria
      8. Stir cooled coffee mixture into chilled custard
      9. Churn chilled mixure in ice cream maker until soft ice cream is formed (~25 mins)
      19. Freeze ice cream until firmly set (4 hours or overnight)

    * * *

    My 3rd ice cream : Hazelnut Crunch Gelato

  • Recipe :
      • 34g sugar
      150g milk
      50g cream
      16g TotalBase
      34g Hazelnut paste
      Ferrero Rocher chocolate cut into small pieces

  • Method :
      • 1. Whisk milk, cream, sugar and Totalbase until well dissolved
      2. Smoothen the Hazelnut paste till it becomes a smooth consistency
      3. Add milk mixture, a little at a time, to the paste until well combined
      4. Put mixture into fridge for at least 1 hour
      5. Churn chilled mixure in ice cream maker until soft ice cream is formed (~20 mins)
      6. Add in chocolate bits and churn for another 5 mins
      7. Freeze gelato until firmly set (4 ~ 5 hrs)

    * * *

    Recipes were provided by Esther.  And I like all of them.  And the thing about homemade ice cream is you have full control over the ingredients.  You can use fresh or organic stuff.  Up to you.  And the ingredients per pint of ice cream is actually quite low.  It's quite easy too.  I love licking all the bits of ice cream off the churn blade.  I'm like a cat in cream heaven!!
    Looking forward to her next workshop.. will be learning Rum & Raisin and Tiramisu.  Yum!

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    posted at 9/05/2008 12:17:00 AM |