No-churn Coffee Ice-Cream

... drizzled with salted caramel sauce

You don't need an ice-cream maker to make this delicious, creamy and smooth ice-cream, and it is so quick and easy.  Just 3 ingredients - cream, condensed milk and flavour of your choice! How simple is that?  

Recipe adapted from Eugenie Kitchen's No-Churn Ice-Cream

Ingredients:
480ml thickened cream
300ml condensed milk
2.5tbsp instant coffee
2 tbsp hot water
2 tsp vanilla extract

• Melt instant coffee in hot water.  Add in vanilla extract and condensed milk.  Whisk until combined.
• Whip thickened cream until soft peaks form.
• Add 1/3 of whipped cream into coffee-condensed milk mixture and whisk until blended. Then pour the mixture into the whipped cream; fold until combined.
• Pour into a container and freeze.

Caramelised Banana Chiffon Cake

This is a very soft, moist and fluffy chiffon cake which is full of banana flavour.  The addition of gula melaka (or palm sugar) gives the cake a deeper colour and a beautiful aroma.  If you have over-ripe bananas sitting in your fruit bowl, why not give this recipe a try?  You will love it!

Recipe adapted from:  Ellena Guan's Caramelised Banana Chiffon Cake 

Egg size:  55g each

Pan:  20cm tube pan 

Ingredients:

(A)
80g plain flour
15g rice flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

(B)
6 egg whites
50g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

(C)
150g bananas
40g gula melaka, grated
5g unsalted butter

(D)
6 egg yolks
45g rice bran oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 155°C.
• Sift flours and salt together.  Set aside.
• In a heavy based saucepan, caramelised gula melaka together with butter on low heat.  Then pour it over the bananas and mashed it together.  Set aside.
• In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy.  Add in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.  Gradually add in sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, (using the same beater) beat egg yolks until creamy. Whisk in oil, vanilla extract and mashed bananas. Next, add in flour mixture and whisk until combined.
• Lighten the batter with one third of the meringue using a balloon whisk. Then pour all the batter into the meringue and fold gently.
• Pour batter into the tube pan from a height to help eliminate large air bubbles. Next, tap the pan on the bench top and then use a chopstick to go round the pan a few times to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. 
• Bake the cake for about 1 hour 30 minutes or until cooked. (Every oven is different, so adjust the time and temperature accordingly).
• Remove cake from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Cool the cake completely before removing it from the pan. 

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups chopped strawberries
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

• Blend strawberries and sugar until smooth. Pour it through a sieve to remove the seeds and some of the pulp.  
• Pour the strawberry puree into a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until purée thickens.  Add in lemon juice and stir to combine.  Cook until the purée is reduced down to 1/2 cup or slightly less. Set aside the strawberry reduction sauce to cool.
  [You'd need 60ml for the cupcakes and 3 tbsp for the frosting]

Cupcakes:

(A)
200g unsalted butter, softened

80g caster sugar

4 egg yolks, room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour
60ml strawberry sauce

red food colouring (optional)

(B)
4egg whites, room temperature 

80g caster sugar

• Preheat oven to 170°C.  
• In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks, one at a time until well combined.  Beat in salt and vanilla extract.
• Fold in flour (in 3 batches) alternating with strawberry sauce, beginning and ending with flour. (Add a drop of red food colouring if desired).
• In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks formed, then gradually beat in sugar.  Beat until stiff peaks formed.
• Fold meringue into egg yolks mixture.
• Divide the batter among the 12 paper liners and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Set the cupcakes on a wire rack to cool.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g cream cheese, softened

375g icing sugar

pinch of salt

3 tbsp strawberry sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese for 30 seconds or until combined.  Then add in icing sugar and salt; beat until light and fluffy.  
• Beat in the strawberry sauce and vanilla extract until combined.
• Spread frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.  Before serving, bring the cakes back to room temperature.