Saturday, March 13, 2010

Cake and Ice Cream

It is such a feeling to accomplish something you've been wanting to do for so long. Such a wonderful feeling! Now don't get too excited, there's still a long way to go, but last weekend my little cake venture took a big leap forward. Packing up the car, I trucked eight cakes, frosting, chocolate, spices, and nearly every kitchen tool I own from Brooklyn to New Haven, Connecticut, home to my friend/photography genius Sam. So ensued a cake photo-shoot extravaganza in preparation for my website-to-be. And I thought you might like a behind the scenes peek. Want to see?



Light and beautiful and sunny, we tore the apartment to pieces, finding just the right spot at just the right time of day to make the cakes look absolutely heaven sent (even if all the mess around them was anything but...).



Now, now, I said a peek. You'll get to see more as the project unfolds! I can't wait to share more.

And I won't leave you empty handed here today. In fact, I have another tidbit of news to share that is, for sweet teeth around the world, about as exciting as news can get... Last Monday, I came home to a brand new, beautiful, shiny, glorious and amazing ice cream maker! An absolute dream come true. I'm enthusiastic, you can tell. But why not be? Homemade ice cream is in itself like nothing else.

So of course I wasted no time in scrounging together anything we had in our kitchen to make the inaugural batch. A handful of cloves...a pinch of cinnamon...dark, thick maple syrup... The result, spiced maple ice cream that tasted like french toast and caramel and all things wintry and wonderful.



Ok, you caught me. I'm snacking on it right now. In fleece pj pants, using a take-out Chinese spoon because I'm avoiding the dirty dishes. But it's a cold and rainy Saturday night. Second to a hot summer day, the stuff that ice cream was made for!

In fact, I think I'm going to see about finishing up that cup right now.... Wishing you all a happy Saturday night, I'm signing off with love for accomplishments big and small, cake, and ice cream.


Spiced Maple Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
12 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup grade B maple syrup
6 egg yolks

1. Bring the milk, cream, cloves and cinnamon to a simmer. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.
2. In a separate pot, bring maple syrup to a boil. Let boil for about 5 minutes.
3. Turn heat off syrup, and slowly pour the cream mixture into the syrup (careful, the mixture will spatter!)
4. In a medium sized bowl, slowly whisk the maple and cream mixture into the egg yolks.
5. Return the tempered mixture to a pot on the stove. Over medium heat, stir constantly until mixture coats the back of a spoon.
6. Quickly pour mixture through a fine strainer into a clean bowl resting in an ice bath.
7. Refrigerate overnight and prepare next day according to your ice cream maker's instructions!

Yield: approx. 1 quart

2 comments:

Kimara said...

First off... the maple ice cream... yum. Then, the house and cakes, well... yum! I can't wait to see the finished photos. Nice to have friends with talent that can help us out. I'm sure there are many delicious cakes in his future. Good luck with everything. It is a very exciting time.

Danger Kitten said...

This looks like so much fun, and the cakes look beautiful, even shot from a distance. I can't wait to see the final photographs up close! Good luck.