CHOCOLATE MOUSSE ICE CREAM RECIPE

Chocolate Ice cream recipe found on www.bettybake.co.za


We have cut down considerably on dairy but this week I had an incredible dessert craving...
something smooth and chocolatey. I wanted chocolate mousse or pudding or cold chocolate-something!

I have been using coconut milk and frozen bananas as a substitute in baking for milk and dairy but this time I just couldn't do it! I had to have cream and chocolate! So I started by making a chocolate pudding of sorts and then decided to freeze some of it in individual little cups for dessert. It was so yummy that the remainder that was in the fridge had to be turned into ice cream.

BUT I worried that if I put the mix in the ice cream maker that I wouldn't be able to share the ice cream that came out as  the amount was a little and SO YUMMY! (I wanted to gobble it ALL up) So I added a cup of milk and mixed it all together before putting it into the ice cream maker:) It was now a little less chocolatey but still so delicious. So its your choice whether you want a stronger chocolate taste or a bigger batch of ice cream. You could also not add the extra milk and leave it in the fridge - it sets to a gorgeous velvety pudding! soooo good!

INGREDIENTS
250ml cream (1 tub)
300 milk + 200ml later (optional)
1 vanilla pod
3 eggs
100g GREAT TASTING dark chocolate (the best you can afford)
2 tablespoons jaggery / brown sugar
2 tablespoons agave syrup / honey / brown suagr
2 tablespoons xylitol / brown sugar



METHOD
Place the cream and 300ml of milk in a small pot on the stove with a vanilla pod -score and scrape out the seeds into the milk and then place the whole empty pod into the milk as well.
Heat on medium until just before boiling point then take off the stove and stir through. Allow to cool quite a bit till warm (this will allow the vanilla to infuse into the milk)
In a small bowl or a jug beat/mix the eggs with the a whisk (i use a fork) till the yellows are broken and combined with the whites. Add the sweeteners (brown sugar, jaggery, xylitol) and mix.
Slowly add some of the milk to the egg/sweetener mix and stir.
Add all of the egg mix back into to the pot stirring continuously so that the egg doesn't scramble.
Place the pot on a low heat and continue to stir until slightly thickened. It won't be to thicker - just slightly and won't taste like raw egg any more. Turn off and continue to stir.
Remove the vanilla pod.
Break up and place all the chocolate into the milk mix and stir until it is melted and one uniform chocolatey colour.
CHOICE 1) place into individual small bowls and place in the fridge for chocolate puddings or the freezer for tiny ice cream mousse puddings

CHOICE 2) add the additional 200ml milk and place in an ice cream machine and make into ice cream. If you don't have an ice cream machine then place in a metal dish and place in the freezer and take out and beat to break up ice crystals every hour for 3 or 4 times.

Serve and enjoy
YUM

The Ooh Box

On Mondays my kid has show and tell at school (you know when a kid takes something to school and shows the class and talks about it)... Well here is an adult version.


I received this box via courier last week and was curious to see the contents inside...

Inside neatly packaged and nicely separated were 4 bottles of wine, olive oil, olives, energy drinks and some snacks (salticrax, biscuits, toffees).

HOW IT WORKS
The Ooh Box (your personal tasting journey) is a nifty way of getting 4 different wines to taste and some other goodies each month delivered to your door via courier - 4 surprise wines each month,  kinda of like a luxury lucky packet.

COST
I am told box subscription costs R395 per month and the contents of this months (July) box is worth R660.

NICE TOUCH
I liked that each wine had a label attached profiling the wines taste and price = you knew the value of the bottle - also you didn't feel like it was maybe a cheap bottle of wine thrown in. This also helped so you knew what to expect to pay if you wanted to buy it at the store.

IDEAS
Would make a nice gift for anybody who loves wines - a nice surprise for them each month.

FINAL THOUGHTS
My husband was way to happy about this box :)  He is already into the second bottle of wine... I am starting to realize this box would be more for him than me as I am more of a wine sipper than a wine drinker.
I still enjoyed unpacking it - it really is like a lucky packet for adults.



DETAILS
http://www.theoohbox.com


 

DISCLAIMER: I received this via the ooh box as a gift - all thoughts are my own.

And the WINNER is!

Congrats to Taryn Peters who is the winner of a R500 Wellness Warehouse Gift voucher :)
Please email me

Happy Monday :)

CURING OLIVES (RECIPE)

How to cure olives on www.bettybake.co.za

I am no Olive connoisseur, in fact I don't really like them (shock, horror) But my kid loves them! So when I came across fresh olives still in there raw state at the Earth Fair market (farmers market) the lovely stall holder insisted I should buy some fresh olives and make some olives at home. I was perplexed and said I didn't know how and don't really eat them but the lovely lady assured me that it was very simple and easy to do. She talked me through the process and handed me a recipe with my purchase of a bag of kalamata olives.

I was skeptical that it could be that easy but also trusted the lady opinion so with some hope I headed home to soak my olives and wait and see after 6 weeks if she was right. This is how I did them... apparently the results are good.

INGREDIENTS
1 kg olives (what ever variety you like)
water (filtered if possible)
100grams salt
60grams salt (this is for 6 weeks later)
a little olive oil

METHOD 
Wash the olives rubbing them lightly in a large bowl or container and leave to soak for 24 hours (don't rub to hard you don't want to bruise them) This is just to get all the dust off them and any stubborn dirt.
After 24hours rinse them off and place the olives in a container where you are able to place a lid on top with something to push the olives under the water. (I used a very large glass jar with an unusual shaped vase that kept all the olives submerged under the water/brine.)
Mix up your water and salt to make a 10% brine solution. For every litre of water you use 100grams of salt. Mix the solution then pour onto your olives. Make sure that your olives stay under this water at all times while they are curing.
Please note a moldy gunk will grow on top of the water - this is perfectly normal and your olives are not off!!! Promise! 
After 6 weeks - take out an olive rinse off and taste if ready rinse them all off but if not leave for longer checking every few days/ once a week.
When ready rinse the olives off and leave to dry on a clean surface for 3 - 12 hours. They will get dark - almost the colour they were when you bought them.
Mix up a 6% solution - 60 grams salt per litre of filtered water.
Place olives in clean jars and fill with the new brine.
Pour a little olive oil on top and seal with a lid tightly
Place in the fridge ( I am told if kept in the fridge they can keep for upto a year)
Eat as desired

We have had ours about 3 months and my kid says they taste great

Wellness Warehouse Giveaway

Start your weekend off with a bang by entering this great giveaway by Wellness Warehouse.

Oh the things I could buy if I could have this gift card for myself. The Wellness online store has things like juicers, dehydrators, candles, baby stuff, homeware, wine and chocolate ...yes CHOCOLATE
I would probably buy R500 worth of chocolate ;)



THE GIVEAWAY:
1 x R500 online shopping voucher from http://www.wellnesswarehouse.com/shop/
(Shipping/ delivery of your shopping is not included - but if you purchase for R250 or more delivery is free to a major city center in South Africa)

THERE ARE 4 WAYS FOR YOU TO WIN - you will get an entry for each thing that you do

BE A FOLLOWER OF BETTY BAKE BLOG
Please enter your email address in the subscription on the side bar to be a Follower of Betty Bake Blog

1) Be a follower and then leave a comment telling me you what things you would love to buy from the wellness online store
2) "Like" Betty Bakes facebook page (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry
3) "Like" the Wellness Warehouse Facebook page (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry
4) Tweet this phrase - WIN R500 wellness warehouse gift voucher over at http://www.bettybake.co.za @bettybakeblog @wellness - (just come back and say so here) - 1 entry

*please leave a SEPARATE comment for each thing you do (facebook like, tweet, etc) in comment section below

This is SOUTH AFRICA give away ONLY

Competition closes midday Friday 20th July 2012

DAIRY FREE POTATO-VEGGIE BAKE

Dairy-free Potato/ veggie bake on www.bettybake.co.za

One of my all-time favorite dishes to eat is a homemade potato bake creamy and rich and filled with flavour. No packet sauce, just home peeled and thinly sliced potatoes cooked with butter and cream and some friendly onion and mushroom in-between. I make it often and especially when I want comfort food. But when we decided to cut out as much dairy as possible I sadly knew I would have to say goodbye to my potato bake that I loved so much ... I mean it has butter and cream in it! Anyway after much fretting I decided to try my hand at making a dairy-free potato bake *Drum roll please* And it worked! YAY! We now eat this yummy dish with no remorse or regret. I love it so much I don't even miss my other creamy dish I used to make (deadly serious and no lies promise)

This is one of those recipes where the recipe is just a guide line and you can alter it to suit your tastes and whats in your fridge

INGREDIENTS
2 - 4 spring onions
garlic (optional)
200ml coconut milk (a small tin or half a big tin of coconut milk)
salt
fresh herbs (i use fresh thyme and oregano)
+/- 6 medium Potatoes
1 onion very thinly sliced (as thin as possible)
125g Mushrooms (optional)
half a smallish Butternut (optional)




METHOD
Take the spring onions, wash and thinly slice and place in a pestle and mortar, mash into a mooshy paste (it doesn't have to be perfect). Add garlic and salt and mash some more. Add chopped fresh herbs and once they are mashed in add half of your coconut milk
Peel your potatoes and slice thinly.
Oil the bottom of a medium to large oven dish (like one you would use for lasagne)
Arrange a layer of potatoes on the bottom top with scattered slices of onion and pour a little bit of the "sauce" made with coconut milk - blobs every here and there.
Arrange layers like this with a layer of mushrooms or butternut inbetween the potato layers (or leave them out)
When all the potato and vegetables are used up pour the "sauce" on top and top up the bake with a little more coconut milk if you feel like it needs it.
Sprinkle a thin layer of onion on top and salt
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees celcius for 45 min or until brown on top and a knife inserted in the dish is soft

 Serve

ELLE MAGAZINE SA JULY ISSUE :) Happy to be in it! YAY

Im happy to share with you that I (AKA Betty Bake) was asked to submit a recipe to Elle Magazine South Africa along with other fabulous food bloggers for a 3 course supper food feature they were putting together and now my little blog is in the July issue - yay!

page 128

Here is my dish - Orange and Honey Creme Brulee

I am so very excited and just had to share it with you all.
Thank you for reading this blog - I so appreciate you, ALL of you, every single one! :)

I love reading your comments
hugs