Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: strawberry

Friday, July 12, 2024

Strawberry Ice Cream @MaddieDayAuthor #Birthday #Summer

MADDIE DAY here, with a special celebration ice cream recipe!

July 4th was my paternal grandmother Dorothy's birthday, and she was born in 1900. She was the oldest of the six Henderson children, and 1918 the family drove two touring cars from Indianapolis to the west coast, where Dot's father was going to be the western regional sales manager for the Cole Automobile Company.

From left: Jimmy, Dot, Alice, Charles, Edith, Ruth, Helen, and Irma
at the start of the trip

Dot celebrated her eighteenth birthday at a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a special menu and dancing with her brother, Jimmy.

A fictionalized version of Dot is the lady PI in A Case for the Ladies, my 1926 story of her sleuthing in Boston with Amelia Earhart. Amelia's birthday was also in July (stay tuned for her mother's biscuit recipe here on the 26th), and the ebook is on a special sale all month to celebrate.

For Dot's birthday this year, I decided to make homemade strawberry ice cream. Strawberries are still local and sweet, and I discovered I could get an ice cream maker attachment for my big KitchenAid mixer!

Home Churned Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups half and half

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and mashed = 2 cups

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

In small saucepan heat sugar and half and half over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved or until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan. (Don't boil.) Let mixture cool.

Mash strawberries in a food processor or blender (for smooth texture) or just mash up (for chunky strawberry texture). Stir in lemon juice and chill.

Into the cooled half-and-half mixture, add heavy cream, vanilla, and strawberry mash. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or until fully chilled before churning ice cream.

Follow directions for your specific ice cream maker to make ice cream. Note: for a KitchenAid attachment, make sure bowl is completely frozen for at least 15 hours.

Churn for about 20-25 minutes or until "soft-serve" texture.

Enjoy as soft-serve texture or transfer ice cream to freezer-safe container and freeze for 2-4 hours to "ripen" or firm up for scooping.

Enjoy with a good historical mystery!

Readers: what's your favorite ice cream flavor? Remember, the ebook of Dot and Amelia's adventures is deeply discounted all month!

🍧🍦🍨

Murder at the Rusty Anchor is out and available wherever books are sold!

My most recent releases are A Case for the Ladies.

And Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

And Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, which released in late October.

Check out all my writing:

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

My Coffeehouse Banana Split with Easy Microwave Magic Shell Chocolate by @CleoCoyle for #NationalBananaSplitDay

From Cleo Coyle: Because this Friday is National Banana Split Day (I kid you not), I'm sharing my "Coffeehouse" take on this classic American dessert. This is a fast, fun way to fancy up ye olde soda fountain sundae for the adult dinner table, and my recipe includes tips for making your own magic shell chocolate using your microwave.

Now let's have some foodie fun...

Cleo Coyle writes two

bestselling mystery
series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

☕ A Note from Cleo

The origin of the banana split dates back more than a century to 1904 Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist (who enjoyed inventing ice cream treats at the pharmacy soda fountain) first came up with the banana-based, triple scoop sundae.

While in my youth I had no problem polishing off a banana split, these days that three-scoop boat is way too large for me to sink in one sitting, especially after a full meal. If you think so, too, then voila!

Below is my grown-up "Coffeehouse" version of the classic banana split. Scroll down for my tips and tricks on putting it all together, including how to make your own magic shell chocolate using a few ingredients and your microwave.

🍌

To download a free PDF of
this recipe that you can print,
save, or share, click here, or on
the image below...

Click for free recipe PDF.

Easy Microwave Magic Shell Chocolate

Although many versions of this basic recipe are posted all over the Inter-web, the original source appears to be award-winning Chef Thomas Keller. Years ago, I adapted his version, using a microwave and chocolate chips.

The secret to this recipe is the extra virgin, cold pressed coconut oil, which liquefies around a modest 76 degrees F. yet firms up fast when taken below that temperature. That's why you'll see a chocolate shell form quickly if you drizzle it over scoops of ice cream.

Likewise, for my "Coffeehouse" Banana Split recipe, once the fruit is chilled and dipped, you can place it in the fridge and watch a shell form very quickly.

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:

14 ounces (2-1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons) chocolate chips*

1/4 cup extra virgin, cold pressed coconut oil**

*Chocolate chips can be milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or dark (bittersweet). In my photos, you see milk chocolate chips.

**For the best quality coconut oil look for "extra virgin, cold pressed" on the label.

Directions: In a microwave-safe container, stir together chocolate chips and coconut oil. Microwave for 15 to 20 seconds and then stop and stir the chips. Chocolate burns very easily so be sure to heat the mixture in short intervals. Return the container to the microwave for another 15 to 20 seconds. Stir again until chocolate is melted and smooth.

This mixture is now ready to use in the above recipe or you can drizzle it over very cold ice cream or well-chilled fruit and the "magic" shell will quickly form. The chocolate should stay in its liquid form unless chilled. If the mixture begins to solidify, return it to the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds and stir until melted and smooth once again.

Keep reading for tips and tricks in making my "Coffeehouse" Banana Split.

Tips for Making Cleo's

Coffeehouse Banana Split

(1) Splash your favorite ice cream syrup (chocolate, caramel, or strawberry) into an empty espresso cup. For a fun, grown-up version, add a bit of Kahlúa or try Baileys Irish Cream or a chocolate liqueur.

(2) Next comes a modest little scoop of gelato (or ice cream). In my photos, you see vanilla bean gelato.

(3) Finally comes a whole strawberry and piece of banana, skewered by a Popsicle stick, chilled and covered in magic shell chocolate and dipped in nuts. Below are my directions and troubleshooting tips for putting it all together.

Cleo Coyle's
Coffeehouse Banana Split

Ingredients

13 ripe strawberries (try to select uniform sizes close to 1-inch)

3 medium bananas (ripe but still firm)

1 cup magic shell chocolate (recipe precedes this one)

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, or peanuts, your choice)

13 wooden Popsicle sticks

(Makes 13 little fruit skewers, which can be stored in the freezer for two to three weeks.)

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1 - Prep and chill fruit: Remove the green stems from the strawberries and gently hull them. (For a quick lesson on how to hull strawberries, click here.) Cut bananas into 1-inch pieces with flat ends. (Do not use pointy banana tips.) Place all of your prepared fruit pieces into the freezer for at least 30 minutes, but no more than an hour. This will help prevent the fruit pieces from splitting in the next step.

Step 2 - Make your fruit skewers: With a paring knife, cut a shallow slit on the bottom (pointy) end of a chilled strawberry. With a firm grip on the berry, gently push the end of one Popsicle stick through it and into (but not completely through) a piece of banana. The little fruit skewer should now be able to stand upright on your plate (as in my photos).

Troubleshooting tip: If you can't get it to stand up, you probably have too much of the Popsicle stick pushing through the banana. Adjust the fruit along the stick so the flat of the banana is on the plate and not the end of the Popsicle stick.

Step 3 - Re-chill: Once all the fruit skewers are finished, return them to the freezer for another 15 - 20 minutes to chill them up again. For instructions on making magic chocolate, scroll back up to the top of this post or click here to download the recipe in PDF form.

Step 4 - Prep plate: Cover a plate with plastic, wax paper, or aluminum foil. If you don't, the chocolate may stick to the plate.

Step 5 - Dip, sprinkle, and chill: Gently dip the fruit skewers into the warm magic chocolate. As you pull it out, allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and stand it on the prepared plate.

When you've finished preparing all the skewers, place them in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to set.

STORE: You can keep the finished skewers in the fridge for many hours before dinner or even the day before. Or you can wrap them gently in plastic or foil and keep in the freezer for two to three weeks.