Triple Vanilla Ice Cream.

Vanilla ice cream is definitely one of  my favorite flavor of ice cream. I like to try sample at every ice cream shop I visit, to see if I have found the vanilla ice cream. So far my search has found some pretty good vanillas, and some pretty mediocre vanilla ice creams. By far, the standard of my comparison has been the storebought super premium ice cream, Double Rainbow. Since trying this ice cream, no other vanilla I've tried has stacked up to it's incredibly creamy, smooth, bright and comforting vanilla flavor.

So when I whipped up this ice cream last weekend, I thought that it would come out very well, but I didn't know how well. Even before pouring this ice cream into the ice cream maker to freeze, I knew this batch was special. It tastes like a dream, scoops like a dream, and melts like a dream (unlike some homemade ice creams which just seem to melt right away, or to never melt at all). I have to admit, it certainly rivals the amazing taste of Double rainbow, which is a feat in and of itself. I will definitely be making more vanilla ice cream exactly like this. Below is a photo from my brother's birthday celebration.

Since the vanilla sugar and cream are simmered together (in order to dissolve the sugar), the final product as a slight caramel taste! No doubt if you simmered the cream and sugar longer, you could easy make a dulche de leche version.

Triple Vanilla Ice Cream.
    makes two quarts

    6 oz  vanilla sugar - source or make your own
    4 cups (1 quart)  raw cow's milk cream
    1  vanilla bean
    1 Tbsp  vanilla extract
    1 Tbsp  coconut flour - source
    5  egg yolks
    1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt

To make your ice cream:
  1. In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and 1 cup cream. Turn on high heat, bring almost to a boil, when first bubbles appear at sides reduce heat to simmer, and simmer, stirring frequently, for about 5-10 minutes. Mixture will thicken, coat the back of a spoon, and be caramel-like when ready. Remove from heat and allow to cool (this may take a while).
  2. In a separate bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, vanilla bean flecks, and egg yolks. Mix until yellow and thick. Add vanilla extract. Whisk in remaining 3 cups cream. Slowly add the cooled vanilla sugar mixture, whisking constantly.
  3. Add to your ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturers instructions. Mine churned for about 25 minutes. This ice cream comes out perfectly straight from the ice cream maker. Freeze overnight before scooping for hard ice cream. No need to remove ice cream from freezer for 10 minutes before serving. It's scoopable as is!
  4. This ice cream is so delicious, serve with your favorite brownies, chocolate sauce, nuts or whipped cream. Or you can serve along mint cake, like I did here! Enjoy :)

Want some cake with your ice cream? Try my grain-free chocolate cake! It's super easy, just make sure to follow instructions and to both grease and flour the pan.

Other ice creams I've made:
- Original vanilla ice cream - my first attempt, these basic proportions are what I use as a "template" for making all my other ice cream recipes
- French vanilla ice cream
- Chocolate ice cream
- Chocolate peanut butter ice cream

Have a lovely summer day!

Real Chocolate Ice Cream.

I got an ice cream maker for my birthday a few years ago, and I've put it to good use!  It's been so fun to experiment with different ice cream recipes.  Some have been really good, and some have been, not so good.  Several batches have come out too sweet, not sweet enough, or too icy or crumbly and hard as rock.  But this summer I think I've got the whole process down!  I am so happy with this recipe.  It's incredibly scoopable and you don't need to remove it from the freezer for any amount of time before serving.  It's texture is fantastic and the sweetness is just right.  

Real Chocolate Ice Cream.
   makes 2 quarts

    1 pt  raw cream
    2 cups  raw whole milk
    4  egg yolks
    1 T  arrowroot starch
    1/2 cup  cocoa powder
    1/2 cup  raw honey
    1 T  vanilla
    5 dashes  unrefined sea salt

To make your ice cream:
  1.  Combine all ingredients in a blender.
  2.  Pour into ice cream maker and freeze per manufacturers instructions.
  3.  Freeze overnight until hard.
  4.  Serve  and  enjoy! Try it with fresh whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  Or top it with peanut butter!!

Mhmm. The goodness is beginning to melt! YUM.

I like to freeze my ice cream in leftover yogurt containers! They are the perfect size, and I can put equal amounts in two 32 ounce containers.  Eat one, save one (shove it in the back).  In a few months you'll have several types of ice cream to choose from waiting for you in the freezer!

Chocolate not your style? Check out my other flavors:

Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt

Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt.

Happy August everyone!  As I type this post, it's July, and I anticipate some hot weather ahead for New Englanders in August.  But as you read this post, it's August, and I am busy busy studying Organic Chemistry.  I am completing my last pre-requisite before starting the ND program (naturopathic medicine program) in the fall at Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington.   This East Coast girl, turned California girl, is now a Seattlite(?)  I never imagined this!  Now can say I've lived in all four corners of the USA.  I was born and raised in Florida, lived in New Hampshire until college, lived in Southern California for my undergrad, and now I am pursuing my doctoral degree in Washington state!  How cool.  Even though I haven't moved around "a lot" in comparison to some people, I still feel as if I have.  Am I an East Coaster now?  Or a West Coaster?  For the past four plus years the West Coast has been my home, and now for the next four plus years (at least) the West Coast will continue to be my home, only instead of the Southwest I'll be in the Pacific Northwest.  Once I was just starting to feel like a true CA girl,  I'm off to Seattle.  Sunshine to rain.  Dirty LA traffic, to clear Seattle roads.  It's a new adventure.

But enough about traveling.  Let's take a look at this yogurt.  YUMMY.  This recipe was inspired by a guest post over at Kimi Harris' blog The Nourishing Gourmet.  I didn't have exactly the right ingredients the original recipe called for, so I made some changes, and now instead of honey and tahini ice cream, it's more like peanut butter frozen yogurt.  The 1/2 cup of raw honey was a little sweet for my taste, so next time I will probably reduce to either 1/3 or 1/4 cup.  If you aren't partial to peanut butter, feel free to use tahini, cashini, cashew butter, almond butter, coconut butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.  But if you're a peanut butter fan (in moderation of course) like me, you'll love this recipe!  Chocolate chips would go great with this too!


Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt.
    Makes almost 2 quarts

    3 cups  raw milk yogurt
    1 cup  raw whole milk or full-fat coconut milk (mine was mixture of both)
    ½ cup  organic peanut butter
    ½ cup  organic raw honey
    2  real eggs
    1T  vanilla extract
    1T  arrowroot powder
    ¼ tsp  unrefined sea salt

To make your delicious peanut butter fro-yo:
  1.  Mix all ingredients in a blender.
  2.  Pour into ice cream maker and churn per manufacturers instructions.
  3.  When ready, scoop into reused plastic yogurt containers (or another vessel) and freeze for at least 12 hours.  Serve when frozen yogurt has hardened.  You may also want to remove from freezer a few minutes before serving.  Enjoy!


Make this frozen yogurt as a healthy "cool-off" treat to beat the August heat.  East Coast humidity is something that I definitely don't miss on the West Coast!  You can also put this fro-yo into popsicle molds for yourself or the little kiddos in your life.  I can't wait to do this when my little nephews get older!

Question for you: how much does your location relate to your identity?

Grain-free Kefir Brownies.

Sometimes my best recipes come from nowhere.  These brownies are definitely a testament to that.  One day I was in my apartment and I had some soured kefir that I had made.  It was past the palatable drinking stage, and not wanting to waste it, I threw together these brownies.  I didn't expect the results to come out very well, but I was completely surprised.  These are so incredible, I may like them better than my favorite grain-free brownie recipe.  I gave the pan away to one of my advisors as a thank-you, and he ended up (due to the pestering of his students) sharing them the with his entire class!  I got an email the next day with rave reviews.  I think you'll rave about them too ;)

Mhmm. Fudgey cakey chocolatey goodness!

Grain-free Kefir Brownies.
    makes one 8x8 pan

    2 cups  soured homemade kefir
    1 cup  organic coconut flour - source
    4  happy eggs
    1 cup  raw cacoa powder - source
    16 oz  chocolate chunks, I used Enjoy Life
    1 Tbsp  vanilla extract
    1 tsp  baking soda
    1/4 tsp  sea salt
    2 full droppers plain stevia - source

To make your brownies:
  1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (mine is convection).
  2.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips.  Mix well.
  3.  Add chocolate chunks and mix again.
  4.  Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the top is cracked, the sides are slightly firm and there is a tiny bit of jiggle in the middle of the pan.
  5.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Try a slice warm.  Let it cool and try another slice.  Share.  Serve with a nice cold glass of raw milk. Yum!

I love these brownies, not only because they are delicious, but that they are low in sugar and carbohydrates!  The only added sugar comes from the sugar in the chocolate chunks.  If you use unsweetened chocolate the brownies will not taste very sweet.  For those of you who are not partial to stevia, feel free to omit it.  I haven't made the recipe without stevia so I don't know if it will grossly affect the flavor, but my guess is that it will make a small difference in sweetness.

Mhmm. Chocolate chunks.

These will freeze very well.  They will also make a great accompaniment to homemade french vanilla ice cream and homemade raw whipped cream.  I love anything chocolate and vanilla combined!

Here are some of my other delicious brownie recipes:

Grain-free Coconut Flour Brownies
Banownies
Gluten-free Brownies (for you whole-grain folk)

Grain-free Chocolate Cake.

My attempts at grain-free cakes have really come a long way.  Those of you who have ever made a grain-free cake know that it's not the easiest thing ;)  I started my journey with some of Elana's recipes at Elana's Pantry.  The results were better than I hoped, but I knew I could make it better.  Over the past three summers, I've made a couple versions of her chocolate cake.  I've scoured a countless number of other food blogs, drawing ideas from what other real food bloggers have done in grain-free cake land.  I've experimented with the amounts of liquids and ratios of flours and other ingredients, changing it as I went along, longing for a certain taste and mouth feel of cake.  Now I finally have a recipe entirely my own.  Each time I've learned something new, and now this is a cake I am really happy with.  I cannot say more about this cake's texture, flavor and ease of cooking.  I know that you'll love it too.

Grain-free Chocolate Cake.
    makes two nine inch round cakes

Cake:
  3/4 cup  organic coconut flour
  1/2 cup  blanched almond flour
  1/2 cup  cocoa powder - I used Ghirardelli
  12  real eggs
  1 cup  maple syrup - grade B
  1 cup  organic coconut oil, melted
  1 Tbsp  vanilla
  1/2 tsp  baking powder
  1 tsp  baking soda
  1 tsp  unrefined sea salt

Frosting:
  4 cups  organic powdered sugar
  1 stick  unsalted butter - I used KerryGold
  ~1/2 cup  raw whole milk
  1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt
  optional: extract of choice for flavor, here I used mint extract

Chocolate Ganache, or use my Paleo Ganche recipe:
  1 - 12 oz  package chocolate chips - I used Trader Joes brand - feel free to use unsweetened also
  1/2  stick unsalted butter - I used KerryGold

Here's the final product! Cake assembled and frosting+ganache set.

To make your chocolate cake:
  1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection.
  2.  In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, coconut flour, almond flour, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda. Whisk until there are no lumps.
  3.  In another bowl, whisk together eggs (room temp), maple syrup, melted coconut oil (make sure it's not hot), and vanilla.
  4.  Combine wet into dry ingredients until just combined.
  5. ****Grease and flour the sides of the pan - use butter (best) or coconut oil (ok). 
  6.  Pour equal amounts of cake batter into 2 9" round cake pans.
  7.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until top springs back lightly when touched and sides are pulling away from the pan.
  8.  Let cool only until you can handle the pans, then run a knife around the edges before gently inverting the cakes and removing them from the pan. If you floured and greased the sides well, getting the cakes out of the pan shouldn't be an issue, but if you didn't, you might get only the top of the cake out!

To make your frosting and ganache:
  1.  For the frosting, with room temperature butter, cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add milk slowly as needed into the sugar and butter.
  2.  Add vanilla, extract (optional).
  3.  For the ganache, in a double boiler melt chocolate chips and butter. Remove from heat when 80% of the chocolate is melted. Stir. The heat will melt the remaining chips.
  4.  Let ganache cool, but still be spreadable.

Cake assembly:
  1.  Remove cake from the pans. Place one on a large plate.
  2.  Frost with one layer of frosting on the top of the cake.
  3.  Place the remaining cake on top of the frosted layer.
  4.  Frost with remaining frosting on top and sides of both layers.
  5.  Place cake in the fridge for the frosting to set.
  6.  Spread ganache on top of the cake. Return to the fridge and allow ganache to set.

Notes:
1) You can easily cut this recipe in half, and you'll have one 9" cake.
2) Do not make this with runny honey instead of maple syrup. There is less flavor and a bit less sweetness. When I made this with honey it just seemed to be lacking something.
3) Make sure your eggs are on the medium/large side. I've made this cake with small sized eggs, and the end product was a bit more on the dry side than I would like.

Here are some pictures of the first grain-free chocolate cakes I made:

At my house, cake is always served with real ice cream!

There was A LOT of filling inside, and it still wasn't enough ;)

German chocolate cake, completely finished!

This was my first attempt at grain-free chocolate cake. I wish I had remembered to snap a picture before cutting it up!

My brother's birthday is always during the summer, so I always have an excuse to make a cake.  It's my once a year cake indulgence!  However that is beginning to change since I've learned how to make these cakes so nourishing and healthy!  This summer will probably be a little different since my brother and his wife are having twins.  It's very exciting, but I doubt a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream will be the last thing on their mind ;)  This past week I made this cake in a banana version with peanut butter frosting!  It's so nourishing, low in sugar and high in protein, and I've been eating it with my yogurt and berries for breakfast.

Happy summer! Cake away :)

Summer in a Day

All my favorites in one day...

Friends, Rainbow sandals, new bathing suits, beach, sunshine, Sprinkles cupcakes, Whole Foods Market, good food, gelato.

GIANT sandal!

They're cute :)

View before the water.

Real FOOD + SALAD = delicious. delicious. NUTRITIOUS.

I know, I haven't been around much lately. So much has been happening and I haven't had any time to tell you about it! I finished up work and fun stuff at home, and am now back in California. This day was kind of like the last hurrah before the new semester begins. Tomorrow I start classes. My course load is quite full again. I am taking Physics + lab, Neurobiology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Theology I, and Bowling as a PE class. I am looking forward to most of my classes but NOT physics, since I know that math has never been my strong point and I will struggle with it. I would really appreciate your prayers as I start. I can do this if I set my mind to it, and get some good tutoring :)

Hopefully I will have a few moments in the coming week to get some more blog posts up, though I don't anticipate finding time. There is a lot of content that I've been wanting to share with you. I appreciate your patience and the fact that you keep stopping by, my lovely readers! I've also been having too much fun seeing friends and getting moved in to blog. Starting classes is always really hectic time.

Until next time,

How have you been ending your summer?

Adventures in North Conway!

This past Thursday Mom and I were able to sneak away after work and go to North Conway! We typically go every summer and there are lots of fun shops, outlets and country stores that we love to visit. Last year when we visited we were thrilled to go to Rafferty's for lunch, this time not so much. Listen to my story.

Our first stop was a store on the way to downtown where we love to look around and where I've found my most favorite earrings, ones I get compliments on all the time! Lat year I bought two pairs, one stud and one drop style, but unfortunately I lost one of my studs! I wanted to go back especially to try and "rebuy" so I could wear the earrings again. One earring out of a pair doesn't do me much good! When we got there as always there are lots of options and Mom and I took several several minutes to decide which ones we wanted to purchase. I wasn't quite sure which one matched my lonely earring, so I bought the pair I thought matched it and another one that I liked as well. I unpacked our goodies this morning and it doesn't match :( but they are still pretty and I will enjoy wearing them. Now NEXT summer I know which one to get!

After this stop we continued down to downtown North Conway. We visited our favorite country stores and walked across the street to a HUGE tent that had winter coats to see if they had any good ones for me, but they were all ski-style and not what I was looking for. Before we knew it we were getting hungry! We drove over to Rafferty's and got a table and expected to have as good an experience as last time. But soon it was obvious we weren't. Rafferty's pub has the largest gluten free menu in New England (I think) or at least New Hampshire. Last year when we asked about my soy allergy, it wasn't a problem, but this year it certainly was. The chef came out and started telling us what he could do. He basically said that soy is in everything. He even said that they don't use real butter? That the rotisserie chicken they serve is not made in house? That they sautee everything in fake soy based butter substitute? Wow. After hearing about all this fake food I quickly lost my desire to eat there and Mom and I left, disgusted! 

For starters, a green crunchy salad.

The oven!

That says it all!

Real meat!

My pizza!

Look at those delicious caramelized onions!

Luckily there are lots of gluten free restaurant options in North Conway so we went over to Flatbreads to check it out. We've heard they have gluten free pizza for a while, and they have a great perspective on food, so we've been meaning to try it but never have! Upon walking in we knew instantly it would be good. The atmosphere was so fun, our waitress very helpful, and it wasn't cold in the restaurant (which we always hate). To answer our soy questions, she brought out the label of the gluten free pizza crust which actually was quite nutritious, made with wholesome gluten free grains and yeast, NOT the typical white rice flour, potato starch. We were starving, since it was like 7:15 pm, by the time we left Rafferty's and waited for a table, etc, etc, so we ordered their basic salad right away. It had seaweed on top and it was delicious! The waitress totally understood about soy being in the salad dressings and she happily offered us olive oil and balsamic vinegar which we happily accepted! I am so glad we got a salad since the pizza was a long, unfortunately, wait. Their gluten free pizza is only available in a small size, but it's more than enough for one person. I got their Coevolution pizza with steak and red sauce, and Mom got the Community pizza with chicken. BOTH were delicious. My pizza was underdone and the steak still pink, but I was so hungry that we weren't about to send it back to cook it more. Mom's pizza had mushrooms (gasp) that she forgot to tell them to leave off, but they were surprisingly very good, and I (we) HATE mushrooms! Mom and I shared slices and both ate about half of the pizzas! I would go back to Flatbreads in heart beat. My new NH destination (which I never had before) for gluten free pizza! I am so happy that it was made with real food ingredients.

Insert my face here!

After it was getting late and the outlets were closing soon, but it was 8:30 and we wanted ice cream. Off to Ben and Jerry's we went! I got a Chocowlate Chip and Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl in a cup and Mom got the New York Super Fudge Chunk. It was DELICIOUS. 

It was such an incredibly relaxing day together with good company, shopping and real food. I love days like that.

French Vanilla Ice Cream.

Have you ever wondered why some recipes are so complicated? I like to read a lot of food blogs (or glance at a lot at least), and I find myself becoming very excited about the featured recipe as I see the first, second or third photo. Then I find myself scrolling down the page as fast as I can, my eyes are glued to the screen, in a state of all-out anticipation as I wait to find out the first few ingredients of the recipe. A long ingredient list, complicated measurements, or too many steps and long prep time often strike those feelings dead, however, and that will be the end of that recipe.

All that to say, I love uncomplicated recipes. In January, I shared with you my favorite vanilla ice cream. Now that it's summer, I'm back to cranking out ice cream recipes again. As I read other cookbooks and food blogs, however, I notice that most ice cream recipes are too complicated. It requires tempering eggs, boiling milk, chilling the mixture for hours, unnecessary amount of churning, etc. Because I don't believe it is healthy to eat heated milk (raw milk is best) and I am not afraid of raw eggs (eggs from a healthy source shouldn't be worrisome), I find a lot of these recipes annoying. The picture may look downright delicious, but I just can't get by the process. I'd rather have an ice cream that tastes amazing, made with real ingredients that does not a very long time to put together. 

That being said, here is my homemade vanilla ice cream recipe now updated. I've dubbed it french vanilla ice cream this time around because the color, taste and texture remindes me just of a french vanilla version of vanilla. What's the difference between french vanilla versus regular vanilla ice cream? French vanilla uses eggs and has a more custardy taste and texture, whereas vanilla and vanilla bean versions are usually less creamy, more icy, often do not use eggs, and have tiny black vanilla bean flecks throughout.

This has become my go-to ice cream recipe! By keeping the basic ratios the same, it's easy to make many many different flavors! Yumm!

French Vanilla Ice Cream.

    adapted from Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon

    4 cups  raw grassfed organic jersey cream (or 2 cups cream, 2 cups raw whole milk)

    2/3 cup  raw grassfed organic jersey whole milk

    2/3 cup  organic maple syrup

    4  egg yolks from pastured chickens

    2 tsp  organic coconut flour

    8  drops vanilla creme liquid stevia

    3  good dashes unrefined sea salt

To make your ice cream:

  1 . In a large bowl, crack egg yolks, add coconut flour and whisk until combined. Add milk, maple syrup, salt and stevia and whisk well.

  2.  Lastly, pour in four cups of cream, whisking very well to make sure there are not lumps.

  3.  Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze per instructions. Mine churned for 25 minutes and was done!

After sampling some after taking the picture, this ice cream would probably make a good "eggnog" ice cream (after adding fresh ground nutmeg). Look at the yellow color!! That comes from real milk and real eggs ;)