Playful yummy bakes for modern home bakers
Anyone that cooks will know when something not only turns out right but exceeds your own expectations, it fills you with so much joy. A cheese scone recipe are pretty abundant but these richly cheese-y Cheddar and Red Leicester scones with even more cheese sprinkled …
(One of) my weaknesses for food that I love to eat but try not to have too much of, are donuts. Such a treat. These jam doughnut muffins are a delicious adaptation which is so much quicker and easier to achieve and no food mixer …
White chocolate sparkle ice cream. My sister is a white chocolate fiend and every time I make white chocolate anything, I always have her in mind. For her no matter how much chocolate you add, you can always add that little bit more.
I created this ice cream around her Birthday and this really does have its party dress on. White chocolate, vanilla and sprinkles, simply magical.
For me, creating should always bring you joy, and this ice cream certainly makes me smile. It’s such a hopeful and playful treat, I don’t think you could be sad eating a scoopful of this. Add a dash of edible glitter if you fancy even more shimmer. Why not?
300ml double cream
½ tin condensed milk (of a 397g tin)
¼ tsp salt
4 tbsp white chocolate spread
1 vanilla pod (plus a little extra vanilla extract if you really want to add to the vanilla flavour)
50g sprinkles
70g white chocolate chunks
1 tbsp liquid glucose
Edible glitter sprinkled on top (optional)
Chop the white chocolate pieces into fine shards ready to sprinkle onto the ice cream before it goes in the freezer. Measure out the sprinkles. Leave both to one side for later.
Add the double cream, condensed milk, salt, white chocolate spread and vanilla pod to a food mixer and begin to whisk.
When the cream begins to form soft peaks and you can see the whisk indentations in the cream add in the liquid glucose.
When the cream is whipped enough that it holds a peak when you lift the whisk out, its ready to put in your air-tight container. This happens very quickly, maybe 3 minutes on fast speed so keep an eye on it or you’ll come back to butter. Not what you want.
Add in about a third of your white chocolate shards and sprinkles to the bottom of the container.
Add in a third of the ice cream mixture on top of the chocolate and sprinkles. Repeat twice more. Once you have added all of the mixture and toppings put the lid on and then put the container into a sealable bag. This will help prevent ice crystals forming in your ice cream while it is in the freezer.
Leave to freeze for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Once frozen this will last about 2 months in the freezer to have whenever you fancy.
White chocolate is tricky to work with. I tried a few ways to include it into this recipe and none of them really worked – every time I put white chocolate near any of the ingredients the cream mixture would seize up. Very antisocial. My solution, use white chocolate spread. This worked really well and adding the white chocolate shavings in layers adds to the texture and avoids folding them into the mix, which might risk losing the air that has been whisked into the cream.
Don’t fold the sprinkles into the cream, just add it in layers when pouring the mixture into the container. I tried folding sprinkles in once in but the colour started to run and then I ended up with a green tinted ice cream. Not the most appealing.
Two ways to help your no churn ice cream have a lovely soft scoop set is either to include alcohol or liquid glucose. As I wanted this recipe to be suitable for all ages, I opted for the liquid glucose here.
Finding ice crystals in your ice cream when you take it out of the freezer is the last thing you want. I have had this problem more than once. Ways that I have found that avoid this are to use a really good air-tight container, like the ones that seal onto the sides when you seal them. Cover the top of the ice cream with cling film or put the whole container into a plastic sealable sandwich bag and then into the freezer.
Looking for other playful and colourful party food ideas? Why not try my Pimp those party treats – no fuss ideas to elevate your party table – simple, fun and crowd pleasing ideas to make your celebration amazing. I’d also recommend my Jammie Dodger cupcakes kids and grownups will go crazy for these. Simple to make but will look every bit the showstopper on your party table.
Party Delights have some great decorations to choose from if you’re looking for some inspiration.
Halloween splatter cookies. Trick or treat definitely comes to mind here. Splatter is the optimal word for these little terrors…the process rather than the product is the true demon here. To look at them you’d think, wow, Halloween chic; Jackson Pollock meets baking, fab but …
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These PB&J thumbprint cookies are seriously good, well with such a classic pairing why would you doubt it. Peanut butter and jam (I just can’t say jelly, sorry) – are a great example of a simple partnership that is far greater together than apart. Salty savoury-ness meets sharp sweetness, the rest is history. Classics are classics for a reason…no need to question or tinker, just sit back and enjoy.
Thumbprint cookies are lovely to work with. They’re pretty simple to make, easier to eat and incredibly versatile. Jam tarts 2.0. The addition of peanuts on the outside adds to the much-needed crunch and complement the flavours inside.
225g plain flour
Pinch salt
150g unsalted butter (room temperature)
75g caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tbsp smooth peanut butter
50g salted peanuts, finely chopped
85g peanut chips
Approx. ½ tsp of raspberry jam for filling of each cookie
80g salted peanuts, chopped finely (for topping)
Makes between 25-30 cookies, depending on size.
Chop the peanuts and separate those that will be incorporated into the dough and those for the topping. Leave to one side.
Cream the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. (This can be done using a food mixer, free-standing electric mixer or by hand.)
Add the vanilla extract and egg and mix to combine.
Add the peanut butter. Mix to combine.
Add the sifted flour into the bowl and gradually combine. Stop as soon as the flour has been incorporated.
Add the chopped peanuts and peanut chips by hand, folding them in with a spatula.
Wrap the mixture up and chill for an hour in the fridge.
Pre-heat oven to 180°C about and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Roll small amounts of the dough into golf-ball sized rounds, then roll them in chopped peanuts. Using your thumb add an indentation into the centre of each round. This should be pretty deep to make room for the jam.
Fill each cookie with just under ½ tsp of raspberry jam.
Bake for 9-11 mins. Turn the tray once during this period to make sure the cookies bake evenly.
Leave on the tray to cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container or tin. Will last 2-3 days. To enjoy warm, re-heat in a low oven for about 10 mins.
Once you add the flour, do not over-mix. Combine and then turn the mixer off. Use a spatula to scrape and combine the mix at the bottom of the bowl if needed. Over-mixing can result in a tougher cookie.
Chilling the dough in the fridge for an hour is really useful. It’s quite a soft dough and it makes it easier to shape into balls if it’s had time in the fridge.
A hard thing to do for generous or greedy people but go easy on the jam filling. If you over fill, it will just ooze out the side when baking. Not the worst thing but it doesn’t look as good.
The jam will be incredibly hot when it comes out of the oven, so wait about 20 minutes before digging in.
If you can’t get hold of the peanut chips (they aren’t readily available in UK stores but you can buy online) then just increase number of peanuts in the dough.
Looking for other PB&J recipe ideas? Why not try my Peanut butter choc swirl ice cream – no churn magic
Food network has some amazing suggestions too.
I may be late to the no churn party but now I’m here I’m not going anywhere; flicking the lights on and off, walk of shame, into it. I do have an ice cream maker but rarely use it. Not that its complicated its …
Pimp your party treats – no fuss ideas to elevate your party table. That’s exactly what I needed recently. It was my Birthday a few weeks ago and each year my Mum and I like to create something a bit special for the cake. This …