Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

Helloooo there!!! After years posting recipes at our my personal site, I will slowly move them here that way you can have easier access on our favorite food and recipes.

Chocolate Ice Cream is Didi's favorite. He could finished a bucket of this in one seating if we let him {of course we never did}

I tried 3 different chocolate ice cream recipes before finally settled with this one. Most of the chocolate ice cream recipes were way too sweet and chocolate-y {is there such word?} for me. Finally, after cutting down the amount of sugar and chocolate, I'm happy with the result.

The ingredients:

Organic Strawberry Ice Cream

We're blessed to be able to enjoy this sweet, and delicious organic strawberry here. We got ours from the local Farmer Market. 

The seller said the grow them all year long in South California. We usually buy them in bulk and froze some. 

First we need to measure, wash, dry, and stem the strawberry before putting them in the freezer. Then when it comes to the time make the ice cream, we place the frozen berries inside a pan

Homemade Mango Ice Cream Recipe

Growing up in tropical country, my husband and I got the privilege to enjoy different kind of mangoes: the sweet kind, the semi sweet kind: 'Manalagi' (my favorite), the sour one, and so on. I was very surprised when I moved to the U.S. and met a friend in college who never try mango. If you like my friend, please go ahead and buy one when you find it at supermarket. I promise it doesn't taste or smell strange like 'durian'. Who knows you might even like it. 

Anyway, we found very sweet mangoes at Costco lately and our boys love it so much. Max asked if I can make mango ice cream so they got the enjoy the mango longer. Great idea I thought so off I went to the kitchen. A day later it's done. My boys couldn't wait devour the fresh mango ice cream straight from the ice cream machine.

Ice Cream Making Tips & Tricks

We have been making homemade ice cream for years now. I love the fact that I can make any flavor I like, reduce the amount of sugar, and the fact that it doesn't have additives. 

We use Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. First time my then curious toddler see how the machine works:

We made a lot of ice cream and create lot of memory with the ice cream machines over the years

Some tips and tricks I learned on Ice Cream Making: {so that you don't make the same mistakes I did}:

1. We use Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, which has yet fail us these past 8 years. 
2. For the heavy cream: Do NOT use the ultra-pasteurized one {like the one normally sold in most grocery stores. I also don't like the one that Costco sells}. I got mine either from Trader Joe's or Wholefoods. 
3.   
4. Use digital scale for more exact measurement of weight: and 
   
   
    measuring cup to measure the liquid: 

How to Make Vanilla Ice Cream

We love vanilla ice cream. We eat it with pie, blend it with smoothies, or eat it as is. I like this homemade version because I can reduce the amount of sugar, use real vanilla bean, and organic produce.

I found it cheaper to buy vanilla bean at Costco than anywhere else.

The Cooking Process:

Green Tea / Matcha Ice Cream

We love matcha ice cream especially after tasting the very good one in Japan. We bought some green tea powder from our trip Japan and so excited to try it.

First thing first: cook the milk, cream, salt and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. In another bowl, stir together the egg yolks and green tea powder then pour some of the milk mixture into the yolks. Pour the milk and yolk mixture back to the saucepan and reheat it while continue stirring until it reach 80 degree Fahrenheit.

Foods to eat in Honolulu, Oahu

We just came back from Oahu and still dreaming of its delicious foods. Before we go, I asked my friend who grew up in the island for her suggestions and she gave me a long list. Other friends also gave us their recommendations. We didn't get to try all of them but managed to try plenty. Without further a do, here is our favorites foods find in:

HONOLULU / Nearby Waikiki Beach:

1. Kapiolani Farmer’s Market: variety of food, open Saturday 7:30 AM - 11:00 AM. Be there early to find parking spot, hike at Diamond Head, then walk back to eat here. Must try: The Pig & The Lady and the Hawaiian Cane Drink. 
2. Marukame Udon, super long line. We came between 10AM-11AM on weekday lo and behond, there was no line. 
3. Island Vintage Shave Ice, Best Shave Ice (according to my local friend) order the one with ice cream in the middle
4. Leonard's Bakery - landmark for Portuguese donuts 
5. Lappert's Hawaii Ice Cream, their Kona and Strawberry Ice Cream is my favorite. 
6. Waikiki Yokocho, Japanese food court filled with delicious Japanese food. We tried ramen one night and the tempura the other night. 

Indonesian Fruits Drink a.k.a. Es Teler

Whenever we have potluck with our Indonesian friends, either one of us would  always bring this staple Indonesian fruit drink. It is so easy to make and always loved by both the adults and kids.
Since we couldn't find fresh tropical fruits here, we use canned fruit from Asian supermarket such as Ranch 99 or Lion Supermarket. Sometimes, we can find fresh jack fruit there too so we don't have to use the canned one. You can add other fruits as well like avocado, berries, or apples.

Cut the fruits into bite size pieces

Place them inside a large container

Homemade Tiramisu

I used to think that tiramisu is one of those thing that's too complicated to make until my friend told me that it's not. All I need are the right ingredients and I am ready to go. I tried three different recipes before settling with this one, which is a combination of those three. :)

The ingredients:

Food Photography: Before and After

I started taking pictures of my food a few years back for my own reference. I learned and am still learning about food photography. Recently, I updated a few of  the old pictures to make it more appetizing and sharing the lessons I learned along the way.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Before: July 2011

After:

Lesson learned: natural light is way better than artificial light

Spaghetti Meatballs

Before: January 2010


After:

Lesson learned: take picture of the food before eating it

Wonchester Sauce Chicken

Pandan Chiffon Cake Recipe

My son Max doesn't like cake except this one and ice cream cake. After trying and combining different recipes, I came up with our favorite that is fluffy, light, and yummy. Basically it's a combination of Yossi's & this Lachinvasion's. House of Annie gave some useful tips on baking a chiffon cake. Thank you for sharing the recipes and tips!

The ingredients:

The process

After mixing, place the mixture inside a chiffon pan (it's not the same as bunt cake pan and make sure you get the regular one not the non-stick one. Also, it's better if it has feet. 

The result:

Turn the pan upside down overnight until it cools

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Yield: 8 serving

Author: Kiki

prep time: 15 Mcook time: 60 Mtotal time: 75 M

ingredients:

• 200 g sugar (separate into 150 and 50)
• 225 g cake flour
• 150 ml whole milk
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 egg yolks
• 3 Tb coconut milk
• 1 tsp pandan paste
• 8 egg whites
• 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
• a pinch of salt

instructions:

How to cook Pandan Chiffon Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine the milk, oil, and 50g of sugar and mix them well using a hand mixer. Add to the liquid the flour, baking powder, coconut cream, pandan paste, vanilla extract then mix until well combined. Add the egg yolks one at a time continue mixing until smooth and all ingredients thoroughly combined.
2. In another large bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy then add pinch of salt and cream of tartar. Continue whisking until soft peaks form. Add the rest of the sugar slowly then continue mixing at high speed until stiff peaks occur.
3. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture in additions, being careful not to over deflate the batter. Pour the mixture into the chiffon pan only up to 3/4 of the pan volume and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour (depends on your oven), or until tester inserted to the center of the cake comes out clean. Once the cake is fully baked, take it out of the oven, hang it upside down until the cake cools. Release the cake with a knife then cut into slices and eat it. Enjoy!

Recommended Products:

Cake Pan

 

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