The White Ramekins

food & photography

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream {Egg Free}

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Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Scorching sun these days doesn’t seem to show any mercy on us and it is just the beginning and temperature has already started touching 43 degree C here. But it is quite natural for us. In fact both mind and body are kind of getting prepared for the intense hot days which are about to come. How interesting it is, no? That is the beauty of nature, gradually all your surroundings seem to be so adaptable, however hostile the condition be. And it is not just nature, I have observed this phenomenon of adaptability along various different walks of life. Be it work, or be it your friends or family. A pain from a long observed hardship which never seems to end suddenly start diminishing. But is that really the truth? Is the pain really starts to go off? May be yes or may be not. But whatever it is, the endurance to bear the pain definitely sees an uptick. And that is what matters the most. You become all the more stronger and better prepared for even harder situation to come. And I believe the same phenomenon can very easily be applied to the weather condition and how body adapts to suit itself.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

I am leaving you all here with this thought {hoping, at least some of my gibberish would have made sense to you} and a delightful yet easy Strawberry sour cream ice cream recipe adapted from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. It’s a wonderful concoction of very berry strawberries and the tangy sour cream, which suite themselves so well. Try it!

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients

450 gm fresh/frozen strawberries {thawed if frozen}
250 gm sour cream
250 ml low fat cream {can use heavy cream, if you like}
1/2 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar

Directions

  1. Slice the strawberries and toss them with sugar in a bowl and let them macerate for about an hour.
  2. Pulse all the ingredients including strawberries in a food processor or blender 3-4 times, until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.
  3. Refrigerate mixture in a bowl for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight.
  4. Freeze in the ice cream maker, as per manufacturer’s instructions.
  5. Serve it with fresh sliced strawberries and some strawberry compote, if you like.

 

Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

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Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

With the weather getting warmer day by day, I have started hankering more on to light and refreshing foods. I have been eating fresh fruits and salads all throughout the day. Yeah you got that right, I am trying to be more disciplined, while it comes to packing multiple tiffins full of multiple kind of fresh fruits and nuts. This has lasted for 3 weeks now, and I am glad and pretty confident that I’ll continue this for the entire summer this year. Sounds like a new year resolution, which we all know, have got their own unknown fates…ha?

Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

Yeah, it might sound like that, but I’ll try to stick around as much as I can. And that is why, I have been buying a lot of fruits and veggies for salads these days and keep my stock full. Oranges and beetroots have stayed for longer this year. We are still getting fresh and lovely produce. This is a salad recipe which I created out of leftover oranges and beetroots on a Sunday afternoon, when I was done with my Ciabatta baking project {recipe coming soon}.

Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

That rustic bread baking took almost my entire weekend, but I was happy with the results, though I was tired of cooking something else. So, I threw in some whole beetroots in oven to let them roast and cool. I sliced some oranges and jazzed up the salad with a handful of fresh mint leaves.

Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

To added the saltiness, I added some feta cheese and some nuts for the crunch and wrapped up this healthy extravaganza with a honey chili vinaigrette. The flavors came around so well, it was one of a super simple and refreshing salad and nonetheless incredible. I ate some of the leftover salad from the fridge in the evening, and I think it tastes better while cold. Definitely a keeper for those hot summer days!

Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

Ingredients

4 small beetroots
2 oranges
handful of fresh mint leaves
40 gm feta
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup clear honey
4 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp chili pepper flakes
salt to taste

Directions

  1. Wash and wrap the beetroots in aluminium foil and roast for 25 minutes in a 230 degree preheated oven.
  2. Let beetroot cool wrapped in foil.
  3. Meanwhile, make the dressing, by mixing olive oil, honey, vinegar, chili flakes and salt in a bowl. Keep aside.
  4. When beetroots are cooled enough to handle, peel their skin and slice into flat discs and layer in the serving platter
  5. Peel and slice the oranges and layer on top of beets. Sprinkle with mint leaves, feta and chopped nuts.
  6. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and or serve by the side.

 

 

Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

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Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

Greek Yogurt, Labneh, Labni or strained yogurt tart, you can name it whatever you want. But above all, this is the one light velvety textured baked yogurt tart, which is not cloying too. A perfect dessert or a tea time snack for the present weather. It can be topped with whatever in-season fruits you get, or can just be enjoyed plain, no one would complain.

Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

It somehow resembles to the the quark cheesecake I baked last year with balsamic roasted strawberries, the texture, the flavor and even the color. It could be because quark is nothing but the strained natural yogurt. I have been wanting to bake a yogurt tart but preferably the egg-free version. But most of the egg-free version called for a loads of sweetened condensed milk, which kinda put me off, thinking the over sweetness from the condensed milk could ruin the delicate flavors of yogurt.

Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

Talking about the crust, I am not a gluten intolerant person, neither is anyone in my family and friends. But I thought it would be good, if I try some alternate flours for the crust. It might be challenging, the crust would not keep crisp or it might come out excessively crumbly. But after a lot of research on the internet, I decided onto replacing half of the flour with almond meal and rest half with oatmeal and cornmeal.

Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

Oatmeal helps to make the crust crumbly, while cornmeal balances out with the body it gives and almond meal keeps the moistness of the crumb intact. A perfect winner for a tart crust, though I am not sure if this could be used for a traditional double crust pie. I am yet to figure that out.

Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

I topped this tart with ruby red pomegranate seeds and some toasted slivered almonds, which made the tart all the more appealing, resting with high head in the middle of our dinner table!

Greek Yogurt Tart With Gluten Free Crust

Recipe adapted from SAVEUR

Ingredients

For the crust

1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup oatmeal, powdered in a food processor
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
80 gm unsalted butter, melted
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling

400 gm strained yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs

 

Directions

  1. To make the crust, preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Whisk almond meal, sugar, oatmeal, salt, cornmeal in a bowl. Stir in vanilla extract and butter, until the dough forms. Press into the bottoms and sides of a 9″ springform tart pan. Using a fork, prick dough all over. Line dough with parchment paper and fill with dried beans and bake until pale golden 13-15 minutes. Remove paper weights and bake for another 10-12 minutes. Let cool.
  2. To make filling, lower the oven temperature to 150 degree C. Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl, until smooth. Fill in the pre-baked tart shell and bake until just set in the center, for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool. Top with fresh fruits and some nuts before serving.