Vanilla Mango Panna Cotta—Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking Chez Moi

I missed the last TWD, which was an apricot raspberry tart.  I bought a big container of organic apricots at Costco that I was planning on using, but my kids all like apricots so much (so do I) in their perfect, fresh form, that they all got eaten super fast before I was able to make the tart.  The tart sounds like something I’d love, so it was probably a good thing that I wasn’t tempted to eat it.

Today’s recipe for the Vanilla Mango Panna Cotta was super simple so I decided there was no excuse to get it made.  I used organic cane sugar so I could taste it.  I normally don’t eat things with milk and cream much anymore but decided this was an okay excuse because I really wanted to try it.

 

Panna Cotta, as I described it to my kids, it just a gelatin (Jell-o) made with milk and cream. It’s pretty low in sugar, too.  With this one, a mango puree is put in the bottom of each cup.  I would not be against just going with more puree (half the cup!) and half panna cotta.  It would even be good with the mango mixed in with the milk/cream mixture. 

This is how I served it here after nice photos--

You can never have too much fresh fruit!  I followed Dorie’s recipe exactly, even using lime juice and a teaspoon of honey in the puree.  I used vanilla extract as I didn’t have a vailla bean.  I’m tell you, super easy for a nice dessert.  This recipe made four servings but would also be a cinch to double or triple it for a crowd.  You want the recipe, don’t you?  I’ve told you before—get Dorie’s book, Baking Chez Moi.  Loving it!  A lot more panna cotta to behold with the group, check it out here. 

This would be good with any fruit and surprise, surprise, I’m thinking there’s got to be a way it would be really good with chocolate, too.  Ooh, raspberry puree, raspberries on top and chocolate shavings or a drizzle of melted chocolate.  That would be my ideal panna cotta.  What would be your favorite?

Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free

I made this Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, though it’s dairy free (made with coconut milk) and instead of sugar I used raw honey.  It might not be all that pretty, but it sure is tasty!  I have made peach mango “ice cream” before, but this one is a little different. 

I had recently bought some of those fruit pouches, that are perfect for kids lunch boxes.  My boys really like them.  Apparently their favorite is the plain applesauce or applesauce with cinnamon.  But I’ve got some of the other flavors here and there to see what else they might like.

Apparently these Fruit and Veggie ones from Del Monte are not a favorite.  The boys weren’t eating them.  I kept seeing them in the pantry.  They are all real fruit with juice and veggies added.  Peach mango, hmmm?  I checked to see what veggies were in them and it’s just a little pumpkin and carrot juice.  Ding!  These needed to be put to use.  This dairy free ice cream was created using seven pouches.  Here’s the recipe.  Get a box of them and try it out. 

Peach Mango Cinnamon Ice Cream, Dairy Free and Refined Sugar Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

7 Del Monte Peach Mango Fruit + Veggie Squeezers (1 Box is 8 pouches, you could use all 8)

1/4 cup raw honey

1 can lite coconut milk (or regular is fine, I just had some lite on hand)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (to taste—I added 1/2 teaspoon, but ended up putting in a bit more)

couple pinches of fresh nutmeg

Put all the fruit and veggie mixture from each pouch in a large bowl.  Add the honey and whisk to combine.  Whisk in the coconut milk, then add the almond extract, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until all combined.  Pour the mixture into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker and church according to manufacturer instructions, about 20 minutes.  Serve ice cream soft serve immediately or put in an airtight container in the freezer.  To serve frozen ice cream, let sit on the counter for 15 minutes for easier scooping.

Peach is definitely the dominant flavor in these pouches and in the ice cream.  The cinnamon is a perfect autumn addition.  You’ll love it!

Coconut Mango Ice Cream (Paleo, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free)

Does that not look like the most delicious bowl of ice cream?  Yeah, I know, there’s no chocolate.  I live in a world of chocolate and prefer it most often.  But this ice cream is delicious and basically health food.  You’ve got to make this!

I started with a couple mangoes.  Then I added a little raw honey and some lime zest and lime juice.  Mango and lime are a match made in heaven.  Instead of dairy cream, I used a full fat coconut milk.  That’s it.  So easy, fresh, healthy, delicious.  This ice cream is Paleo, dairy free, and void of refined sugars, but you’d never know it isn’t there and you won’t miss it.  I happened to have some toasted unsweetened coconut, so I sprinkled that on the ice cream and drizzled it with a little honey.  Love the texture and flavor it added!

Course, it’s good “plain”, too.  The first photo is right out of the ice cream maker.  The second photo is after it hardened in the freezer.  Both are good!  the mango flavor comes through, the lime is there and you can taste the coconut, even without the toasted coconut on top. 

Coconut Mango Ice Cream, Dairy Free, Paleo, Refined Sugar Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 mangoes, peeled and cubed

1-14 ounce can of full fat coconut milk

2 tablespoons raw honey ( a little more to taste)

zest of half a lime

juice of 2 limes

*optional topping—toasted coconut and honey

Put all the ingredients in a blender (or a food processor would work, too).  Blend until smooth.  Put the mixture in the bowl of a frozen, prepared ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Serve as soft-serve ice cream with toasted coconut and a drizzle of honey if desired.  Put ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer.

Mmmm, you’ve got to try this!

Delicious Fat Free Sugar Free Peach Mango Ice Cream

This Peach Mango Ice Cream I made today is so good and I LOVE that it is fat free and sugar free but you’d never know it.  It’s a great treat if you’re watching what you’re eating!  I actually made a peach mango ice cream last year that was also light, but I upped the amount of fruit in this one and instead of using a full-of-sugar condensed milk, I used just a touch of agave and some skim milk.  I like this one better and am happy to have a frozen treat for me in the freezer.  It seems to be full of full-fat ice cream treats that I choose not to eat (even though I love those, too!). 

Delicious Fat Free Sugar Free Peach Mango Ice Cream, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

4 peaches, pits  removed and sliced

2 mangoes, removed from pit and cut off the peel into chunks

zest of one lime

juice of one lime

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional, or more to taste)

1 cup skim milk

Put the peaches and mangoes in a blender.  Add the lime zest and juice and agave nectar.  Puree until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Add the milk and puree until combined.  Put the mixture through a sieve to remove the peach skins.  (It’s easy and there isn’t much of the skin left.)  Chill the mixture in the refrigerator until cold.  Pour into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions, 20-25 minutes.  Remove ice cream from bowl and store in an airtight container in the freezer.  Serve after a couple hours of freezing.

Perfect summer treat!

TWD—Tropical Crumble

Bananas and mangoes in a fruit crisp.  I wasn’t sure what to think of that.  But that was our recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie this week.  When I saw that we were going to make a tropical crumble, I thought it would maybe have pineapple and coconut or something, so I was surprised when I looked at the recipe and saw that it has bananas and mangoes. 

Also interesting to this recipe was the streusel topping—it had a lot of butter.  But you know me, I couldn’t follow along with that—I only used half the amount of butter it called for and it was Bestlife buttery baking sticks.  I also used Bestlife for the filling, which starts out melting butter in a skillet, then browning the banana and mangoes.  I already knew I don’t really like cooked bananas, but wanted to give this a fair try.  I did like the addition of lime zest 

I also omitted the fresh ginger, but added some extra ground ginger.  I don’t always like fresh ginger in things.  We had some friends from Kansas visiting when I made this and they really liked it.  I tasted some and while it wasn’t bad, it was not something I’d  eat again. 

You can get the recipe from Gaye from Laws of the Kitchen.

It was even a little better served with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream!  The crisp, buttery, sugary pecans that were almost like pralines were the best part of this, but I’m really glad I only used half the butter for the streusel.

Tuesdays With Dorie—the place to go find more tropical crumble.

Mango Peach Ice Cream (Fat Free) and Golden Oreos Crust Mango Peach Ice Cream Pie Recipe

I’ve got to get as many ice cream posts in as I can since July is National Ice Cream Month.  It’s starting to be peach and mango season, so I grabbed some at the store recently.  I decided some of them needed to be made into ice cream.  The Mango Peach Ice Cream is actually fat free, but I would never have guessed that if I was given some to taste and wasn’t told that and I really just made it up as I went along.  I’m glad I wrote it down because I will for sure make this again!

Mango Peach Fat Free Ice Cream, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 ripe peaches, pit removed and cut into chunks

2/3 cup fat free sweetened condensed milk**

1/3 cup skim milk

zest of half a lime

juice of 1 lime

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, discard the remaining bits of peach skin, etc.

Chill in an airtight container in the fridge for a few hours, or in a bowl in an ice bath until mixture is COLD.  Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions (about 20-25 minutes).  Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

**I used this amount because I’d used the rest of the can for something else and had some to use up.  I will probably make this with a whole can of condensed milk next time, but I always use fat free milk. 

After making the ice cream I decided to make a couple of ice cream pies for dessert when we had company over and thought this would be good in a pie.  I made a cookie crust using Golden Oreos and it was really good!  I put a layer of the mango peach ice cream on the crust, then topped it with whipped topping and let it freeze overnight.  I think it tasted great!

Mango Peach Ice Cream Pie with Golden Oreo Crust, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 quart homemade mango peach ice cream (fat free), recipe above

8 ounces whipped topping

Cookie crust:

5 ounces Golden Oreos

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grind the Oreos until finely ground crumbs.  Add the melted butter and pulse until all combined.  Dump the buttery crumbs into a pie plate and spread evenly, going up the sides of the plate as well.  Bake for 8 minutes just to set and toast the crust.  Let cool completely.

Spread the softened ice cream over the crust, then the whipped topping.  Freeze until solid.  Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

HAVE YOU MADE ANY HOMEMADE ICE CREAM YET THIS SUMMER?—THIS IS THE MONTH!

Chocolate Sorbet, Mango Sorbet, Peach Mango Sorbet and A GIVEAWAY!!

It’s still summer and still hot (even though the boys went back to school yesterday.  Yippee.  Shh, don’t tell them I said that.)  Therefore, I’ve still been putting my ice cream makers to good use.  But I don’t always just make fattening, rich ice creams.   I’ve also been kicking it up with some great sorbets.

The Apricot Sorbet I posted recently was one of my favorites. 

I made a heavenly Mango Sorbet a few weeks ago.  (Photo taken right after churning.)

This one was adapted from a recipe I found at Food Reference.com.  It was so creamy and I loved the taste of it more than I thought I would (mango is not my favorite fruit, but I do like it okay). 

Mango Sorbet, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from www.foodreference.com

2 large mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced

6 teaspoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons agave nectar (you could use sugar or honey)

1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes.

Chill the mixture until very cold.  (I like using an ice bath, put ice and water in a big bowl.  With your mixture in a smaller bowl, set the bowl with the mixture into the bigger bowl.  Let sit 15-30 minutes, stirring every few minutes.  It gets cold really fast!)

Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.  It’s perfect served right away or just as great frozen for a few hours.  Once frozen, let sit in airtight container on counter for a few minutes to soften for easier scooping.   (Photo below taken after freezing—still so creamy!)

 

Well, I’ve come into a bunch of mangoes lately.  So I decided to whip up more sorbet after the first batch was all gone.  But sitting on the counter was also a couple of almost overripe peaches that weren’t going to get eaten fresh.  So I pitted them and cut them into chunks to go along with a couple more mangoes I had.  I actually blended the mangoes first in my blender with some agave nectar, water and lime juice.  It was after that I thought of adding the peaches, so I blended the peaches separately, but you could probably do everything together.  To the peaches I added a little more agave and some more lime juice.  I strained the peach nectar through a fine mesh strainer to remove the skin.  I whisked the two blended fruits together, chilled them for a while, then churned them in an ice cream maker.

Peach Mango Sorbet

Peach Mango Sorbet, by Katrina at Baking and Boys!, adapted from David Lebovitz’s Mango Sorbet

2 large mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced

2 large peaches, pitted and diced

1/3 cup agave nectar plus 1/4 cup agave (you really can add however much you’d like, I would even use less next time) Sugar or honey would work, too.

1/3 cup water

4 teaspoons lime juice

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the peach skins.  Chill the mixture until very cold.  Churn according to manufacturer’s instruction in ice cream maker.  Serve immediately or freeze for a few hours in an airtight container.  Let sit on counter for a few minutes before serving to make scooping easier.

HANG IN THERE—GIVEAWAY INFO TO COME!!!

One more sorbet I’ve made recently, before I tell you about this awesome giveaway is a Chocolate Sorbet.  We can’t leave chocolate out of a post, now can we? ;)  See here it is---

Ooh, yum, chocolaty!  I’m stalling here.

You see, I’m not always perfectly diligent about marking a recipe I’ve made with the date.  I’m also not very diligent about marking the container with WHAT is in it.  So I have chocolate sorbet and I THINK it’s David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Sorbet from his book The Perfect Scoop, but I don’t know for sure.  It’s not marked in the book that I made it that day.  I HAVE made it before, a couple times.  And I love it.  But rack my brains, I really don’t remember if that is this chocolate sorbet.  See, I’ve tried others.  They’re all good.  They’re chocolate.

See, as I write this, I’m thinking, it has to be David’s recipe.  Then I look at the recipe and I really don’t remember doing that.  His recipe calls for Dutch-process cocoa, which I don’t have right now.  But I could have made my own Dutch-process cocoa, I just cannot remember.  (Homemade Dutch process cocoa is 3 tablespoons cocoa plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda.)  Sigh.  Anyone know how to fix this problem with my brain?

I’ll wait.

Nope.  No one.  Sigh.  I think I need some chocolate sorbet to help me out here. 

Ok, quick look here and I’m not finding DL’s Chocolate Sorbet recipe available online (I didn’t look extensively), so I’m not going to repost it.

BUT I think if you like making your own ice creams, sorbets and the like, that you should just buy the book.  I’ve left you an Amazon link to do so.  The chocolate sorbet is great.  I actually haven’t made a single recipe from The Perfect Scoop that I didn’t like.  It’s ice cream, People, what’s not to like.  Ok, I’ll shut up now.

What?  You say I said something about a giveaway.  Well, the people at EatSmart asked me if I wanted to do a review for one of their kitchen scales.  It’s the EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale to be precise.

I have been loving it, using it from everything to making these sorbets recipes, to cookies, to pretty much everything I can weigh.  I already had and use most often a digital kitchen scale for precise measuring.  What I love about this EatSmart scale is that you can measure in four ways—grams, ounces, kilograms or pounds.  I also love that you can set a bowl on the scale and measure one ingredient, then leave the bowl there, zero out the scale, measure something else, and so on.  I love the zeroing out feature, called tare.  You’d love it, too.

Want one?  EatSmart would love to give one to one of my lucky readers as well.  All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what one thing you would love to be able to measure most.  Besides flour, I love being able to measure peanut butter (No more messy measuring cups, just plop it in a bowl on the scale!).  Since I just made and posted those fantastic Butterfinger Cookies, I was SO excited to measure the peanut butter with this scale.  These are the things that truly make me happy.  (I know, get a life, Katrina, right?)

So leave me a comment on this post, (don’t forget to tell me what one thing you would love to be able to measure), I will randomly pick one winner to get one of these EatSmart food scales.  (Sorry, winners are limited to the United States.)  Make sure your comment has a way for me to get a hold of you if you are the chosen winner.  Comments will be accepted until Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at midnight, MST.  A winner will be chosen and posted Wednesday (Sept. 1) morning.  Thanks, EatSmart.  Good luck!

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This post has been added to the BSI Mango Round Up at Nutmeg Nanny 4-10-11!