Homemade Ice Cream

In connection with my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer, I got a free KitchenAid Ice Cream maker worth 8,000php. I think I got a pretty good deal in terms of getting freebies from KitchenAid for every KitchenAid mixer.

Here's one of the best things I made from my kitchen--- Ice Cream!

KitchenAid made everything easy with their KitchenAid Mixer, you can basically connect any KitchenAid attachment using the very same machine and that includes an ice cream maker. Again, I never thought that I'll be making ice cream on a regular basis at home. A lot of ice cream recipes are featured online and you can watch demos on Youtube as well. Being a chocoholic, of course, Chocolate Ice Cream was first in my list to try.

In order to achieve a good result, I watched demos online on how to attach and use the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker first. I suggest you do the same. After securing myself of the how tos of the machine, I immediately searched for ice cream recipes with actual demo using the featured KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker.

With a good equipment at hand, making ice cream was easy. The KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker is just right for the size, it's not too big or bulky. To describe, it's a bit smaller than a 5qt. mixing bowl.

My children are always excited... I mean, isn't it fun just to have the thought that we can make ice cream anytime? Experiment with flavors and ice cream container sizes. We can go unlimited even. The last thing I enjoyed making with my children was a banana split using homemade ice cream. 

Fresh bananas, rich chocolate ice cream, oozing whipped cream and dark chocolate ganache, nuts and caramel to top... who can say no to that!

Cake Pieces

From cupcakes and small pastries, I've shifted to baking cakes. My family loves cake. Even on a regular family lunch or any gathering there should be cake on the table. We've tried almost every cake in the market. From commercial birthday cakes and specialty cakes sold at any bake shop and even restaurants. These cakes doesn't come in cheap. A regular specialty cake can cost for as low as 700php and as much as 1,000++php.

Since we're so into cakes, I've decided, why not bake our own. For the past 2 months, I've made a total of 5 cakes in different flavors and types. My first project was my son's birthday cake. I made an 8", 2 layer Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache. It was very good. From there, I went on with more. There's Red Velvet which is my Dad's favorite, a traditional Sponge Cake and recently, I made 2 cakes in a span of 1 week: 

Chocolate Chiffon and Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Other than the old-fashioned sponge cake, I concentrated on Chocolate cake recipes because everyone loves chocolate. Chocolate is easy to make and is easy to coat around the cake. Chocolate can perfectly go with any other frosting as well. 

My Chocolate Chiffon was soft and fluffy, but my mom advised me that I could have gotten better results if  I used a tube pan. Well, the reason why I didn't use the usual tube pan was because I want to decorate the cake and fill it with chocolate ganache.

My Chocolate Chiffon is a 2 layer cake that has a thin chocolate filling in between. Coated with my favorite chocolate ganache and with swirls of buttercream frosting and chunks of dark chocolate on top.

The kids loved it! My siblings  and my parents ate it with their coffee. I was at my mom's house when I baked both the Chocolate Chiffon and Chocolate Mousse. She has a bigger oven and her kitchen is more spacious. It feels good to be able to work in a bigger kitchen, I also noticed that work is done faster.

Chocolate Mousse is one of my favorite desserts, whether it's served as a cake or as plain mousse with some fresh fruits.

My first Triple Chocolate Mousse turned wonky:

1. The cream for the top layer did not turn stiff that I have to just pour it on top and straight in the fridge.
2. Some time in the middle my dad lowered down the temperature of the fridge.

So imagine... the topping problem could have been solved if the cake was refrigerated longer and was in proper temperature. The following day, my mom and I tasted it and well, it's still okay with me. It's ridiculous not to have a slice. Later in the day, the whole cake looked better after setting the right temperature.

This picture was the wonky part. Please bear... Over-all, it was delicious!

The following week, I went for another try this time, in my own kitchen. I made half of the recipe from what I originally prepared and I used my Chewy Brownie recipe as cake base.  The second attempt was way better.

The chewy brownie at the bottom held the whole thing together. I also used a glass baking dish so when refrigerated, it cooled the whole cake easily.

Wonky or not, I'm still proud of myself being able to come up with such treats. Before I spend so much on a box of cake. Now, as long as I have the ingredients around, I can bake more than 1 cake of different types. It's all worth it, especially if it's for the love of seeing my family happy and for the fun of  baking!

Blueberry Cheesecake From My Kitchen

My love for Blueberry Cheesecake took a notch up. Why? Well, this time, the Blueberry Cheesecake I enjoy is prepared and baked straight from my kitchen. This featured Blueberry Cheesecake was actually my first try on making cheesecakes. One fine afternoon, I was itching to bake something, so I thought I go for a cheesecake.

The recipe I followed for this cheesecake came from the Good Housekeeping Bake It! recipe book. It was my sister's Christmas gift for me last year. I followed the basic New York- Style Cheesecake recipe then I topped my plain cheesecake with my special sour cream mixture and some blueberry preserves. It would be more fun is mobidev will create something for baking enthusiast like me. Easy access recipes online.

I like the golden light brown result of the cheesecake. Some would prefer coating the sides with crushed graham.

My first cheesecake turned out great. It was soft, the taste of the "not too sweet" cheesecake matched the rich flavors of the sour cream and blueberries. Since I started baking, I've lessened my visits to pastry shops in our area. Being able to come up with my own cheesecake is another baking achievement.