Olive That! Balsamic Vinegar!

I've been having a blast this summer using the Olive That! Extra Virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars.

Over the weekend we made yummy french toast and drizzled with Olive That! Butter Olive oil and Maple Balsamic! Too good!!

I also put their 18 year old balsamic on my ice cream with fresh peaches.  Mmmm! Amazing!

Raspberry lemon dark chocolate ice cream "mix"

With some vanilla ice cream on hand I wanted to try something fun and fancy, like at the ice cream parlours when they add all the "mixins" so here I've just smooshed up some of the vanilla, added leftover bits of dark chocolate I had laying around from baking, and then some of the frozen whipped cream/lemon curd dessert from the freezer.  A few raspberries and it's good to go!

Creamy frozen lemon desserts made using lemon curd and whipping cream, then frozen in a cupcake tin lined with paper wrappers are verstaile and great to have on hand in the freezer as ice cream "mixins" and more!

The little things in life ..

Tree of Hearts

This cute heart tree is a blast to make!  My cat and I made it one afternoon, we folded both red and pink tissue paper and then cut hearts out of them. 

We had hearts all over the floor and my kitty just loved playing with the leftover tissue paper. 

The most fun comes from puncturing each heart onto the branches, go wild!   A fun craft to do with children too! 

Leche Merengada

Helado de Leche Merengada

Serves 4 to 6

1 quart whole milk

3/4 C sugar

pinch of salt

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

zest of 2 lemons

4 egg whites @ room temperature

2 T sugar

Combine the milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, salt, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean portion and lemon zest into a saucepan. Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring to blend the ingredients. Lower heat and simmer for three minutes. Remove from heat, discard the cinnamon stick and cool. Pour the mixture into a shallow container with a cover and chill overnight.

A couple of hours before you plan to serve the dessert, remove the vanilla bean and place the container in the freezer. When it has just begin to set up, take it out and stir it with a fork to smooth it out. Return it to the freezer for another half hour or so. When it looks like it’s become slightly firm but still mushy, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they are opaque. Slowly add 2 tablespoon of sugar and whip until the meringue holds shiny firm peaks.

Remove the milk from the freezer and stir it again with a fork to break it up and smooth it out. Gently fold in the meringue and put it back in the freezer for another half hour or so until it firms up a bit.

Serve with a dash of cinnamon.

Lovely recipe courtesy of Pastry Studio