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| Monday, June 25, 2007 SHF: Chocolate malt, perfected  My retro craving: notice that the straw stands up straight. I like the theme of this month's Sugar High Fridays: Cravings. There are desserts I make a lot (like brownies because they are ridiculously easy and you get your chocolate and sugar fix instantly), and then there are others that if a craving hits me, I will run out -- meaning, I will make a special trip -- and get the ingredients. Once the weather hits the no-long-sleeves point every summer, the first thing I want is a chocolate malt. I grew up in Milwaukee, where the fave frozen confection is frozen custard, a softer version of ice cream, and fattier than gelato. Man, it is soooo good. I honestly don't know why they don't have this stuff all over the U.S. (I am partial to Kopps-- this is where I would get my turtle sundae fix as a kid.) Chocolate malts are alive and well in the Midwest, like, real chocolate malts where: 1) it is so thick the straw stands up, and 2) they always, always give you the tin with the extra malt in it that was used in the shake blender. You know, because it's not fattening enough just to have the malt that's in the glass, right? So where I live now (Europe) chocolate malts are non-existent, so I make my own. This way, I can also take total charge of the ingredients, so I'll use ice cream and chocolate syrup I made. And, of course, Horlicks malt powder which thankfully I can get at the British expat store. Don't use that Carnation stuff, which is super sweet and has chocolate powder in it and whatnot. Horlicks can be found, oddly enough, in a lot of Asian grocery stores. This is the stuff that will make you an addict. Oh, speaking of, as a kid I ate a lot of the Horlicks malt tablets, which were a type of candy. I cannot find this stuff anywhere! I wonder if anyone else craves this-- I know I didn't imagine it because my sister remembers them too. There are purists who believe that chocolate malts should be made with vanilla ice cream, obtaining their chocolate flavor from just the syrup. I don't care either way; but I personally prefer it with vanilla ice cream just because it seems to taste like just the right ratio of chocolate to malt. Plus there's something about the chocolate that comes from a syrup that gives it that kitschy, retro soda fountain taste. (I don't know how else to explain it. But anyway, a premium, super chocolate ice cream is not going to get you that same nostalgic taste I'm talking about!) So make a classic chocolate malt -- you won't be disappointed, even if you make it with store-bought vanilla and Hershey's syrup. For the love of Mike, don't use ice cubes. But make sure to use the Horlicks. My ideal chocolate malt makes one large malt, or two short ones, if you want to share Ingredients 3 scoops vanilla ice cream (my recipe for Philadelphia-style is here) 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (recipe below) 1/2 cup whole milk (very very cold-- keep it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so) 3 tablespoons Horlicks malt powder
Chocolate syrup Ingredients
Links: Labels: recipes, the chocolatey, the sweet posted by sheryl | 9:17 AM | comments (6)
EBBP #7: Loot update
So I got an updated package from The Passionate Cook and man, was it a loot box full of goodies! My kids almost fainted when they saw all the sweets, and I had to photograph it instantly because once they got their paws on it, it would have been impossible to list everything that was included. So here's what we got:
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Whew! I think that's all. It felt like Halloween at our house! My computer is acting freaky so I can't post the picture I took, but I will add the photo once I work out my techie problemas. posted by sheryl | 9:08 AM | comments (1)
Super Chocolate  After I wrecked the freezer bowl on my Krups ice cream maker, I decided to get serious and spring for an ice cream maker with a compressor. This basically translates into an ice cream maker with its own freezer, so you can make ice cream whenever you want. After some research, I ended up with a Nemox Gelatissimo, which looks like some sort of miniature toilet. Yes, not the most attractive thing to have hogging up precious space on the kitchen counter.  Nemox Gelatissimo. Does it flush? Anyway, it ended up being 220 euros which is a pretty good deal as this seems to usually go for about 400 euros. It seems like I'll have to make more than a few ice cream cones to make up for the cost, but hey, I have kids that loooove ice cream. Plus I can make all my weirdo flavors like corn, avocado, etc. that you can't get at the ice cream joint around the corner. So now I am totally obsessed and have been making ice cream nearly every day. So I'm learning a lot-- I'm trying to perfect the texture, which is a much harder thing to do than get the flavorings and sweetness right. Ice cream is all about texture. So some things I've learned so far:
With these things to remember, I've been working on the perfect custard (for me, at least). I'm not there yet, but I have been able to develop my go-to chocolate ice cream recipe. This is way over the top on the chocolate, but without being too fatty; I use more milk than cream in this recipe. Try it if you want total chocolate flavor without it being too sweet. I have been making ice cream and then letting it sit in the freezer for 2 hours before we eat it. I think it hardens up too much (our freezer is 15 degrees centigrade) past that point, but 2 hours in, the texture is that perfect chewy, a bit melty, gelato-y texture. (In the picture above, it had been in the freezer for 4-5 hours, so you can see that it has gotten more of that American style hard-scoop texture. But it was still good!) Super Chocolatey Ice Cream Ingredients
Links: Labels: recipes, the chocolatey, the sweet posted by sheryl | 6:25 PM | comments (7)
European Blogging By Post (EBBP#7)  I participated for the first time in European Blogging by Post, hosted by The Passionate Cook. The concept goes like this: you put together a box of goodies to send to another food blogger, and in return, you get a box of goodies from someone else. What an awesome idea! I loved the theme this time around too: childhood sweets. So my lucky recipient will get a bunch of Asian kid sweets from me. (Other Asian-Americans out there-- remember Botan Rice Candy? Pocky? I loved that stuff!) My package came the other day, and it was from The Passionate Cook herself! She is travelling in Italy, so she explained in the note that this is just a preliminary package-- but it had some great stuff nonetheless!
posted by sheryl | 6:36 PM | comments (3)
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Welcome to Sheryl's site dedicated to the humble waffle, among other sweet, savory and delicious things. I'm based in The Hague, Netherlands, and post recipes and travel (food, of course) photos. Mmmm...photos... Top Posts Categories Recent
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