She Said Yes!

A quick plate to say congrats to the Bride to Be!

You know you are getting old when your friend's kids are getting engaged and married.  This daughter has been a part of my daughter's volleyball, her younger sister is my daughter's friend, and her mom is one of my favorite people to chat with, especially when we were at a volleyball court.

Nothing sparkles like a diamond, except maybe Disco Dust!

Shelby was engaged on a trip to Mexico while my kids were house sitting for her.  I am so happy for her, and her mom and sister are going to have a ball planning a wedding with her!  Congrats!  I gave her these cookies at exercise class...there must be some rule about that!

Nothing but happiness for you both!

Ice Box Cake

A Personal Ice Box Cake

It just sounds old fashion, and it is.  This is my childhood summer dessert.  It reminds me of simple summers, crickets and locusts would be my soundtrack, and there is a breeze blowing off the Mississippi right through the enormous screened in porch where we lived from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  You might hear a train every few hours as the tracks were between us and the Mighty Miss, and if you were really lucky, you'd be home when the Delta Queen came by and her calliope organ would signal for you to get to high ground and see her coming past.  We had a balcony off my parents bedroom, and from there you could see her, plus the barges that came by all summer.  The Delta Queen was truly a glimpse of Mark Twain's river days, and I always thought it would be fun to the see the river from top to bottom.

I have blogged about ice box cake before, when I was hunting down Nabisco Famous Wafers and made this cake and some ice cream bon bons.  It was requested by my kids early this summer, and when I found a recipe for home made chocolate wafers in my email from King Arthur Flours, I knew I had to make it from scratch.  Wow.  Of course I used all Pernigotti Cocoa instead of black cocoa and Dutch process cocoa.  Also, why do we make round cookies?  We make our ice box cake in a 9X9, so I got smart and cut my cookies into squares!  And I had a few leftover cookies, so a week later I made a personal size Ice Box Cake for my sweetie.

Chocolate Wafers
(adapted from King Arthur's Flour)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 Pernigotti Cocoa

Cream butter and sugar.  Add salt, baking powder and espresso powder.  Mix well and add egg and vanilla.  Add flour and cocoa until all is incorporated.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill a few hours.

Why not squares?  Use every speck of dough!

Preheat oven to 350F.  Roll dough to 1/8" and cut out and reroll scraps. Use cocoa instead of flour to keep the dough from sticking.  Bake on Silpat lined sheets for about 8-10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking time.  Cool on racks and store airtight or frozen.

The cookies alone are delicious too!

Ice Box Cake

1 pint whipping cream
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
6-8 bananas, perfectly ripe, sliced thin
Chocolate wafer cookies

Everything ready to go for assembly.

Yes, it's a banana slicer and I use it ALL the time!

A layer of bananas...

Beat cream and powdered sugar to stiff peaks.  In a 9X9, spread a little whipped cream on the bottom and begin layering.  Cookies, bananas, whipped cream, however you like, and quantities you like.  We like to crush a few cookies on top of the last layer of whipped cream.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 4 hours to soften the wafers.

It doesn't cut perfectly, but it is delicious!

SRC Cannoli Ice Cream with Home Made Cones

This is a keeper!  Ice cream and cones were easy and tasty!

It's that time again!  Secret Recipe Club, and this month I was lucky to get the blog, The Slow Roasted Italian.  We are both second generation Italians, are at home in the kitchen and love to entertain.  Donna would be my perfect neighbor!  Browsing her blog was a joy, and when I stumbled on Cannoli Ice Cream, I knew I needn't go any further.  Memorial Day was the perfect opportunity to make something cool and delicious as the temps soared to 100 degrees.  This was amazing!  It is a simple recipe with basically ricotta and milk.  The special surprise is the Nutella/chocolate that you spread inside the cones, around the cone bowls, on your face, off your fingers...you get the idea.  It's good!

So easy to make it festive with some sprinkles!

I decided to make home made cones too, with a recipe I found on Martha, I thought it might be a good excuse to get the pizzelle iron out.

The batter thins out in the iron...so less is more!

Press the hot pizzelle into a bowl to mold while cooling

Twist hot pizzelles and cool to make cones.

I thought about making a cannoli cone, as I have made cannolis many times, but decided a lighter version was called for!  No fried cones!  But no matter what cones you use, don't forget the Nutella/chocolate goodness in the bottom!  My cones were a little loose, so I tucked a piece of a marshmallow in the bottom to hold the chocolate.  Don't be shy here!

Canolli Ice Cream

15 oz. whole milk ricotta
1 cup whole milk
1 cup simple syrup (see below)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, I used 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Whisk ricotta and milk in a large bowl until smooth.  Add the simple syrup and vanilla and stir in well.  Put the mixture into the frozen bowl of an electric ice cream maker (this is a great investment).  Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.  Add chocolate chips at the end, I use a rubber spatula to mix them in.  Transfer to a clean bowl and freeze until ready to eat.  But let it soften a bit before scooping.

This will make even non-Italians swoon!

Simple Syrup- Combine 1/2 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.  Cool completely, and chill for best results.


Alice Water's Ice Cream Cones via Martha

2 egg whites
pinch of salt
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup butter, melted

Heat pizzelle iron.  Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add salt, 1 Tablespoon confectioners sugar and vanilla, and beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold in remaining confectioners sugar (mine deflated to nothing here, and I anticipated the worst, I was wrong!) and then fold in flour and butter.

Drop batter onto greased pizzelle iron and cook until desired doneness.  I don't have a cone mold, so I made cones by rolling and placing in a small cup, they were pretty tiny!  And I made bowls by slipping the hot pizzelle into a small bowl and letting it cool into the shape.

Melt 2/3 cups nutella
and 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Melt in mico at 30 second intervals.  If the cone had a gaping hole at the bottom, I cut a small marshmallow piece to fill it in, then I brush the inside of cones with this mixture and a blob of goodness at the bottom and pop in fridge to firm up. I did the same for the bowls, and some I did the edges with some sprinkles.  Either way, the Nutella chocolate thing is delicious, and I made extra.  Scoop the ice cream in and serve!  That frozen blob at the end of a cone after the ice cream....delicious!  The cones and the ice cream were totally amazing!  Buon Appetito!  So, what are you waiting for?  Get in there and cook!