Luxury keto vanilla ice cream

Scoop of home-made luxury keto vanilla ice cream | H is for Home

I’ve had my lovely new duo ice cream maker for quite a few weeks, yet I’ve not made myself anything in it so far. I made Justin some basic vanilla ice cream which he enjoyed, so I’m making myself a batch of luxury keto vanilla ice cream.

Making keto vanilla ice cream custard | H is for Home

The difference between ‘basic’ and ‘luxury’ – as far as the instruction booklet which came with the ice cream maker is concerned – is that the former is made with milk and cream, and the latter has added whole eggs and extra yolks.

Cooked keto vanilla ice cream custard | H is for Home Cooked & covered keto vanilla ice cream custard | H is for Home

To convert the recipe to keto, I replaced the sugar with Whole Earth Sweetener Co. sweet granules which is a combination of Stevia and Erythritol. You only need about half the amount of sweet granules to sugar; Whole Earth has a handy conversion chart on its website, if you’re unsure of quantities.

I also used almond milk instead of cow’s milk and coconut cream instead of double cream. I know I say it most weeks, but this is the best keto recipe I’ve come up with to date – it’s a learning curve!

Pouring keto vanilla ice cream custard into an ice cream maker | H is for Home Churned vanilla ice cream custard in an ice cream maker | H is for Home

There’s a slight coconut flavour – which to me isn’t a bad thing –  however, the vanilla bean paste really comes through. I’ve had a couple of portions so far; once fully frozen, it needs to come out of the freezer about half an hour before you need to scoop it into balls as it hardens like rock! To avoid this, you could always add a capful of vodka – I didn’t want to over-indulge. I might sprinkle over a few cacao nibs or chopped almonds or pecans.

Scoop of home-made luxury keto vanilla ice cream | H is for Home #recipe #icecream #vanilla #dessert #vanillaicecream #ketoicecream #keto #ketogenic #lchf #ketogenic #ketodiet #lowcarbhighfat #lowcarb #ketogenicdiet #ketofam #ketolife #highfat #lowcarbdiet #lowcarblifestyle #grainfree #atkinsdiet #ketoadapted #lowcarbfood #lowcarblife

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Luxury keto vanilla ice cream
Serves 8
Ingredients
  1. 300ml/10½fl oz almond milk
  2. 250ml/8½fl oz coconut cream
  3. 2tsp vanilla bean paste
  4. pinch of salt
  5. 2 large eggs
  6. 2 large egg yolks
  7. 40g/3½oz Whole Earth Sweetener Co. Sweet granules
  8. 2tsp vanilla extractKeto vanilla ice cream ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Combine the almond milk and coconut cream in a medium-sized saucepan
  2. Stir the vanilla bean paste and salt into the milk/cream mixture
  3. Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat
  4. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
  5. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolks and sweet granules. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to beat until the mixture is thick, smooth, and pale yellow in colour, about 1½ to 2 minutes
  6. With the mixer on low speed, ladle out about 6fl oz of the hot milk/cream/vanilla liquid on to the egg mixture in a slow steady stream
  7. When thoroughly combined, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and stir to combine
  8. Cook - stirring constantly - over medium low heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
  9. Stir in the vanilla extract
  10. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover with a sheet of cling film (I used one of my reusable silicone stretch lids) placed directly on the custard (this stops a skin developing), and allow to cool completely
  11. Turn the ice cream maker on, pour the chilled custard into the frozen freezer bowl, and
  12. churn until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes
  13. If desired, transfer the ice cream to a clean, airtight container and place in freezer until firm - about 2 hours to 'ripen'
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Shortbread rounds, three ways

Home-made shortbread rounds with mug of tea | H is for Home

Whenever the biscuit stash in our store cupboard reaches critical levels there are normally two obvious options to remedy the situation. Firstly, I can whip out a pre-made refrigerator cookie dough roll from the freezer. Alternatively, if the frozen stock is depleted, I can whip up a quick batch of shortbread.

Vintage wooden shortbread round mould | H is for Home

Justin bought me this vintage wooden biscuit mould a few weeks ago, so it was a great opportunity to use it for the first time to make some shortbread rounds.

Home-made shortbread round with vintage biscuit mould sprinkled with semolina | H is for Home

We think the mould might be Indian so we’ve added a few spices in homage – cardamom, ginger and vanilla.

Three home-made shortbread rounds on a tray lined with parchment paper | H is for Home

The swirl pattern it makes is just beautiful – I needed to sprinkle some polenta into the mould so the dough didn’t stick and it also helped with the definition.

Three home-made shortbread rounds cooling on a wire rack | H is for Home

We liked all three flavours. And it has to be said that, if we hadn’t been trying to think of suitable Indian spices for biscuits, we probably would never have tried cardamom shortbread – yet we both thought that it was very successful. I’ll definitely be making these again soon!

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Shortbread rounds, three ways
Ingredients
  1. 175g/6oz/¾ cup plain flour
  2. 50g/2oz/½ cup cornflour
  3. 50g/2oz/¼ caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
  4. 115g/4oz/½ cup butter, chopped
  5. 1 cardamom seed, removed from the pod and ground
  6. ¼ tsp vanilla essence
  7. ¼ tsp ground gingerHome-made shortbread ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas mark 3. Lightly flour the mould with semolina (or plain flour if you don't have it) and line a baking sheet with non-stick parchment paper
  2. Sift the flour, cornflour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour & sugar mixture until it binds together and you can knead it into a soft dough
  3. Divide the dough into thirds (130g/4½oz each) and gently knead the ground cardamom into one, vanilla into the next and ground ginger into the last
  4. One by one, place each ⅓ of dough into the mould and press to fit neatly and evenly. Invert the mould on to the baking sheet using your fingers if necessary to gently to release the dough shape
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until pale golden in colour
  6. Sprinkle the top of the shortbread with a little caster sugar and cool on a baking sheet
  7. Cut the rounds into 'petticoat tails' whilst still warm
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Gimme Five! Vanilla scent

"Gimme Five!" blog post banner

selection of five vanilla scents

One of my favourite scents in the world is vanilla – it’s what I use as my daytime fragrance. I’ve been using the cheap & cheerful Boots Natural Collection one for years but would really like to try a different one. Here are the best I’ve discovered…

  1. Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise Cologne
  2. Madagascan Vanilla Flower Eau de Toilette
  3. Sassy Swirls Vanilla Bean Eau de Toilette Spray
  4. Boots Natural Collection Vanilla Body Spray
  5. Demeter Vanilla Cake Batter