Welcome 2012 With Mangoes Turned Ice Cream

I wrote in my diary today. I have to mention this obscure fact because I got such a thrill in writing the date – January 1st (whatever) 2012!!!

I cannot believe Christmas, New Years, it has all gone! The festive season is closing to an end again already – just when you think it has all begun!!! But never fear – after all, with 2012 comes new school year, new experiences, new people and lots of new things to do!!! And I am still on holidays for 1 WHOLE MONTH still (jealous?) 😛

In order to commemorate this new year and the fact that Summer is finally making an appearance in our obviously very cold Australia (today is a whopping 28 degrees with blue skies for as far as the eye can see :D), I decided to make something simple, easy and refreshing – I think that screams ice cream, but not the French custard style ice cream, but the Philadelphia style (because it is so much easier!)

What is the difference? It is actually quite simple – French custard based ice cream uses egg in it which is tempered by hot milk/cream mixture and then thickened before being cooled and churned. Easy? Yes but time consuming as well. Philadelphia style only requires a blender and maybe a little bit of dairy simmering, but that’s it – tops no?

I was a little apprehensive honestly because according to the many blogs I haunt on a daily basis, custard style tends to be creamier and less icy but the ice cream I made this morning certainly disproves that theory! I hadn’t let it set completely but the taste is superb. It is creamy and rich and has little surprise pockets of flavour and nuttiness.

Oops, I forgot to tell you the flavour. Right my bad. But I think you could have guessed by the photos. No? Alright, I will take mercy on you – it is Mangoes and Cream Ice Cream, a recipe taken from the magical chef, Ms Not Quite Nigella (though I don’t agree with her name!) 😛

Mangoes scream summer. I ask you to say the first word that comes to your head when I say “summer” and bam! – 9/10 people say ” mangoes” – no this is not based on an actual statistic but this is a sane world so it should be true I suppose 🙂
I changed very little in this recipe to be honest – all I did was incorporate more mango in general!

• I used 1 1/2 mangoes’ puree in 1/2 the recipe
• I pureed an extra  mango and used 1/3 in swirling throughout the ice cream and the remaining 2/3 in creating a layer of mango on top of the ice cream
• I garnished with macadamia nuts
• You could potentially reduce sugar to 2/3 cup for the whole recipe from 1 cup and in 1/3 cup desiccated coconut

This ice cream is made for the warm months of Jan. It reminds me of the beach, the sand and the surf, the ice creams eaten while watching the waves, letting it melt and drip down the waffle cone. Isn’t that the most delightful picture? Well, that was my one week on holiday with my family, where I cut myself away from my blog and lunged into my Barbara Erskine books!

I had a fabulous Christmas in the sun (and a little rain :P), a wonderful New Years Eve watching Tin Tin (ILY) and am currently eating away at my mango ice cream making for a delicious New Years Day.

I hope you, my wonderful readers, have had just as great a time as I have this festive season.
With 2012 upon us, do you have any goals? Any people you want to meet?

Mine are simple – get better at English (why is writing so much more difficult than speaking!), meet people into Batman and Beetle Juice (thankfully I know people into Dr Who) and continue baking as much as possible with my demanding school breathing down my neck 😉

Cheers to you all with my lemonade-in-champagne-glass! Welcome 2012!