Homemade Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

   Libby Klein On my last posting day, I told you of my love for fruit desserts which sounds way more healthy than it is in my case. My other love is ice cream. Put the two together and BAM! I'm a happy girl. And I don't just mean for summer. I'd eat ice cream in January standing in snow at the North Pole. My favorite flavor is vanilla, but I'm very picky about my vanilla. If I don't see those little black specs I'm not interested. That's what coffee ice cream is for - when you don't have good vanilla. (Coffee ice cream was my gateway to drinking coffee - but that's another story.) 

A couple weeks ago, I got so excited over the fat juicy blackberries at the farmer's market that I bought too many. Then I made a huge blackberry cobbler. You can see the recipe here. It was after making this huge cobbler that I remembered - my kids don't live at home anymore. I'm gonna have to eat this whole cobbler by myself. I am not up to that challenge. I love desserts, but a little goes a long way with me before I'm emotionally moving on to the next thing. That's when I thought about folding the cobbler into my other favorite dessert. 

You might know that I used to have a professional ice cream batch freezer in my kitchen back when my daughter in law and I had an ice cream business. In spectacular timing that defines most of my life, we launched it right before covid hit. Needles to say it did not survive. But my love for making homemade ice cream far precedes 2020. And it all began with Alton Brown. This recipe is adapted from his Vanilla Custard.

Most of this is taken right from of Alton Brown's recipe with minor changes. My memory says that I learned about adding alcohol from Alton Brown's Good Eats episode on ice cream. It acts as antifreeze and keeps the ice cream from getting too hard. I also remember it being a part of the original recipe but when I looked it up, it is not there. But trust me. You will be happy you added the alcohol when your ice cream is the perfect frozen consistency.

Homemade Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream

Ingredients:

3 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean scraped
½ cup vanilla rum (for anti-freeze)

Blackberry Cobbler (or any leftover pie or cobbler will do)

 Directions: 

Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

 

In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla bean and whisk to combine. 

Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the rum. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

 

Pour into a countertop ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. While the ice cream is churning, scoop your blackberry cobbler into little pieces and chill them. When your ice cream is thick like soft serve, stop the machine and spoon the vanilla ice cream onto the blackberry cobbler pieces. Gently fold them together until you have a nice swirl. Freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

I actually made a double batch of the frozen custard and ended up with three kinds of ice cream. A coffee ice cream with Kahlua and chocolate shavings, and caramel ice cream with caramel liquor and a caramel swirl. Let me know in the comments if you'd like me to post the recipe for either of these on the blog. And let me know what is your favorite ice cream flavor.

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Gluten-Free Summer Blackberry Cobbler #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

  Libby Klein My favorite dessert is fruit. Not righteous fruit that your nutritionist would get excited about. But lightly sugared fruit baked in a crust or topped with a crumble. Then add some ice cream on top and you've got a winner. I'll eat a plain peach or some berries at lunch time but that isn't dessert.

Blackberry cobbler is a summer favorite. Probably because I remember my mother making one on top of the stop when I was a kid. Hers was kind of chicken n dumplings style, while mine is more traditional - until I do something crazy with it! You'll have to come back and see how I turn cobbler and ice cream on its head. 

Make sure your berries are very ripe. Nobody likes sour cobbler. Let me know in the comments what your favorite summer fruit dessert is.

Summer Blackberry Cobbler

serves 8

Ingredients

½ cup coconut sugar (or granulated sugar)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 cups fresh blackberries
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (or refined coconut oil for dairy free)
2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (or all purpose)
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar (or granulated sugar)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk (or dairy free alternative)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (or refined coconut oil for dairy free)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Place blackberries into a mixing bowl and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle cornstarch and sugar over top, then toss until evenly coated. Add to the baking dish.

In another mixing bowl: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Stir in milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined but still slightly lumpy like pancake batter. Pour over the berries in the baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven until berries are tender and the crust is golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes.

    Serve with vanilla ice cream – or ­– come back at the end of the month and see what I do with     the cobbler next!

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all.

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

A Berry Cool Treat to Beat the Heat

Huge thanks to Daryl (Avery Aames) for kindly posting a blog for me last week. We were among the millions who lost electricity to a storm that was like something out of a horror movie. I've never seen anything like it. I kept looking out the window for signs of a tornado, but there were only menacing clouds. Nevertheless, that wind uprooted our neighbor's ancient apple trees, and things were flying through the air like in The Wizard of Oz.

We were among the lucky because our power came back within 49 hours. I can't imagine what it must have been like for people who suffered through the heat for an entire week. My internet service provider was out for the entire week, and it's still a little bit wonky, so if I owe you an email, I'm working on catching up!

I missed a lot of the new release fun this time around. Ellery was kind enough to let me read Pies and Prejudice in advance, though, so I know what a delightful book it is.  Her protagonist bakes charmed pies, and that's the perfect word to describe her new series -- charming.

I was thinking of Ellery while I was baking. Our blackberries are ripe, and last night, when the temperature subsided to a balmy 92, I picked fresh berries. But what to do with them? I opted for something that's referred to as a cake, but baked in a pie shell -- which is why I was thinking of Ellery. This is a European country-style cake that's actually an upside-down pie of sorts.

I baked it in a 9 1/2 inch pie dish, but if I made it again, I think I'd use an 8 inch pie dish. Pick the berries the night before, or early in the morning, bake the pie and let it set in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it. When it comes out of the oven, it will seem very runny. Don't worry, those juices are absorbed as the cake cools. It's perfect for this hot weather we're having. A berry cool treat.

I have more blackberries. What's your favorite blackberry recipe? Or do you simply admire them and move on when you see them?

European Country-Style Blackberry Cake

 

8-inch pie pan or cake pan
canola oil
2 cups blackberries, washed and picked over
(save 3 pretty blackberries as garnish)
2/3 cup sugar
cinnamon

2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk (I used nonfat)
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

whipped cream (optional)

Lightly grease the pan with the canola oil. Mix the blackberries with the sugar and a light sprinkle of cinnamon. Let stand.

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, add the milk and then the melted butter. Beat well. Mix the baking powder with the salt and flour and add to the egg mixture. Scrape the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat one last time.

Arrange the blackberries on the bottom of the pan in a single layer. Pour the batter over top of the blackberries.

Bake 30 minutes. Cool on a rack and refrigerate until set. Loosen edges gently until you can flip it over onto a cake plate.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. If you don't want to pipe the cream on the cake, dollop a spoonful in the middle, garnish with 3 blackberries, and pass the whipped cream for those who want it.

Hurry Scurry Berry Tart

As much as I love to cook, I also love to have other people cook for me.

One of my dear friends is a fellow fan of America's Test Kitchen (I get many of my best recipes from them). She recently invited me to dinner, luring me with a promise of excellent company and the ATK Chicago-style deep dish pizza.* Even though I had about a million things going on that weekend, it was an offer I could not refuse.

I hate to show up empty-handed, so I offered to bring dessert. I had mulled over a number of options, but somehow I found myself on I35E, fighting DFW traffic to get home, about 2 hours before our dinner date ... without a clear plan. I had limited time to prepare anything, I had no idea what I had in the house, and I didn't have a single recipe on my person.

I was going to have to wing it.

This low-effort, informal, but incredibly tasty berry tart is what I ended up with. It certainly isn't the most elegant dish I've ever created, but it was just sweet enough, while still being light, to punctuate the decadent dinner. When you're dashing about -- or maybe when you're just feeling a little lazy -- whip it up and enjoy it with a good friend.

* I'll share that gem of a recipe with you all sometime in the future ... I promise.

Hurry Scurry Berry Tart

(Printer Friendly Version)

Crust

9 sheets of graham crackers (18 squares)

1/3 c. butter (melted)

1/4 c. sugar

Filling

8 oz. mascarpone cheese*

1/2 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

18-20 oz. fresh berries (I used blackberries and raspberries)

1/4 c. seedless preserves (blackberry/raspberry/strawberry/apricot)

* I used mascarpone because that's what I bought on my mad dash through the grocery store. In retrospect, I image cream cheese would have worked nearly as well (and been a bit less expensive).

Rinse berries (removing any stems or bad berries) and spread in a single layer on a few paper towels to dry.

For the crust: Preheat oven to 375. Process crackers in food processor until you have fine crumbs. Pulse in sugar and then melted butter. Turn wet crumb mixture into 9 inch pie plate (or tart pan) and press gently into bottom and up sides. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes.

For the filling: While the crust bakes, combine the mascarpone, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form.

Remove crust from oven, and stick bowl of whipped filling in refrigerator. Allow everything to cool/chill/dry for about 30 minutes.

Spread filling in crust. Arrange berries on top. Melt preserves in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Using pastry brush, spread liquid preserves over berries.

Chill another hour before serving.

~~~~~~

Wendy is the author of the Mysteries a la Mode. Visit her on the web or on Facebook.