Rum Raisin Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce

I've bailed the ice cream maker out of the basement, and given it a home on the counter.  I know that sounds like neglect, but it's big and heavy due to the built-in compressor (no need to freeze churning bowl!) so I waited for ice cream season to begin.  I never thought Rum Raisin Ice Cream was my thing, until I had something like it at a local ice cream shop last summer.  And then I saw this recipe at Pastry Affair a few months ago, and it's been on my brain since.  And apparently it's Joe's childhood favorite.  I'm not a big fan of drinking rum, but I've concluded I love rum-flavored desserts like Vanilla Bean-Pineapple Tart, Black Bottom Tart, and Baba au Rhum.

This was excellent.  The raisins are briefly cooked in rum and soak up all the liquid.  When they were almost done I put the lid on my saucepan and turned off the burner, and the flame puffed up before going out -- except it must have caught some alcohol fumes because the lid rim was suddenly blue and aflame.  "Whoa!" I shouted.  "What's up?"  Joe called from the other room.  "Unintentional flambé!"  It was entertaining, but just be careful.

If you're like me, you might ask if you need the caramel sauce.  No one needs caramel sauce, but you want it.  Trust me.  The ice cream and the caramel are each very good on their own, but combined they might sing to you.

View the recipe at Pastry Affair.

Want more recipes for frozen desserts?  Here are some oldies but goodies:

Chocolate Gelato

Blackberry Ice Cream

Lychee Sorbet

Caramelized Pear Ice Cream

Maple Ice Cream in Waffle Cone Cups


Frozen Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie

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Pains aux Raisins

I was torn over whether to make these or the pains au chocolat.  Did I want a luscious pastry cream with raisins, or intense bittersweet chocolate?  Turns out I didn't have to choose because each recipe required a half-batch of the same kind of dough!

I brought these along with the pain au chocolat to my last book club meeting, and it wasn't a surprise that everybody chose the chocolate variety.  But Isabelle, our organizer who comes from southern France, took the untouched pains aux raisins with her and said she ate them before she got to the highway.  "The  pains au chocolat were delicious,'' she said, ''but the pains aux raisins were out of this world!"  She added that they were very authentic, and that she doesn't dole out undeserved flattery.  Which is appreciated!  The consensus was the same at home.  Joe found a few I had squirreled away in the freezer to bring to my mother and sister in New York: "Hey, there are more pains aux raisins in here!!"  I forbade him from touching them.  Trust me, he more than ate his share!

Clockwise from top-left: The pastry cream is easy to make and dotted with plenty of vanilla seeds; the dough is then rolled up and sliced (don't forget to add your raisins, or you'll have to unroll like I did); the pains are proofed on a sheet pan; they tend to fall on their sides after rising, so I lay them flat.

The many layers bake up golden and flaky, and the pains are brushed with an apricot glaze.  The pastry cream becomes not so much a filling as an element of moisture and flavor.

Teatime Treats! The Best Scones, Plus Cuke Sandwiches

They're the quintessential afternoon tea nibbles -- scones and cucumber sandwiches. Beverly (i.e. the Queen of Scones) calls this recipe The Best Scones, and they really are. They're the flakiest, tenderest, moistest scones you'll ever have. And why not round them out with some tiny sandwiches, and a cuppa English Breakfast, Assam, or Ceylon?

I halved this scone recipe for our household of two, but you can probably freeze some right before they go into the oven and bake them up on demand. I also halved the amount of salt, but whether you do the same is up to you. Check out the flaky layers of this baby.

The Best Scones by Beverly

4 cups all-purpose

2 tbs baking powder

2 tsp salt

¾ lb. cold unsalted butter, diced (that's 3 sticks)

4 large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 egg beaten with 1 tbs water or milk, for egg wash, Or use cream

Raisins or currants (I used ½ cup)

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You can also make this in a food processor with the metal blade like I did, or by hand with a pastry blender. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Mix the eggs and cream together, and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Mix in the raisins or currants.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead just until it comes together. Roll the dough ¾ inch thick. Cut into 4-inch squares and then in half diagonally to make triangles, or any shape you desire. Brush the tops with cream. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat for 18 minutes, until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.

Makes 16 scones.

This is my thrown-together cucumber sandwich recipe.

Cucumber Sandwiches

1 cucumber, peeled

6 slices bread

2 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature

½ tsp salt

1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish

You'll need a vegetable peeler, paper towels, and a tall biscuit cutter.

Cut the crusts off the bread. You can freeze them in a zip-top bag to make breadcrumbs out of. Holding the cucumber so it stands vertically on a cutting board, use the peeler to shave off thick slices of cucumber, until you get to the seedy part. Discard the seedy core. Lay the cucumber on paper towels to soak up excess moisture, so your sandwiches don't get soggy.

Stir the salt, parsley, and chives into the softened cream cheese. Spread the mixture onto the bread slices, then top with the layers of cucumber. You can leave them open-faced or top them with another slice of bread. Cut them into triangles, or use a biscuit cutter to cut out little teatime-sized rounds. The cutter has to be tall enough that it won't get lost in the sandwich, and sharp enough to cut through.

Scatter some chives over the tops for garnish. Keep the sandwiches covered so they don't dry out.