What is Lemon Curd?

Lemon curd is a tart, sweet, creamy combination of tart and sweet. Sugar free lemon curd tops the single serve cheesecakes I sell in my keto bakery. It’s great as a filling for lemon cake or lemon cupcakes.

You can use it on biscuits, toast, cake or cupcake fillings and more. I top my sugar free cheesecakes with lemon curd for my keto bakery. (recipe coming).

Make it sugar free by substituting sugar with allulose or a sweetener like Swerve. Allulose does not crystalize and is great for these types of recipes, but erythritol (Swerve, Lakanto, etc.) will also work.

Sugar Free Lemon Curd is easy to make.

• Egg Yolks
• Butter
• Lemon Juice and Zest
• Dash of Salt
• For Sugar Free, use Allulose instead of sugar.
• Heavy Cream (optional)

How to Make Sugar Free Lemon Curd?

• Use a bain marie, a cooking technique that slowly simmers food placed in bowl on top of a saucepan. The gentle heat ensures the curd won’t burn and the bowl makes it’s easy to do the constant stirring.
• Whisk eggs. Add Allulose (or Granulated sweetener of choice).
• Place ingredients in saucepan except the butter and on low heat, stir continuously to avoid scrambling eggs.
• A food thermometer is important, as you don’t want to go past 170 degrees F. Once reached remove from heat, add cold butter while stirring.
• Strain through a sieve into a bowl.
• Cover with plastic to avoid skin.
• Cool COMPLETELY, before refrigerating or using
  

What to do with Egg Whites

Make any of our grain free biscuits.

• Grain Free Biscuits
• Grain Free Sweet Potato Biscuits
• Grain Free Cheddar Biscuits
• Grain Free Strawberry Biscuits
• Grain Free Cinnamon Roll Biscuits

More Lemon Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Keto Lemon Meringue Tarts
• Keto Lemon Cream Tart
• Low Carb Lemon Blueberry Bundt
• Chicken Francaise with Lemon Sauce

Stay tuned for the keto lemon icebox cheesecake recipe. It’s made with this sugar free lemon curd and it’s absolutely amazing.

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Sugar Free Lemon Curd

Sugar Free Lemon Curd, Great for Filling Cakes, Topping Cheesecake

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword lemons, lemon curd

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 4 Egg Yolks
• 1/3 Cup Lemon Juice with Zest
• 6 tablespoons Butter
• 2/3 cups Sweetener See Notes

Instructions

Preparation

• Separate eggs. You'll only use the yolks.
• Cut butter into six pieces. Set aside.
• Prepare a bain marie (sauce pan with 2-3 inches water, with stainless steel bowl placed over top). This will gently cook the lemon curd. Bring water to boil first, then when ingredients are place in bowl, turn down to a simmer.
• Have ready a candy or food thermometer to attain 170 degrees F.
• Prepare a sieve over a bowl to strain curd at end.

Cook Lemon Curd

• Combine lemon juice, egg yolks, sweetener in bain marie. Stir constantly to avoid scrambling eggs. You will want to achieve 170 degrees F. Texture will thicken as you cook and stir.
• Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring continually.
• If necessary, take curd through sieve. If using heavy cream, stir in.
• Pour into jar or bowl. Place a piece of plastic over the curd to avoid a skin.
• Cool completely, before refrigerating.

Notes

Sweetener: You can use all granulated erythritol. I like to use allulose to ensure no crystallization. I have also found a combination of the two works well to keep the silky texture.

The post Sugar Free Lemon Curd appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Somehow youtube knew this and showed me a French chef of the French Cooking Academy, who teaches in English for the home cook. I became obsessed with watching his videos and how he explained sauces in an easy to understand way with tips.

Buy his book: The French Cooking Academy Cookbook

I’ll let you know my experiences cooking the dish and the tips I found to be most important.

I have made a boneless mustard chicken before here, which is very good, but this is a sauce for whole pieces of thicken. I chose to make this with chicken thighs, but it would be very good with chicken breasts on bone cut in half.

The dijon sauce is very easy to do. Make sure to gather all of your ingredients first and plan to spend a few minutes active time.

Ingredients for Dijon Chicken

• 40 grams butter
• Chicken pieces on bone with skin
• Butter
• Garlic
• Bayleaf
• White wine
• Heavy Cream
• Egg Yolks
• Dijon Mustarad
• Herbs
• Salt, Pepper

More From Spinach Tiger

• Boneless Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce
• Mashed Potatoes
• Mash Cauliflower
• Keto Chicken Mayo Parm Bake with Cauliflower
• Keto Chicken Parmesan

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What to Buy

• French Cooking Academy Cookbook

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Dijon Chicken

Dijon Chicken cooked stovetop in a dijon mustard sauce.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 4 pieces chicken with skin and on bone
• salt and white pepper
• 40 grams butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• fresh thyme
• 200 ml white wine
• 200 ml heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• dash umami seasoning
• parsley for garnish

Instructions

• Melt butter in frying pan and place chicken in and continue to cook on both sides until chicken in golden brown,
• Remove chicken from pan.
• Deglaze pan with white wine. Make sure to burn off alcohol before next step.
• Add cream to pan and boil for about two minutes.
• Add a small amount of cream to the egg yolks to temper and add to pan. Do NOT BOIL THE YOLKS.
• Add mustard and umami seasoning (if you have that). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Add chicken back into the pan and cook on low to reheat chicken. Add thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

  Chicken must be at 165 degrees F.
• Serve with mash potatoes or cauliflower rice.

The post Dijon Chicken Thighs from a French Chef appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Keto chocolate pots de creme different from my recent keto chocolate mousse. Unlike mousse, pots de creme is baked in little ramekins in a water bath. The other difference and this is a big one, is that you CAN eat pots de creme warm.

How do you Pronounce Pots de Creme?

Po de krem (Don’t be intimidated with this fancy name).

What is Chocolate Pots de Creme?

It’s means little pots of baked cream or custard, made with chocolate, eggs, cream and sweetener. Because I used sugar free dark chocolate chips and a little swerve, this is low carb and keto friendly. But, trust me no one will know. It is baked in a water bath.

The Process for Keto Chocolate Pots de Creme

Set up a bain marie. A bain marie is simply a double boiler or a bowl placed over simmering water. In this case the chocolate is warmed along with heavy cream, very similar to making a ganache. It is then incorporated with egg yolks and milk. I use Fair Life Milk which is higher in protein and lower in carbs.

What is Choc Zero Chocolate?

Choc Zero is my go to for sugar free chocolate chips. It melts just like high quality chocolate and tastes the same. The dark chocolate chips tastes like high quality chocolate. I’ve been able to make a very successful chocolate ganache using these chips.

As an affiliate, I do earn a commission on the purchases made with me code.

Serve Keto Pots de Creme Warm or Cold

Keto is one of the few chocolate (custard type) desserts that you can eat warm or cold.

Serve with stabilized whipped cream.

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More Keto Chocolate Desserts

• Keto Ding Dong Cake
• Keto Brownies
• Keto Chocolate Buttercream
• Keto German Chocolate Cake
• Keto Texas Sheet Cake
• Keto Chocolate Budino

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Sugar Free Chocolate Pots de Créme

Sugar Free Chocolate Pots de Créme a little more sophisticated than a chocolate pudding, served warm or cold.

Course Keto Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword keto bagels, pots de creme

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6 Servings

Calories 216kcal

Ingredients

• 3 oz. sugar free chocolate chips I use Choc Zero
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup whole milk Fair Life
• 2 tablespoons Swerve Granulated or erythritol of choice
• 4 egg yolks

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Melt chocolate with cream in bain marie, a bowl placed over simmering water.
• Heat remaining milk and Swerve until Swerve Is incorporated.
• Whisk yolks well and slowly stir into this milk mixture.
• Take yolks/milk mixture through a sieve.
• Stir Into chocolate mixture.
• Pour into 6 ramekins or 8 espresso cups. Place in water bath, a larger baking dish and bring water up to 1/2 inch from top.
• Bake for 45 minutes or 40 minutes in espresso cups.
• Serve warm with stabilized whipped cream, or refrigerate and serve cold. You can make this a day in advance.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 6 | Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Fiber: 4g

The post Keto Chocolate Pots De Creme appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Not all chocolate desserts are created equally.  There is a huge difference with unsweetened cocoa powders. I’ve tried several and am now using this cacao powder by Better Body Foods, which is giving me the chocolate flavor I want without having to add any chopped chocolate.

I have been greatly challenged this past year with unsweetened cocoa powder because I opened a home keto bakery. I need consistency and the one thing that was affecting flavor greatly  was the cocoa powder I was using.

I decided to give Better Body Cacao at Costco a chance and now I have 8 bags in the cupboard. It’s an organic superfood Organic Cacao superfood with antioxidant flavanols, polyphenols, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.

When I use this in my chocolate recipes, I reduce the amount of cacao powder. If you’re using a different unsweetened cocoa powder, use 1/2 cup. If you do use this cacao, only use 1/3 cup and taste as you go, as it’s very strong.

If you want to make sure you have portion control, use these small 4 ounce jars. I use them for desserts and love that they come with lids.

Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding with Swerve, Milk, Heavy Cream and Butter

I’m using Swerve Sweetener for the sweetener which performs very well in puddings and curds. You can read here what Swerve is and why I use it.

I am old fashioned and use milk and cream for my pudding. Fairlife whole milk has 6 carbs for the cup and the cream has zero. Because I’m not using typical corn starch found in most pudding recipes, I use 3 egg yolks to bring the richness and a little vanilla. I also add in some butter at the end.

Top this sugar free chocolate pudding with some stabilized whipped cream.

Nutrition Value: 2 Net Carbs (see more below).

More Sugar Free Desserts from Spinach Tiger

Keto Lemon Budino

Keto Meyer Lemon Curd

Keto Chocolate Cupcakes

Keto Texas Sheet Cake

Sugar Free Chocolate Buttercream

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Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding

Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding is low carb, keto friendly, made with Swerve, and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. Kid Friendly.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword chocolate pudding, keto chocolate pudding, sugar free chocolate pudding

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 7

Calories 147kcal

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk see notes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup 1/2 cup Granulated Swerve
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 ounces Choc zero Chocolate Chips
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• dash sea salt

Instructions

• Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan.
• Add in chocolate chips. Stir over low heat.
• Whisk egg yolks in a separate bowl. Add in some of the chocolate and stir.
• Add the egg yolk mixture into the chocolate and heat on low.
• Add in milk mixture. Continue to stir for a few minutes until thickened.
• Add butter and continuing stirring.
• Take mixture through a sieve onto bowl. Pour into vessels.
• Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours before eating.
• Serve with Stabilized Whipped Cream Recipe Here

Notes

I used Better Body Foods Cacao powder which is stronger than many unsweetened cocoa powders. If you use an unsweetened cocoa powder, you may want to use 1/2 cup. 

Net Carbs Per Serving: 2

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 7 | Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: -8g | Fat: 12g | Fiber: 2g

The post Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding with Stabilized Whipped Cream, Keto Friendly appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

What do you do when you have 12 beautiful egg yolks staring at you?

You make Meyer Lemon Curd. If you’re me,  you’ll make a keto version, using Swerve,

Recently I made a keto angel food cake (soon to be published). It used twelve egg whites and I had to find a way to use the left over egg yolks.

How do you make this Keto Meyer Lemon Sugar Free Curd?

Meyer lemons are juicier than lemons. Four meyer lemons will give you more than 1/2 cup of juice. I used Swerve which is a powdered erythritol for my sweetener, 8 tablespoons high quality unsalted butter, and  1/4 cup of heavy cream. These ingredients are heated over a bain marie.

What is a Bain Marie?

This is in effect a double boiler. I set up a stainless steel bowl over simmering water that does not touch the bottom of the bowl. I continue to stir the ingredients until the curd reaches 170 degrees, using a candy thermometer.

Can I use regular lemons instead of meyer lemons?

Yes, but just make sure you use about six lemons with zest to that lemony taste.

How Do I use this Keto Meyer Lemon Curd?

We love it with a dab of stabilized whipped cream. You can use this as a dessert, with fruit, with trifle which I’ll be posting soon using my sugar free grain free angel food cake. I also really love this with blueberries. Keto meyer lemon curd is not as tart as lemon curd. Keep that in mind.

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Lemon Meyer Budino with Left Over Egg Yolks

Meyer Lemon Curd the answer to using a dozen egg yolks.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 12 egg yolks
• juice of 4 meyer lemons or six lemons
• zest of one meyer lemon
• 1 cup Swerve Granulated
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• pinch sea salt
• 
  Kitchen Tools Used
• Candy Thermometer ORDER HERE
• Stainless Bowl
• Citrus Zester ORDER HERE
• Mini Jars

Instructions

• Beat egg yolks well.
• Add lemon juice, zest, sugar (swerve), butter.
• Place in double boiler or stainless steel bowl over saucepan of simmering water.
• Curd should reach 170 degrees. Remove from stove
• Take through a sieve.
• Stir in heavy cream.
• Place plastic wrap over top and cool.
• Spoon into dessert dishes or mini jars. Refrigerate.

The post Keto Meyer Lemon Curd, Sugar Free appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Budino means pudding in Italian, but it’s much more than we think of as pudding in America.

Why do I think this is the best chocolate budino recipe around? See for yourself! It’s so rich, you can turn it upside down! You can use sugar: I used swerve to keep it low carb and near sugar free. Either way, it’s amazing!

This chocolate budino recipe is rich, and dense but not fudge dense, not truffle dense. It’s a thick, creamy, dreamy pudding type dessert with concentrated flavors and a smooth texture.

There are some recipes out there that are over-complicated and turn budino into a thick unseemly fudge-type texture. You don’t want that! You want this.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson, this budino is so easy and so well balanced, It was the least complicated chocolate recipe I could find, but certainly not lacking in complexity.

Chocolate Budino Recipe: A few Cooking Notes

I did not add the cornstarch from the original recipe and it is not missed! I used 2 ounces of 70% chocolate, and regular Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa. I also used a lower carb whole mik, Fairlife, which has lower carbs. You can use any whole milk you like.

You can add a bit of bourbon instead of vanilla if you want to booze it up. I’m thinking the next time I might add in some hazelnut extract for that nutella taste!

I topped the budino with a stabilized whipped cream. It will look exactly like this all week, which is a good thing, because I’m only going to eat one a day!

It’s Easy to Make this a Low-Carb, Sugar Free Chocolate Budino Recipe

Pudding is made with milk. Budino is made with milk and  heavy cream. I use the Fair Life full-fat milk to keep the carbs lower and switch out the sugar with Swerve. You really cannot tell.

This can make four ample servings, but I divided it up into seven small dessert dishes, the size of espresso cups, making this 5 carbs per serving.

More Chocolate Desserts from Spinach Tiger

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Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding

Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding is low carb, keto friendly, made with Swerve, and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. Kid Friendly.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Keyword chocolate pudding, keto chocolate pudding, sugar free chocolate pudding

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 7

Calories 147kcal

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk see notes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup 1/2 cup Granulated Swerve
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 ounces Choc zero Chocolate Chips
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• dash sea salt

Instructions

• Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan.
• Add in chocolate chips. Stir over low heat.
• Whisk egg yolks in a separate bowl. Add in some of the chocolate and stir.
• Add the egg yolk mixture into the chocolate and heat on low.
• Add in milk mixture. Continue to stir for a few minutes until thickened.
• Add butter and continuing stirring.
• Take mixture through a sieve onto bowl. Pour into vessels.
• Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours before eating.
• Serve with Stabilized Whipped Cream Recipe Here

Notes

I used Better Body Foods Cacao powder which is stronger than many unsweetened cocoa powders. If you use an unsweetened cocoa powder, you may want to use 1/2 cup. 

Net Carbs Per Serving: 2

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 7 | Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: -8g | Fat: 12g | Fiber: 2g

The post Luscious Sugar Free Chocolate Budino Recipe appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Summer is not summer without strawberries, and strawberry balsamic ice cream is a real treat.

It’s time again for me to cook from someone else’s blog for the Secret Recipe Club and as always it’s exciting when I get the email and see which blog I get to cook from. The “secret” part is that no one knows who is assigned what until reveal day. Someone right now is making something of mine, and I hope it pleases them, as much as this recipe pleased me.

I was assigned Food Babble, written by Kate, who is a busy mom with three kids, a husband, Mike and dog, Murphy. How did she ever find the time to make this delicious ice cream?

Originally, I was going to make this Goat Cheese Tart, but in the last week I was given about 12 quarts of freshly picked Tennessee strawberries. Last Friday, a good friend who owns a farm arranged for us to go pick some strawberries at another farm close by.

We picked and we picked and we picked giant, juicy strawberries. This put me in quite the strawberry mood, and when I saw Kate’s Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream  I knew this is what I had to make.

I’ve made strawberry ice cream here before, but I must tell you, the strawberry balsamic ice cream is really flavorful and deeply colorful. I used a good quality, syrupy balsamic vinegar which is good on ice cream just by itself. The recipe calls for cooking the strawberries with the balsamic vinegar and some sugar, which drives a deep intense flavor. I pureed them in my Vitamix and chilled and then made the custard. Once both are very chilled, they mixed together with a little more balsamic and processed through the ice cream machine. I added in some vodka, which remains flavorless but helps prevent the ice cream from getting too icy. It worked, as this was one very creamy ice cream.

I served the strawberry balsamic ice cream tonight at Retro Rose’s house (she’s my mom) and she loved it and wouldn’t let me take any home. It was a big hit.

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Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream with a Strawberry Balsamic Reduction

Fresh strawberry ice cream with balsamic vinegar makes for a great summer dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound strawberries hulled and chopped
• 1/2 cup Sugar divided
• 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar divided
• 1 tablespoon vodka optional

Instructions

• Heat cream and milk 1/4 cup sugar sugar bringing to a hot simmer. Divide the cream milk mixture in half. Set half aside.
• Beat egg yolks in separate bowl. Temper with half the hot cream milk mixture and slowly add back into mixture. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened (coats back of wooden spoon.) Remove from heat and add remaining milk/cream. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
• Cool and then chill for several hours until very cold.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
• Simmer strawberries for 10 minutes until reduced and juices become syrupy. Cool to room temperature then puree in a blender until smooth. Set aside in refrigerator.
• When both mixtures are very cold mix together with the remaining balsamic vinegar. Follow directions on ice cream machine. Churn until ice cream is ready. At the very end of mixing, add vodka. This helps to prevent ice cream from getting icy.

The post Strawberry Ice Cream with Balsamic appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

There a million ways to make a fruit tart and I hope to experiment with them all. This is not just any tasteless tart you can find at the grocery store. It’s full of surprises such as lime basil and blackberry syrup.

I found lime basil at my local farmer’s market this spring and I was very impressed by how much lime fragrance this plant puts off. It’s not subtle. It’s bright citrusy zing hits your nose immediately. I used it to infuse flavor into some blackberry syrup that I drizzled over the tart and chopped up a handful to throw in the flour for the crust. You could also use lemon thyme.

Had I been thinking this through, I might have added some lime juice to the custard and some more lemon basil leaves into the butter and then re-chilled it. Layering flavors is the best way to boost a dessert that has several components.

Brush pastry with blackberry syrup. You can also use a raspberry jam or some other kind of flavorful jam before adding the pastry cream. Continue to brush berries with syrup (or jam) after the tart is assembled.

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Blackberry Tart with Lime Basil

A delicious summer tart combining summer fruits and summer fruits, blackberries and basil.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• One Tart Shell recipe below
• 1 pint blackberries 2 pints if not using raspberries
• 1 pint raspberries
• 1/4 cup jam or preserves I used four fruit berry preserve; you can use berry or apricot
• handful lime basil finely chopped
• Pastry cream recipe below
• Small handful of lime basil torn into pieces
• !Pastry Crust:
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• covered. Once frozen wrap in foil.
• Pastry Cream Ingredients
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 7 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup corn starch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

• TART SHELL
• Butter a tart pan that has a removable bottom.
• Pulse flour, sugar, salt in food processor for a few seconds. Add butter. Mix for about 30 seconds to one minute (it will look like coarse oatmeal). Add egg yolk. Pulse for 20 seconds. Dump onto counter. Bring together, making sure all ingredients are incorporated. Press into tart pan. Freeze uncovered. Once frozen, wrap in foil.
• To Bake: Bake at 375. Butter shiny side of foil. Place that side onto pastry. Bake frozen for 25 minutes. No need for pie weights.

Pastry Cream Instructions

• Get out a small and a medium sized sauce pan.
• In small sauce pan, boil milk. Remove from heat.
• In large sauce pan, mix egg yolks, sugar and corn starch. Incorporate on low heat, adding in 1/4 cup of hot milk. Continue whisking (an electric beater with a whisk wand works like a charm), and gradually add in remaining milk, boiling mixture for one minute. Immediately remove from heat.. Add in vanilla. Allow to sit for five minutes.
• Add butter. Cool completely, before assembling.
• FRUIT
• Wash and rinse fruit well, removing all stems. Dry fruit.If blackberries are very tart, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of sugar and allow to sit for an hour at room temperature. Add raspberries at very end, as they are more delicate.
• ASSEMBLE
• Spread pastry cream onto tart crust.
• Top with berries of your choice. Heat preserves or jam with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush fruit with pastry brush. Refrigerate. You can make this one day ahead. I like to make the cream and the tart crust the day before and assemble a few hours before serving.
• Top with lime basil.

The post Blackberry Tart with Lime Basil appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

D  The thing that makes a dinner, a lunch date, or a rich and creamy chocolate pots de créme even richer is good conversation.

People loved coming to my house for dinner growing up. The food was naturally delicious, probably the best food in the neighborhood or even that part of town. But the reason people kept coming back was for wild conversation that was enticing, loud, and always a surprise. How couldn’t it be?

There was always someone new at the table, and it often became “dinner and a show.” I took the “my big fat Italian dinner table” theatrics for granted because I didn’t know any better. I never ate at anyone’s else’s house because, frankly, the food wouldn’t be good. But, don’t think of us as Jersey Shore Italians. That’s not where I’m from and there was no accent, cheesy jewelry, extreme big hair or gum chewing.

While there were one or two instances of some tables being turned, I was taught to have great table manners and social graces. But, that doesn’t mean we were quietly agreeable. We were defined by irresistible food and dramatic expression, and this might be why a family of four fed up to ten people on any given night.

The Dinner Conversation
And, this is how I turn to the NOT Guilty verdict. There is no doubt that if today’s news was featured back at the dinner table, it would be chopped, sliced and diced a million ways in two different languages. Retro Rose would start it with “how the F did she get off? (Okay, maybe RR is a little Jersey Shore). My grandmother would have a stack of National Enquirers by her bed stand. She would have called her opinion in to talk radio, which she frequently did, and she would be calling the defendant “putana.” My aunt would start speaking Italian in a soft whisper that would be get louder and louder. How could anyone kill their LITTLE GIRL? And, then right in the middle of this, they would talk about which lawyer was more handsome and why can’t those “americana” female lawyers go get their hair done? Then they would compare one of the female defense attorneys to the next store neighbor who didn’t know how to dress. I never said they were fair or always nice, just lively.

And, don’t let me start on how they might regard the jury’s decision.

The jury declared the defendant NOT GUILTY, and it looks like the case is closed and the legal system has demonstrated itself legal, not necessarily just. And, we’ve heard how this is the best country in the world, because we are innocent until proven guilty and if we don’t feel the case is proven, a jury of our peers can legally set a murderer free.

I would be a teenager who would mostly listen to everyone first and I would ponder the act of child murder. How does one get to that point of harming the innocent? I would be stunned, heart broken and deeply petrified inside, having narrowly escaped some harrowing times myself with a divorced parents and dreadful babysitters. Putting that all to the past, I would wake up at the table and go on the attack.

“She is guilty, guilty, guilty and the jury is stupid. People don’t care about children. The world, the justice system, the American family make no sense to me. “ (Teen-age girls are dramatic).

And, then I would wait for more reaction. As long as the “evil” was condemned at the table, I would be satisfied. But, if one person had said what I’m hearing today, “the prosecution didn’t prove their case,” I may have had to start a scene. At 17 years old, I had had enough bad surprises. I didn’t yet have my education in clinical psychology, nor had I made my peace with God.

My reactions would have been guttural, raw, loud and firm taking no prisoners if I saw even a  hint of covering up a child’s murder.

I was vigilant in studying people and I would be assessing every gesture and word to see who might have it in them to side with a murderer. (In all honesty, I’ve pretty much have acted the same this week).

Once my family and any number of friends got their say, the conversation could easily turn from condemning the murderer to commenting on how pretty she was and why the hell didn’t someone cut her hair and put a decent blouse on her, that murdering putana. And, then my grandmother (a hair salon owner and health advocate) would remark that she wasn’t eating good in jail. She could tell by her hair and skin. And, then we would hear a dissertation on the junk diet in America, which is another topic for another day.

The dinner table was a safe place for this kind of acting out, intense debate, and opining with gusto. Dramatic statements were allowed, encouraged, actually demanded. It was the only “healthy” argument my family knew how to have and I use the term family loosely because there would be just as many non-relatives sitting there.

Discussion was sweetened by good food. It was my favorite hour of the day, the only safe and predictable time. One might say we were our own kind of dysfunctional family, but it was the kind of dinner table everyone wanted to have a seat at.

The Chocolate Pots de Creme
A sure fire way to sweeten the pot during a feisty dinner conversation is to serve these adorable espresso cups filled with baked chocolate custard known as Pots de Creme. I came to make these merely because I had made cherry tarts for July 4th and I had 4 egg yolks left over.

I knew I was having company the next day for homemade pizza and experience has taught me that you do not want to serve anything pie, cake or cookie following pizza, but people usually want to taste a bit of chocolate. Now I only wish you could have been at that particular dinner because the conversation was more than juicy and went way later than anyone planned, with a promise to be continued.

Tell me, now what kind of dinner conversation did you have growing up?

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Chocolate Pots de Créme

Chocolate Pots de Créme is a delicious chocolate dessert, a little more sophisticated than a chocolate pudding, served warm or cold.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• Optional splash of liquor

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Melt chocolate with 1/2 cup cream, over simmering water. Remove from heat.
• Warm remaining milk and cream with sugar just until sugar is melted.
• Whisk yolks and slowly stir into this milk mixture.
• Set melted chocolate mixture in bowl.
• Using a mesh sieve, pour yolks through into the melted chocolate mixture and combine. Optionally at this point, you could stir in a splash of liquor.
• Pour into 4 ramekins or little espresso cups. Place in baking dish, and bring water up to 1/2 inch from top.
• Bake for 45 minutes if using 4 ramekins, 40 minutes if using espresso cups.
• Serve warm with whipped cream, or refrigerate and serve cold. You can make this the day before.

The post Chocolate Pots de Créme appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Merry Christmas to everyone. If I could, I would do for you what I did for my husband. Make one of this favorite child hood memories…peppermint ice cream. He talks about it all the time and says that there is no ice cream today that comes close to the peppermint ice cream of yesteryear at Howard Johnson’s.

If you don’t know who or what Howard Johnson is, you missed the great icon roadside restaurant in America. Traveling from Maine to Florida, travelers could get the best hand-dipped ice cream in existence, a clam roll, or a hot dog on a buttered toasted roll or perhaps a fish fry.

Howard Johnson started as a drugstore which of course had a soda fountain. Remember those? He was the first to present America with a super premium ice cream. The recipe had a high butterfat content that perhaps came from his mother or from a local German immigrant. No one is sure, but it changed the way people regarded ice cream. We lived close to a Howard Johnson’s and we would go on Sunday nights and pick up a quart of hand-dipped coffee ice cream for my grandmother and then butter pecan or peach for us.

My husband has a love affair with Howard Johnson’s in general. Every time he went to New York City on business, he would have to stop at the old “times square” HoJo and get a clam roll and peppermint ice cream. It became one of those funny stories. Who goes to NYC to go to Howard Johnson’s when you are on an expense account?

In 2005, the times square location closed forever. He was crushed. So this Christmas, I tried to duplicate the famous peppermint ice cream. I had his taste bud memories to rely on, and he thinks Howard Johnson would be proud. I know that I ate it and loved and I don’t typically like anything with peppermint. Now, to duplicate the clam roll. That’s MY Howard Johnson memory.

Do you have a favorite food from child hood that you wish you could have today? Do any of you remember Howard Johnson’s ice cream, and did you have a favorite flavor?

R

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A Merry Christmas with Peppermint Ice Cream

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 candy cane
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 egg yolks
• few drops peppermint extract
• 1-2 tablespoons peppermint schnapps start with one, then add to your preference
• 3/4 cup candy canes crushes some are bigger pieces, some like powder

Instructions

• Heat milk, cream, salt (with a candy cane) over low heat just to simmering. Milk will turn a little pink. That’s okay. Beat egg yolks with sugar until creamy and light yellow. Temper eggs by adding 1/4 cup milk mixture to egg mixture.
• Transfer egg mixture into pan and cook on low for six minutes. Strain into a bowl and put into an ice bath. Cool in refrigerator overnight or several hours.
• Proceed with ice cream maker. At the end of cycle add, extract, peppermint schnapps and crushed candy. Ice cream is consistency of soft serve and must be frozen.
• Freeze for at least 3 hours prior to serving. The alcohol will prevent the ice cream from freezing rock hard, and even after freezing overnight, you will be able to scoop easily. If you choose to skip the peppermint schnapps and only use peppermint extract, your ice cream will freeze very hard and will require you to let it sit out 30 minutes prior to serving.

Notes

Substitute peppermint schnapps with 1-2 t of peppermint extract, tasting as you go.

The post A Merry Christmas with Peppermint Ice Cream appeared first on Spinach Tiger.