Dayrecipe Food Community

For this clever riff on the “frozen” Margarita, try to use natural lime pops (sold at natural and specialty foods stores) rather than artificially colored and flavored varieties.

Makes 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2cup tequila
• 6tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4cup coarse kosher salt
• 6frozen lime-flavored ice pops or fruit bars, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS Mix tequila and lime juice in 1-cup measuring cup. Place coarse salt in small bowl. Place all ice pops, sticks up, in deep bowl, or place 1 pop in each of 6 glasses. Pour tequila mixture over ice pops. Lightly dip 1 edge of each ice pop into coarse salt and serve.

The name of this cake derives from the flavors that are reminiscent of the classic mole, an aromatic, delicious chocolaty savory sauce that originated in Pueblo, Mexico. I have always thought that dried chiles were a surprisingly good match for chocolate, and with the addition of canela, cloves, and pumpkin seeds, the full mole flavors emerge. For a shortcut, substitute sectioned grapefruit for the orange caramel.

Makes 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• for the ice cream
• 4 ounces cherries, pitted
• 1 cup dry sherry
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 fresh vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
• 8 large egg yolks
  for the cake
• 11 ounces bittersweet chocolate, such as hawaiian vintage chocolate
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 dried pasilla chile, seeded
• 1/2 dried ancho chile, seeded
• 10 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon canela or 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
• 9 large eggs
• 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  for the tamarind anglaise
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup tamarind paste
• 2 large egg yolks
  for the orange caramel
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

DIRECTIONS Preheat the oven to 300°F.

To prepare the ice cream, place the cherries and sherry in a mixing bowl and let soak for 20 minutes. Place the cream in a saucepan, add the half-and-half, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, almond extract, almonds, and cherries with their soaking liquid, and bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and slowly add the cream mixture while continuing to whisk vigorously. Return to the saucepan and cook over low heat while whisking continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Strain into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions (discard the cherries and almonds).

To prepare the cake, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and keep warm. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, place the chiles, sugar, canela, cloves, and pumpkin seeds and grind until superfine. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract on low speed. Add the chile mixture and whisk for 10 minutes longer. Add the melted chocolate, whisk to incorporate, and slowly add the butter until combined.

Pour the batter into 8 lightly oiled 4-ounce ramekins and place in a water bath. Transfer to the oven and bake for 13 to 14 minutes; the cakes will feel only slightly firm. Remove the ramekins and keep refrigerated until 1 hour before serving. Cakes are even better slightly warmed in the oven.

To prepare the anglaise, place the cream, sugar, vanilla, and tamarind in the saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, breaking up the tamarind with a wooden spoon. Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and slowly add the cream mixture while whisking vigorously. Return to the saucepan and cook over low heat, while whisking continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Strain and let cool; keep covered.

To prepare the caramel, heat the sugar and 1 cup of water in a heavy saucepan over high heat. When the sugar turns from golden brown to amber, turn off the heat and slowly whisk in the orange juice, the caramel may turn hard but it will melt again when reheated. Turn the heat back on to medium and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely.

To serve, place the ramekins in a shallow pan of very hot water for 1 minute. Invert the ramekins and tap on the bottom to turn out the cakes. Transfer to serving plates and bring to room temperature. Top with a scoop of the ice cream and spoon the anglaise and caramel around the cakes.

These cakes are great for parties because they can be completely assembled the day before and then quickly baked before serving, for the all-important “ooze” factor.

Makes 8.

INGREDIENTS

• ice cream
• 1pint vanilla ice cream, softened
• 2tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
• 1tablespoon dark rumcakes
• 14ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2teaspoons ground coriander
• 2teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2teaspoon ground white pepper
• 6large eggs
• 6large egg yolks
• 2teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3cups powdered sugar
• 1cup all purpose flouradditional powdered sugar
• crystallized ginger strips

DIRECTIONS For ice cream:
Place softened ice cream in medium bowl. Using plastic spatula, fold ginger and rum into ice cream. Transfer to airtight container. Freeze ice cream mixture until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep frozen.)

For cakes:
Generously butter eight 3/4-cup soufflé dishes. Stir chocolate, butter, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and white pepper in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Whisk in 3 cups powdered sugar, then chocolate mixture, then flour. Transfer batter to prepared dishes, filling to top and dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake cakes until batter has risen above dish, top edges are dark brown, and centers are still soft and runny, about 15 minutes, or about 18 minutes for refrigerated batter. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Allow cakes to rest in dishes 5 minutes. Using hot pad and holding dish very firmly, place plate gently atop 1 cake and invert onto plate. Repeat with remaining cakes. Dust with powdered sugar. Top with crystallized ginger. Serve cakes with rum-ginger ice cream.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 8 hr (includes chilling and freezing)

Makes about 1 quart.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3cup dark rum
• 3/4cup dried currants
• 2cups heavy cream
• 1cup half-and-half
• 1/8teaspoon salt
• 2large eggs
• 3/4cup packed light brown sugarspecial equipment:an ice cream maker

DIRECTIONS Heat rum in a small saucepan until just warm, then remove from heat. Add currants and let stand, covered, 1 hour.

Bring cream, half-and-half, and salt just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour custard into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 170 to 175°F, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).

Pour custard through a sieve into a bowl, then add rum and currants and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.

Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. (Due to rum, this ice cream will have a slightly softer texture than others.)

Tossing the peaches in lemon juice brightens their flavor.

Makes about 2 quarts to serve 16.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds ripe peaches
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk and 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks

DIRECTIONS 1. Peel, pit and slice peaches, reserving peels and pits. Combine the peach slices, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar, then set aside.

2. In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream, remaining sugar, vanilla and peach peels and pits; cook, stirring, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat.

3. Place yolks in a bowl and, whisking constantly, pour in 1 cup of the hot-milk mixture; continue whisking until smooth.

4. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the hot-milk mixture in the saucepan, whisking constantly until smooth. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir the mixture constantly until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (6 to 8 minutes). The mixture should never boil.

5. Cool to room temperature and then strain into a bowl.

6. Puree the reserved peaches in a food processor until smooth. Stir into the milk mixture and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.