I have been craving ice cold ice cream all week at work and after browsing through David Lebovitz online recipes for ice cream I decided to make my own.

I don't have an ice cream machine. But I do have a whisk, time to stir every 30 minutes, and a freezer. Yes, that's almost everything you need to make homemade ice cream. Lebovitz has some great suggestions and techniques to make it with a machine at home, you may find what works for you best here.

It took me less than 20 minutes to make the liquid, then checked on it in the freezer every 30-45 until I was content with the consistency.  I love almonds, wildflower honey, and anise- the flavors of greek honey come to mind. Oh, and did I mention there's no added sugar? Just sweetened with honey! It's relatively low in fat.

Roasted Almond Honey Soy Ice Cream
Serves 4-6, depending on the size of the scoop
Ready to eat after 3 hours

equipment: Blender, whisk, 9x13 aluminum sheet cake pan

1 T Bacardi Rum (alcohol keeps it from solidifying, you can use vodka too)
1 T Arrowroot powder
1/4 cup wildflower honey
1/2 tsp whole anise seed
2 cups unsweetened plain soymilk
generous 2/3 cup freshly roasted almonds

Roast the raw unblanched almonds in the oven, remove and set to the side to cool. Roughly chop.

Blend the rum, arrowroot powder, honey, and anise seed together in the blender. Slowly add the soymilk and combine thoroughly. Pour the liquid into the baking pan, and stir in the roasted almonds. Place the pan into the freezer.

Whisk the liquid every 30-45 minutes over the course of a 3 hour period. Serve immediately or reserve for the next day.  If you serve for the next day, remember that you'll have to let it thaw briefly and stir to maintain a nice semi-creamy consistency.
 

My friend Cherise gave me a quart of blackberries on Saturday. Sunday was father's day and I decided to whip up a batch of the cocoa halvah, and make something with the blackberries to give to my boyfriend's parents.

This recipe is truly an experiment, it's a shortbread base, with a custard layer with remaining shortbread crumbs on top. The shortbread is almond, the custard layer is packed with almond, lemon, and blackberry flavors. It's sweet and buttery. Flavors aren't unusual, you can find lemon and blackberry recipes, almond and blackberry recipes online. You can find tarts, bars, and recipes for pie-bars but this may be a little unique. The middle layer is not quite a custard layer, it's not a sponge- it's somewhere in between.  I may tweak this recipe in the future- perhaps by making the shortbread layer thinner so it's more like a Kuchen. In any case, the recipe is here for you to play with and for those of you that tried it, here it is. My family liked it very much and seemed surprised I experimented as much as I did for as well as it came out. My boyfriend took the remaining third to work to share with his co-workers, but hinted that it was too good to share. If you try it, let me know how it works out, and if you have suggestions for other names or ingredients, that's what the spaces for comments are for! Enjoy!

 
Blackberry Almond Shortbread Bars
12x19 pan

Shortbread Base

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup ground roasted almonds (toast whole raw almonds in oven, process in food processor)
1 lb unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup turbinado raw sugar
zest of 1 lemon
 
Filling

1 cup organic light sour cream
4 organic eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
juice of 1 lemon
8 drops of pure almond oil
2 pinches of sea salt
 
3 1/2 cups blackberries (rinsed and drained right before use)
1/3 of the shortbread base for topping
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 12x19 pan with parchment paper.
 
Make shortbread base. Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor until crumbs form. If your food processor bowl is too small, as mine was, process shortbread dough in small batches and transfer the ingredients from a large mixing bowl back to the food processor and back. Alternatively in a very large mixing bowl use a pastry blender or your fingers until blended. (The quantity is large here, so it might be easier to use the food processor unless you half the recipe.) Set aside 1/3 of the crumbs in a small bowl to use later for the topping. Press shortbread crumbs firmly into the large baking pan and set in the refrigerator to cool.

Clean food processor bowl and make the filling. First mix sour cream and eggs together in the food processor. Add sugar, flour, lemon juice, almond oil and sea salt, pulse until combined well.

Remove the pan from the refrigerator and pour the filling on top. Drop in the blackberries. Top with remaining crumbs.
 
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 mins. Cool and cut into pieces.

These ground almond Panmelati are an adaptation of Lidia Bastianich's Honey Orange Crumb Cookies from her Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy cookbook. I was so enticed by her descriptions of Italy and its cuisine watching her television show that I purchased her cookbook the last time I stopped in at Borders. The television episodes feature the same recipes from the book with additional histories. I'd encourage you to watch her show and visit her website. For those of you that love German cuisine you'll catch flavors, words, and food habits in Northern Italy that are similar to food customs in Bavaria.

Honey-Orange Crumb Cookies, Panmelati, are found on page 217, from Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy, published by Alfred Knopf, 2009. For those of you that don't want to purchase the book now, you can view the recipe on her website and browse through her other delectable and traditional recipes from Italy.

My adaptation reduces the yield, replaces the breadcrumbs with ground almonds, and adds anise seed. These are soft, crunchy, chewy, and perfectly flavored with orange. Pistachios could be used in place of walnuts.

Ground Almond Panmelati
Yield: 32

2 medium to large oranges, preferably organic
1 cup wildflower honey, local
1/4-1/2 tsp whole anise seed
1/4 tsp lavender
1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely ground almonds, freshly ground
1 tablespoon flour (optional, if necessary)

Peel the oranges and cut the bitter white pith away. Keep the peel in strips if you can and chop finely. The finer the pieces the easier it will be to cook them until they are translucent.  Reserve the chopped peel. You'll need about 1/2 cup. Place the honey, anise seed, and lavender in a small to medium sauce pan and bring it to a simmer.  Add the anise seed by rubbing the seeds between  your hands as it drops into the pan. Add the chopped peel and cook until translucent and soft. It will take between 3-5 minutes. You can use this time to grind the almonds.

Add the ground almonds and 1/2 of the toasted walnuts to the honey mixture while still on the stove. Bring back to heat and stir until a soft dough forms, enough to form round balls. If the dough is too soft, add more ground almonds or a tablespoon of flour. I found I didn't need it, but you may if your almonds are too coarsely ground. You don't want to grind them to a flour, but to the size of breadcrumbs. 

Remove from heat and form the dough into truffle size balls. Wash your hands in cold water repeatedly or pat them lightly with oil to prevent sticking. Roll them in the remaining chopped walnuts and set to cool on parchment paper. Enjoy after they have cooled. Store in an airtight container away from sunlight or heat. Refrigeration isn't necessary.