Snow Cones or Ice Cream Cones?

Hello there! All moved back into college (finally, been gone for 5 weeks), and classes seem to be rolling smoothly! I’m on the east coast, so it’s pretty cold over here, especially since the snowstorm recently hit, but it managed to not hit my school, so there is no snow here. Anyway… I’ve been craving ice cream for the past two weeks (because honestly, who doesn’t crave ice cream when it’s cold?), so I’ve decided to write my vanilla ice cream recipe for you to enjoy! Don’t worry, chocolate lovers, I will include a chocolate ice cream recipe soon; I’m definitely biased to chocolate. But since the lovely snow is pristine white and fluffy (yes, fluffy), I’m going to match it with simple and sweet vanilla~!

Ingredients:

·      2 cups half-and-half

·      1 ½ cups heavy cream

·      1 vanilla bean

·      8 egg yolks or 4 whole eggs

·      ¾ cup sugar

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the half-and-half, heavy cream, and vanilla bean pod seeds. Warm over medium-high heat until mixture barely comes to a simmer. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt vigorously until the mixture lightens in color and doubles in volume. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and whisk it continuously into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture forms a custard think enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do NOT let it boil. Set up an ice bath in a large bowl and place the custard in a slightly smaller large bowl once it’s run through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the vanilla bean and stir the custard occasionally until it cools down. Remove the bowl from the ice, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until very cold, roughly 4 hours or up to 3 days. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon the ice cream into a freezer-safe container, cover tightly, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 4 days.

And that’s it! Enjoy some cold, delicious ice cream in this beautiful winter weather! Have a wonderful rest of the week! ^_^

Squishy Steamed Buns

Hello! Finally I’m able to get to writing this! I’ve been fairly busy with things around home, especially with my tasting menu done (pictures to come!), so now I’m going to share a recipe with you that is simple and produces absolutely delicious and fluffy results. SO LET’S MAKE SOME STEAMED BUNS! Be warned: you will need bamboo steamers for this.

Ingredients:

·      1 package active dry yeast

·      ½ cup warm water

·      1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·      1 ½ cups cake flour

·      3 tbsp sugar

·      ½ tsp baking powder

·      ½ cup warm milk

·      1 tbsp canola oil

·      Parchment paper

Pour the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl and let it sit for a few minutes (it should start to foam and bubble). Combine the flours, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the warm milk, yeast with water, and oil, and combine the ingredients until a dough mass forms. Knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky, roughly 5 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn the dough once to coat, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the dough in a warm environment for 40 minutes to an hour so it may rise.

Divide the dough into roughly 10-12 balls. Roll each into ball form, fold up the edges of the dough into the center, and twist the center bit and press down into the rest of the dough. Cut out parchment paper squares that fit each ball and spread them out in your steamer (make sure each bun has breathing room). Fill a wok/pan (something that can hold 2” of water and is the same size as the bamboo steamers in accordance to the diameter) with water. Place the bamboo steamer on the pot and let it rest for 10 minutes. Place the pot with the steamer on the stove, turn the heat up to high, and reduce the heat to medium-high when steam starts coming out of the top of the steamer. Let this steam for five minutes, then turn off the heat and let it rest there for an additional minute. Remove the steamer from the pot, open the steamer, and allow the buns to cool.

So that’s it! Unfortunately, I don’t know if there is a way to steam buns without the steamer, but I definitely recommend getting one. They aren’t too expensive, and you can make delicious food with them, so what’s better than that? Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!