Thursday, December 1, 2011

Fruit salad ice cream

I don't remember me craving for any kind of ice cream since my childhood except for this 'ice cream with fruit salad'. There is a bakery cum ice cream shop in my home town named Arasan ice cream parlor, which serves this fruit salad ice cream in tall glasses. They have their own versions like honey ice cream, fried nuts ice cream, ice cream cakes etc. It would be always crowded by people who want to enjoy their fabulous cakes, bakes and ice creams along with the ambiance. At that time it was the best meeting place for youngsters and We also used to enjoy this ice cream in a tall glass while dating.

It is very easy to make and we will get a grand looking dessert in minutes. Just a scoop of ice cream over finely chopped fruits will do the magic.I used homemade pomegranate ice cream in this recipe. Many a times I have felt this ice cream fruit salad to be very filling. So if we are planning to serve this as a dessert, make sure to plan a very light meal before that.

Pomegranate Ice cream with fruit salad.

Ingredients:(use any available fruit)
(for 2 servings)
Apple - 1/2 small
pear - small piece
orange - 2 pieces
green and red grapes - 6 each
pineapple - 1 round slice
pomegranate - a handful
strawberry - 2
cherry - 2
apple sauce /dates syrup / honey - 2 tbsp
Ice cream - 2 large scoops
(vanilla or any fruit flavored ice creams only)

Method:
Choose a very tall glass. Traditionally they are served in taller and leaner glasses. I have used these shorter glasses according to my need:)

Choose any seasonal fruit. But keep in mind, one should be crispy like apple the other with tangy taste like pine apple and the grapes are a must.

Finely chop all the fruits. Put them zip-lock cover and keep refrigerated.
Keep the apple and pear separately in lemon juice water to prevent discoloration.
(Put the chopped apple and pear in a bowl and pour enough water to cover. Squeeze few drops of lemon and mix well). The chopped fruits can be preserved for a few hours inside fridge. (If we want to get the benefits of fruits, start eating them immediately after chopping).

Mix all the fruits. Fill the glass half way with the mixed chopped fruits. Pour a generous tbsp of apple sauce or date syrup or honey over the fruit.
Place a big scoop of ice cream over it and top it with a cherry.
If needed insert a wafer biscuit on top along with cherry.

Fruit salad ice cream is ready!

Serving suggestion:
A tall glass and a long spoon will make the dish more attractive.
Serve as dessert or snack .
I like to have it as a breakfast itself:)

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Desserts for Thanks giving

Before we enter into the next month, let me post the photos of the simple dessert table I kept for Thanks giving. It was not extremely formal but met my satisfaction to some level.

Here is how I planned the lunch....

*I started planning 5 days ahead and kept a check list as usual. It included some main points like preparing home made yogurt with whole milk, buying the ingredients, preparing desserts,grinding the masalas, preparing base masala, ghee making , marination time calculation.

*Buying some desserts instead of preparing is a good idea to reduce the stress. I bought an apple pie and some pomegranates to give it a real Thanksgiving look.

*On Monday I prepared the pistachio ice cream.

*I prepared a carrot cake and did icing to honor Jesus, saying 'Thank You'. I baked it by Tuesday and kept it refrigerated to get a even surface. Did the icing with store bought cream cheese frosting and home made colored icing, while the chicken was in the oven on Thursday morning.


I finished setting this dessert table, arranging all the dinnerware, serve ware on Wednesday, that made my job easy on Thanksgiving Thursday.

Keeping a side table solely for desserts and  dinnerware would make it easy.

*Keep all the coke / drinks in refrigerator for better taste, but leave a few in the table to give some idea to the guests.

Thanks giving cake.