Appetizers - Cucumber n Cream

Appetizers served at dinners is really enjoyed by people. I mean who does'nt love the complimentary bread or crackers in a fancy restaurant. It sets the mood for the dinner. It need not to be lavish or complicated. Simple appetizer with no need of plates or napkins are often the best. They are pretty to look at too.

In the last dinner party at my home, I prepared some super easy appetizers and guess what, completely crowd pleasing. They can be prepared in a jiffy. Apologies for not so good picture but I promise, next time I make, I will update this post and that will be pretty soon.

Cucumber and Cream Appetizers
Source: http://magda-whatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2012/08/party-in-two-minutes.html

Ingredients
Cucumbers 3
Cream cheese light 8oz
Sour Cream or yogurt 2 tbsp [low fat will do]
Fresh chopped mint 2 tbsp
Fresh chopped basil 2 tbsp [I didnt have fresh so I used dried]
Garlic crushed 1 clove
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Wash the cucumbers, take the bottom and top off and cut into slices thickly.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients very well.
3. Spoon on to the cucumber rounds or you can pipe them also.
4. Stick a pick for easy serving.

Sweet and Tangy Lemon Tarts

Its been a while again. Lot of pictures waiting for their turns to get blogged. I love baking, decorating, party planning (see my latest venture here and here), blogging, food photography. I would love to implement lot of pipeline projects like blog re-design and try some dishes, write some tutorials. On the other hand I am a full-time mom. So sometimes many things take a back seat and its just kids and home and business. I hope and pray that I fulfill my main responsibility as a mother now and every other thing will fall back into its place later and will be completed in due time. 

This recipe is a very old tart very popular in Pakistan bakeries and is my mom's favorite. So when she was visiting me recently, I made it for her.It is a very handy no fuss dessert ideal for picnics and bbqs. Although the base is nearly perfect, I would like the filling consistency to be more thick enough to be able to pipe. May be a little more corn flour or lemon pastry cream with egg yolks. I will keep this posted once I figure it out.

Sweet and Tangy Lemon Tarts
Recipe source - Shireen Anwar, from a very popular Pakistani TV channel Ingredients
Base
Butter cold but soft,cubes 4 ounces or 4 tbsp
Castor sugar 5 tbsp or 2 1/2 ounces
Vanilla essence a few drops
Egg yolk 1
Flour 6 ounces or 12 tbsp

Filling
Vanilla Custard 1 tbsp
Corn flour 1 tbsp
Water 1/2 cup
Egg yolks 2
Yellow color a few drops
Sugar 1/2 cup
Lemon juice 2 tbsp
Butter 1 tbsp

Method
Base
1. To make the base, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add in the egg and essence.
2. Rub in the flour to make a dough. Do not over mix else it will make the base chewy rather than crispy.
3. Roll out on lightly floured surface and cut 15 three inches rounds with a cookie cutter.
4. Line in 2.5 inch muffin pan.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F for about 20 minutes until golden.

Filling
1. To prepare the filling, place all the ingredients in a sauce pan except butter and lemon juice.
2. Whisk gently on medium flame until it comes together and thickens.
3. Add in lemon juice and butter.
4. Let it cool before filling the cases. Dot with strawberry jam.

Makes about 15. Can be refrigerated.

The divine Chocolate Ganache Tart

I am trying to clean up my hard disk and its no surprise that most of it has been filled up with pictures. I am also organizing them categorically and then yearly, its a long process but its high time. While doing this boring task, I stumbled upon a couple of pictures of Chocolate Tart which I made a while ago for some guests (and to utilize my new really cool loooong tart pan). I just got to eat the crumbs remaining because it disappeared in minutes. I got to hear lot of compliments for it specially the crust.

Thankfully I did remember to save the recipe then. So here it is - another winner chocolate based recipe.

Chocolate Ganache Tart
Recipe source - Simply Romanesco
CRUST

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp butter
3/4 cup icing sugar (aka powdered or confectioners sugar)
1/4 cup grounded blanched almonds (i used almond flour or almond meal, half of hich i slightly toasted in oven)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour

METHOD

1. To make the crust, beat butter until creamy.
2. Add in sugar and continue to beat.
3. Beat in almond flour, salt and vanilla.
4. Beat in egg.
5. Lastly add in flour and just mix enough until its soft, damp and moist with all ingredients incorporated. Don't think about rolling, this dough in my opinion is best when pressed directly into the tart pan.
6. Scrape out all into the pan, you can use a 9"round tin or a long 12x2  inches rectangular pan. Nicely and firmly press the dough into the pan with clean edges.
7. Refrigerate for 25 mins and then bake in pre-heated oven at 350 F. Prepare the filling meanwhile. 

FILLING

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces chocolate [I used a combination of dark chocolate and milk, 4 oz dark, 2 oz milk
,you can vary it according to your taste]
1/2 cup + 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
Orange zest to decorate

METHOD
1. Melt the chocolate in microwave or double boiler.
2. Beat 1/2 tbsp cream and egg yolk until just liquidy.
3. Bring the rest of the cream to boil adding in vanilla.
4. Pour over chocolate and mix well.
5. Whisk in egg yolk mixture and then butter.
6. Pour the mixture into half baked tart and bake for another 10 minutes until slightly firm. 
7. Chill in refrigerator so the ganache sets. Decorate and serve.

Pots de Creme - a luscious, sinful dessert

Chocolate it is! My parents are here for a visit and they are an avid sweet tooth. Plus when they are visiting their baker/decorator daughter, having anything sweet from outside or simply not having it, is a sin. Its good for me too without having to worry about consumption, I can try some safe and 'always wanted to try' recipes. They both are loving my experiments so far. Good news is that I can then share them with you.

So here is a luscious dessert and as much as I like easy to put together recipes, this one is right on spot. The beautiful individual servings just gives you sense of ownership (and portion control ;)). 

Chocolate Pots de Creme is a French equivalent of pudding or custard or a cross between them. Its simple yet achieves amazing result. When I first saw it on Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy blog, I 'favorited' it as I knew I had to make it.

Chocolate Pots de Creme
Adapted from StickyGooeyCreamyChewy
Ingredients

Milk 1 cup

Cream 1 cup

Vanilla bean 1 split open and seeds scraped out
Dark Chocolate 4 ounces

Eggs 2 

Egg yolks 2
Granulated Sugar 1/3 cup
Cocoa powder 2 tsp

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 320 F. Put some water on to boil.

2. Combine milk,cream,vanilla pod and seeds together in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cover and let infuse for 30 minutes.
3. Place chocolate in a small bowl and microwave in increments of 20 seconds until melted.
4. In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar together until thoroughly combined. 

5. Slowly add milk and cream mixture, whisking constantly. 

6. Mix the dark chocolate and cocoa powder.
7. Pour the pots de crème mixtures into in small ramekins and place it in a baking dish with at least 3-inch sides. Fill the baking dish with boiling water until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the pots de crème.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until pots de crème are set, but slightly jiggly in their centers. Remove from the baking dish and cool. Store in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. The crèmes are best served the same day, but will keep 2-3 days in the fridge. Goes really well with whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings

Savory Tart - Caramelized Onion and Spinach Tart

I am receiving lot of requests to blog regularly and even more to organize it. I know I have to and I even want to but just can't figure out the right and nominal web designer. If you guys have any pointers please let me know. I want to create a more visual appealing blog where finding information is much easier. As the number of posts have grown, it makes more sense to sort them categorically. On a side-note I am trying to figure out a schedule with ample decent time to blog (prepare dish, present, photograph, write post) along with my business, my home and family, books and a TODDLER. You get it? Cool. :)

I normally don't post much on savory dishes but this was exceptional. I had to share this. As much as I always want to post a perfect recipe, this one came right upto the level. It is easy to prepare and quick to devour. Even my picky eater loved it. You can compare it with a quiche (which I posted here and here) but ultimately quiche is also a tart. It consists of a savory base with filling of vegetables/meat/chicken and egg/milk mixture. Its a whole meal in itself. You can try base with whole wheat flour, and use low fat milk instead of cream/Full fat.

The key to this tart is in my opinion is Parmesan Cheese. It is Italian extra hard kind of cheese with lot of flavor. Remember to buy original Parmesan cheese (yes there are parmesan flavors available) and grate it when you need. Its a little hard to do but the flavor is so deep and rich that you only need couple of table spoons to make a dish from ordinary to extra ordinary. 

The recipe has been taken from book 'Freshly Baked' gifted by my sister long time back and it has some promising recipes. The original recipe contained balsamic vinegar in filling and I forgot to add and it turned out fine without it.

Caramelized Onion and Spinach Tart
Adapted from Fresh Baked by Louise Pickford

Ingredients
Crust

Flour 6ounces/12 tbsp
Parmesan Cheese 1ounce/2 Tbsp
Salt a pinch
Cold water 3 tbsp
Butter cold 3tbsp

Filling
Butter 1 tbsp
Small baby onions 12 or 2 medium
Garlic cloves 6
Spinach leaves frozen 8 ounces
Cream 3 ounces
Low fat milk 4 ounces
Eggs 2
Parmesan cheese grated 2 tbsp
Salt and pepper
pinch of crushed red pepper

Method
1. Make pastry tart first. Sift flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Rub in butter cut up into pieces with your finger tips until they resemble the bread crumbs.
3. Stir in parmesan cheese. 
4. Work in the water to form a soft dough.
5. Wrap in cling film and chill for 15 mins.
6. Roll out the dough on lightly floured surface about 12 inch diameter.
7. Take a tart tray and carefully place the rolled out dough on 10 inches tart tray.
8. Prick with fork and chill in fridge for 15 mins.
9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C. for 15 mins.
10. Prepare the filling. Place butter in a pan and add onions (if using medium size, cube them else halve them) and garlic in it. Cook in low heat for 15 mins until nice and caramelized. Add balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp at this point if using. 
11. Lightly beat eggs, cream, milk and seasonings and cheese.
12. Defrost the spinach, remove excess water and chop it up.
13. Dot hald done crust with spinach and then onion mixture. 
14. Carefully pour the egg milk mixture over the pie making sure not to spill.
15. Re-bake for further 25 minutes until mixture is set and golden and pie crust is brown too.
16. Serve warm or cold.

Gulab Jamun - a traditional Pakistani sweet dish

Last week I hosted a dinner party for our friends. A long due dinner, I had been planning but could'nt pull it off due to travelling, work and kids. All of the main courses, starters, salads and sweet dishes were made on that day only since I was busy with cakes, the day before. Work attracts more work, thats all I can say. 

Anyways, I am mostly comfortable in making continental sweet dishes as Pakistani sweet dishes tend to be more complicated and time consuming and require expertise. However, this one is exceptional. It can be prepared in half an hour from start to finish. Gulab Jamun is the name in Urdu - the national language of Pakistan. Gulab means Rose and Jamun is a fruit, not sure its exact English word. They are fried little dumplings soaked in sugar syrup and taste amazing. Sprinkle with some crushed pistachios and I can bet, you have a winner. A very simple recipe but some tips help in achieving perfection.

Gulab Jamun
Source: My mum's diary :)

Ingredients:
Dry Milk Powder 1 cup [I use Nido]
Melted Ghee/Butter 2 tbsp
Flour 2 tbsp
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Egg 1 (Lightly beaten)

For syrup:
Sugar 1 1/2 cup
Water 3 cups
Cardamom few
Saffron few strands

Crushed pistachios for sprinkling

Method:
1. Make syrup first. Put all ingredients in a large sauce pan and leave it on medium flame, stirring occasionally till the sugar dissolves.
2. Start preparing dough for the dumplings. Mix first four ingredients by hand.
3. Start adding egg till binding is achieved and soft smooth yet manageable dough is formed. Egg may be utilized completely or little may be left. 
4. Make balls of about 1.5 inches. If they are dry or appear cracked, smooth them with hands and little egg.
5. Heat oil in a frying pan for somewhat deep frying.
6. The oil should be medium hot else the dumplings will burn as soon as they touch the oil.
7. Once all the balls are made (around 12), fry them stirring continuously until dark brown.
8. Add them to the cooking syrup and cover and cook on medium flame for 15 minutes.
9. Cool and dish out, sprinkle with pistachios.

Scones and that too chocolate!!

Well, I am back with a very nice quick recipe. Life has been pretty busy lately with travelling, sister's wedding, Ramadan, Eid, toddler and work. Nevertheless, blogging was and still is one of my comforting aids and I love to share my experiments in kitchen. 

Scones in my humble opinion are cross between cake and cookies. It basically uses raising agents to puff them up. Traditionally eaten in breakfast, they are also perfect for light midday snack. What I loved about them is that they are not overly sweet and breeze to make. You can freeze them as well and bake when required. Best eaten on the same day like other scones primarily due to presence of generous amount of leavening agents.

Chocolate Scones
Source: Martha Stewart Baking handbook

Ingredients:
Flour 1 cup plus 1 tbsp
Cocoa powder 1 1/2 tbsp
Granulated sugar 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp
Baking powder 1 1/4 tsp
Baking soda 1/4 tsp
Salt a pinch
Butter, unsalted 5 tbsp cold and firm, cut into cubes
Semisweet chocolate 2.5 oz chopped up
Egg 1 large beaten and divided into half
Cream 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp
Sugar for sprinkling optional

Directions:
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients.
3. Cut in butter with finger tips or pastry blender into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles bread crumbs.
4. Fold in chocolate.
5. Whisk together 1/2 egg and 1/4 cup plus 1/2 tbsp cream.
6. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and fold until just combined.
7. Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat with hands to make a 9x3 inches rectangle. Cut into 3 inch square and further into triangles.
8. Slide them gently on the baking tray, cover and freeze for one hour or overnight.
9. Pre-heat the oven to 375F and brush the scones with remaining egg and cream mixture.
10. Sprinkle sugar.
11. Bake for about 25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Muffins - Treat you will love

I have an incredibly bad sweet tooth and so has my little toddler. We can skip meals to have dessert. Thats my ultimate guilty pleasure. Not good I know and does'nt happen most of the times since as a baker and cake decorator I know how much 'stuff' goes in there so I am always looking for unfrosted, somewhat healthy alternatives that can satisfy our cravings yet are not horribly unhealthy. 

Muffins are one such treat and I try to incorporate fruits like bananas and apples and carrots (carrot is'nt a fruit though ;)) to justify the guilt. I love making muffins as they are quick to make no heavy-duty mixing required, bake and ofcourse eat. I stumbled upon this recipe and I knew they will be a keeper as it had copious amount of sour cream and less eggs. I am glad I have a to-go recipe of chocolate chip muffins. 

But before the recipe, a word of caution - muffins are not same as cupcakes, cupcakes are essentially mini cake preferably frosted and have high fat and sugar ratio. Muffins can be considered healthy cupcakes as they have the same shape but somewhat crumbled top (due to mixing and not beating/creaming) and are served as breakfast treats. They have generally less fat.

I am a little, just teeny weeny proud of the pictures too for this blog post. I have mentioned several times that seeing work of international food bloggers/photographers, cake decorators, pastry chefs and bakers I feel a dwarf.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins

Adapted from Taste and Tell 

Ingredients

Flour 1 1/2 cup

Sugar 3/4 cup

Baking powder 3/4 tsp

Baking soda 3/4 tsp

Salt 1/4 tsp

Egg 1 

Sour cream 1 cup

Unsalted butter 5 tbsp (melted and cooled)

Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Chocolate Chips 1 cup

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F and line a 12 muffin cups tray with liners.

2. Whisk all the dry ingredients together.

3. Whisk all wet ingredients together.

4. Mix in wet ingredients to dry ones until just mixed. Do not beat.

5. Fold in chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate chunks.

6. Bake for about 15 minutes until risen and done.

Battenberg for Daring Bakers

I have been part of Daring Bakers for a while now and though on and off, I try to participate in all the challenges. They are a great source of learning for novice or advance bakers.A few months back one of my cousins posted a picture of 9 cubes Battenberg and asked if I have ever tried this. This challenge with similar cake came at the right time and it was relatively easy challenge but with fantastic results.

First the blog checking lines:
Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease.

Battenberg cake has royal origin and was created for a wedding, traditionally its pink and yellow pound cake glues together with jam and finished with marzipan. I opted for its coffee version as Hubs has been asking for a coffee cake for a while. I used cream cheese frosting to glue as I had left over from the last project and coffee and cream cheese goes really well. I covered it with white chocolate plastique which I have been thinking to try for a long time. All in all, this cake came out really well. No tough things there but the chocolate plastic needs a little bit of patience and practice to make it work.

Here is the recipe copied directly from The Daring Kitchen:

Coffee and Walnut Battenberg:

Servings: +- 8

Ingredients
¾ cup (1½ sticks) 175gm / 6 oz Unsalted Butter, softened & cut in cubes
¾ cup / 175gm / 6 oz Caster Sugar
1¼ cups / 175gm / 6 oz Self-Raising Flour (***see end of doc on how to make your own)
3 Large Eggs, room temp
½ cup / 65gm / 2 1/3 oz Ground Almonds (Can be substituted with ground rice)
3/4 tsp / 3½ gm Baking Powder
3 tsp (15 ml) Milk
½ tsp (2½ ml) Vanilla Extract
1½ tsp (7½ ml) 7 gm Instant Coffee Powder or Granules
3 Tbsp / 25gm / 1 oz Walnuts, roughly chopped

To Finish
½ cup (1 stick) 115gm /4 oz Unsalted Butter
2 cups / 225gm /8 oz Powdered (Icing/Confectioners') Sugar
½ tsp / 2 gm Instant Coffee
1½ tsp (7½ ml) Milk or Cream
1 cup / 225gm /8 oz Chocolate Plastic, natural or yellow

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan Assisted/Gas Mark 4
2. Grease an 8”/20cm square baking tin with butter
3. Line the tin with parchment paper, creating a divide in the middle with the parchment (or foil)
4. OR Prepare Battenberg tin by brushing the tin with melted butter and flouring
5. Whisk together dry ingredients (except walnuts and coffee) and combine with the wet ingredients in a large bowl (except vanilla and milk) and beat together just until the ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth
6. Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the vanilla, 1½ teaspoons milk and chopped walnuts
7. Spoon the walnut mixture into the one side of the prepared baking tin
8. Dissolve the coffee in the remaining 1½ teaspoon milk and add to the remaining batter, stir until just combined
9. Spoon the coffee batter into the other half of the prepared baking tin
10. Smooth the surface of the batter with a spatula, making sure batter is in each corner
11. Bake for 25-30mins until the cake is well risen, springs back when lightly touched and a
toothpick comes out clean (it should shrink away from the sides of the pan)
12. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out to cool thoroughly on a wire rack
13. Once completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated knife
14. Cut each sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge
15. Neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible
16. Combine the buttercream ingredients together and mix until combined
17. Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern (one yellow next to one pink. On top of that, one pink next to one yellow)
18. Dust a large flat surface with icing sugar then roll the marzipan/chocolate plastic/fondant in an oblong shape that is wide enough to cover the length of the cake and long enough to completely wrap the cake
19. Spread the top of the cake with a thin layer of buttercream
20. Place the cake on the marzipan, buttercream side down
21. Spread buttercream onto the remaining three sides
22. Press the marzipan around the cake, making sure the join is either neatly in the one corner, or will be underneath the cake once turned over
23. Carefully flip the cake over so that the seam is under the cake and score the top of the cake with a knife, you can also crimp the top corners with your fingers to decorate
24. Neaten the ends of the cake and remove excess marzipan by trimming off a small bit of cake on both ends to reveal the pattern

Chocolate Plastique / Modelling Chocolate:
Servings: +- 8

White Chocolate Plastique
200gm /7 oz Good Quality White Chocolate
2 Tbsp / 30ml /1 oz Light Corn Syrup / Glucose Syrup / Golden Syrup

Directions:
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, stir occasionally
2. Once completely melted, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit
3. Stir in corn syrup / glucose syrup / golden syrup, it will seize up almost immediately, just keep stirring until mixed and it comes away from the side of the bowl
4. Transfer chocolate into a sealable bag, spread the chocolate out then seal the bag
5. Leave overnight or refrigerate for about 2 hours until completely firm
6. Turn out from the bag and knead on a surface dusted with powdered sugar, at first it will just break , but as you knead, it will warm up and start to become pliable
7. Knead until it's pliable enough to roll out or mould, 5 - 10mins

Storage Instructions/Tips:

- Battenberg will keep for 3-4 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container

- Keep chocolate plastique in an airtight container at room temperature, it will keep for as long as the

expiry date on the chocolate wrapper


Additional Information:
How to make your own self raising flour:
1 cup Self Raising Flour = 1 cup / 115g All Purpose Flour + 1 ½ tsp

Best Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

My kids love ice cream, like mostly kids do, specially my elder daughter.She can enjoy any kind of ice cream but chocolate and vanilla are her favorite. As summers are here, I thought I would give it a try and make ice cream at home. I don't own an ice cream machine but I was aiming for the same quality. As I do research for all the first time things, I came across lot of information on types of ice cream and methods to make it. I had already read a lot on famous David Lebovitz blog (who is famous for his take on ice creams and have also written a book called The Perfect Scoop).He explained thoroughly on how to go about a process to achieve the same quality ice cream without a machine. (Though I do plan to buy one as Kitchen Aid attachment ;))

Here is a detailed post on his own blog
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/

My mother used to make an ice cream with condensed and evaporated milk and it used to turn out pretty good.I was looking to make traditional custard based rich creamy ice cream from egg yolks (because I want egg white for couple of upcoming recipes :)). I am happy that my first attempt on ice cream was pretty successful and kids and hubby loved it and even went overboard rating it better than famous BR ;) Now thats a compliment. Here is tried and tested recipe which your family will definitely love. May be next time I will lower the sugar by couple of table spoons as I found it little sweeter but since I am not an ice cream person, my hubby rejected the idea of any adjustments. All the measures are by weight which is recommended but I have tried to mention the conversion also.
Some quick clicks here as my kids were waiting patiently to try their hands on.

Chocolate Ice Cream
Recipe source: IndoChineKitchen
Ingredients

Egg yolks 5
Cocoa Powder 21 gm (approx. 2 1/2 tbsp)
Cream 500 ml
Milk 250 ml
Dark Chocolate (chopped) 140 gm
Sugar 150 gm
Salt 1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp

Method
1. Put cocoa powder in half of the cream and whisk it over low heat until completely dissolved.Bring it to boil. 
2. Remove from heat and add chocolate and stir until melted.
3. Pour the rest of the cream and mix well.
4. Transfer this mixture into a large bowl and let it cool. Place a sieve over it.
5. Gently heat milk, salt and sugar until steamy.
6. Whisk egg yolks in a separate bowl, add hot milk in a thin continuous stream whisking continuously so the eggs dont scramble.
7. Put this mixture back into the pan and heat gently stirring continuously until custard thickens and is able to coat the back of the spoon.
8. Pour this mixture over the sieve into the chocolate mixture.
9. Add vanilla essence.
10. Cool this bowl over an ice bath (a large bowl with ice) until completely cooled.
11. Pour the ice cream mixture in a deep container with air tight lid.
12. Pop in freezer for about 45 minutes until sides begin to freeze.
13. With hand beater or stick blender, beat the ice cream to break the crystal formation.
14. Again put it in freezer and repeat the beating process after 30 minutes. Repeat again after 30 minutes.
15. Then freeze it until completely frozen. 
16. To serve, take it out 10 mins before serving and either scoop it in the cone or bowl.