Spiked Lemon Curd Ice Cream Sundae

People are always giving me lemons at this time of year, its kind of lucky really, since every attempt at growing our own lemon tree has ended up with a dead tree. Im surprised my children are happy and healthy, I mean, don't they say that you shouldn't get a pet until you can look after a plant? And you shouldn't have children until you can look after a pet?

Anyway, my husband has this theory that if you wee on the lemon tree it will make the lemons grow. He is full of theories that man, did you know, BP petrol makes your car go faster but Shell petrol gets you more mileage *rolls eyes*. 

Well it seems my dear husband has passed on this tradition to our 3 1/2 year old son. Every time we visit my Mum's house, he insists on doing a wee on the lemon tree.

Can you imagine his delight when the last time we went to visit and my Mum handed us a big bag of lemons. Bless his soul, the boy looked super proud of himself. The entire trip home he explained to me how he grew the lemons.

So I guess that is the story of how I ended up with a bazillion lemons. You know what they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Well I made lemon curd instead. And then I mixed my lemon curd with some Greek yogurt and cream, spiked it with half a bottle (ok not that much) of lemoncello and put it in the freezer.

The result, to die for lemon curd ice cream.

But I mean why stop there. So I scooped it into a glass, topped with crumbled meringue and topped with more lemon curd. AH MAZE ING

I originally intended to serve this with a raspberry coulis but I couldnt resist more lemon curd. It really is the best.

Anyway, for this recipe, you can use store bought meringues which is what I did.You can also use store bought lemon curd or you can find the recipe I use HERE.

Spiked Lemon Curd Ice Cream Sundae

Ingredients

Ice cream

250mls thickened cream

250 grams full fat plain Greek Yogurt

Lemon Curd from recipe or 2 jars of store bought

60mls Lemoncello (optional) - or more if you like, I know I do

1 lemon

1 packet meringue nests

Directions

1. Lightly whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold in yogurt and lemon curd (1 jar or half the quanitity of lemon curd recipe) until combined.

2. Slowly pour lemoncello whilst slowly stiring until combined.

3. Pour into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.

* If you have an ice cream churning, then churn for 10 mins. 

Assemble

Place ice cream in fridge for 10 mins to soften

Layer scoop of ice cream, crumbled meringue and a dollop of lemon curd.

Add more lemoncello if desired

ENJOY!

 

Buttermilk waffles with caramelised bananas, whipped cream and milk chocolate

So who doesnt love waffles? Honestly, they may be the best food in the world.
Eat them in the morning and its like eating dessert for breakfast. Except, its perfectly acceptable because waffles are totally a breakfast. Dontcha know.
I was pretty excited when I came across a cheapy waffle maker last week and after a weekend of work christmas parties for my husband, I now had the perfect occasion to whip some up. I mean, what better hang over cure then waffles?
I used buttermilk in this recipe because buttermilk just makes everything better. All fluffy and soft kind of better and, on this occasion, it didn't disappoint.
You can serve these waffles on their own with a bit of ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup, but if you really want to go all out, I highly recommend you make the caramelised bananas to go with it.

Now if you dont have a waffle maker, my bad. I bet you want one now.

Buttermilk waffles with Caramelised Bananas, whipped cream and milk chocolate

Ingredients
Waffles

340 grams plain flour

2 Tbs raw sugar (castor sugar if not using tmx)

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk

50 grams unsalted butter melted

2 eggs

Topping
2 Tbs unsalted butter
2-3 Bananas, sliced
1/4 cup (loosely packed) brown sugar
300 mls whipping cream
200 grams milk chocolate

Directions
1. Place the sugar in thermomix and process for 20 seconds on speed 9
2. Add flour, salt, butter and eggs and process for 30 seconds on speed 6
3. Slowly pour the buttermilk into the tmx bowl whilst processing on speed 5.
4. Scrape down the sides of bowl and process for another 5 seconds on speed 5
5. Heat up waffle maker and spray with oil. Cook in batches

To make the topping
6. Melt butter in a fry pan with brown sugar, add sliced bananas and cook until caramelised (about 2 mins).

7. Pour cream into a bowl and whip until soft peaks form

6. Place milk chocolate chips in a microwave safe container and heat for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until melted

Assemble

To assemble, pour caramelised bananas over a waffle, dollop some cream and drizzle the milk chocolate

Instant Summer Slushie less then 10 calories

So yep, I think its official, summer is here. I cant say its not a welcome delight, but sheeez, im not exactly summer ready.
My thighs are bearing the hallmarks of my winter indulgences, and well, its just not a good look.
To make matters worse, im stripping down into my togs in 10 DAYS to get my picture taken. It was a gift, so I cant even get out of it.
So today, Thursday 29th of November marks day 1 of my rather panicked 10 DAY get into shape regime. I let you know how it goes.
Thing is, its 38C right now and all I want to do is munch my way through an extra large slurpee from 7/11. But for over 200 cals per serve, it doesnt quite fit in with my get in shape regime.
So whilst I was sweltering out daydreaming about slurpees, I had this idea to make my own diet slushy/slurpee concoction in the thermomix.
This my friends was the result, and I must say, satisfied those cravings perfectly. And I didnt have to drive anywhere for it. Winning!

You can change the cordial to fruit juice if you are making it for the kids, I promise, they will love it

Instant Summer Slushie - Low Cals

Ingredients

1 cup ice
30mls diet cordial (I used orange and mango)
*you can adjust quantities to suit your taste

Method

Add ice and diet cordial to Thermomix or food processor and blend at top speed for 30 seconds

Scrape down sides and repeat

*Depending on how powerful your food processor is, you may need to repeat this step a few times until you get the right consistency