Ice cream never tasted so good.

I've always loved ice cream, enough to confidently say it's my favourite food. I love the variety of flavours, the cool refreshment on a hot day, and I'm a purist - I go for cup over cone. So when I got my ice cream maker, I was pretty much in heaven. I finally had the chance to experiment with flavours and mix-ins. And I'll tell you what, store bought (and even some ice cream shop) ice cream doesn't even compare to homemade! So creamy and fresh. Plus, when making it you can keep an eye on the ingredients going in, putting in less sugar, etc as you see fit.

I've made: Bailey's, coconut chocolate chip, pomegranate mint frozen yoghurt, lemon frozen yoghurt, and some traditional chocolate and (above) cookie dough. 

I am working my way up to try savory ones like avocado(!)

I tend to use the sweet cream base #1 (eggs, milk, whipping cream, sugar) recipe from Ben & Jerry's book and substitute the milk for whatever other flavours I want (coconut milk, Bailey's, chocolate milk, etc). Then chuck in whatever add-ins I want, in the last couple minutes of churning. You don't need to cook the base on the stove first with this one, which makes it quicker, but if you're weary of raw eggs than cook it or go for the egg-less option, base #2.

Tip: Once you've made the mix, let it sit in the fridge for a good few hours before putting it in the ice cream machine, otherwise it won't stiffen up enough when churning.

For the Frozen yoghurt I use this recipe from 101cookbooks. It's simple (greek yoghurt, sugar, vanilla extract) and delicious, again I just add the extra flavours I want straight to it.

I would take more pics of my ice cream, but I usually only have on thing on my mind as soon as a batch is ready and that is spoon-to-face.

Two sides to baking: healthy(ish) to downright indulgent

Who doesn't love a spot of baking now and again. I love finding recipes that I can't wait to try, and often don't wait very long to test it out. I actually try not to bake sweets too often because with just me and my partner in the house, it's a lot to get through. Nice when having company though, or bringing into work to share. 

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few recipes I made lately, along the spectrum of somewhat healthy to downright sinful.

My courgette/zucchini loaf (above) with cream cheese frosting is a bit of both. The loaf itself is chocked full of goodness with whole wheat flour, coconut and grated courgette - and you could easily forgo the frosting, but I happened to have leftover from a cake I made for work. Most recipes I found yielded two loaves, but I only wanted one, so I halved everything.

The Healthy Side

Guilt-free cookies:

(from 101cookbooks, called Nikki's healthy cookies RECIPE)

They were delicious, great bite size morsels and were a really big hit at home and in the office. In Heidi's cookbook (super natural every day) she calls them carnival cookies and they are pretty much the same but with the inclusion of popcorn! I will need to try that version asap.

The Sinful Side

Cookie dough stuffed cupcakes:

(to be honest I can't quite remember what recipe I used for these, but it was close enough to THIS RECIPE)

 Who doesn't love cookie dough? Why not pop some into a cupcake, no brainer! I made these for some kind of get together, and while they were rich, they were great treats. If you're going to indulge, go big or go home. Use your favourite cookie dough recipe, and whatever flavour cake or frosting you want, you can't really go wrong. I baked my cupcakes until almost done, then popped the cookie dough on top and finished baking, but I have seen recipes where they put the raw cookie dough in after baking, so whatever you'd prefer really!