Mascarpone and almonds ice cream

I keep on making ice cream. I guess it is my way of trying to extend a bit the summer feeling. I cannot get used to these rainy, cold days and gray days in August. Weather has been terrible this summer in here. I guess by now I should have got used to the fact that here weather can only be one of two: bad or worse. So, it really makes no sense at all talk about the weather. But it is not a rhetorical resource at all. Here it is a real topic for conversation. These cold temperature and dark skies make it really difficult to think of summer. And when you receive the occasional out of office autoreply  at work, with someone’s message explaining she is on summer holidays, it feels really strange. It feels kind of out of place.

So occasionally I decide to do some ice cream. I prepare it not because a hot summer day asks for a refreshing and frozen dessert.  Right now, I need to remind myself that no matter how cold it is outside,  at the end of a great  meal, an ice cream will always be a perfect dessert.

This ice cream is just a slight variation on one of the easiest ice creams I've ever done. I had done it several times before. And when I invited some friends over for dinner, I thought I could prepare this ice cream some days in advance. If I felt like preparing something else, this delicate and neutral ice cream flavor would work perfectly. If served alone, the almonds would  provide a lovely  crunch to it so that it is not bland at all. Besides, you can prepare it in a moment, and the result are oh so good. Will you also try it?

Mascarpone cheese and almonds ice cream

Ingredients

250 grams of mascarpone cheese

100 grams of sugar

100 ml whipping cream

juice of 1 lemon

50 grams of toasted almonds, (flakes or coarsely ground)

Directions

To make the ice cream, put the cheese, sugar and  lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Add the cream and mix again. Finish by adding the almonds, trying to keep them well distributed. Put in the freezer (or ice cream) at least 6 hours before serving, preferably overnight.

Forest berries creamy frozen yogurt

If there is anything at all in my memory that instantly pops up whenever I think of summer, it is ice cream. When I was a child ice cream was a summer-only sweet. The long, hot summer days in the beach used to be followed by a creamy, flavourful ice cream. Those were the best ice cream ever. No matter the flavour, or the ice creamer itself. Just on the sea side, with the urge of a frozen treat after all the sun and the sea of the day. 

Making ice cream at home can be really simple, can be absolutely simple, I'd say. You can use an ice cream machine if you have one, but you can really get back to that childhood memories in no time and without any special ingredients with recipes as simple as this. 

Enjoy!

Forest berries creamy frozen yogurt

Ingredients

150 grams of frozen berries

250 grams of creamy Greek natural yogurt

50 grams white, granulated sugar

Directions

Mix  in a food processor all the ingredients and beat well until you get a creamy and integrated mixture. Taste and adjust sugar to taste. Remember it should be slightly sweet, because by freezing it will become less sweet. Put into the freezer at least four hours, better 6 to 8, before serving.

Serve with a few mint or basil leaves, a bit of pink pepper and some freshly ground black pepper.

If you prefer, you can also take it as a milkshake, without freezing. The frozen fruit with yogurt will be a perfect smoothie anyway.