White Chocolate Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

I had so many ideas flying around in my head for the Sweet Adventures "Berry Nice to Meet You" Blog Hop hosted by the Hungry Australian this month that I was a week late to post - well not just that, but also that I had friends around for lunch and thought it a much better occasion to crack out a berry dessert for them! I had thought about something alcoholic, but with a 3 year old as one of the lunch guests I thought the better of it, and it ended up being a great hit - raspberries are her favourite!

As a kid, I always loved raspberry ripple ice cream, there were never enough ripples though. Not so when you make your own! This experiment had lots of ripple through a deliciously creamy white chocolate ice cream.

White Chocolate Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

White Chocolate Ice Cream
5 egg yolks
110g caster sugar
250ml milk
500ml thickened cream
150g white chocolate


Raspberry Ripple
300g Raspberries (I used frozen ones)
30g sugar

For the White Chocolate Ice Cream

Melt the white chocolate with the milk and cream over a low heat;
Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till thick is a very light cream colour;
When the milk/cream/choc mixture is almost at boiling point, whisk to combine with the egg yolk/ sugar mix;
Return to the heat in a clean saucepan and stir constantly over a low heat till thick and custardy;
Remove from heat to cool, then refrigerate till cold;
Churn according to the ice cream maker instructions

For the Raspberry Ripple
In a food processor, whiz the raspberries and sugar together;
Pass through a sieve to make a smooth purée
Refrigerate till required.

Putting it together
When the ice cream is churned, scoop half into a container;
Pour over the purée;
Scoop in the other half of the ice cream;
With a knife (not sharp) swirl the purée through the ice cream to make the ripple;
Put in the freezer to freeze through completely;
Serve with fresh raspberries.

Barnacle Bills

Scallops Deling

On a recent trip to Cairns even though short we of course had to pay a visit to his favourite restaurant Barnacle Bills. When he was living and working there it was a real institution and he knew and hung out with the some of the family of the family owned and run establishment. It is a classic seafood restaurant on the esplanade with a fabulous menu and generous portions. We started off with a share plate of scallops and pork belly. Yum! What a delicious combination.

Seafood Curry

For some reason I had been craving curry for dinner and unusually for me I chose a seafood curry from the extensive picks of seafood options. I typically don't go for dishes where the seafood flavour has been masked by a strong sauce but this one was perfect. There was just enough heat but the sauce really complimented the perfectly cooked fish and seafood. After filling up on entree and main full of the flavour of the sea there was no way I could fit in dessert, but a great evening and can't wait for our next trip to TNQ so we can pay another visit!

Top of the Pop(up)s

On Monday night we had a very unique experience at Bar H, a little stylish contemporary bar in Surry Hills. Tonight wasn't a normal night there but one when the kitchen was taken over by Mindy, Audra and Kylie - our favourite MasterChef girls! I was ecstatic to get a booking after feeling like I had left it a bit late for the "first in best dressed" booking policy so Audra's confirmation made my day! And how glad I was - such a fun evening and great food. It is a strange thing meeting the MasterChef girls. We know them so well like friends we have shared every evening for the last few months with so it didn't feel surprising when we walked in and there was Audra greeting everyone while Mindy and Kylie smiled and cooked in the open plan kitchen.

The service was fantastic and drinks were here in no time for my hubbie and I to toast to the meal to come. The little bowl of caramelised nuts and tiny crispy fish reminded me of snacks in the Philippines and Japan so I couldn't stop going back for another nibble! The girls greeted everyone and announced a family style menu. First up was a 3 pepper chicken served in a bag for everyone to dig in. The pepper hit was great and what succulent pieces of meat. We polished off our bag in no time and soon it was an amazing slow cooked beef short ribs in an Asian sauce with some Gai lan stir fried with garlic and chilli - some of our favourite flavour combinations. No sooner had we polished off the beef, but a Mapo Tofu (Grandmothers tofu) was presented. It looked fabulous, but I was worried I was going to have to eat this one alone, as Cam isn't a big tofu fan. I gave him a bit to try and he was hooked! The spiciness with the Chinese sausage and pork mince complemented the tofu perfectly and we finished our plate.

With our mouths still with that slight chilli burn, we were presented with an individual dessert with a number of components. There was a lychee granita - so sherbetty and with such great lychee flavour that it cleansed the palate beautifully before the black sesame ice cream and the coconut tapioca with fried won ton slivers to give a crispy texture. All the flavours worked so well as a great end to a fabulous meal - or so we thought!

Just before we got kicked out so they could prepare for the next sitting finally came a Szechuan Salt Chocolate Truffle and a home made fortune cookie! Now it truly was the end, and the girls calmly saw everyone off before I'm sure they rushed back to the stove to prepare for the next round!

It really was a night to remember, the food, the wonderful hostesses and the fun!