Cassata Ice Cream (eggless home made ice cream)

Cassata Ice Cream

It probably sounds cliché but seriously I did not think I will manage to sustain my blogging for this long especially considering I am now a proud mother of two children. I must admit, it takes a lot of energy and drive to keep the blog going and getting better given the non availability of most important ingredient – time. With oodles of support from my family, I have managed to keep my interest going. I was trying to figure out what will be my 350^th recipe post on my blog although I had a few in drafts already. I wanted something simple but special. I had a cookie in mind, making it eggless, but later thought it may not be ‘the’ one. I had a tub of double cream to use up after my earlier ice cream experiment and put some thought into what to do with it. Bingo!

When I was little, my mom would take me and my brother to my grandparent’s house. It was not far off by any means but we always asked to be taken by auto. Some days my mom would steer us away from auto by tempting us with ice cream from Arun ice cream parlour on the way. It was almost at the mid point of the route so there would be no point nagging for an auto from there. Anyway, she was the one who suggested I try Cassata ice cream. It was such a delight to the eyes and mouth. The wonderful streaks of different flavours are probably the most attractive bit about this ice cream. I must however say that I was not a fan of the sponge that was part of the ice cream. I know, you are probably rolling your eyes because the sponge is one of the characteristic features of casatta. However, it was being made in my kitchen, I could have it my way. I then wanted to make this dish that has nice memories associated with it as my 350^th recipe. My mom always wonders what touch I have added to my dishes, especially milestone dishes. Thi recipe is no exception because this ice cream neither needs ice cream maker nor eggs. With very few ingredients, this dish is easy to whip up. That said, you could do with an electric beater or you need to sue some elbow grease. Alternately, you could use whipped cream readily available so save some energy whipping it.

Here are few notes about this recipe. The main problem with home made ice creams frozen in a regular freezer is the formation of ice crystals. These will be visible and also affect the texture of the end product and you will notice them while eating. Addition of alcohol will help lower the freezing point and prevent crystallisation; however, it may not be suitable if serving children. No doubt, if mommy makes ice cream, son obviously needs to try it. So had to find a different solution and it was a simple one. Addition of little salt does the magic, so do not skip the salt in the recipe. Surprisingly, this recipe does not need to be whisked after about 2 hours of freezing like most home made ice creams. I chose to make pista flavour, chocolate flavour and vanilla. The middle layer is pista but you probably don’t see that clearly as I did not add any green food colouring.

With thanks to all readers and my family for all the support, encouragement and warmth extended, here is the 350^th recipe...

600ml double cream (two tubs of cream)

1.5 tins condensed milk (a tin being about 400g)

2 tablespoon pistachio ground to paste

3 teaspoons coco powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Little over ½ teaspoon salt

Bring together double cream, condensed milk and salt. Divide into three equal parts

Add vanilla extract to one part and whisk until it becomes thick, it will look like melted ice cream

Pour this into a loaf tin or any other container of your choice.  I lined the loaf tin with freezer cover to make it easy to unmould. If using sponge in your recipe, put this at the bottom of the box/tin

To another portion, add the ground pistachios and whisk until it thickens and resembles melted ice cream

Pour this on top of the vanilla layer

To another portion, add sifted coco powder and again whisk until it thickens and resembles melted ice cream

Pour this on top of the pista layer

Freeze for about 12 hours

Cut into slices, serve and indulge