Foodiva's Kitchen: Pandan and Honey Melon Ice Cream and My 7-Links

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Pandan and Honey Melon Ice Cream and My 7-Links

All the knowledge I possess everyone can acquire, but my heart is all my own.
~ Goethe

Remember when I told you that I bought a whole big bunch of pandan leaves for next to nothing? Well, I finally got around to doing something with them. My ice cream days are not over yet (with our weather, it will never be over), so I decided to turn the distinctive pandan scent into one of my favorite frozen treat flavors, pandan ice cream.

If you've never smelled pandan before, its scent is somewhat familiar to white bread, jasmine rice and basmati rice because all of these contain the same aromatic compound, (2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, if you must know)To extract the sweet, piney fragrance of pandan, I blended several leaves with the milk and squeezed the pandan juice out from that. Then I used the pandan-flavored milk to make the custard base for the ice cream. 



There was a ripe honey melon in the kitchen that just begged to be used so I decided to take pity on it and included it in the ice cream. To act like a sidekick to the main pandan star, you know. The melon was simply chopped up into little cubes and only stirred into the pandan custard when it was semi-frozen. The combination was a winner, well my girlfriends certainly loved the subtleness of both flavor profiles!

Pandan is a very versatile ingredient and can be used as a flavoring across a range of dishes, from sweet to savory. I've also showcased the use of pandan leaves in a savory dish, Pandan Chicken over at Spicie Foodie blog where I am guest posting today. If you're my friend, you'll probably want to check it out right after you finish here. :-)


Lastly, I got tagged by my blogger pal, Michael of Me, My Food and I to identify 7 of my most memorable posts throughout my blogging 'career' (LOL, that's what it feels like sometimes...*work*). It was so hard to choose because there were so many posts I liked most of which had my life stories tied to them. Perhaps I should start a new game called 70-links, that should be more realistic. Or maybe not.


Without further ado, here are the 7 links I consider most:

Now, I'm supposed to pass the game on to someone else but I'm not going to stress you all about it. I know plenty of people who've already posted up their 7-links but in case you haven't yet and you're good at leaving me comments, then I'm tagging you

I'm taking the rest of the week off because it's now Eid, marking the end of our fasting month. I'll be busy visiting family and friends right into the weekend. Well, actually in Brunei we celebrate Eid for a whole month! Forget diets, forget the gym for now, it's all about guilt-free (hah!) feasting. I shall be back next week wearing my new set of wardrobe, two sizes bigger.

Pandan and Honey Melon Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2 pandan leaves, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 cup honey melon cubes (small)

Method:
1. Place 1 cup of milk and pandan leaves in a blender and process until smooth. Strain the mixture using a fine mesh sieve, and press the pandan leaves down with the back of a spoon to extract the remaining liquid.
2. Pour this mixture into a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to boiling point. Remove from heat.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of milk, sugar and cornstarch until well combined. Add the cornstarch mixture to the hot milk and return saucepan to heat. As soon as the mixture reaches boiling point, reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to a custard-like consistency. Stir in the chilled heavy cream until well combined.
4. Leave pandan custard to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours in the refrigerator or 45 minutes in the freezer.
5. Pour the custard into the ice-cream maker and freeze according to the instructions of your ice-cream machine. When the ice cream is semi-frozen (about 15-20 minutes), pour the chopped melon into the bowl of the ice cream maker and churn until the fruit is well incorporated, about 1 minute. Transfer to a container and freeze until ready to serve. Remove from freezer and let stand for 10 minutes until softened before serving.

22 comments:

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

I've been waiting for your 7 links, Maya...your photos are always so gorgeous! Enjoy your celebration...your yummy ice cream looks like the perfect way to kick it off :)

Anonymous said...

What fantastic looking links! Yum!

Nancy said...

Hi Sweetie, I've loved all your ice cream recipes and want to try them all. Everything you've written about pandan is making it sound like a great and versatile ingredient. Will be on the look out for it.
Your 7 links, I can imagine how hard it was for you to choose. Everything you share is so vibrant, beautiful, scrumptious and the creativity and love behind it is very apparent.
I hope you are having a fantastic celebration. Diet? Never heard of it :) Thanks for everything.

Sandra said...

Your melon ice-cream looks fantastic!!! Totally Mouthwatering!!!
7 link game..haha love the idea of you putting just a labels on the photos..:)

TinaRBK said...

I just tagged you, so you have taken care of two tags with this post. In addition-you have introduced me to a new and amazing ice cream!
Enjoy the celebration.

reem | Simply Reem said...

Oh what a lovely looking ice cream....
Loved your links, I am heading to read them..
I am new to your site, it is beautiful with delicious recipe and awesome pictures.

Torviewtoronto said...

yummy looking colourful ice cream

Ana Helena said...

I miss visiting your blog! I was gone for too long!!! I love every combination you make in your ice cream creations, they are so delicious. It is never late to make ice cream, keep that Ice cream maker running all year round please!!!

Tasty Trix said...

Yeah, how did you pick most beautiful anyway??? I have never seen an un-beautiful post from you. I REALLY need to do the 7 links, it's fun!

Lilly said...

I love the subtle pandan flavor and actually saw a pandan plant at my nursery. But I didn’t bought it =( Next year…

How do you come up with these combos? The greenish ice cream will look great with my ice cream bowl hahaha.

Have fun celebrating and make sure you share some of the food with us!

Evelyne CulturEatz said...

I think pandam is new to me...and now I really want to taste it. The ice cream looks beautiful and I can imagine the lovely subtle flavors.

have not post or been tagged for 7 links...but I fit your description...only if you make me haha

Anonymous said...

The ice-cream is so creative! I also like the way your did you 7 links....way cool!

Gina said...

Everything you do is beautiful. In case you hadn't heard it already, it's imperative to keep fat and fatter jeans in your closet at all times. Just in case of food situations such as this. I will be back soon to check on you my dear. Have fun.
-Gina-

Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

Oh Maya...I really want to try your pandan & honey melon ice cream!!! This is so cool. Definitely I can't get this kind of ice cream in the US. I'm trying to look for pandan leaves and haven't found one yet. I need to go to a different Asian store to get it.. I'm curious about this for a long time too. Now about 7 links (LOL about 70 links!), everything you make deserve "most beautiful" because you are one creative chef! I didn't know a few of this link, so I am going to check it out now. Have a great holiday!

Anonymous said...

What a unique ice cream with pandan and honey melon, a fantastic combination!

Cher Rockwell said...

Love the pandan ice cream - I had never heard of it so I had to look that one up.
I am totally bowled over by the mother in law pasta. That is just amazing.

penny aka jeroxie said...

Pandan ice cream! I never had one before..

Roxana GreenGirl said...

Hi Maya,
i have never had anything pandan but I heard so many good things about it. Now, if only i find somewhere....
your ice-cream looks yummy!

Unknown said...

Nothing like a scoop of ice cream with an exotic flavor to kick off a celebration;-)

Unknown said...

Hi, everyone...no, no, I'm not ignoring you! Just been pretty busy visiting family and friends to pay too much attention to the blog right now. But THANK YOU for all your comments, and for coming by! I read every comment even though I can't respond to each and every one at the moment. <3 you all!

the [sugar] apothecary said...

Ah, what a glorious career it's been! Those gunmetal marscapone tarts are STILL one of my favorite posts of yours - they are SO beautiful.

Shu Han said...

great seeing your 7 posts maya! love the idea of pandan ice cream, and you're the first person who's made a not bad attempt at describing the scent of pandan. I don't ven know how to start! i have pandan growing in my backyard ;) so this may be making a way into my kitchen soon!

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