Buttermilk
- Heavy cream (avoid ultra-pasteurized, should have a minimum of 35%-40% milk fat )
1. Fill a jar halfway with heavy cream. Then, screw the lid on firmly (a canning jar works well for this purpose).
2. Start shaking the jar back and forth. After several minutes, the cream will thicken and turn into whipped cream. Keep shaking until the whipped cream is replaced with a yellow glob (butter) and a separate liquid (buttermilk).
3. Pour the buttermilk out of the jar, and use it in any recipe that calls for buttermilk.
To Use the Butter: Knead it under cold water for a couple minutes to remove any remaining buttermilk (it will spoil very quickly, if you don’t). Then, salt (if desired), and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
Pumpkin Puree
For the last 2 months I have been seeing a whole lot of recipes using pumpkins. Apparently in the west and more so America pumpkins are synonymous with Autumn/ Fall. So there all this interesting looking recipes using pumpkins; pumpkin pie, French toast, pancakes, frozen yogurt, cake pops etc. How excited they sounded BUT one problem. I’m Kenyan!!
You see in Kenya Pumpkins are what we feed babies and young children. For those who were fed that, like me as children. We have terrible memories, almost traumatic. Our mothers would force that eeky stuff down our throats and we would cry and cry. It tasted terrible. GOSH, and we wound wonder “why doesn’t mommy love me enough to give me Fanta instead of this shit” so 20 years later most of us still think of pumpkin the same way, it’s disgusting.
I wrote in a previous post about butternut, which is a type of pumpkin. I discovered butternut by chance and liked it so I just had to the pumpkin baked goods. So for that I needed puree. This is quite easy to make. HAPPY COOKING!!
I got about 800ml from a medium-large pumpkin
INGREDIENTS
- Pumpkin (as much as you need)
- Water
Method
- Wash the pumpkin well. Split it and chop it up into large chunks, scrap off the inside, save the seeds you can bake them with some seasoning and make a healthy snack. Put the chunks into a hot and boil for about 30 minutes or so or until soft.
2. Scrap of the flesh from the pumpkin put into a blender and blend till smooth. And it’s ready for some cooking
NB: you can also bake the pumpkin or cook it in the microwave
So over the next weeks il post recipes using this puree, be on the lookout for; Pumpkin pie, French toast, cake and pancakes. If I get more I’ll add on to the list
HAPPY COOKING!!!
Strawberry Yogurt Popsicle
Strawberries are my favourite fruit or flavour in deserts or drinks. I love strawberry yogurt, strawberry juice, strawberry ice-cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, liqueurs etc so a few months ago when I saw so many popsicles on Pinterest I just had to try one. I tried this in July when the weather was not to popsicle friendly but now that it has been so hot I think the timing is perfect.
The best thing about this recipe is that you can substitute the strawberries for any fruit of your choice and if you do not like yogurt skip it and just add more water and fruit to make up and have a sorbet popsicle. If you like you can also substitute the sugar for stevia or splenda or any other sweetener to reduce on the calories. Not sure how honey or molasses would work though so if you do try it with them, do share your experience.
This is also a great afternoon snack for kids and way healthier and better for them than the ice creams in the stores that are sugar packed. So now that sun is out till February do try this and experiment with different fruits. HAPPY MAKING!!
NB: if you do not have popsicle molds you could use; paper cups, aluminium cupcake holders, recycles yogurt cups, small glasses (be careful with this). For the popsicle sticks you can buy the sticks doctors use to check your throat 🙂 or alternatively use a teaspoon sized plastic spoons.
When you are ready to eat just run the mold under running tap water or warm water and EAT!
Recipe inspired by skinnytaste.com
Makes 6 Popsicle
INGREDIENTS
- 400gms strawberries (fresh or frozen as long as they are sweet)
- ¼ cup of sugar (optional, you can use more or less depending on your taste)
- 1 tsps lemon juice
- ¾ cup of yogurt
- 1 cup ice cubes
METHOD
- Place the strawberries and the ice cubes in a blender and blend till smooth, add most of the sugar. At this point you can sieve the juice if you like. I did not as I LOVE the feel of the strawberry ‘seeds’ in my mouth.
2. Take about ¼ of the strawberry juice to the yogurt and mix very well. Taste for sugar. You can add if you like. Then add the lemon juice to the strawberry juice.
3. Now put put the mixtures 1/3 of the way into a popsicle mold. Alternate between the molds and put into the freezer for about 30 minutes or so till fully set. At this point if your popsicles sticks are long place them in and freeze for another 15-20 minutes
4. Add the alternate mixture to the one you already have in the mold 1/3 of the way ( i.e if you had put the yogurt mixture at the bottom, now put the strawberry one and vice versa) and freeze for another 45 minutes or so.
5. Remove from the freezer, fill the last 1/3 with an alternate mixture then place in the top if it doubles up as a lid and freeze for an hour or until you’re ready to eat. HAPPY EATING!!
Ingredients
- 400gms strawberries (fresh or frozen as long as they are sweet)
- ¼ cup of sugar (optional, you can use more or less depending on your taste)
- 1 tsps lemon juice
- ¾ cup of yogurt
- 1 cup ice cubes
Instructions
Place the strawberries and the ice cubes in a blender and blend till smooth, add most of the sugar. At this point you can sieve the juice if you like. I did not as I LOVE the feel of the strawberry ‘seeds’ in my mouth.
Take about ¼ of the strawberry juice to the yogurt and mix very well. Taste for sugar. You can add if you like. Then add the lemon juice to the strawberry juice.
Now put put the mixtures 1/3 of the way into a popsicle mold. Alternate between the molds and put into the freezer for about 30 minutes or so till fully set. At this point if your popsicles sticks are long place them in and freeze for another 15-20 minutes
Add the alternate mixture to the one you already have in the mold 1/3 of the way ( i.e if you had put the yogurt mixture at the bottom, now put the strawberry one and vice versa) and freeze for another 45 minutes or so.
Remove from the freezer, fill the last 1/3 with an alternate mixture then place in the top if it doubles up as a lid and freeze for an hour or until you’re ready to eat. HAPPY EATING
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/strawberry-yogurt-popsicle/
