Freezer and Pantry Valentine: Part 3. The Pudding

Make an impressive three course meal for two on Valentine's Day using ingredients you already have. For the pudding, make hot and gooey apple-chocolate bread pudding. (I told you it was impressive.)

Opposites attract, so avoid arguing over fruit or chocolate and have both.  After all, it IS Valentine's.

Apple-Chocolate Bread Pudding for Two

a hunk of stale bread (french stick is good but anything will do), cut into chunks 
1 apple, peeled and chopped (or maybe some frozen berries, or perhaps a handful of raisins or other dried fruit) 
1 egg (non negotiable, sorry vegans)
1/2 cup milk (or cream, or mmmmm maybe chocolate milk.....) 
3 tbsp sugar, I used white, but use what you have, or honey or maple syrup.....
knob of butter, cut into small pieces
a handful of chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate or, I don't know, mini marshmallows...)

MAKE AHEAD: You probably don't want to be running around like a crazy person feeling harassed and frustrated on Valentine's Day.  So get this ready before you pop your main in the oven, you could assemble it hours ahead, more time for the egginess to soak into the breadiness. Pop it the oven as soon as the quail comes out and impress your love with a heartwarming dessert.

Chances are good you've got all the ingredients already.  The
uneaten end of a loaf of bread, that apple which inexplicably
no one is eating, chocolate chips lost way in the back of the
freezer... eggs, milk butter, sugar.  Okay, maybe you don't
have the exact items, but you've got something that will work.

Your oven will be nicely preheated to 350F from cooking your quail.

Butter two individual ramekins.

Stuff the ramekins full with bread mixed with the apple, and chocolate - save a wee bit of the chocolate to sprinkle on the top.  Really jam it those ramekins.

Whisk together your egg, milk and sugar.  Slowly pour the egg mixture over the bread giving it time to soak in, you may want to encourage this by pressing the bread down a bit.  

Top with a few teensy bits of butter and reserved chocolate.

Place the ramekins on a shallow pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the custard is set and the top is golden brown.  Let cool a few minutes before serving, to avoid comically blowing on each other through the first half of the dessert course.

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'bou likes fruity desserts and I don't believe something counts as dessert unless it contains chocolate, whipped cream or meringue.  With this pudding, I look like I'm being considerate of caribougrrl while giving myself a little chocolate valentine.

caribougrrl is always complaining (under the guise of teasing) about the British obsession with making dessert out of stale bread, but I think she's starting to get used to them.  And for godsakes, I put an APPLE in it.  

But don't kid yourself, the next time she's away I'm going to make this with chocolate milk and mini marshmallows.  Just don't tell her...

Lavender Ice Cream

You will never want vanilla ice cream again.

Lavender Ice Cream

a posie of lavender in flower (5-10g)
2 c. skim milk (for a richer and somewhat softer ice cream, use whole milk; if whole milk makes you panic but skim milk makes you sad, use 1% or 2%... one way or another, this is a hell of a good ice cream)
175 g clover syrup (or use honey)
3 egg yolks (fresh eggs from happy chickens are best)
1 c. whipping cream

Pull flowers from lavender stalks and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine milk and remaining lavender (stems and all).  Heat on medium setting, stirring regularly, until bubbles form on the edges of the pan.  Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for about 20 minutes to let the lavender flavour infuse the milk.

Beat clover syrup together with egg yolks in a heat-proof bowl.  Slowly pour milk and lavender into egg mixture, stirring quickly as you go.  Pour this mixture back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.  This takes about 10 minutes over medium (erring slightly on the low side) heat.  If you overcook, the custard will begin to separate.

Pour the custard through a sieve (to remove lavender) into a heat proof bowl, lay waxed paper over the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming and let cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, preferably overnight... you want this as cold as possible without being frozen.

In a large chilled mixing bowl, whip cream until doubled in volume and soft peaks form.  Shift the whipping cream to one side of the bowl, pour the custard into the other side, then fold together.  This does not need to be absolutely thoroughly combined since your ice cream maker will do some of that work for you.  Try to not lose whipped cream volume when combining.  Chill mixture.  Freeze in ice cream maker following manufacturer's instructions.  Fold lavender flowers into ice cream to provide a few flecks of purple colour.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, pour into a freeze-able container, stir in the lavender flowers, and stick in the freezer.  Every hour or so, scrape down the edges and gently fold the frozen part into the rest of the mixture.  Keep doing this until properly frozen.

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When I realized this post (ice cream already made, photos already taken) was going to coincide with Food Day Canada, I wondered if we should delay posting. But then I realized, quite serendipitously, all the ingredients here are Canadian.  Assuming you think of the home-Made in Canada syrup as being a Canadian ingredient... so maybe stretching things a bit, but if you used Canadian honey, that would remove the grey area....

Lavender from the garden, syrup made from wild flowers that are walking distance from the house, milk products from Newfoundland dairies.  And the prettiest eggs around, from happy chickens that live a short drive away (some good eggs were purchased from Some Good Market).  If you notice in the photo, we need this ice cream: it's so hot even the eggs are sweating.