Aren’t Mangoes the most summery fruit you could think of? OK aside from perhaps Pineapples but even the look of a Mango resembles that of the sun. So in an effort to survive the hot Australian weather, I decided to make a Mangoes and Cream ice cream. I had the backing of my husband, a fervent mango lover from way back, who would tell me every day while the mangoes were ripening on the windowsill that “Today is the day!”. I ignored his pointed comments and waited until they were actually ripe.

My ice cream maker is the most used gadget this summer, for not only can it help make friends and influence people, it allows me to keep my husband happy with an array of frozen goodies. And believe me, mentioning it to guests will induce childlike squeals of happiness in adult or child, especially once they’re slurping down some freshly churned ice cream.

One of my favourite ice cream bars is the Weiss Mangoes and Cream bars and this is my effort to replicate the lovely flavour of these. If I weren’t trying to make it like those bars, I’d probably swirl through a bit of thick but still slightly runny mango syrup right at the end before I set it in the freezer just because I find those luscious fruit swirls irresistible. I made these with slightly less sugar although if you like your ice creams very sweet you could certainly add more. It would also depend on how ripe and sweet your mangoes are so doing a taste test before churning wouldn’t go astray and it’s hardly a hardship. As for the Mermaid on the side of the cup? That’s how I’d like to be, arms resting on the side of a pool round about now.

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One of the best things about food blogging is meeting fellow bloggers. Case in point is Christie from Fig & Cherry who has proved to be a great blogging friend and a lot of fun to hang out with. We have a lot in common, from obviously loving food,  Dexter, pillow menus, hotels to being bossy chatterboxes.  So when she read about our visit to Dunes, we got to talking and she mentioned that she hadn’t been to Palm Beach before. It seemed a tragedy for a Sydney-Sider so we sought to rectify this as soon as possible. However the weather gods decided to not let us have our picnic in the end. Such is the crazy weather that we’ve been having lately.

I was watching Food Safari’s episode on England and was fascinated by the way they made Pork Pies. I had one whilst in London and it was delicious, particularly the pastry (just don’t look at the nutritional information, you’ll think it’s a misprint but I’m afraid not!). I had heard that the traditional way to make English pastry for things such as Steak and Kidney pie is through using Suet ( the hard fat around the kidneys and loins in beef and sheep) but I had yet to cook with it. Sure it wasn’t in anyway healthy but I figure a few times eating it in your lifetime can’t hurt. But I dipped a trepidatious toe in the Suet pool by buying a Suet mix where I simply added flour, cold water and salt to create the pastry. If it worked, I’d look at ordering some from the butcher’s. Because I was pressed for time as I was making this on a Friday I took some shortcuts with the pastry and frozen spinach.

We woke on the Saturday morning to a light howling of wind and an overcast day. It seemed that today was not going to be the day to go to Palm Beach so we made alternate plans. As for the fate of this pie? It was my husband’s lunch, well received, and eaten picnic style with his hands. Just in front of a computer.

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My friend M is a neverfail cook. By that I mean that everything that she cooks is fantastic. Without exception. But in the time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her make a cake. When she mentioned that she would be making an Austrian cake for Australia Day I knew it would be good (duh!) but I was excited to learn that this was her family’s recipe and a genuine Austrian cake as well. I think I actually rubbed my hands together in sheer happiness and bounced up and down on my Swiss Ball.

It’s an Austrian cake rich with a whipped cream buttercream and sponge fingers, much like a Tiramisu without the coffee flavour. She is proud of the fact that it is a standalone cake too so that the skill of the cakemaker is evident in ensuring that the structure has integrity and evenness. These Austrians are a precise bunch She even took photos of the assembly process from the day before so I would have step by step instructions. What a great friend!

Made over two days so that the sponge fingers soften, it is flavoured with rum and topped with a stiff sweetened whipped cream and strawberries and it quite a sight to behold. It’s a cake designed to impress, in fact it was a special occasion cake made just for birthdays in the Baer household. Thanks to M for sharing her cake recipe with me and all of my readers and for giving me a slice of heaven on a plate.

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