Happy weekend to you!! I hope you are enjoying the Summer so far. I have been hiding something very exciting for a long time and I can officially say my second dream is coming true soon! It took me a few years but finally I did it again. 🙂

This flower I randomly included in the post just makes me smile. I noticed this beautiful echinacea flower when I was watering the garden the other day, and it just stood out to me. I don’t know why but it reminds me of myself in many ways. I am very independent and I love to travel, and just live life to the fullest. Never change, and always be YOU. That is something I truly wanted to share with my viewers! Do not let anyone change you or your uniqueness. Follow the path that is for YOU and not for others.

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we are seeds”

-Healthyplace.com quote

The next cookbook will be out early Fall and I can’t wait to share all the exciting recipes. After testing hundreds of Greek recipes I finally picked the top 120 + for this book. Although I didn’t get a chance to include this new ice cream recipe in the book, I am sharing this HERE and I hope you enjoy.

My baklava ice cream recipe came to thought when I had leftover syrup from baklava orders. Normally I would use the leftover syrup for another batch of baklava, or I would make karidopita or even galaktoboureko. But my parents were craving ice cream and it came to my mind immediately to infuse the cream with my syrup and other baklava flavors. I introduce you guys to my latest Greek-inspired dessert. I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Baklava Ice Cream Recipe

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, reserve seeds
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup of toasted walnuts coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder
• 3 tablespoons baklava syrup (see below for recipe)
• 3 sheets of phyllo dough cut into strips
• Icecream machine (make sure to place the base in the freezer a day before you make this.)

Baklava Syrup:

• 3/4 cup of organic sugar
• 3/4 cup of honey
• 1/2 cup of water

Method:

1. In a medium pot over medium heat cook the water, sugar, and honey. Bring to a boil then slowly lower the temperature to low heat.
2. Cook syrup for about 20 minutes or until the syrup becomes thick.
3. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. You can store this in an airtight container or jar.

Method:

1. In a medium pan add the milk, cream, salt, and vanilla seeds. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat. Add the cinnamon sticks and continue to cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Just make sure to whisk the mixture to prevent from burning on the bottom of the pan.
2. While the mixture is cooking, prepare the egg yolks. In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks and the sugar. Whisk until it resembles a light yellow color. (About 2-3 minutes.)
   Here is the tricky part: You want to add about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture. Quickly and carefully add the mixture while whisking into egg yolks. Then add the egg mixture in the pot with the rest of the milk.
3. I learned a trick in pastry school and it always works! Make sure to stir with a wooden spoon and this way once the custard coats the back of the spoon then it is ready. (It should take a few minutes.) Do not let the mixture come to a boil as that will curdle the eggs. Just keep stirring until you see a thicker consistency and the wooden spoon is coated. Remove from heat and strain out the cinnamon sticks.
4. If you want to make this process go a bit faster you can place the custard over an ice bath to cool it down, otherwise, you can transfer to another bowl and let it come to room temperature. Once the mixture cools down then pour the custard into ice cream base.
5. Now, this is the fun part! Once your custard starts to become cold you can drizzle in about 3 teaspoons of the baklava syrup. Depending on how sweet you want it you can adjust the quantity of syrup. Add about 1 teaspoon of the powdered cinnamon to the custard. Then add the toasted walnuts to the mix.
6. While the ice cream machine is working its magic, now you can toast the phyllo dough. Cut phyllo into long strips and lightly brush butter over the top. Place onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. Watch the phyllo because according to different oven temperatures the phyllo may bake fast. Once you see a golden brown color, remove from oven and let cool.
7. Once your ice cream is done you can place it in a sealed container and freeze. Normally my house is too hot for the icecream to not melt immediately so I need to freeze it. When ready to serve, take your phyllo strips and crumble them over the top of the icecream.

Kali orexi!

**My ice cream started to melt when taking photos, but hey you can always make a tasty baklava infused milkshake? 🙂