ICY IS NICEY
The following recipes are a sneak preview from Annabel’s new book ESSENTIAL Volume Two: Sweet Treats for Every Occasion (Annabel Langbein Media, $65), a beautiful compendium of hundreds of Annabel’s best-ever sweet recipes and cooking tips, on sale in New Zealand from mid-March. Annabel Langbein’s Watermelon Iceblocks
Kids will love these cute ices. I like to add chocolate chips to look like watermelon seeds, but you can leave them out if you prefer. Ready in 10 mins + freezing Makes 8
500g watermelon, rind and dark seeds removed
¼ cup caster sugar 3 Tbsp lime juice 8 tsp chocolate chips (optional)
Cut watermelon flesh into chunks and whizz in a blender with sugar and lime juice until pulpy. Pour into 8 iceblock moulds or small paper cups. If desired, add about 1 teaspoon chocolate chips to each iceblock and push down with a knife to distribute through the pulp so they look like watermelon seeds.
If using iceblock moulds, insert lids with sticks attached. If using paper cups, cover tightly with tin foil and, in a single movement, poke a wooden iceblock stick through the tin foil into the centre of the pulp in each cup (the tin foil holds the sticks in place until the pulp freezes). Freeze for at least 4 hours until firm. To remove from moulds, run outside of moulds under hot water for a few seconds. If you want to reuse the iceblock moulds, remove the iceblocks and store them in a container in the freezer with baking paper between the layers. Annabel Langbein’s Chocolate Nice Cream
Use maple syrup and dairy-free chocolate for a vegan version of this luscious, super-smooth icecream.
Ready in 20 mins + freezing Makes about 4 cups
2 Tbsp cocoa or cacao
1 cup coconut cream ½ cup maple syrup or runny honey 250g dark chocolate, chopped
4 ripe bananas, peeled
Place cocoa in a medium pot and mix in a little coconut cream, stirring to dissolve cocoa. Add remaining coconut cream and the maple syrup or honey and heat over a medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from heat, add chocolate, leave to melt then stir until smooth.
Transfer to a food processor, add bananas and whizz until creamy and very smooth.
Transfer to a freezer-proof, 4-cup capacity container, cover and freeze until solid (about 4 hours). If freezing for more than 12 hours remove from the freezer about 10-15 minutes before serving and pop in the fridge to soften. Keeps in the freezer for 4-6 weeks.