Hello lovelies, after we have already feasted through 3 courses, I’m looking forward to the grand finale: Christmas menu Part 4 – baked apple with cashew cinnamon ice cream. This dessert will surprise your family/guests, because it’s a mixture of various classical desserts such as baked apple, roasted almonds, stewed apples and also ice cream. Combined to the best of all worlds – what more can you ask for?
The cashew ice cream is very creamy and the slight taste of cinnamon perfectly matches apple and sweet almonds. After enjoying 3 courses already, the dessert doesn’t need to be so heavy and so the mixture of fruit and ice cream is a good choice. I think this dessert looks really pretty. You can easily prepare it, even a few days in advance. Only the apples should be prepared fresh and served right away.
RECIPE
And here is the recipe for baked apple with cashew cinnamon ice cream
Christmas menu Part IV – baked apple with cashew cinnamon ice cream
Ingredients
Ice cream:
- 200 gr 1 ½ cup cashews (soaked overnight)
- 200 ml 1 cup cream (i.e. soy)
- 2 Tbsp maple sirup
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 50-100 ml ¼ – ½ cup vegan Baileys (optional)
Apple cinnamon compote:
- 2-3 apples
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2-3 tsp cinnamon
- 50 ml 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp starch
Almonds:
- 3-4 Tbsp almonds
- 4 Tbsp cane sugar
- 1 Tbsp margarine
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Apples:
- 2-3 apples
- Cinnamon or gingerbread spice
- Wine or water
Instructions
Ice cream:
- Soak the cashews in water over night, drain them the next morning and rinse them shortly with water
- Put the cashews with cream and all other ingredients in a mixer (it’s important to use a high performance one)
- Mix well until it’s a very smooth mass
- If you have an ice cream machine, you can now produce your ice cream as usual
- When the ice cream is solid, layer it into small bowls (that can later be placed on top of the apples) alternating with 2-3 Tbsp apple compote and some almonds and freeze them
- - Alternatively: If you don’t have an ice cream machine, put the mass into a baking form and freeze it. After 3-4 hours, when the mass has thickened a little, layer it into small bowls (that can later be placed on top of the apples) alternating with 2-3 Tbsp apple compote and some almonds and freeze them
Apple cinnamon compote:
- Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces
- Put them in a small pan with along with all other ingredients and let simmer for 10-15 minutes
- Let them cool off a little and, as described above, layer them with ice cream
- Serve the rest for dessert
Almonds:
- Put the cane sugar and margarine in a pan and let it melt
- Then add the roughly chopped almonds and cinnamon and let them caramelize
- Let them cool off and, as described above, layer them with ice cream
- Serve the rest for dessert
Apples
- Cut the apples in half and remove the cores and a little bit of flesh (not much) with a spoon
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F)
- Place the halved apples into a casserole and sprinkle some cinnamon and/or gingerbread spice onto them
- Add some water or wine (until half of the apples are drowned in liquid)
- Bake them for approx. 20-30 minutes until they are soft (but don’t fall apart)
- Take the ice cream out of the freezer early enough or instead place the little bowls into some warm water for a little while
- Put the ice cream bowls onto the apples, decorate them with the remaining almonds and some date sirup and place them on top of the remaining apple compote
If you don’t have suitable small bowls at home, you can of course freeze the ice cream in a larger bowl and then scoop it onto the apples.
I’m always astonished to see how creamy ice cream or cheese made out of cashews turn out. It’s just very important to have a high-performance mixer and that you blend the mass until there are absolutely no crumbs left. The caramelized almonds give a delicate sweetness and also some bite. Apple, cinnamon and nuts are one of my favorite combinations anyway, not only for Christmas. In case you don’t like cinnamon, you can alternatively use tonka beans or vanilla. The addition of (vegan) Baileys is only optional. If you prefer your dessert without alcohol then just drop it and simply add a little more cream if necessary.
I’m very pleased that my idea of a combination between baked apple as a base and delicious ice cream worked so well. I believe this dessert is a worthy closing for this year’s Christmas menu.
Ok so these were my 4 recipes for my Christmas menu 2018. A delicious beetroot soup with ginger and orange as the starter. Sweet potato hummus and beetroot walnut dip on a pretty colorful platter as the 2ndcourse. The yummy potato packages with walnut truffle filling as the main course and the baked apple with cashew cinnamon ice cream as the dessert. I can assure you that my family and I liked the rehearsal dinner very much.
CHRISTMAS
You can also find ideas for a festive table decoration and an alternative for a classical Christmas tree here.
And in case you’re looking for more ideas, then feel free to have a look at last year’s Christmas menu here. It was so delicious and maybe you want to mix and match between this year’s and last year’s menu.
Love, Verena
