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FRIED ICE CREAM RECIPE

Posted by Criz Lai On November - 9 - 2008

Desserts would be something that most people would like to have after each meal. It could come in the form of cakes, jellies, crepes, puddings, crumbles, tarts, iced/hot sweet soups or even ice creams. What would you do if you have to hold a dinner and yet you are short of time to prepare desserts for your guests? On top of that, you would also like to impress your guests with something that is not easily available out there. Would you want to try out FRIED ICE CREAM?

You won’t need any special gadget or many ingredients to make them. It would only take less than a minute from wok to the dining table. It sounded easy right? Let me share with you the method to make this simple yet yummy dessert.

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INGREDIENTS:
1 loaf of white bread (400gms)
1 tub of ice cream of your choice (800ml)
Some corn/tapioca flour (mixed with water)
Oil for frying
Kitchen towel

OPTIONAL:
Chocolate/Strawberry/Raspberry Syrup
Icing Sugar
Peanut chunks
Multi color candy rice

PREPARATION:

1. Roll all the slices of bread flat. You can use a roller or even a glass bottle to roll them flat. You may want to cut off the brown edges but I maintained them since I fount that it will be a waste to throw them away.
2. Use a small round/square bowl to lightly make a marking on the bread.
3. Fill up the space with some ice cream of your choice. It is advisable to use ice cream that won’t melt so fast at room temperature.
4. Coated the area outside the marking with some corn flour mixture.
5. Place another slice of bread on top and use the bowl to make the ice cream more compact. Try not to be too forceful as it would make the ice cream leaks out.
6. Use a spoon and firmly press the surrounding edges.
7. Use a kitchen scissors and trim the edges to make it presentable.
8. Keep all the finished products in freezer for at least two hours or when needed.
9. When you want to serve the fried ice cream, just heat up enough oil on high fire. You can throw in a small piece of bread to test the heat.
10. When the oil is boiling hot, put in one or two of the ice cream bread and cook for 5-10 seconds.
11. Take up, drain excess oil with kitchen towel and serve immediately with some or all the items in the “optional” section.

(Serves: 5)

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USEFUL TIPS: Make sure you use “harder” ice cream for this dish or else you might end up having too watery ice cream fillings. The King’s Dragon Fruit Ice Cream which I had used tends to melt too fast. I would advice Walls or Magnolia which is less creamy but hard enough to make this dessert. In case you have accidentally created a “leak” on the bread, just patch it up with thicker corn flour mixture before freezing.

YOU CAN CHECK HERE FOR MORE RECIPES.

CREPE COTTAGE

Posted by Criz Lai On October - 18 - 2008

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The C.A.S.T. (Criz, Allen, Steven & Tan) team had an interesting food expedition last night in Pulau Tikus area. Initially, we wanted to have our dinner at Francis’s Fusion Western Food along Jalan Cantonment and Jalan Burmah junction but the place was packed. We ended up at Yaw’s Roast & Grill at Gerbang Midlands instead. The place was rather crowded as it was a weekend. After dinner, we adjourned to Crepe Cottage, a place which has been in operation for the last 9 years, along the famous sea front of Gurney Drive for desserts.

The place was packed as well, leaving us just a small table outdoor under the bright yellow neon light of the lamp post. Although the place had limited sitting capacity, the menu was an amazing 14 pages consisting of starters, soups, savouries, desserts, sundaes and juices. The team had decided to share out some crepes (Thin French pancake made from a mixture of flour (wheat/all purpose), milk, eggs, salt and butter).

The first order was Espresso Crepe (RM7.50) served with a large scoop of homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and some whipped cream. This was rather mild as we could hardly taste the bitterness of the Espresso Coffee.


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The next one which was Mango Cup (RM11) was great. It has a cup-like crepe, glazed with chunks of fresh honey mangoes, topped with two large scoops of homemade Mango Ice Cream, some whipped cream and crushed peanuts.

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The last order was unique – Chocolate Crepe with Nutella and Banana (RM10). The crepe was rolled and stuffed with cooked banana and served with Vanilla filled Chocolate Ice Cream, topped with some chocolate rice, whipped cream, crushed peanuts and glazed with melted Nutella Chocolate. The hot and cold combination was very well presented.

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You should not miss out their A Twist of Taste (RM9) as well. It has a lemon crepe as base, glazed by freshly chopped banana and nuts, topped by vanilla ice cream, white and brown chocolate sauces.

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If you feel that these desserts are rather filling for you, you could always ask for their single scoop ice creams. You can choose either vanilla, chocolate, coffee, mango, rum & raisins, peppermint & chocolate chips, strawberry, lime sherbet or orange sherbet. Each scoop is only RM2. If you want double scoops, the price is only RM3.50 per serving.

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Since we had taken our dinner early, we did not order any of their savouries. You can always try them out as shown in their pictorial menu.

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Overall, the desserts were great, considering that they had the right combination and were not too sweet for my liking. Moreover, there won’t be any taxes here. The shop is strategically located along the sea front of the famous Gurney Drive. If you are coming from town center towards Gurney Drive into Jalan Kelawei, turn right at the first junction (Jalan Lim Chin Guan) where Gurney Tower is. Drive towards the end and turn left. You would pass through Evergreen Laurel Hotel and a stretch of hawker centers on your left. Slow down as Crepe Cottage is immediately after the last hawker center (Song River Café). Car park is not available on this side of the road and the other side would be packed during weekends. I would advise you to park you car in the Jalan Birch Car Park (the road after Song River Café) and walk up to the restaurant.

CREPECOTTAGEMAP

Name: CREPE COTTAGE
Address: 77-A Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 6.00pm – 12.00midnight (Closed Tuesday)
Contact: 019-448 1680 (Agnes Chee)
GPS: 5.432781, 100.316505

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 9/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

SWENSEN’S QUEENSBAY MALL

Posted by Criz Lai On September - 23 - 2008

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I wondered if anyone has been around when Swensen’s first started its operation up in Mount Pleasure in Batu Ferringhi area. I used to be a regular there until I got out from being a teen. LOL! My favorite has always been the Earthquake – 8 scoops of ice cream of your choice, plus 8 toppings. Who would resist that as a teenager? Even now! However, I have decided to try out their other products this visit.

Being an American franchise, they should be good in burgers. I tried out their BBQ Mushroom Chicken Burger (RM16.90). It has a piece of chicken patty topped with BBQ mushrooms, some eggplants and served with French fries and coleslaw. The portion was big and the taste was great except for the burger was a bit dry. Well, chicken meat has always been dry as it does not contain as much fat as beef.


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Next was the Fish Baked Rice (RM17.90). There were quite a lot of chunky pieces of grilled fish fillet on top of some rice with some white sauce and baked with cheese. Not bad for the taste except for the dryness of the fish. They could have done better by not over grilling the fish as the baking alone would have made the fish cooked. The portion looked normal but it can be quite filling.

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Since I was there late in the afternoon, I dreaded the idea of jumping around having my lunch as my actual intention of visiting them was to grab their ice creams. Well, I was not totally disappointed too. What came next was heaven. I ordered the Sizzling Pan Apple Crumble (RM24.90) to be shared. What? That price for a scoop of ice cream with a piece of cake? I must be crazy! The dish did not disappoint me at all. The apple crumble came in a hot pan with a big scoop of Vanilla ice cream on top. The waiter then poured some syrup with some chopped apples in it over the pan. It was bubbling furiously. He then poured some butterscotch over the ice cream. This is truly wonderful. I was expecting this to be too sweet for my liking but the combination of everything was just nice. It’s worth a try.

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Some people might think that it’s rather costly to dine in Swensen’s but one thing you need to realize is that their portion is rather big to fill you up. On top of that, if you are lucky to be in Penang Island itself, you have the opportunity to try them out in Queensbay Mall with their latest promotion up to 30 November 2008. They will rebate you with cash vouchers worth the amount on your bill for your next visit. So hurry up if you have yet to try them up.

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Swensen’s has two branches in Penang. One is in Auto City down in Juru, mainland and the other one having the promotion now is in Queensbay Mall. To find the restaurant is easy. Just shop around the mall and you will see the corner shop at level 2, central zone area.

SWENSENSMAP

Name: SWENSEN’S QUEENSBAY MALL
Address:
2F-50, 2nd Floor, Queensbay Mall (Central Zone)
100 Persiaran Bayan Indah, 11900 Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 604-646 6593
Opening Hours: 10.00am – 10.00pm
GPS: 5.333661, 100.306506

RATING:
Ambience: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 7/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 8/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 8/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 9/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

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