"When we are older you'll understand it's enough when I say so, maybe some things are that simple."

Lo and behold, what follows is a lenghty, image-heavy entry about a project I've been working on all week. It combines two of my passions, plus some healthy advice from my therapist, and a good trip down memory lane. And a sprinkle of fairy dust. :D Do not forget to listen to this while reading this entry, it was my soundtrack all day. ;)

Two weeks to buy the tools, read tens of versions of the same recipe, buy the ingredients twice (one never knows), consult with my therapist (who sent me multiple texts to know how the cooking was going), and now I can finally present you:



Sea-Salt Ice Cream


And now, a little intro. Tati goes on holiday next week, and I've been spending the better part of this month trying to come up with something really cool to celebrate her return. And then Kingdom Hearts 1.5 came out and I spent every free minute playing it (I might have skipped a couple of lunches too, oops), and halfway through the 358/2 Days movie, while sobbing in Sakura's fur, I had this great epiphany: I should make her Sea-Salt Ice Cream!



For those who haven't played the game, sea-salt ice cream is a flavour of ice cream created by Scrooge McDuck in Radiant Garden, ten years before the first game. It is then eaten by various characters in very poignant scenes of the games, and it's one of those things that instantly bring Kingdom Hearts to mind to a fan. What we know about it is that it's blue, it's sweet and it's salty (like tears - yes, that's canon). And that Nobodies can eat nothing but it for a whole year.



It symbolizes the friendship between many of the characters, especially Axel and Roxas, and later Xion. And since it was invented for a videogame, many people tried to come up with a suitable recipe. The one I chose (there are so many out there, it's great) is for simple ice cream, custard and vanilla-flavoured, with a touch of sea salt. It's fantastic. Sweet and salty, and it tastes amazing.

Contrary to what I usually do, this time I took a picture of every step of the recipe. That's because today was more of a test: the ice cream sticks were delayed, so I had to go with purple stamps, but I wanted to try my new ice cream maker this weekend, in case something would go wrong and I had to send it back. Plus it was my first time using food colouring. I took a lot of notes, and this entry serves both as a recipe for those who'd like to try it themselves, and as a helpful guide for me. ^^

What we're going to need is:


2 eggs, 2 cups of milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt, blue food colouring. For European fans (and sane people, because measuring stuff in cups makes no sense) it's 1/2 liter of milk, 80g of sugar, 200g of cream. Cups. What the hell.

( Under the cut for lots of pictures! )

Since I only had six stamps (thanks to the courier, who delayed my proper stamps and sticks until next week), I had a whole bowl of the stuff left. It took me longer than I care admitting to realize there was only one way to solve the problem:


That's my Stitch bowl, by the way. Since Stitch was in Kingdom Hearts too, I thought it appropriate. :D

And at 9 pm, here are the proper, Radiant Garden, Axel-approved Sea-Salt Ice Cream sticks:



I started working on it this morning at 9.30. At 10.30 the mixture was in the fridge. At 15.30 I did the last steps, and by 16.30 the stamps were in the freezer. I chose to do it on a Saturday to be safe, but it doesn't take much time, and it's both a great treat for a fan, and a lovely way to eat ice cream that's completely natural and safe. Not to mention it's a great recipe for simple ice cream as well. Just skip the salt and blue steps. But trust me, it tastes fantastic as it is. *__________*

Next week I'll have the proper sticks, and I'll post pictures of the final result as well. Stay tuned! ♥