Just in the nick of time!

TWD, and it's (barely) still Tuesday! I did re-make the tartlets, and they turn out much better when I actually follow directions! The dough was an entirely different dough with the egg yolk added. I suspect that this is partially to do with the egg yolk and partially to do with the fact that I received my replacement lid for the food processor today (YAY!!!). I was bad and melted the one that came with it by trying to wash it in the dishwasher. Oops. It's better now though. See, pretty dough!
And with good dough, the shells turned out much more beautifully! They had more substance and weren't so crumbly. Again, I'm converted - following directions is soooo worth it!
So, pie crust mission accomplished, just add jam and strawberries (and a little cool whip). Delish!

Ice Cream Cupcakes

I was inspired by Cupcake Project's ice cream cupcake challenge. I had a huge bag of strawberries in my freezer, and had thought that they'd make a good ice cream. Then, I found vanilla ice cream in a 1/2 gallon jug from the local creamery in my grocery store. It seemed like the universe was suggesting that I make strawberry ice cream, and of course that meant that the cake had to be chocolate!

I used a star-shaped pan to bake the cupcake in, and then used the same pan to freeze the soft ice cream in. I cut the cupcake in half, and placed the moulded ice cream in there, and then froze it all together. I served it covered in hot fudge with a strawberry. :)

As it turned out, the ice cream didn't come together perfectly, and I'm not sure why. So, no more trying ice cream in a bottle. It did freeze solidly in the freezer, but I think the end result was closer to ice milk than ice cream... and that doesn't make me happy! However, the cake froze much better than I hoped, and was actually quite good, even right out of the freezer. The combination was definitely a good decision, and the ice cream, while not amazing, still tasted OK.