Sunday, September 1, 2013

Mint Chocolate Ribbon Ice Cream



This was BY FAR the BEST ice cream from the self-inflicted Summer Sundae challenge.  Mint chocolate is one of my favorites though- so it is no wonder.

Many of the homemade ice creams I have made have needed a custard base- which can be tricky to do and results in a thicker homemade taste, not to mention is a lot more time-consuming to do.  This one,  however, requires no such thing and because it is made with half milk, half cream it is lighter and fluffier than other homemade ice creams.  I swear this stuff tastes like it is from Mr. Perry himself.

So, so, so good.



Mint Chocolate Ribbon Ice Cream *****

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk (I used 2%- but you can use whatever.)
1 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
2 t. peppermint extract
3-4 drops food coloring (optional.  White mint ice cream is just as tasty I'm sure.)

1 cup chocolate chips
2 t. oil, shortening or butter (I used coconut oil)

Directions:

Mix first 7 ingredients together with a mixer for a minute until thoroughly combined.  Add to an ice cream maker and churn until soft serve. (follow directions on your ice cream maker)

While it is churning, put the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwavable bowl and microwave in increments of 30 seconds until melted and smooth.  (Or you can make it super easy on yourself and use mini chocolate chips, or mint oreo crumbles or brownie bites...I won't tell.)

Put a layer of  ice cream in a freezable container , followed by a dollop of melted chocolate- spread around thinly.  Continue the ice cream and chocolate layers for the rest of the ice cream and chocolate. Freeze ice cream until hard.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Ripple and Chocolate Covered Peanuts

Since there were no eggs to temper and custard to make, this ice cream was SUPER FAST to make. Really, just a push of a few buttons here and a plop or two there.



 This was a BIG hit with the children.  They couldn't stop raving.  Matt said it was like eating cold fudge.  (They all give it five stars...)  I, on the other hand, didn't care for it too much.  I'd give it three stars, max.  I couldn't help but think there was a very oily undertone.  I guess that is to be expected, it being made with peanut butter and all.  If you like, make it and decide for yourself!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Ripple 
(and garnished with Chocolate Covered Peanuts) *****
yield: 1 quart



You'll need:
3/4 c. peanut butter
a heaping 3/4 c. sugar
2 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (or half and half if you want to be less naughty)
pinch o' salt
a splash of vanilla

1/2 cup dark chocolate morsels
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/4 cup peanuts

In a food processor or blender, puree' the peanut butter, sugar, cream, salt, and vanilla until smooth.

Chill thoroughly in fridge- then freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

While it is churning, put the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwavable bowl and microwave in increments of 30 seconds until melted and smooth.

Put a layer of peanut butter ice cream in a freezable container , followed by a dollop of melted chocolate- spread around thinly.  Continue the peanut butter and chocolate layers until you have about 1/4 cup of melted chocolate left.  Freeze ice cream until hard.

Add peanuts to the bowl of remaining chocolate, coat.  Spread on wax paper until cooled.  Serve atop or on the side.  Or just eat them.  That works too.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I thought it was high time I made a more traditional ice cream.   Matt's favorite ice cream outside of cookie dough is vanilla bean, so I thought this was a good place to start.  Besides, I still had some blueberry pie to finish and it was just begging to be a la mode.



Vanilla Bean (Custard) Ice Cream *****
yield: 1 1/2 quarts

You'll need:

1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream (divided)
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Here's How:

Warm milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream and salt in a saucepan over medium.  Scrap the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture and then add the beans too.  You just want to heat the mixture up- not boil it or anything.  After it has heated, remove from heat, cover and let sit and steep for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, heat again until warmish hot.

Wisk the egg yolks (this is done easily in a stand mixer, if you have one.)  With the motor still running, slowly splash little splashes of milk/sugar mixture into the eggs-(This tempers them so they don't scramble!).  Do this, little by little until the whole thing is in the eggs.  Once tempered, pour back into the saucepan and put over medium heat again.  Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, until mixture thickens and coats spatula.

Put the remaining 1 cup of cream in a bowl with a strainer on top- pour the custard into the cream, straining any bits of egg that might have formed.  Stir the strained custard into the cream (still keeping the bean in it) and add the vanilla extract.  Put in a waterbath to cool it and put it in the fridge to chill thoroughly. (A few hours- or even overnight. I put plastic wrap on the top to keep a film from forming on top.)

Church using your ice cream makers' directions.  Eat soft serve or toss quickly back into freezer for several hours for hard ice cream.



*Remember!*  Hard ice cream should be brought out of the freezer for five minutes or so before serving- homemade ice cream is much harder than storebought!  For an example of this- photo one is straight from the freezer, photo two was kept out for a few minutes before serving.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Nectarine and Honey Frozen Yogurt

This past week I wanted to try something a bit more healthy than full blown ice-cream so I opted to experiment with frozen yogurt.

I happened to have four nectarines a bit too bruised to be appetizing for a raw fruit snack (and it is a rare thing indeed for me to even BUY them, so I couldn't waste the last few, spots or no spots.)

Thus, Nectarine Honey Frozen Yogurt was born.  

The idea was to be a bit healthier than last weeks' ice cream because it is YOGURT for goodness' sake!  Never you mind about the maple syrup and honey...it has YOGURT in it!


Nectarines and Honey Frozen Yogurt  *****

I used:

 1 quart of my homemade vanilla yogurt.  (I make my yogurt using this recipe. Note, with this recipe, my yogurt is already somewhat flavored with maple syrup and vanilla.)  You could use storebought too, of course.
4 nectarines, divided
1/2 c. honey (this was VERY honey flavored and sweet.  You could get away with less, especially when starting with a sweetened yogurt.)
1 splash lemon juice

How I did it:

1) Peel 3 of your nectarines, cut them into hunks and add to a food processor or blender with honey and splash lemon juice.  Process until smooth.

2) Add puree' to yogurt and freeze in your ice cream maker, following their instructions, until frozen to soft set.

3) Cut fourth nectarine into chunks and add to frozen yogurt during soft set stage.

4) Pour into freezer-safe container and freeze until hard, a few hours.

*  I have discovered that you ought to take homemade ice creams, yogurts and sorbets out of the freezer about 5-10 minutes before serving so that it becomes softer.   Straight from the freezer, it is rock hard and flaky and much less appetizing than storebought frozen treats.  This is because commercial machines can 'whip' the desserts with more power and more speed, thus adding more 'air' and softness- not to mention additives included to do so.  If left out of the freezer for 10 minutes before serving, your homemade treats will be a wonderful consistency.  Promise. *


Sunday, July 28, 2013

Blueberry Cheesecake Icecream

A self-inflicted challenge to come up with a new frozen dessert once a week from now until the end of summer (although it could extend into fall thanks to caramel apple ice cream, and pumpkin pie ice cream and gingersnap swirl ice cream...) in an effort to... 

1) rid ourselves of high fructose corn syrup poison (slightly dramatic there...for effect) 
2) feed our insatiable appetite for frozen sweets ('tis true.)
3) sap some creativity into my sometimes same-old, same-old kitchen 
and 
4) to blow the dust off of my long-since abandoned recipe blog 

has resulted in... 

ICE CREAM "SUNDAYS" 

 Last week was our very first go-round and I decided, after having spent three mornings of that week picking huckleberries, that I would make Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.


Our rating: *****
(The recipe made for a delicious ice cream but the method could have been improved to make the over-all taste better.  The original recipe, found here, called for adding the blueberries raw (mashed a bit) before the second hard freeze.  This sounded great but ended up resulting in little blueberry hockey-pucks in every bite which I just didn't really fancy.)

  This is my modified version, which will hopefully take care of the frozen balls dilemma.  It involves cooking the blueberries until they are soft and making a sort of sauce to mix in the ice cream, rather than adding (and freezing) solid berries.  I'll update when I try it again- probably next huckleberry season! 

In the meantime, if you try it my way- let me know how you like it!

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (divided)
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • a splash of lemon juice
  • 6 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed).  I use huckleberries because we pick them and they are free. 
  • 1 T cornstarch plus 1 T. water

HOW-TO

  1. Combine the blueberries, 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until blueberries are very soft and almost mushy. Roughly mash or break up the blueberries.. Drizzle the cornstarch/water solution over the blueberries and stir until it comes to a boil and thickens. Turn off the heat and transfer the compote into a heatproof bowl. Let it cool and refrigerate until needed. 
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with 1 cup sugar. In a saucepan set on medium heat, bring the milk and the cream to boiling point, slowly pour a small amount on the egg yolks to temper. Pour the remaining over the yolks and sugar.
  3. Stir well then pour back in the saucepan and cook over medium low heat until the cream thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
  4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until completely melted and incorporated. Cool to room temperature then cover and refrigerate until cold.
  5. Process in an ice cream maker until it has reached soft-serve stage and almost doubled in size.
  6. In a freezer-safe container, place 1/3rd of the churned ice-cream, followed by 1/3rd of the blueberry sauce. Repeat this layering process until finished. Freeze the ice-cream for at least 4 hours before serving.