Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream

Mmmm. Cherries. Chocolate. Thank goodness, my sister Anne keeps me in the good chocolate and the Trader Joe's dried cherries :) One of her packages included a dark chocolate cherry bar, and I put it to good use in this ice cream!

I went with a basic vanilla base, then added the juice from some frozen (thawed) cherries. Threw in the chopped chocolate bar and cherries at the and, and voila - cherry chocolate heaven.

PS: Nobody wants to hear about my hurried days, yes? That's okay, I don't really want to complain about them. But! Today we are supposed to be snowed in, so a weekend trip has been cancelled last minute. My house is clean and we have no plans, so I'm making freezer meals and preparing posts for the blog. So look out! No more long spans with no posts, I promise!

Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream

(Adapted from Alice Q. Foodie)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 c. whole milk

1 c. sugar

6 egg yolks

2/3 c. cherry juice or syrup from a can or jar (I used the juice from my bag of frozen cherries)

2/3 c. half and half

1 1/2 c. (thawed) frozen cherries, roughly chopped

1 c. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Heat the milk and pinch of salt in a 2 qt. saucepan over medium-high heat until scalded (bubbles will begin to form at the edge and it will smell "cooked"). In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and smooth.

Whisk a little of the hot milk into the sugar and yolk mixture, and then very slowly add the rest, whisking continuously. Pour the egg, milk and sugar mixture back into the pan, and cook over medium- high heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 6-8 minutes).

Pour the custard mixture into a shallow metal bowl. Set in an ice water bath and stir to cool - or simply allow to cool at room temperature for a few minutes and place in the refrigerator (use a towel if you have glass shelves). When the custard is thoroughly chilled, stir in the half and half and the cherry juice, reserving the cherries. Refrigerate overnight.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add the cherries and chocolate pieces when the ice cream is frozen to a soft consistency. Transfer to a container and ripen in the freezer for 3-4 hours before serving.

Chocolate Valentino and Chubby Hubs Ice Cream

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. Although I didn't use either ice cream recipe, as we were allowed to make any kind we wanted...

Okey dokey, the official wording is out of the way, so now I can do my real write up :)

Like probably half of the Daring Baker community, I made my cake for Valentine's Day. I mean really - what could be more romantic than a dense brownie-like cake and some homemade ice cream for dessert? I ran into a bit of a snag, but I was no worse for the wear.

This cake only has 3 ingredients. Now, at first reading I thought, Piece of cake! I'll have this one finished and done in no time. True, very true, but when I actually settled in to make it, I realized that if I mess up any part of this recipe, it'll be an expensive thing to re-do (especially since I was using my precious stash of Valrhona chocolate for this). But not to be easily intimidated, I forged ahead.


Things were a little hairy right off the bat, when I freaked for a second thinking I had overheated my butter/chocolate (therefore burning the chocolate to worthlessness), but thankfully that was fine. Whew! I whipped my whites and carefully folded them in. No screwing around. I carefully poured my batters into my cake pan and mini Le Creuset heart pan (perfect for pictures, thanks Anne!). I bake, and watch that lovely rise and slight fall of the cake, the characteristic dimpling of the top. I pulled the cakes out and set them too cool. Ten minutes later, faithful to the recipe, I picked up the round cake pan to unmold my cake.

Um. Well, here's where I had a problem: I went to gracefully (but quickly) flip it onto the cooling rack to finish cooling. Only I kinda moved too quick, and my pregnant butter-fingers started to lose grip on the pan. I fumbled with it, flipped it (very impressively, I might add) in the air, and then popped it with my palm when I went to desperately grasp it. Well, that was it. Up! it went and then Down! it landed. With a splat. Chocolate Valentino, shredded and smooshed and not looking too good:

Yeah.

It wasn't a total loss - I just let the darn thing cool in the state you see above, then chunked up the surviving parts to make a lovely ice cream parfait for our dinners. The Le Creuset heart, fortunately, was just fine so I used that the next morning to take pictures.

So: on to the cake. If you try this, keep in mind that there is no messing around with this Valentino recipe! Use good chocolate, as the cake will taste exactly like the chocolate you use. It gets a bit expensive (as you need to use a pound of chocolate), but that won't stop me from making this again. The cake ends up very dense, reminiscent of a brownie. Oooooh, so good.

We were asked to make homemade ice cream to accompany the cake. Initially I was going to make something plain, as I didn't want to overtake the glorious cake. Then at the last minute I changed my mind, when I thought about just how good Chubby Hubby is (and how much I didn't want to buy ice cream when I needed to also make ice cream...). I came up with my own version thanks in part to this recipe, and I must say: it tastes remarkably like the original. Awesome.

For those not in the know: Chubby Hubby is only the BEST flavor ever made by Ben & Jerry's. It's a malted vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate-covered, peanut-butter-filled pretzel nubs, and ribbons of peanut butter and fudge. It is salty and sweet and creamy and crunchy and just all-around perfect. Go buy a pint and see for yourself, or make my version below...

Chocolate Valentino

(from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan)

Ingredients:

16 oz. of roughly chopped chocolate (I used half Ghirardelli milk chocolate, half Valrhona bittersweet)

1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

5 large eggs, separated

Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

With the same beater beat the egg yolks together. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375 F. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140 F. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes, then unmold.

(Not Actually) Chubby Hubs Ice Cream

(my shameless adaption of B&J's Chubby Hubby, and no my Hubs is not actually chubby)

Ingredients:

2 c. half and half (or 1 c. heavy cream + 1 c. whole milk)

4 egg yolks

1/2 c. sugar, divided

A dash of salt

1 c. heavy cream

2/3 c. malt powder

1/2 recipe of Peanut Butter Swirl (follows)

Hot fudge (I just used jarred)

1 c. chocolate-covered, peanut-butter filled pretzel nuggets (World Market has them!)

Whisk yolks and 1/4 c. sugar until ribbon-like in a medium bowl.

Heat half and half and 1/4 c. sugar and the salt over medium heat until barely boiling, stirring constantly. Add the half and half mixture to the egg yolk mixture, slowly so as not to curdle the eggs, and return everything to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low heat and cook for about 10 minutes or so or until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon (you're going to have to stir it the entire time and probably will be using a wooden spoon, so at some point, take the spoon out, run your finger down the back and if the track stays 'clear', the mixture is done).

Turn off the heat, and add the heavy cream to cool the mix and then strain into the medium bowl.

Put the bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice water and stir in order to speed up the cooling process, whisk in the malt and vanilla, and then chill in the refrigerator overnight to make the following day.

Mix the malted custard in your ice cream maker as directed. Once the ice cream has finished churning (after 20-40 minutes): place in your freezable container. Add a few blobs of Peanut Butter Swirl and hot fudge, and fold a few times into the soft ice cream mixure. Add the pretzels, and fold 2-3 more times to fully incorporate. Freeze for at least a few hours before serving.

Peanut Butter Swirl

Ingredients:

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

3-4 Tbsp. heavy cream, to thin

Whip peanut butter until fluffy. Slowly add the sweetened condensed milk. Once incorporated, use the heavy cream to thin the mixure a bit.

Muzzy's Ice Cream Sandwiches

A favorite treat from my younger days – my mom used to make a ton of these, and keep them in the deep freezer in our basement. This was perfect, as half of our basement was finished off into a rec room/play area where we spent a ton of time growing up. That made it easy for us kids - just walk to the back room of the basement and snitch one of these goodies when we wanted a treat.

They are deceptively easy: just store-bought cookies and Cool Whip, that’s all you need. That doesn’t mean they aren’t fantastic, though! The Cool Whip is better than ice cream if you ask me, not sticky and thick but instead light and creamy even when frozen. The cookies are kinda blah on their own but make perfectly crispy, fudgey bookends to an ice cream sandwich. Oh, so divine, a definite taste of my childhood. These are a mainstay in our freezer.


Muzzy Ice Cream Sandwiches
(from Muzzy)

Ingredients:
1 pkg. fudge-striped shortbread cookies
1 container Cool Whip

Spread a few tablespoons of Cool Whip On the bottom of one of the cookies. Top with a 2nd cookie. Make as many as desired, setting them on a baking sheet when prepped. Place in freezer for 2-3 hours until set, then wrap each individually with wax paper. Keep in the freezer in freezable container or Ziploc bag. Makes about 2 dozen sandwiches, which will last absolutely forever in your freezer :)

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

I would like to start this off with the following disclaimer: I did not eat this. Even a slight whiff of sweet potatoes makes me want to fall over dead, sadly. Thankfully dear Hubs loves sweet potatoes, and was more than happy to be the guinea pig.

He would like for you to know that the texture was a bit 'chunkier' than regular custard-based ice creams (sing it brother, I could see that from eye-balling the stuff from 6 feet away). But, he really didn't think that was a bad thing. He also said it tasted very much like pumpkin pie, if you added sweet pecans and marshmallows. Or maybe more like candied yams. Or something.

At any rate: he's been dipping into the quart in the freezer all week, so I would guess it is in the "yummy" category. You'll have to give it a try and let me know what you think as well...

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

(Adapted from The Perfect Scoop, 2007)

Ingredients:

1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced to 1-in. cubes

1 c. + 2 Tbsp. whole milk

2/3 c. packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Few drops of lemon juice

Wet pecans (recipe follows)

1/2 c. (or so) mini marshmallows

Place the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes (until cubes are tender). Drain and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Pour the milk into a blender and add the brown sugar, sweet potatoes, cinnamon, vanilla, a pinch of salt, and squeeze of lemon juice. Puree until very smooth, at least 30 seconds. Press the mixture through a mesh strainer using a rubber spatula.

Chill the mixture thorougly in the refrigerator (overnight is best), then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to directions. In the last few minutes of churning, add the wet pecans and mini marshmallows.

Wet Pecans

2 c. pecans, roughly chopped

3/4 c. real maple syrup

Big pinch salt

Heat the syrup in a medium saucepan until it comes to a full boil. Stir in the nuts, and cook until the mixture comes to a full boil once again. Toss in a big pinch of salt. Cook while stirring for 10 seconds, then remove from the heat and cool completely. The nuts will be sticky (and wet) when cooled.

PS: See ya in 6 months, Robot.

Deep Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I met my husband at an ice cream store.

To be more exact, I met my husband during college, when we both worked at a local ice cream store. While I am more than happy to keep the husband I found while working there, I am sad to admit I lost any craving for ice cream. When you drag your tired body home to your teeny college apartment late every night, covered up to the elbows in dried ice cream and smelling slightly of sour milk, you kinda lose your taste for the stuff.

Even though it has been several years since my time spent scooping ice cream for a living, I still can only eat it a few times a year (my addiction to Sylas and Maddy's notwithstanding). My dear husband, though? He could eat it all the live long day. And his absolute favorite is "anything with chocolate and peanut butter".

I decided this summer, after experiencing the first of probably many long hot, sweltering summers in my kitchen, that ice cream is something that might be worth making at home (love ya, kitchen, but man between the stove and skylight it gets mad-hot). The first recipe I gave a shot, in honor of that dear man of mine, is this rich chocolate and peanut butter concoction.

I mixed things up a bit with David Lebovitz' original recipe, and really like how it turned out. Deeply rich chocolate and peanut butter, studded with bits of nuts from the peanut butter. Mmmm. While I'm not a huge fan, if all homemade ice cream is this creamy and rich, I might just come back around to the stuff.

Deep Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ice Cream

(adapted from The Perfect Scoop, 2007)

Ingredients:

2 c. heavy cream

3 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate

1/3 c. creamy peanut butter

1 c. whole milk

3/4 c. sugar

Pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. chunky peanut butter (for end of freezing)

Warm 1 c. of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate and peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 c. of cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt int he same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to instructions. During the final few minutes of churning in the ice cream maker, add the remaining chunky peanut butter.