Ice Cream – Page 2 – First Look, Then Cook

Margarita Ice-Cream Sandwiches

Published on August 28, 2011 by Dawn3 Comments

Years ago I had an idea…I should open a store where I sell different types of cookies, and different flavors of ice-cream, and you can choose the top, bottom, and insides of your custom ice-cream sandwich. I thought it was brilliant, but I wasn’t about to quit my day job, so it just ended up being a fantasy. Over the years, I have seen glimpses of this idea come to fruition – but nothing exactly like it until my last trip to New York City.

New York City is a food lovers mecca – and I have to go every year to get my fix. I love spending weeks figuring out exactly where we are going to eat, and carefully planning each meal. This last trip went extremely well, I am not sure we had a bad dish all week – and we even stumbled upon some bonus places that we were not anticipating (Eataly being one that is not to be missed). A week before we were leaving, I heard about The Meatball Shop – and even though I didn’t have a meal to spare – once I read about this place, I had to switch some things around. We had to go…and we were so glad we did. The meatballs were amazing, seriously, the best I have ever had – but get the dessert – exactly my store. They had 6 different cookies, 6 different ice-creams, and you chose the top and bottom cookie, then your ice-cream – and you have created your very own creation. For $4, it could not be beat. The entire week we were thinking about how we could go back.

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, and I really felt like they were thinking outside the box with this one. I loved the salted sugar cookies along with the lime sherbet mixed with vanilla ice-cream – it was genius. The flavors were perfect together, and if you closed your eyes, you thought you were drinking a margarita. My daughter on the other hand, was not too excited when she bit into the cookie and realized that it was not just sugar on top, it was also salt. She was not pleased. But for adults who love that combination, it cannot be beat. So – if you can’t get to NYC anytime soon, and you are craving a creative ice-cream sandwich, here is a great one for you – although it might just be too good for kids…they need to acquire the taste first.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
5 teaspoons grated lime rind, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
11 1/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon turbinado sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 cups vanilla reduced-fat ice cream, softened
2 cups lime sherbet, softened

Preparation

Place butter and sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg, 1 tablespoon lime rind, and lime juice; beat 2 minutes or until well combined.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon table salt; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat just until combined.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 6-inch log. Wrap logs individually in plastic wrap; chill 3 hours or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut each log into 16 (about 1/3-inch-thick) slices, and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the cookies evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons lime rind, turbinado sugar, and sea salt. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes on pans on a wire rack. Remove from baking sheets, and cool completely on wire rack.

Place vanilla ice cream and sherbet in a medium bowl; lightly fold and swirl together. Scoop 1/4 cup ice cream mixture onto bottom of one cookie, and top with one cookie. Cover each sandwich with plastic wrap; freeze 4 hours or until firm.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Margarita Ice Cream Sandwiches

Mango-Coconut Sherbet

Published on June 18, 2011 by Dawn6 Comments

My family goes a little nuts over mango. Ok, yes, I have my own obsessions that are slight oddly: fennel, cucumbers in cocktails, cream cheese frosting – but mango? Definitely not one of my must haves in life. I actually love the flavor of mango – I just hate cutting them up. I hate that strangely shaped pit – and I also hate it when you cut the mango too close to the pit, and the mango gets a little fibrous – almost hairy.

For a while I was getting mango in our CSA basket, and I dreaded the day I actually had to slice them open. I swear my girls (even my husband) would circle like vultures, trying to get as much mango as they possibly could – making it almost a competition between the three of them. I always had to tell them to go sit down and let me slice in peace – the last thing I wanted was to slice one of their hands instead. I finally stopped getting them, it was getting too dangerous.

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, and I have to say, I do love a good mango sorbet. The fact that this had coconut milk in it made it that much more interesting to me. I pretty much love anything with coconut milk – yes, I guess another one of my obsessions. I had to buy some mango to make this, but I told my family that these were off-limits. They waited patiently all week for them to get ripe, and for me to make the sherbet. Well, I think it was worth the wait – this was pretty spectacular. I swear I could have just stopped before putting the mixture in the ice-cream machine – it was so smooth and delicious – tasted just like a mango smoothie – but the final product was excellent. I served it two ways – with shredded coconut on top, and with grated lime peel. Both were delicious. If you are looking for a light dessert this summer, definitely mark this one down. If I ever happen to have some spare mango lying around, I know exactly what to do with it – right, who am I kidding?

Ingredients

2 cups cubed peeled ripe mango
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Preparation

Combine cubed mango, sugar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and coconut milk in a blender; process until mixture is smooth, scraping sides as necessary. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions to soft-serve consistency. Spoon sherbet into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze 2 hours or until firm. Sprinkle each serving with coconut.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Mango-Coconut Sherbet

Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Published on May 22, 2010May 22, 2010 by Dawn10 Comments

I am seeing a lot of creativity lately with respect to ice cream – especially ice cream trucks. I have to admit, there is something about hearing the noise of the ice cream truck that does something to children. I wish I could get them to listen to me like they listen for the music from that truck.

Recently I have noticed a different type of ice cream truck – the kind with home-made ice cream inside, or what people are calling “artisanal ice cream.” All the flavors use fresh ingredients, and there are definitely some unusual ones. I do love fresh ingredients, but I also love the classics – like Baskin Robbin’s Mint Chip. In my opinion, Baskin Robbins has the best mint chip ice cream around. I love the tiny bits of chocolate pieces in their mint chip – you get a mouthful in every bite.

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light for Fresh Mint Ice Cream – and the first thing I thought about was adding tiny bits of chocolate. I couldn’t wait. This was another ice milk recipe, but I was up for the challenge. The fresh mint flavor was very different from Baskin Robbins – I actually could taste real mint! The chocolate bits were the perfect addition. The bonus was that there was no cream in this recipe, and the ice cream was still very creamy – with some brownies on the side, this was a winner.

Ingredients

2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup half-and-half
1 (1-ounce) package fresh mint sprigs
3/4 cup sugar
Dash of salt
2 large egg yolks
3 ounces finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate
Small fresh mint leaves (optional)

Preparation

Combine milk, half-and-half, and mint sprigs in a medium heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat milk mixture to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Pour milk mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl, pressing slightly with a wooden spoon; discard solids. Return liquid to pan.

Place sugar, salt, and egg yolks in a bowl; stir with a whisk until pale. Gradually add half of hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Pour egg yolk mixture into pan with remaining milk mixture; cook over medium-low heat until a thermometer registers 160° (about 2 minutes), stirring constantly. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl until custard cools completely, stirring occasionally. Mix in chopped chocolate. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Published on May 2, 2010 by Dawn15 Comments

Food fads come and go – it is fun to watch people go nuts over certain “popular” foods. Molly Moon’s Ice Cream opened up a couple of years ago with a bang, and people are still lined up outside – waiting to try the artisan ice-cream inside. Just the other night we drove by at around 6:30pm – the line was around the corner, and it was freezing outside. Whoever said that ice-cream was only good when it’s warm outside certainly didn’t live in Seattle.

When I first learned about Molly Moon’s – it was the salted caramel ice-cream that people were raving about. Of course I had to try it, and I understood exactly why people were going nuts. The salted caramel ice-cream was unlike anything I had ever had before – it was ultra creamy, sweet and delicious, with a deep caramel flavor – yet the salt added this extra dimension that I did not expect. It was almost like dipping a pretzel into your bowl of caramel sauce – and boy was it incredible.

I saw this recipe in Cooking Light – and I immediately put my ice-cream bucket into the freezer to prepare. I couldn’t wait to try this. The only problem was (and I don’t often critique other people’s pictures, since I am by no means an expert) the picture actually didn’t look that good. The ice-cream looked very icy, and not so creamy. If you have read other posts, you know that I can’t pass up a good challenge. So – I attempted to make the recipe, and the goal was to make it look and taste as creamy as possible. I think I succeeded. It was fantastic. And the fact that it used mostly 2% milk made it even better – doesn’t that mean it is actually good for you? I will keep telling myself that, as I go grab another scoop.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
3 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon flake salt (optional)

Preparation

Place milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge of pan (do not boil). Place egg yolks in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Gradually add half of hot milk to yolks, stirring constantly. Return yolk mixture to pan.

Combine sugar, cream, and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar melts. Cook 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat; stir in sea salt. Gradually add caramel mixture to yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Return pan to low heat; cook until a thermometer registers 160°. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl until completely cooled, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Scoop about 1/2 cup ice cream into each of 10 dishes; sprinkle evenly with flake salt (optional).

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Salted Caramel Ice Cream