.vanilla bean ice cream.

There's nothing better than homemade ice cream. It seems the cartons at the grocery store are shrinking, yet the prices are increasing! And what you do find is ice cream made with all kinds of fillers, artificial flavors, and chemicals. Those aren't healthy for you. Making your own helps you control what exactly goes into your sweet treat and you can create whatever flavor you want! Sounds good to me.

This night I made vanilla bean to go on top of our peach cobbler. So delicious. If you don't have an ice cream maker, I really recommend getting one. It's a lot of fun for the whole family. I own a Cuisinart electric one. You put the bowl in the freezer, pour in your flavored cream, then turn it on. Pretty easy. I haven't seen a crank one in ages, which require a lot of ice and rock salt to get the ice cream frozen. Ice cream is very easy to make. Let me show you!


Take one vanilla bean and slice it in half lengthwise. Inside you'll find a bunch of little black things. This is real vanilla. Scrape out as much as you can with the knife.


In a pot, put 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream and the vanilla bean and all the scrapings. We want to infuse the cream with all of that good vanilla flavor. Let it sit for about 30 minutes on the counter.


In a bowl, put 3 eggs and 3/4 cups sugar. Whisk together.


Put the milk on the stove and heat over medium heat until a skin forms on top. This term is "scalded". Add a dash of salt.

Pour a little into the egg/sugar bowl while whisking. You want to temper the eggs. The eggs will start cooking the moment the hot liquid touches them so make sure you're whisking while adding otherwise you'll have clumps of cooked egg in your ice cream. Nasty.


Once you've added a little of the cream to the eggs and tempered them, add back into the pot. Whisk well.

At this point, strain all of the cream into a bowl. Cover with saran and put in the fridge. You want to chill this mixture before freezing otherwise it won't freeze at all.

Pour the cold cream mix into your ice cream maker. Put in the paddle and then turn on according to the directions on your machine.

Your ice cream won't be solid. It will be a lot like soft serve ice cream when it's done. What you do at this point is scoop all of your ice cream into a bowl or some sort of tupperware container. Put in the freezer and let it set.

After it's been in the freezer for 2-3 hours, it's ready for scooping. Serve with whatever toppings you like!

This makes 2 quarts. If you want more, double the recipe.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_112gwxpbv6d

.chocolate raspberry celebration.

Chocolate lovers unite!!!! This was a quick dessert I made tonight. So yummy!! Nothing homemade on it, which makes it even better, right?

I bought a box of Ghiradelli brownie mix (the chocolate syrup mix) and made them according to the directions on the box. Then I got this yummy little tub of Amazon Valley Chocolate ice cream by Haagen Daaz. Drizzle some chocolate ganache on the plate, put the brownie, then a scoop of ice cream. Sprinkle with fresh raspberries and garnish with a mint sprig. Easy easy!!

If I could have changed anything on this, I would have made (or bought) raspberry coulis (pronounced cool-ee) and drizzle on the plate with the ganache. Oh heaven.. *weak*

.with love from florida to alaska.

A couple weeks ago my husband and I and the girls were driving in the car. We were headed home after a long day in town running errands and my husband casually mentioned stopping by Coldstone creamery for a little treat. I was really craving key lime pie and had to think whether or not they had a lime ice cream creation there. So I looked and sure enough, they didn't!

Then I started brainstorming how *I* could make something of the sort. That's when the search began and I came up with this tasty recipe for Key Lime Baked Alaska. If you've never heard of a Baked Alaska, it's basically a mini ice cream cake covered with toasted meringue. My recipe has a graham cracker crust, key lime ice cream, and meringue on top. It is absolutely amazing!!!! Marcia (my sister) said I need to get this recipe copyrighted. LOL ( I might have to think about that one)

This is a recipe you're going to need to begin the day or night before you actually want to eat it. The ice cream needs plenty of time to harden after it comes out of the ice cream maker. And unless you have a blast chiller, give yourself plenty of time on this one


In a saucepan, put 1 1/2 c. cream. Heat over medium heat until a skin forms on top. Do NOT let the cream boil otherwise the ice cream will curdle. If it comes to a boil, you'll need to dump and start again.














Separate 4 eggs. Put the yolks in a bowl and put the whites in another container and put them in the fridge. Leave yolks out because you're about to use them.








While whisking yolks, add a little cream to "temper" them. This means the heat from the cream will cook the eggs. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan into the rest of the cream.








Whisk and cook over medium heat until it gets thick.

You want it to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and add 1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 cup key lime juice. The juice can be from fresh key limes or from a bottle.

[NOTE: Key limes are smaller and sweeter than regular limes. You don't want to switch them out.]

Transfer the custard to a bowl. Cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge for half hour to an hour.












Set up your ice cream maker and put the custard in the frozen cylinder.















Make the ice cream according to the directions that came with your machine.

When it's done. Cover and put in the freezer.







While the ice cream is in the machine, make the graham cracker crust. Put 1 package graham crackers in a large ziploc and use a rolling pin to crush them. Add 2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) melted butter. Shake to mix and smoosh the outside of the ziploc to get it all worked in. Divide the crust into four ramekins and press into the bottom and up the sides. Put in the fridge to set.

After about half an hour, remove from fridge and take the ice cream out of the freezer and spoon into the ramekins and fill all the way to the top, using a knife or spatula to smooth the top. Cover each ramekin well with saran and put back in freezer. Freeze overnight.


Just before serving, make the meringue.

Put the egg whites you held over from the ice cream and put in a large mixing bowl. Put the bowl on top of a saucepan with some water in it. Turn the burner to medium.












Whisk until the whites get hot. Add 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk for another minute and then remove from the double boiler.
















Put the kitchen aid bowl on the mixer and use the whisk attachment. Turn to a medium speed.
















Whisk until you get stiff, but not DRY peaks.

Stiff peaks are when you stick the whisk in and pull out, the peaks stay firm and won't sag or fade away.

Set aside.








Pull your key lime filled ramekins out of the freezer. Sit in a bowl of warm water or carefully put under the faucet. This will loosen the ice cream and crust from the sides of the ramekin.

I had to use a knife and insert it in until it was loose enough to pop out.

Set it on a dessert plate.








Put an extra large star tip in a piping bag and fill with meringue. Pipe in a circular motion starting from the outside of the ice cream and work your way in, building up as you go.









This is what you want it to look like.

Kind of looks like a cupcake. ;)








Now it's time to "bake" the meringue. I have a blow torch for making creme brulee. You can just as easily put these under a broiler and brown the tops.









Once they're baked, put a wedge of key lime on top and hold in the freezer if you're not quite ready to eat them.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_26gq3fjmd2