Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

May 14, 2013 by 1 Comment

So many things are just so much better when you make them yourself at home. Ice cream is no exception. Every single time I make a batch I am reminded of just how much better it is. The flavor is richer, the ice cream is creamier. And you can control the amount and size of add-ins.

If there is one thing I hate it’s digging into big bowl of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream and finding just one or two chocolate cookies. I want a cookie in every bite. And I don’t want cookie crumbs either. I want big hunks of cookies. Making this ice cream at home means I get everything I want.

 

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
15-18 Oreo Cookies, roughly chopped

Directions
In a sauce pan over medium-high, heat the milk and heavy cream. Once bubbles form along the edges remove from heat and set aside.

In a heat proof mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Slowly add spoonfuls of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly so you don’t make scrambled eggs. Once all of the milk is incorporated transfer back to the sauce pan. Heat over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture starts to thicken and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Carefully pour the mixture through a mesh sieve (in case there are any cooked egg chunks) into a glass bowl*. Stir in the vanilla and refrigerate for several hours or until completely cool.

Once the mixture is completely cool, add to your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions. (I use the Kitchen Aid standing mixer attachment. I always store the bowl in my freezer but if you don’t, don’t forget to put it in the freezer at least 24 hours before making the ice cream). Once the ice cream is finished churning, fold in the chopped Oreos with a large spoon or spatula. Transfer to a container with an airtight lid, press a sheet of plastic wrap right into the top of the ice cream and freeze for several hours.

*To speed up the cooling down process I will sometimes place my glass bowl in an ice water bath and let it sit for about 10 minutes before refrigerating.
Source: Seeded at the Table originally from Culinary Cory


oreo
More Oreo goodness -

DIY Oreos
Cookies and Cream Cake
Frozen Raspberry Mousse Pie with Oreo Crumb Crust

 

 

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Strawberry Sorbet

February 12, 2013 by 9 Comments

As much as I love rich and decadent chocolate desserts, I think it’s also important to balance your menu. So if you have really heavy dinner, you’re probably better off going with a lighter, more refreshing, dessert. Today I’m taking that  lighter approach to Valentine’s day.

Sorbet is cold and refreshing and a nice lower-fat alternative to ice cream. But don’t confuse this sorbet with that neon rainbowy stuff from your childhood. This sorbet is PACKED with a sweet powerful strawberry punch and naturally has the most beautiful reddish-magenta color. It would really be the perfect finish to a heavy Valentine’s dinner.

 

Strawberry Sorbet

Ingredients
1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp kirsch or grand marnier*
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt

*The recipe called for Kirsch but I didn’t have any (and didn’t want to buy some for a teaspoon!) so I used Grand Marnier (an orange liqueur) instead . It worked! It’s also such a tiny amount that you can omit entirely.

Directions
In a medium bowl, toss together the sliced strawberries, sugar, and liqueur (if using). Cover and let sit for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Pour the strawberries/sugar into the bowl of food processor (or blender). Add lemon juice and pinch of salt. Process until smooth. Press the pureed strawberries through a mesh sieve (strainer) to remove seeds. Cover the mixture and chill in refrigerator for several hours. Once chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.*

*I use the Kitchenaid standing mixer ice cream attachment. The bowl needs to freeze for 24 hours before it’s ready to make ice cream/sorbet. Once it’s ready, I attach the the bowl to the base and the paddle to the head. I turn the mixer to low and slowly pour in the mixture. Leaving the mixer on low I let it churn for 15-20 minutes.

Very slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop

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Double Dose of Cookie Dough

May 31, 2011 by 2 Comments

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If you love cookie dough and kind of like cookie dough ice cream but usually find yourself just picking out all of the chunks of cookie dough and ending up with a bowl of melted ice cream (oh, that’s just me?), then this ice cream will knock your socks off. I knew pretty much the moment I saw this recipe that I would like it, but it some how managed to exceed my expectations. The double dose of brown sugar goodness is what I think really pushes it over the edge for me. I ate every last bite, not just the cookie dough, and I even had it for lunch, twice.

I’ve been inspired and now I want to play around with this a little bit and see if I can come up with a peanut butter cookie dough ice cream. Now that is something that I KNOW Jesse would enjoy (hurry home honey so I can feed you delicious things!!).


Double Dose Cookie Dough Ice Cream
(Adapted from Pink Parsley with props to Annie, David and Joy)

For the cookie dough:

5 Tbs salted butter, melted and cooled for a few minutes
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips (mini chips would really be best but the Target I was at didn’t have them)

For the ice cream:

3 Tbs unsalted butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups half and half (I just couldn’t bring myself to use heavy cream when I knew I would eat a ton of this ice cream)
4 large egg yolks
pinch of kosher salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips – I used regular chips and a lot less(as you can tell from the pics) but next time I will definitely use more

In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and sugar until smooth. Mix in the flour and vanilla then fold in the chocolate chips. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap, form into a disk, and refrigerate until firm.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar. Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes, being careful not to burn it. Pour in the half and half whisking constantly until well blended with the sugar. Heat until simmering.

While the cream mixture is coming to a simmer, whisk egg yolks until light and fluffy in a medium bowl. Then, using a soup laddle, add a small amount of the cream mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. Whisk in the rest of the cream mixture one laddle full at a time. Once all of the cream has been added, return the mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it has thickened slightly and can coat the back of a spoon (170-175 degrees).

Remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl, that is sitting in an *ice bath. Stir in the vanilla, salt, and milk. Let sit in the ice bath until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch, then cover with plastic wrap and chill until very cold.

Freeze in an ice cream maker, according the manufacturers directions. During the last minute of freezing add the chocolate chips to the ice cream. Then while transferring to a storage container add chunks of chilled cookie dough through out.

Always store homemade ice cream in an container with a well fitting lid (I like the Ziploc brand quart containters with screw top lids) and a sheet of plastic wrap pressed directly onto the top of the ice cream.

*Whenever I make ice cream I always fill my sink with 3 inches of cold water, 2 cups of ice and teaspoon of kosher salt. Then I place a large glass bowl in the water so when I am ready to pour the custard into the bowl it is cold and the ice bath is ready to go.

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Ice Cream Time, Finally!

May 11, 2011 by 2 Comments

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Over the past year I have moved 3 1/2 times. The 1/2 time would be when I moved Jesse out to San Diego. Then I moved from our house in Ohio to my parents while I finished school. 4 months later I moved to San Diego. 1 month later we moved apartments from the tiny studio to a 2 bedroom with much more space. With all of that moving, things were bound to get lost in the shuffle.

I feel like I think of things I don’t have on a weekly basis. Some things we sold in one of our garage sales or gave to Goodwill without thinking. There are things that we purposely left with our parents in Ohio, knowing we wouldn’t have space in the apartment. Other things were accidentally left behind at my parents. Like, for example, the ice cream attachment for my standing mixer. The attachment is stored in the freezer and when I moved in January I just plum forgot to get it out of the garage freezer at my parents. I was pretty disappointed in March when the weather was warm in San Diego and I was craving home made ice cream.

The good news is I was able to bring it back with me after my brief Easter trip. I specifically packed (or didn’t pack) an empty suitcase to bring some of my forgotten goodies back with me, and I was most excited about the ice cream attachment. This weekend I finally had the opportunity, equipment and ingredients to make the homemade frozen goody I’ve been craving. Fresh strawberries were on sale so I knew I wanted to use them, but I have already made strawberry ice cream so I searched for another way to use them. I found the perfect recipes in The Perfect Scoop (not at all surprising).

In case you’re wondering, it was WELL worth the wait!


White Chocolate Ice Cream with Strawberry Swirl
(Source: The Perfect Scoop)

Ice Cream

8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream

Put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top, set aside. Fill an empty sink (with a stopper) with 2-3 inches of cold water and lots of ice.

In a medium sauce pan, heat the milk, sugar and salt until warm. In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks. Slowly add the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Carefully add the egg yolk mixture back into the sauce pan. Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly until it thickens (it will coat the spatula).

Pour the mixture through the strainer into the bowl with the chocolate pieces. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth then stir in the cream. Set the bowl in the ice bath and stir until completely cool. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

(The next part is for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer Ice Cream attachment, if you have another ice cream maker follower the manufacturer’s instructions)

Remove the ice cream attachment from the freezer and attach it to your mixer. Attach the paddle lock and paddle. Turn the mixer on to stir. (Never pour in liquid if the mixer isn’t running, just trust me on that) Carefully pour the chilled mixture into the bowl and let run for 15-20 minutes.

As you spoon the ice cream into a storage container, layer it with strawberry swirl mixture.

Strawberry Swirl (adapted from the Perfect Scoop recipe for Raspberry Swirl)

1 1/2 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen (then thawed)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vodka (I only had cherry flavored vodka and I think it really upped the flavor!)

In a bowl, mash the strawberries, sugar, and vodka with a fork. If you want the swirl to have less chunks and be smoother, process it in a food processor.


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