Burnt Sugar Ice Cream (TWD)

Oh, how I love ice cream!  I’ve never made an ice cream like this one, so I was excited to see how it would turn out.  It’s an egg-based ice cream, which I’ve gotten very comfortable with making.  I like egg-based recipes because of their rich, creamy texture.  This ice cream starts off very similar to the way you would go about making caramel, so I was not surprised with its taste.  It has a sweet, caramel flavor- I would even compare it to dulce de leche.  Usually I’m all about add-ins for ice cream, but I think this one is perfect on its own.

You can view the recipe on Becky’s blog, and visit the TWD blog to see how everyone else’s turned out.

Almond Joy Ice Cream

I’ve always been a fan of Almond Joy candy bars, so I immediately bookmarked this recipe when I saw it.  Unfortunately, I got busy making other things and forgot about this one.  We recently had a faculty meeting where they handed out mini candy bars, and as I reached for an Almond Joy, I thought of this ice cream and put it on my list for that week.  Once I made it, I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long!  This is one of my favorite ice creams.  It actually reminded me very much of the German Chocolate Ice Cream I made a few months ago.  It was a standard custard recipe, made very rich by the coconut milk and dark cocoa powder.  Mixing in the almonds and coconut gave it just the right texture.  I added way more coconut than the recipe called for just because I like a lot 🙂  If you are a fan of Almond Joys, this is certainly the ice cream for you!

Almond Joy Ice Cream
Source: adapted from How to Eat a Cupcake

1 ½ cups heavy cream, divided

1 cup whole milk

½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

1 ¼ cups sweetened or unsweetened flaked dried coconut, divided

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

3 tablespoons cream of coconut

¼ teaspoon coconut extract

Pinch of salt

½ cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped (I used slivered almonds)

In a small saucepan, whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, whole milk, coconut milk, sugar, and cocoa powder.  Mix in ½ cup dried coconut and the vanilla.  Warm over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar dissolved and small bubbles form around the edges, about 4-5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining ½ cup of heavy cream until blended.  Whisk ¼ of the coconut-milk mixture into the yolks.  Then whisk the yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining coconut-milk mixture.  Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4-5 minutes.

Pour the hot custard unto a bowl and cool completely in an ice bath, 30-45 minutes.  Once the custard has cooled to room temperature, remove from the ice bath.  Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the surface of the custard to prevent a “skin” from forming.  Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.

Place in an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.  After churning, stir in the remaining ¾ dried coconut, cream of coconut, coconut extract, almonds, and a pinch of salt.  Transfer mixture to a plastic container and freeze.

German Chocolate Ice Cream

For Mother’s Day almost a year ago, my sister and I got our mom an ice cream maker along with The Ultimate Ice Cream Book. My mom was pretty excited and couldn’t wait to start making homemade ice cream.  A few weeks later, I asked her how the recipes were and she told me about this German Chocolate Ice Cream.  I think I’ve mentioned on this blog before that my family can’t get enough of anything German chocolate, whether it be in the form of a pie or a traditional cake.  But ice cream?  This I had to try!  I finally got a chance to make it recently, and it was every bit as good as I hoped.  It was very rich and chocolaty, and the caramel was a great addition that provided similar flavors of German chocolate cake.  I was surprised that it called for whole eggs instead of just the yolks, but it worked just fine.  I made my own caramel using my favorite recipe from Dorie Greenspan.  I did use more than the recipe called for because I think there is no such thing as too much caramel 🙂  I loved the coconut in this, and I think next time I’ll add some toasted pecans.  This is definitely on the top of my favorite ice creams list!

German Chocolate Ice Cream
Source: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup cocoa powder

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

½ cup caramel, store-bought or homemade

Place eggs, sugar, and cocoa in food processor.  Blend until smooth.

Bring milk to a boil in a heavy saucepan.  With food processor running, slowly pour hot milk into the chocolate mixture through the feed tube.  Process until well blended.  Pour entire mixture back into pan and place over low heat.  Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until custard thickens slightly.  Be careful not to let mixture boil, or eggs will scramble.  Remove from heat and pour the hot chocolate custard through a strainer into a large clean bowl.  Allow to cool slightly, then stir in cream and vanilla.  Cover and refrigerate until cold (up to overnight).  Stir and then add ½ cup coconut to the machine.  Allow the machine to mix in the coconut.  Swirl ½ cup caramel sauce into finished ice cream.  Take care not to overmix or the caramel will melt into the ice cream (if using homemade caramel, make sure the caramel is completely cool before adding to the ice cream).  Streaks of caramel should be visible.

Homemade Caramel
Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups sugar
½ cup water
1 ½ tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, stir just to combine the ingredients and then put the pan over medium-high heat. Heat, without stirring , until the caramel turns deep amber., 5-10 minutes. Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps.  Stir in pecans, cool for 3 to 5 minutes, and pour over cheesecake.

Maple Walnut Ice Cream

Maple is such a great fall/winter flavor, and I love enjoying ice cream in winter flavors this time of year.  This maple ice cream has been on my list for a while, and I decided that it was time to try it!  I have never had maple flavored ice cream before, so I was excited to find out how it would taste.  This is a custard-based ice cream, so it is really creamy, and the maple flavor did come through really well.  These walnuts were suggested as an add-in, and I love the combination of maple and walnuts, so I just had to make them.  I loved the crunch the walnuts provided, and they went so well with the maple.  This ice cream is a great way to satisfy your craving, even in the winter!

Maple Walnut Ice Cream
Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 ½ cups whole milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ cups heavy cream

5 large egg yolks

¾ cup dark amber maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Wet Walnuts

Warm the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan.  Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm mixture 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 cream to cool.  Add the maple syrup, salt, and vanilla, and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  During the last few minutes of churning, add the Wet Walnuts

Wet Walnuts

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon dark amber maple syrup

1 ½ cups walnuts, toasted and very coarsely chopped

Big pinch of salt

Heat the maple syrup in a small skillet or saucepan until it just begins to come to a full boil.  Stir in the walnuts, then cook until the liquid comes to a full boil once again.  Stir the nuts for 10 seconds, then remove them from the heat and let cool completely.  The nuts will still be wet and sticky when cooled.  Chop coarsely and add to ice cream during last minute of churning.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Rocky Road has always been one of my very favorite ice cream flavors, and I can’t believe I haven’t made a homemade version before!  I found myself thinking about making some chocolate ice cream, and rocky road immediately popped in my head.  You can use any chocolate ice cream as a base, but I chose David Lebovitz’s Philadelphia Style Ice Cream.  It isn’t custard-based, so the focus is more on the chocolate rather than the creaminess, and it was easier and some days I am all about instant gratification 🙂  Rocky Road usually has plain peanuts, but I thought it would be even better to add chocolate covered peanuts.  Someday (it’s on my list to make soon) I would love to try homemade marshmallows, but it didn’t happen this time.  It was still good and was even better than the store-bought rocky road ice cream!  If you really like add-ins like I do, you might want to increase the amount of peanuts and marshmallows.

Rocky Road Ice Cream
Source: adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 ¼ cups heavy cream

6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up).  Remove from the heat and whisk un the chocolate until it’s completely melted, then whisk in the milk and vanilla.  Pour the mixture into a blender and blend for 30 seconds, until very smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Add chocolate covered peanuts and 1 ½ cup marshmallows during the last minute of churning.

Chocolate-Covered Peanuts

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

Put the pieces of chocolate in an absolutely dry heat proof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. In the meantime, stretch a piece of plastic wrap over a dinner plate.

Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the peanuts, coating them with the chocolate. Spread the mixture on the plastic-lined plate and chill.  Coarsely chop into pieces.

Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream

I’ve always been a fan of butterscotch, and I’ve always loved pecans, so this ice cream sounded perfect to me.  I had all the ingredients on hand one afternoon when I wanted to make some ice cream, so it was meant to be!  It’s a typical custard-based ice cream, which made it very creamy, and the buttered pecans made it even better.  I’ve made so many custard-based ice creams that the whole process goes very quickly now.  While I was waiting for the custard to chill, I made the pecans, which were quite easy.  All that you have to do is melt butter and then stir in the  toasted pecans and a little bit of salt.  I love the way toasting the pecans brings out their flavor.  I love lots of  mix-ins in my ice cream, so I doubled the amount of pecans, so that’s why there are so many of them in the picture.  This ice cream had just the right amount of butterscotch flavor and the crunchy pecans added so much to it.  This would be great on top of a blondie, just like David Lebovitz suggests in the book.

Buttered Pecan Ice Cream
Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

5 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon coarse salt

2 cups heavy cream

¾ cup whole milk

6 large egg yolks

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon scotch whiskey

Buttered Pecans, recipe follows

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the brown sugar and salt until well moistened.  Whisk in 1 cup of the cream and the milk.

Warm the brown sugar and cream mixture.  Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm brown sugar mixture 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 cream.  Add the vanilla and scotch, then stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  During the last minutes of churning, add the Buttered Pecans.

Buttered Pecans

1 ½ tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted

1 ½ cups pecan halves

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in a skillet.  Remove from the heat and toss the pecans with the melted butter until well coated, then sprinkle with the salt.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once during baking.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Peppermint Ice Cream

I think it is perfectly acceptable to enjoy ice cream all year.  The fun part about making ice cream in the winter is making it with winter flavors.   I used to be a big fan of Edy’s peppermint ice cream, but this year I wanted to make it at home.  This was a standard custard-based ice cream.  It was very creamy and had the perfect amount of peppermint flavor.  I tinted it pink to look a little more festive 🙂  This was such a fun ice cream to make and was a great way to enjoy ice cream even though it has been pretty chilly outside.  I used some leftover peppermint patties as a mix-in, but I think some crushed peppermint would be great as well.

Peppermint Ice Cream
Source: adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
8 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or hard peppermint candy
a few drops of red food coloring
Peppermint patties (homemade or store bought) or crushed peppermint candy, for mix-ins

Method

1 Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Make sure the sugar and salt completely dissolve.
2 Pour the cream into a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and set a medium-mesh sieve on top.

3 In a separate 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.

4 Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden or heatproof rubber spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula, about 5-7 minutes.

5 Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Then stir until cool over the ice bath. Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

6 One the mixture is thoroughly chilled, add peppermint extract, a 1/4 teaspoon at a time, tasting the mixture after each addition, until you reach the desired level of peppermintiness. (Different peppermint extracts vary in strength. I used 2 teaspoons of McCormick peppermint extract, which was just the right amount for our taste.)

7 Once chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
8 Once the ice cream has been formed in the ice cream maker, it will be fairly soft. Fold in the crushed peppermint candy. Put in an airtight plastic container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it before serving.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts.