TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

So I'm a day late and a dollar short... or something like that. The Tuesdays with Dorie group made the Burnt Sugar Ice Cream last week. I had some technical difficulties with my ice cream maker so I didn't have it made in time to post last week. Turned out the freezer bowl to the ice cream maker wasn't cold enough to churn the batter into ice cream. So the batter sat in my fridge for a few days while I made the freezer colder and allowed the bowl a full two days to freeze. Then, it came out magnificently!


I continue to be surprised at the ease of Dorie's recipes. Besides my own issues with operating my ice cream maker that I've had for years and you'd think I'd know how to use correctly, I had no other problems! The ice cream tasted like caramel and was really very good!

I was, of course, impatient to eat it, so I didn't allow it to harden in the freezer very long after it churned. Therefore, my photo looks like ice cream mush. Tasty ice cream mush, though!

For the recipe, visit Becky at Project Domestication. She was kind enough to choose this recipe for us and has a gorgeous blog!

TWD: Cookies 'N Cream Ice Cream

Okay, so this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick was actually vanilla ice cream, but I couldn't resist adding the cookies to create my very favorite ice cream - cookies 'n cream. The vanilla ice cream was selected this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu. Click the link to get the recipe and see her fabulous pictures, which put the ones I took in under three minutes to shame!


This ice cream came together really easily and was surprisingly quick to make. I guess I'm getting good at this ice cream making thing. I followed the recipe exactly, and added about 10 crushed cookies during the last five minutes of its churning in the ice cream maker. My son actually helped me add the cookies (and ate a few) and loved watching the ice cream churning around. Look at him sitting there with his spoon, waiting to get a taste!


Overall, it tasted great and everyone enjoyed it. The recipe makes for a great base and just about anything can be added. Maybe next time I'll try cookie dough... yum!

TWD: Honey-Peach Ice Cream

The selection this week for the Tuesdays with Dorie group was Honey-Peach Ice cream. Tommi at Brown Interior chose the ice cream for us this week, and it was the perfect summer selection.

The ice cream was really quite easy to make, though I do admit that I had a LOT of dirty dishes in my sink after I finished this. Between the pots, the food processor, the cutting board, and the ice cream maker, there was a lot of dish-washing to be done as a result. But thankfully the great taste made up for the work. I thought the ice cream was refreshing and very good. I'm usually the type who goes for chocolate in my ice cream, but I was surprisingly pleased at how great the honey and peaches tasted in this. Between this ice cream and the blueberry sour cream ice cream, Dorie sure knows how to throw together some good ice cream!



If you're interested in baking along with us, please join! The group is accepting new members. Check out the Tuesdays with Dorie site for details.

Ritz Cracker Ice Cream

Did you ever think to make ice cream with Ritz crackers? I could have never dreamed this up myself.


I saw this ice cream over at a fabulously creative blog called Ideas In Food. Check them out, you won't be sorry. You're guaranteed to find things there that will leave you scratching your head and wondering how people can just naturally be this creative. I wish I got that gene.

This ice cream is really rich and tastes like eating pie crust. This is serious sinfulness and total deliciousness, people. Hey, the diet starts in January, right?


Ritz Cracker Ice Cream
(adapted from Ideas In Food)

1 pint half and half
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups crumbled Ritz crackers
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Combine the sugar and the half and half and bring to a boil. Pour over the crumbled Ritz crackers and then stir in the sour cream.

2. Puree the mixture in a blender. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and then process in an ice cream maker according to your machine's instructions.


And now for some award business! Cathy over at Tortefeasor passed along this award to me. I was so honored because I absolutely love her blog and her hilarious commentary. Thanks, Cathy!



And I'd love to share this award with some of my favorite food bloggers out there.

1. First and foremost, my great friend Michelle. I've known her since high school and I love having a fellow foodie who I actually know! She's not only sweet and wonderful, but she's a great cook too. Check out her site, Sweet Sensations.

2. Another blog I frequent and love belongs to Teanna over at Spork or Foon. I love all of the crazy things she finds and shares, and she is such a riot. Thanks for keeping me laughing, Teanna!

3. The next site is one that I just recently started reading and really enjoy. Amy of The Delicious Cook does such a great job of bringing us really great classic recipes. Everything on her site looks delicious. Check out her sweet potato creme brulee. Yum!

Tuesdays With Dorie: Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection was made by Amy at Food, Family And Fun. The recipe for the Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte can be found on her site. As always, our recipes are selected each week from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook called Baking: From My Home to Yours. It's a great book!

I was so ecstatic to be making this ice cream torte. Ice cream is by far one of my all time favorite desserts. And an ice cream cake? Even better. I selected a chunky strawberry ice cream to use in mine.

It all seemed pretty easy: make the ganache, pour some in the pan, soften up the ice cream, spread on a layer, more ganache, more ice cream, and then more ganache. It was all stretched out over an entire evening until it was done. The only thing I was apprehensive about was adding the eggs into the ganache without cooking them. It's my first time making something with raw eggs, and it kind of freaked me out. But I decided to go with the flow.

The preparations for it all went really well. The only slight annoyance, and I always have trouble with this when I'm baking with layers, is that I didn't even out each layer very well. My bottom layer of ganache was too thin, as was my bottom layer of ice cream. And the lines weren't perfectly crisp - I had a little bit of waviness when I sliced into it. But that's the perfectionist in me.

As for taste, well... the chocolate was a little rich for me. I never thought I would find myself saying those words because I love rich things. But it was easy to fix, I just added more strawberry ice cream to my plate to offset all of the chocolate. So it turned out pretty well. My husband raved over it... though sometimes I can't tell if he's just being nice or if he's really sincere. In any case, it's already almost gone!

Tune in next week for cookies!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

OH. MY. GOODNESS. This is one of the best ice creams I have ever tasted. Seriously. I really wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did.

Blueberry sour cream ice cream, where have you been all my life?

I luckily still had blueberries in the freezer from my blueberry picking last month, so they came in very handy for this. To avoid an overly-sour cream taste, I only used 1/2 cup instead of the recommended 3/4 cup. I contemplated putting a few add-ins into this, but I'm glad I didn't. It was just perfect the way it was. It was so rich and creamy, I had to eat it really slowly to savor every bite. My only complaint is that it didn't make anywhere near a big enough batch to satisfy me.

Thank you to Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity for selecting the group's recipe for this week. You will definitely want to visit her blog for the recipe. Up next week are some really great sounding cookies - can't wait!

Summer Ice Cream Series - Mandarins and Ice Cream Cake

Each year on my birthday I request an ice cream cake. It is my absolute favorite. But I have never had a non-traditional ice cream cake (as in the kind without the chocolate, vanilla, and crunchies). So I've had this recipe in my big recipe binder for a long time and have never had an occasion to try it. Well, I still didn't have an occasion but in honor of my summer ice cream series, I decided to just make it for my hubby and I.

This ice cream cake rocks! It makes me think of something that would be sold as dessert in a restaurant. It's that refreshing and delicious. It came out perfect and I love it! And as a bonus, it also photographed nicely due to the bright layers and orange topping.

The recipe takes quite a while to finish, with having to freeze each layer after it's completed. And it was also a little pricey between the biscotti, mascarpone and the orange sorbet. So I'll probably save this recipe and make it again on a really special occasion. It'll be worth it.




Mandarins and Ice Cream Cake
(from Better Homes and Gardens magazine)

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 and 1/2 cups crushed purchased spiced biscotti (about 6 oz.)
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 8-oz. carton mascarpone cheese
1 pint orange sorbet, softened
1/2 cup orange marmalade
11-oz. can mandarin orange sections, drained

1. Line a 2-quart baking dish with foil, extending foil over edges of dish. In a bowl stir together butter and crushed biscotti. Spread in prepared baking dish. Press firmly to form an even crust. Freeze.

2. In a chilled bowl stir ice cream to soften. In another bowl stir mascarpone cheese to soften. Slowly add the softened ice cream to the mascarpone, stirring well (mixture may be slightly lumpy). Spoon into crust-lined dish and spread evenly. Freeze 1 hour or until firm. Spoon sorbet on top of the vanilla ice cream and spread evenly with the back of a large spoon. Cover; freeze 4 hours or until firm.

3. Let frozen mixture stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Lift from pan using foil. In a small saucepan cook and stir marmalade just until heated through. Stir in orange sections.

4. To serve, cut ice cream into 9 squares. Top each square with some of the citrus mixture.

Makes 9 servings.

Summer Ice Cream Series - Chocolate Toffee Crunch Ice Cream

Anyone who knows me well knows that ice cream is my absolute favorite. I could easily have ice cream every day of the year. And nothing is more fun than making your own ice cream creations. In honor of summer, I've decided to create an ice cream theme for the season. So I'll be making and posting recipes for some really great ice cream creations.

I'm starting out with this Chocolate Toffee Crunch Ice Cream. I used my Cuisinart automatic ice cream maker for this. If you have a different ice cream maker, be sure to follow the instructions for it because each one is different in regards to freezing times and the capacity of ice cream it can make. This ice cream is a very simple and quick recipe. You can even create your own variations and add your own favorite candy pieces, nuts, sprinkles, whatever you can dream up. So pull out your ice cream maker (or go get one if you don't have one!), be creative and enjoy the summer! And be sure to check back for more ice cream creations throughout the next few months!


Chocolate Toffee Crunch Ice Cream

1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Salt
1/3 cup chocolate-covered toffee pieces (such as Heath)

1. For a no-ice, no-salt ice cream maker: In a large mixing bowl combine sugar and cocoa powder. Stir in whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and a dash of salt. Whisk thoroughly until sugar is dissolved.

2. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions. When finished, stir in 1/3 cup chocolate-covered toffee pieces.

Makes about 2 and 1/2 cups ice cream.