ice cream – Oven Love

Mint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Natalie — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday!

I’m here to introduce you to the most popular treat in my freezer- Mint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. I’ve mentioned my abundance of garden mint before, but things have gotten even wilder! This mint is taking over the garden like a boss! I’ve been thinking about making mint ice cream with it for a few weeks, but a little twist came to me when I discovered Newman-O’s Hint-O-Mint cookies. They’re just like Oreos, but with a creamy mint filling. The perfect add-in for mint ice cream.

Now, this is not your run-of-the-mill mint ice cream. The fresh flavor that comes from steeping the mint is crisp and lingers on the tongue- you won’t find anything like it in the store. The mint ice cream alone would be a great palate cleanser at the end of a meal or between courses, but I prefer it doctored up with the cookies. If you’re a fan of regular Cookies and Cream, you’ll be in love with this brisk, minty edition.

If you don’t have the fresh mint, you can still make the ice cream with some mint extract (not peppermint!) and I’m sure it will be tasty, too. Whatever you do, stock your freezer with cool desserts like this for easy summer entertaining. Or just come share a scoop with me- that giant mint patch guarantees that there will be gallons and gallons in my deep freezer at all times.

Mint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

adapted from David Lebovitz

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream, divided
pinch of salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks
10-15 mint cream-filled chocolate cookies, like Newman-O’s Hint-O-Mint

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream, salt, and mint.
Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.
Remove the mint with a strainer, then press down with a spatula firmly to extract as much mint flavor and color as possible. (You can also use well-washed hands to do it as well, making sure the mixture isn’t too hot to safely handle.) Once the flavor is squeezed out, discard the mint.
Pour the remaining heavy cream into a large bowl and set the strainer over the top.
Rewarm the infused milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, then slowly pour some of the warm mint mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170ºF (77ºC).
Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, then stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.
Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
While the mixture is freezing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave oven on low power, stirring until smooth. Place a storage container in the freezer.
When the ice cream in the machine is ready, scribble some of the chocolate into the container, then add a layer of the just-churned ice cream to the container. Scribble melted chocolate over the top of the ice cream, then quickly stir it in, breaking up the chocolate into irregular pieces. Continue layering the ice cream, scribbling more chocolate and stirring as you go.
When finished, cover and freeze until firm.

4 Ice Cream Recipes to Make Right Now

Natalie — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:04:00 +0000

I have ice cream on the brain today. And there is none in my freezer.

Oh, the humanity! (And oh, the humidity!)

Here are four of my favorite ice cream recipes for anyone else wanting a brain freeze today.

Classic Chocolate Ice Cream. I was always a vanilla person, until I met this recipe.

Cinnamon Shoofly Pie Ice Cream. It’s like Amish Country in a bowl.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream. It’s very possible (and probable) that you will eat this batch in one sitting.

Strawberry Ice Cream. Let’s continue to tell ourselves that anything containing fruit is healthy. Perhaps it will come true!

Four very delicious reasons to break out the ice cream maker, or not, and make some homemade ice cream. Your tummy will thank you (but your thighs might not).

Strawberry Ice Cream

Natalie — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Remember Monday? When I couldn’t deliver my Valentine’s Day gift to you?

So lame. You deserve better.

You deserve strawberry ice cream.

Can we still be valentines?

Good. Moving on.

You know what’s even better than making this ice cream for your sweetheart on VDay? Making it for them a week later. Then, not only do they know you love them, but they know you still love them, a week later! Excellent logic.

If you’ve ever made ice cream at home, this will be simple for you. If you haven’t, come to my house and I’ll teach you. You’ll need an ice cream maker and some gumption.

It’s a basic vanilla base, with strawberry puree added in just before processing. The hardest part is making sure you don’t curdle the eggs- correct tempering takes care of that. Tempering means slowly adding a hot liquid to a cooler one, to bring them to the same ‘temper’-ature. Get it?

This would be such a sweet treat to enjoy on a beautiful day like today.

Sweet, strawberry goodness.

Tell your sweetheart you love them again. It never gets old.

(Then come to my house and eat strawberry ice cream.)

Strawberry Ice Cream

Prep time

12 hours

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

12 hours 30 mins

adapted from Tyler Florence- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/vanilla-bean-ice-cream-base-recipe/index.html

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2½ cups heavy cream
1¼ cups whole milk
pinch salt
¾ cup sugar
½ vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1 cup strawberry puree, cold*

Instructions

Combine the cream, milk, salt, and ½ cup of the sugar in a large pot. Split the ½ vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor.
In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and blend lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 5 minutes.
Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in half of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes. Do not let it boil.
Pour the custard through a fine strainer into a bowl and chill completely in an ice bath or in the fridge. Ideally, let the ice cream base “age” overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker, but just make sure the base is cold. Before processing, stir in the cold strawberry puree. Process in an ice cream maker and enjoy.
*To make strawberry puree using frozen strawberries: Put frozen strawberries in a strainer over a bowl to thaw, letting the liquids drain. Process in a blender or food processor and strain again. Let chill before adding to the ice cream base. (You can do the same with fresh strawberries, there’s just no draining involved.)