Red Velvet Ice Cream

I just love ice cream (who doesn't?!) and while I'm definitely an Edy's fan, there is nothing like homemade ice cream.

We love the Funfetti Ice Cream I've made in the past, and I've always wanted to try it with other cake mixes. I was inspired by the red velvet box in the baking aisle and couldn't wait to try it.

The flavor wasn't really what I expected, but it was still so creamy and delicious. I brought it to my monthly girls' night, and it was the perfect end to an evening of food, wine, and great friends.

Side note: I just learned recently that placing plastic wrap on the surface of the ice cream is crucial in preventing freezer burn. I feel like everyone knew this except for me, but I figured I'd share in case there are one or two others out there in the dark. ;)


Red Velvet Ice Cream
adapted from food.com

• 4oz cream cheese
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup red velvet cake mix

Using a mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Slowly add the milk, cream, and vanilla; once all of that is incorporated, whisk in the cake mix. Pour into your ice cream maker and prepare according to manufacturer's directions.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

This is a very belated post.  I made this cinnamon ice cream back in November so that our Thanksgiving pies could be served a la mode, and it was delicious.  I had tried a different recipe last year and it was WAY too strong; this one was perfect.  I actually just used the leftovers yesterday morning in a Frosty Latte while the kids turned the family room into a wrapping paper museum.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

from Pennies on a Platter

• 1 cup whole milk
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• pinch of salt
  
• ten 3-inch (8-cm) cinnamon sticks, broken up
  
• 2 cups heavy cream
  
• 5 large egg yolks
  

Warm the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks and 1 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Once warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Rewarm the cinnamon-infused milk mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon and discard them or save them for garnish and presentation. Pour the remaining 1 cup 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 constanly 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 into the cream. 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.

Frosty Eggnog Latte

This delicious little drink is precisely the reason I made Eggnog Ice Cream in the first place. It's simple and decadent and would be perfect for entertaining this holiday season. You can, of course, make it with any flavor ice cream; I think a nice peppermint flavor would hit the spot as you're finishing your wrapping or watching the kids dig into their treasures.

I should note that it's imperative you use cold coffee! I completely messed up poor Brooke's demonstration by forgetting to brew the coffee in time to chill it. The result was a luke-warm concoction that tasted awesome but felt really weird.


Frosty Eggnog Latte
just barely adapted from The Pampered Chef

• 4 cups ice cream, softened
• 2 cups milk, chilled
• 2 cups brewed coffee, chilled
• sugar, to taste

Mix all ingredients thoroughly until smooth. Serve, topping with whipped cream if desired.

Serves 6

Eggnog Ice Cream

A couple of weeks ago, Brooke did a Pampered Chef show at my house. One of the recipes she demo'ed was an awesome Iced Eggnog Latte, and she needed eggnog ice cream to do it. I never pass up a chance to make my own ice cream, so after a quick google search, I had a delicious treat churning away on my counter.

I will post the latte recipe soon, but for now, enjoy the ice cream. I'm sure it will make a lovely addition to your holiday dessert table.

Eggnog Ice Cream

from Allrecipes

• 2 cups eggnog
  
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  
• 1 cup milk

Mix the eggnog, whipping cream, and milk together in a bowl, and pour the mixture into the freezer container of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Once frozen, spoon the ice cream into a container, and freeze 2 hours more.

Ice Cream Sundae Brownies

I can resist neither brownies nor ice cream, so when you put them together, you are for sure going to make me happy! Usually this combination leads to ice cream with brownie bits swirled in, but Picky Palate decided to turn the tables; she created the Ice Cream Sundae Brownie.


I've made these brownies a few different times with various flavors of ice cream: mocha frappucino, phish food, etc. The upside is that the brownies have a new layer of yuminess - even though I used a box mix, there's just something about them that makes them so much richer and more decadent than a regular brownie.

The downside is that I couldn't really taste the flavor of the ice cream. I was especially disappointed when I used Starbucks' Mocha Frappucino flavor; I was really hoping for that delicious latte flavor.

Perhaps a stronger variety, such as a mint, would shine through, but I'm not sure. These brownies, however, were still absolutely delicious and I will make them again - though I will likely not go out of my way for a fun flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 box Brownie Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 Cup canola or vegetable oil
• Heaping 1/2 Cup of your favorite Ice Cream
  
• 1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips
• 1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl mix the brownie mix, 2 eggs and oil until combined…and thick. I did NOT add the water. Scoop in ice cream, chocolate chips and hot fudge; mix until combined. Pour into a foil lined 9×13 inch baking dish that’s been GENEROUSLY sprayed with cooking spray. More is better here Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.

2. Let cool completely. Remove foil from baking dish, cut into squares and serve.

Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream

In my world, anything with fruit in it is automatically healthy. So I can totally assuage the ice cream guilt when I dish out a hefty bowl of this Strawberry-Banana Ice Cream (found on Crazy in Minnesota and originally from Sweet and Savory Eats).

I usually turn up my nose and any ice cream that doesn't contain chocolate, but this was really good (especially if you add chocolate syrup!). A perfect, fresh, "summery" ice cream!


When I was photographing this, Ryan wanted to "help." He took the shot below. Not too shabby for a two-and-a-half-year-old!


Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced (I used about a cup and a half, plus two sliced bananas)
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/3 cup of the sugar; stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours.

In another bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, the vanilla and any accumulated juices from the strawberries.

Turn on your ice cream maker and pour the mixture into the frozen bowl. Let mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes.

Add the sliced strawberries during the last 5 minutes of freezing.

Ice Cream Brownie Cupcakes

This past weekend, Sarah, Colleen, and I went to poor bed-ridden Brooke's house for lunch. Whenever we get together, we all bring a dish so that it's never extra work for the hostess (unless you're me and you suddenly find that you have a clean your house because you haven't cleaned it in about 3 months because your 2-year-old just destroys everything you clean).

I volunteered to bring the dessert, and I could not decide what to bring. Nothing seemed exciting or special enough. Finally, the day before our lunch, I sat down to make my grocery list and forced myself to just make a decision.

To procrastinate, I decided to check out my Google Reader, and lo and behold, fate intervened. The very top post was a recipe for Ice Cream Brownie Cupcakes from Annie. It was different, interesting, and very delicious sounding. Perfect.


I ended up with a few changes; I decided to keep the chocolate them going and used Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream instead of strawberry. I also ran out of time to make the ganauche (we were out getting Ryan his big boy bed!) so I had my husband run to the store and grab me a bottle of Magic Shell. Perfect.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the concept of this recipe. The only thing I didn't like was the actual brownie. I was skeptical about it from the beginning, because the batter was very dry and didn't really "spread" in the oven. I also thought it had kind of a weird taste to it... I'm sure it's the fault of the baker and not the recipe! I would for sure try these again.

(Annie later informed me of a typo in the original recipe. It should be 3/4 cups of flour, not 3 cups! No wonder... I fixed it below. Thank you, Annie, for salvaging this yummy dessert for me!)


Ingredients
For the brownies:

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/8 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the ice cream:

• 1 batch of chosen ice cream, slightly softened

For the ganache:

• 3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

To garnish:

• Fresh strawberry slices (I omitted)

To make the brownie bottoms, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with foil liners. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; stir together and set aside. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water combine the butter and chocolate. Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk to blend. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture, and then the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Scoop 1 tablespoon of batter into cupcake liner. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 6-8 minutes. Leaving the brownies in the cupcake pans, cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Top with strawberry ice cream until the cupcake liner is full. (If the ice cream is freshly made, it is just the right consistency for filling the cupcake liners.) Return the cupcake pans to the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour the cream evenly over the chocolate, let stand for 1 minute. Stir until smooth with a rubber spatula. If the ganache is too thin, allow it to stand at room temperature to cool and become more easily spreadable. Once the ganache is at the correct temperature, scoop it by the teaspoonful on top of the ice cream cupcakes and spread over the tops. Garnish with fresh strawberry slices, if desired.

Remove cupcakes from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

I couldn't wait to make this ice cream from Proceed with Caution. And even better - when I went food shopping, I bought the peanut butter Oreos. YUM!!

(Actually, I should mention that I originally bought regular Oreos to make this, but those suckers didn't last long enough to be made into ice cream!)


I love that she references her tips for adjusting fat content - I will for sure be using those again!

Anytime I've tried to adjust fat content on my own, the result has been very hard, icy ice cream, so I was very impressed when this still ended up creamy and wonderful. Loved it!


Ingredients

• 8 oz milk (skim, 1%, 2% or whole is fine)
• 8 oz heavy cream, whipped
• 8 oz fat free half and half
• 1/4 cup eggbeaters
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 7 oz fat free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup finely ground oreos
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped oreos

Whisk together the egg beaters, sugars, and sweetened condensed milk. Add the cream, milk, half and half, vanilla, and finely ground oreos, mix well. Chill a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions. In the last 5 minutes of freezing, add the roughly chopped oreos. Place in the freezer to cure.

Shamrock Shake

I decided to take Ryan out on a little McDonald's date on St. Patrick's Day, and I was just as excited to have a Shamrock Shake as I was to spend the evening with my little man.

However, unbeknownst to me, NOT ALL McDONALD'S CARRY THE BELOVED SHAKE! Oh, the horror!

And, of course, mine is one of them. I was very distraught.

I poked around online and found this copycat recipe on recipezaar.com. Though it's not as good as the original, it's not too shabby when you can't get an authentic one.


Ingredients

• 2 cups vanilla ice cream or soy ice cream
• 1 1/4 cups 2% low-fat milk or soymilk
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
• 8 drops green food coloring

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth.

2. Stop blender to stir with a spoon if necessary to help blend ice cream.

3. Pour into 12-ounce cups and serve each with a straw.

Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream

From the moment I laid eyes on Annie's recipe for Milk Chocolate Ice Cream with Brownie Bits, I was in love. I starred the recipe and added to the ingredients to my Peapod order. (Do you do Peapod? If not, you should. Grocery delivery is freaken fantastic.)

When it came time to make it however, I still had some brownies leftover from a box (Hey - don't judge. The box cost $1. You'd buy it too!) and couldn't really justify making even more. I thought about just throwing the box brownies into the recipe from Annie, but decided against it. I had visions of writing, "The ice cream was good, but the brownies were just ehh." I decided to save her complete version for next time.


I then remembered that Erin posted a Chocolate Ice Cream recipe on her blog, Dinner and Dessert (which she got from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop). I didn't star it initially because, well, in case you hadn't noticed, I like chunks of stuff in my ice cream, and plain ice cream has no chunks. But, in a rare lightbulb moment, I decided that I could throw my brownie chunks into Erin's recipe and I'd be very happy.

And "happy" does not begin to describe yours truly when eating this ice cream. Wowzers.


Here is Erin's recipe. I just also crumbled up the brownies and froze them for about a half hour; I added them to the machine for the last 2 minutes of churning.

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used dark)
  
• 5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup whole milk
• ¾ cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk unto 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 chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. 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 (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin out).

Makes about 1 quart

Ben and Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream

I was always a fan of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, but never really ate it much because of its price. However, when I was pregnant with Ryan, I was going through pints of B&J's like they were going out of style.


So is it really shocking that I searched the internet for some B&J's recipes that I could create at home? Google led me to Joyce's Fine Cooking which has some AWESOME ice cream from B&J, most from their book (which I've given as gifts twice, and really need to get for myself!).

I decided on Heath Bar Crunch, although I'm not really sure... it just jumped out at me. I also think it would be really cool to try with various candy bars!


Ingredients

• 4 original (1 1/8oz) Heath Bars

• 2 large eggs

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2 cup heavy or whipping cream

• 1 cup milk

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a sharp knife, cut the candy bars into 1/2- to 1-inch chunks. You should have about 1 cup. Put in bowl, cover & freeze.

Whisk eggs in mixing bowl until light & fluffy (1-2 minutes). Whisk in sugar a little at a time, then continue until well blended (about 1 more minute). Add cream, milk, and vanilla, and whisk to blend.

Put in ice cream maker and freeze (according to maker's directions).

After ice cream stiffens (about 2 minutes before it is done), add the candy, then continue freezing until ready. Makes about 1 quart.

Mocha Ice Cream

I wanted to make a fun ice cream flavor for when my parents and brothers came over for dinner. My two favorite things in the world (besides Ryan, of course) are chocolate and coffee, so I set off on a search to find an ice cream recipe that would satisfy both.

This Mocha Ice Cream from myrecipes.com was perfect! It might be actually a TOUCH too rich, but that's really okay - that just means that I have a little less, and a) the ice cream lasts longer, and b) I don't get as fat. ;)


The only suggestion I have is to let the mixture sit in the fridge for much longer. After 2 hours, mine was not cold enough, and it didn't mix in the machine; I had to put the machine, with the mixture inside, in the freezer for another 45 minutes before it fluffed up.


Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package semisweet chocolate squares, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 4 egg yolks

Microwave chocolate in a 1-quart microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring twice; stir in brewed coffee. Set chocolate mixture aside.

Bring whipping cream, half-and-half, 1/2 cup sugar, and coffee granules to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar and coffee dissolve.

Beat yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at high speed with an electric mixer until thick and pale. With mixer at low speed, gradually pour hot cream mixture into yolk mixture; return to saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats a spoon. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate mixture. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Pour chilled mixture into freezer container of a 5-quart hand-turned or electric freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Pack freezer with additional ice and rock salt, and let stand 1 hour. Serve ice cream with cookies, if desired.

Hot Fudge Sauce

I could not hit "s" for "star" fast enough when this recipe for Hot Fudge Sauce popped up in my Google Reader from Deb's Smitten Kitchen.

I was initially disappointed that my sauce didn't seem as thick as hers, and I was set to have a watery flavor/consistency, but the taste is oh... my... god. I want to go home and lick the bowl.

Hot Fudge Sauce
Adapted from Silver Palate Cookbook [Anyone remember this?]

This is a deep, dark fudgy bittersweet sauce that firms up on ice cream.

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 3 tablespoons butter, unsalted
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons corn syrup
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon rum (or other flavoring, such as a flavored liquer or vanilla extract)

Melt the chocolate and butter very slowly in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring frequently until combined. Meanwhile, heat the water to boiling in the small, heavy saucepan. When the butter and chocolate have melted, stir the mixture into the boiling water. Add the sugar, corn syrup and salt and mix until smooth. Turn the heat up and stir until mixture starts to boil; adjust heat so that sauce is just maintained at the boiling point, stirring occasionally. Allow sauce to boil for nine minutes.

Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the rum and serve warm over ice cream.

Do ahead: Sauce can be easily and quickly reheated in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds. Stir and it will be shiny and even again.

Yields 2 1/2 cups

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

I think I fall more in love with my ice cream maker every day, and cannot thank my awesome sister- and brother-in-law enough for buying it for me (um, I mean us) for our anniversary!

I also think that Kim's Kitchen is pretty damn cool for posting this amazing recipe for Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream!


I don't know that I really tasted the cheesecake part... the cream cheese flavor was kind of lost in the ice cream. However, it was delicious!


This is definitely not a spur-of-the-moment ice cream, though - you need to complete this ice cream in multiple steps and allow various stages to cool. But every step is worth it - so yummy!

Oreo Cheesecake Ice Cream

Source: The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by: Bruce Weinstein

Ingredients:

• 1 c sugar
• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c milk
• 1 1/2 c heavy cream
• 7 oreos, chopped (I used WAY more!)

Directions:

Beat the sugar and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Set aside.

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the cheese mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not let the mixture boil or the egg will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the heavy cream. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, than freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the instructions. Stir the crushed oreos in by hand after removing the ice cream from the machine. Ice cream should be soft served and ready to eat now, or freeze for at least 2 hours for a firmer ice cream.

Yield: 1 quart

Funfetti Ice Cream

These pictures do NOT do any justice to the yumminess that is this ice cream. Thanks to Carrie, this recipe could very well be my new favorite. I was so excited to try this Cake Batter Ice Cream, but even more so to sub in funfetti cake mix. :)

The sprinkles kind of disappeared, so that was a bummer. Maybe next time I'll add in extra.


I have been having SO much fun making my own ice cream, and while I do still occasionally buy it from the store, it is NO match for what I can prepare in my own kitchen.

(By the way, if anyone has any suggestions for making any ice cream recipe even the slightest bit healthier without it coming out all icy, let's here 'em!)

Make this ice cream tonight. I mean it.

Oh, and in making this, I learned that I cannot make 2 batches of ice cream back-to-back; the bowl has to go back into the freezer in between. Live and learn.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk, well chilled
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup Funfetti cake mix
  

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

Stir in cake mix, making sure there are no lumps.

Pour mixture into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker and let mix until it has thickened (about 25-30 minutes).

Remove ice cream from freezer bowl and place into a separate container.

Place freezer bowl and the ice cream into the freezer to further harden.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

I was really in the mood to make some sort of dessert-y treat, but had already gone to the grocery store for the week. So I needed something that didn't require an extra trip.

I decided on ice cream, but I wanted something COOL, you know? Not just plain old vanilla or chocolate... something with CHUNKS. I love ice cream with chunks!


I realized that I had a handful of mini-Reeses cups in the cabinet, so off to Google I flew, in search of a Reeses recipe.

Well, I found an awesome one on the Cuisinart website!

I pretty much kept the recipe exactly, except that I used 1/2 skim milk in part of the milk addition. Also, for the peanut butter? I used my super cool Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, which not only gave it a kick-ass taste, but also made it look like chocolate ice cream.

And the taste? A-MAZE-ing. I seriously want to go grab it out of the freezer and have even more.

The pics were taken immediately out of the machine, which is why it's not really solid.

Speaking of pictures... I am sad to say that I have returned my parents' Rebel to its rightful owners. I've had it for several months and have loved every minute of it... I was finally starting to learn how to USE it! But maybe Santa will bring me one this year... I've been a very good girl, don't you think? :)

So future pictures will be taken from my Sony CyberShot or my Fuji FinePix... while I mourn the Rebel that was never mine. Hee hee!

Ingredients

• 1-1/8 cups good quality peanut butter (not natural)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped chocolate peanut butter cup candies

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to combine the peanut butter and sugar until smooth. Add the milk and mix on low speed until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 25 to 35 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the chopped candy through the top and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.

Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Information per Serving:
Calories 261 (69% from fat) • carb. 15g • pro. 6g • fat 21g • sat. fat 9g • chol. 43mg • sod. 110mg • calc. 49mg • fiber 1g

©2008 CuisinartCuisinart® is a registered trademark of Cuisinart, Stamford, CT 06902.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

My second encounter with the ice cream maker didn't go quite as smoothly as my first, but it wasn't too bad.

I am not having luck finding Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream, so I figured I'd make my own!



I couldn't find a recipe, so I combined one for cheesecake ice cream that I found on the Food Network along with the one for pumpkin ice cream that came with the machine.

I did use light cream and whole milk in place of the heavy cream and light cream, but the consistency was by far icier than when I made it last time. I actually had to let the container sit out for a good half hour before I could even scoop it out.

The taste, however, was freaken fantastic!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups light cream
• 6 egg yolks
• 8oz cream cheese (low fat is okay, but avoid fat-free), softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin

1. Freeze bowl of machine for 24 hours.

2. Scald light cream in heavy saucepan. Whisk yolks, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the cream; add the spice. Return to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes; do not boil. Remove from heat. Whisk in the heavy cream and the pumpkin. Strain into bowl; refrigerate until well chilled.

3. Assemble ice cream maker according to manufacturer. Turn to the proper setting ("stir" for a KA Mixer attachment). Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into freeze bowl. Continue on "stir" for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Immediately transfer ice cream to serving dishes, or freeze in airtight container.

Oreo Mint Ice Cream

I cannot even tell how unbelievably giddy I was when Pat's sister and brother gave me (US! I mean US!) the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.

I immediately started scouring blogs for recipes and landed, of course, at my friend Brooke's blog. I have recently fallen in mad, passionate love with the Thin Mint Blizzard at Dairy Queen, and I thought this might satisfy that craving.

Well, it didn't, but it's okay - there is a brand new place in my heart for this recipe. So good! I must confess that I kept sticking my finger in the bowl as it was churning, and I didn't even freeze it before helping myself to a bowl. Of course, it's at a much better consistency when frozen all the way, but really? No such thing as BAD ice cream.

I know you agree.


Anyway, part of me wants to keep making this over and over, and the other part of me can't wait for it to be gone so I can try a new flavor.

(Don't tell my husband, but I think next up on my list is a pumpkin pie ice cream...!)

Oh, and I just learned how to edit photos, so forgive me while I experiment and play around.




Ingredients

• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped Oreo cookies
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy or whipping cream (I replaced half a cup with skim milk.)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp peppermint extract

Place the cookies in a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. Add the peppermint extract and blend again. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. After the ice cream stiffens (and about 2 minutes before it is done) add the chopped cookies and continue freezing until ice cream is ready.

Like Brooke, I also added a few drops of food coloring, since I like my mint ice cream green!