Black Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

I'm baaaack and hopefully for good.  I realized today that July is National Ice Cream Month.  I thought I'd make my comeback with this amazing ice cream that I made last weekend.  I got a vitamix recently so I've been hitting up the farmer's market hard every weekend to stock my freezer full of farm grown local fruit for my smoothies.  Last week, I came across black raspberries.

The sighting of the black raspberries was kind of nostalgic for me. I  had never actually seen them for sale before, but back in Massachusetts, black raspberry is one of my favorite flavors to get at the local ice cream shop.  Here, where I live now, there are not very many local dairy bars that have a variety of hard ice cream flavors, it's mostly soft serve, so it makes me sad that my kids miss out on that experience.  I immediately bought a quart of black raspberries and went home that very day to make black raspberry ice cream.  I don't know who I was with, but I think it was my dad, that ordered it with jimmies- black raspberry with chocolate-you can't go wrong.

I recently purchased David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop.  It has been on my wishlist for a very long time.  I decided to buy it because my son expressed interest in learning how to make ice cream.  As I was searching for a black raspberry ice cream recipe, I pulled out the book and there it was, "raspberry swirl ice cream".  If you are looking for a fun way to introduce new fruits to a picky kids, here you go! All of my kids ate it and liked it.  It is good to know that the ice cream is actually made with real, local berries.  If you can't find black raspberries, I'm positive it will be just as delicious with red ones, which are also in season now.

Black Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream:

Ice Cream:
1 cup Whole Milk (if you use low fat, it will not turn out as creamy)
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
5 Egg Yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla

Black Raspberry Swirl:
1 1/2 cup black raspberries (fresh or frozen)
3 TBSP Sugar
1 TBSP vodka

1) Make the raspberry swirl.  Mash the raspberries together with the sugar and vodka.  (The vodka helps the ice cream stay smooth- I did not have vodka, but since I make my own vanilla with vodka, I used 1 TBSP vanilla)- I also was lazy and just mashed it together in my food processor, just way easier.  Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl, and strain the raspberry mixture to remove the seeds.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

2) For the ice cream, place egg yolks in a medium sized bowl and whisk.

3) Place milk, sugar, and salt in medium sauce pan, warm it to about 175'.

4) While milk mixture is warming, pour cream into a large bowl, with a mesh sieve over it.

5) Once milk mixture is warm, pour half of it over the egg yolks, stirring constantly.  This is called tempering the eggs.  Pour this mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk mixture.  Continue heating, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan.  The mixture should reach about 185', you will notice it will thicken like a custard, and coat the spatula.  Remove from heat.

6) Pour custard mixture through mesh sieve into cream.  Stir in the vanilla and stir until cool, over an ice bath.  Once mixture is cool, cover and place in the refrigerator to chill.  Once the mixture is chilled, about 1 hour, you can churn in your ice cream maker, according to directions.

7) Chill the container you will be storing the ice cream in in your freezer.  When the ice cream is done churning, layer a scoop of ice cream, spread a thin layer of raspberry swirl, then ice cream, etc until you have filled the container.  Freeze until ready to serve.

Source:  Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream

I've been holding out.  I've made variations of this ice cream since the spring over and over again, but I have not posted the recipe.  It's not that I didn't want to, it's just that 1) the ice cream is so good, it does not last long enough to photograph, and 2) when I do have a bit of it hanging around, I don't have enough time to photograph it the way I'd like.

Tuesday was my daughter's birthday and she asked me to make her some ice cream.  I decided to take the new candycane oreos I bought and use them as a mix -in to my favorite vanilla ice cream recipe.  The result:  AWESOME (although I bet Trader Joe's Candy Candy Jo Jos would be incredible!).

I've been having a hard time finding time to do anything lately and this blog is something I enjoy to help me be me.  It seems as though I've let it fall by the wayside and I have TONS of things to share, so hopefully this will springboard me back in the swing of things.

If you get a chance to make this ice cream, it will work well on its own, or with a variety of mix ins, the key is to add the mix-ins at the very end of the ice cream churning process.

Treat yourself today- I know I am- (and tomorrow)!

Oreo Ice Cream-

1 vanilla bean (or 1 TBSP vanilla)
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
6 egg yolks

1) Split vanilla bean lenghtwise, scrape out seeds.  Place vanilla bean pod, seeds, cream, milk, 1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar, corn syrup, and salt in medium sauce pan.  Whisk, then heat to about 175' over medium heat.

2) Whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl.  Set aside.

3) When cream mixture has reached 175', remove pan from heat- remove vanilla bean pod.  Slowly whisk 1 cup heated cream mixture into the bowl of the egg yolk mixture.  This is tempering the egg yolks.  Return this tempered egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan with the rest of the cream mixture.

4) Return the cream mixture to medium heat until it registers a temperature of about 180', the mixture will be slightly thickened like custard.  Place a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl- pour the custard mixture through the sieve and collect in the bowl.  Let cool to room temp, then cover and refrigerate until completely cool, about 4 hours.

5) Remove custard from refrigerator.  Start your ice cream maker, pour custard in, and churn according to directions.  When the ice cream is beginning to firm up, before you stop the mixer, chop up the oreos into bite sized pieces and pour into ice cream maker for the last 30 seconds.  Transfer ice cream to air tight container and freeze before serving.

Source:  adapted from Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

Homemade Cherry Sherbet

Not long ago, I posted about the lime sherbet I made.  Since then, I have been on a sherbet kick- I have made five kinds in the past two weeks!  I'm almost positive that this cherry sherbet is the clear favorite in our house.  I'm not sure that more than one of my kids would actually eat a real cherry, but cook them and mash them and put them in sherbet, and they all ate them!

I went to a farmer's market last weekend to take pictures for my photography club and the cherries are starting to come into season.  Now would be the perfect time to try buying fresh cherries (locally if possible) and make some of this refreshing summer treat.

Cherry Sherbet:

3 cups cherries, stems removed and pitted
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
3 TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla (or vodka)- I used 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp cherry extract
2/3 cup heavy cream

1) Cook 3 cups pitted cherries, sugar, salt, and 3/4 cup water over medium heat- until it reaches a simmer, about 7 minutes.  I used a flat bottomed whisk and mashed the cherries while they were cooking to help extract more of the juices.  Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and strain the cherry mixture.  Press down on the solids to help extract more juices.  Discard the solids when done.

2)  Add lemon juice and vanilla (and/or vodka- cherry extract). ** This amount of alcohol helps to keep the ice cream smooth, not frosty when it freezes. Cover and place in freezer for about 30 minutes, do not freeze.

3) Whip heavy cream in medium or large bowl until soft peaks form.  Slowly whisk in juice mixture from freezer.

4) Turn ice cream maker on.  While ice cream maker is moving, slowly add mixture into ice cream maker and let it churn until it reaches the consistency of soft serve ice cream.  Place in a covered, air-tight container and store in the freezer.

Adapted from:  Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

This baby was on fire about this sherbet:

Happy Friday Everyone!

Homemade Lime Sherbet

I admit, I have never really been a fan of sherbet, that is, until last year.  On hot days, I don't like to eat, so I found that a nice cold fruit smoothie was not only refreshing but filled me up.  I had a really tasty smoothie at Jamba Juice last summer, and it had lime sherbet in it.  I find myself substituting sherbet into my smoothies instead of yogurt now.  I bought some lime sherbet when I moved into my new house and my kids were eating it up faster that I could use it in my smoothies, so I knew the flavor would go over well with everyone.

After making the peanut butter ice cream last week, I've been inspired to keep more homemade stuff on hand in the freezer, since it really is just so easy.  In my Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, there are a LOT of ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, and frozen ice recipes.  My son and I found a recipe for a sherbet cake we are going to make together, involving lemon and raspberry sherbet (first I need to get a springform pan).  I thought it would be a good idea to make our own sherbet for the cake, but since we don't have the pan yet, I decided we'd try lime as our tester flavor of sherbet.

How good was the lime sherbet?  So good that I made it last night and it's completely gone now.  We all had a bowl for dessert last night and then Hazel and I had our strawberry lime smoothies for lunch.  In fact, it was so good, there's no question that I will ever have any other type of sherbet in my freezer but homemade.  In fact, I actually whipped up a batch of orange sherbet while the kids were eating dinner and that's in the freezer now (think creamsicle- check back soon for this recipe).

And you're welcome!

Lime Sherbet:

1 TBSP lime zest
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 6 limes)
1 1/2 cup cold water
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
2 tsp triple sec or vodka (or 1 tsp vanilla- I make my own vanilla, and it's from vodka and vanilla beans so I figured it'd be an ok substitute)
2/3 cup heavy cream

1) Put sugar, lime zest, and salt in bowl of food processor, fitted with blade.  Pulse for 1 minute until zest is incorporated into the sugar.

2) With the food processor running, add the water and lime juice.  Mix for 1 minute until all the sugar is dissolved.  Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl that has a lid.

3) Add alcohol or vanilla to the strained mixture, stir, cover, and place in the freezer.  Leave in freezer for about 30-45 minutes, until the temperature of the liquid is about 40'.  Do not let it freeze.

4) After removing the liquid from the freezer, pour the heavy cream into a bowl.  Using a whisk, beat the cream until stiff peaks form.  (I cheated and used a hand beater, and whipped it on medium until stiff peaks formed).

5) While slowly whisking the cream, after the stiff peaks formed, keep whisking while adding the liquid mixture from the freezer.  Turn the ice cream maker on, while it is turning, slowly pour this liquid into it.

6) Run the ice cream maker for about 25-30 minutes until the sherbet is thick and creamy.  Place in an airtight container with a lid and freeze for about 3 hours until firm before serving.

Source:  Cook's Illusrated Cookbook