Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

Hello Chickadees! And an extra special hello to all the Mama Chickadees on this Mother's Day!

Last year, I got to spend Mother's Day with three special Mamas in my life. This year, I am not even in the same time zone as any of those fine women :-(  But I've got Mama B on my mind, because I've been doing a lot of organixing lately.

Organixing. It's a real word, I swear. Go ahead, Google it. I can wait.

*Katie Googles "organix" herself while she waits*

Okay, actually, I take that back--don't Google it, because the internet is WRONG. Organix is not the name of a Roots album, a brand of dog food, a line of natural hair products, or an organic chemistry research company. Organix is a verb Mama B and I made up:

Organix: to get rid of, replace, or alter an item on your to-do list for the sake of your sanity.

You can employ the fine art of organixing after you realize you were too ambitious when making your to-do list in the first place, or when life says, "to hell with your to-do list, I have other plans."

Would you like to hear it used in a sentence?

Earlier this week, I wanted to make Hummingbird Cupcakes for a dinner party, but life got in the way the night before and suddenly it was 11:30pm--at least two hours past cupcake-making o'clock. But I wanted to bring a homemade dessert, so I organixed the cupcakes and replaced them with this super quick and easy homemade hot fudge sauce.

Not an hour later, the fudge was in the fridge and I was in bed. I woke well-rested for my dinner party, with a stellar dessert to boot.

Katie's my name, organixing is my game.

It's a very useful life-skill, actually, and I have Mama B to thank for it. And I am grateful, because it led me to this hot fudge sauce.

I mean, seriously, if it leads you to chocolate, it's a truly valuable life-skill, don't you think?

I actually made this sauce for not one but two different dinner parties this week. It's rich and smooth and goopy and does that awesome thing where it hardens up a bit as it sits in the ice cream, turning into what can only be described as chewy fudgy goodness.

Thanks for helping keep me sane, Mama B. This sundae's for you.

--Kate

Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce
Makes about 2 cups (about 8 generous servings)
Slightly adapted from Gourmet February 2004 via My Baking Addiction


2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped (or approximately 1 cup bittersweet or dark chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (if using salted butter, reduce salt above to just a pinch)
1 teaspoon vanilla


1. In a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa, salt, and half of the chocolate. Stir mixture until the chocolate pieces are completely melted, and then stir occasionally until mixture boils.


2. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes. Mixture will still be a bit thin for hot fudge. Remove pan from the heat and add in butter, vanilla, and remaining chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow the sauce to cool down before serving. It will thicken slightly as it cools.


3. To store, cool sauce completely and chill in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. To serve, heat sauce in microwave in 15-30 second intervals, stirring until you reach the desired consistency.

Zesty Lemon Ice Cream

It was time, ladies and gentlemen.

Time for some homemade, melt-y, refreshing, creamy goodness.

How had August arrived without Katie and I making ANY ice cream this summer?!

This wrong had to be righted. Pronto. Was there time to venture out of our air-conditioned apartment to the grocery store for ingredients? No sir! Could we afford to wait for a silly custard-based ice cream to cook and chill? Of course not!

David Lebovitz, ice cream extraordinaire, to the rescue! This recipe for zesty lemon ice cream uses ingredients we already had on hand and involves almost no waiting. (I say almost because all ice cream-making requires at least a little bit of waiting. I think it's the universe's way of keeping people like me from becoming ice cream-making maniacs.)

 

Churned from a custard-less base (just cream, no eggs), this treat is light, refreshing, and well, zesty! Just perfect for a lazy summer afternoon pick-me up.

If you prefer your treats more sweet than tart, do like Kate and me and add a bit of hot fudge. Divine.

It's August, ladies and gentlemen. We've made our ice cream, and eaten it, too. All is right in the K&B kitchen.

-Becky

Zesty Lemon Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop
Makes approximately 1 quart

2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3-4 lemons)
2 cups half-and-half
Pinch of salt

1. Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or blender. Make sure to zest only the very top (yellow) layer of the skin; the white underlayer is bitter.
2. Add the sugar and blend until the lemon zest is fully incorporated and very fine.
3. Add the lemon juice and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Blend in the half-and-half and salt and process until smooth.
5. Chill mixture for one hour, then churn with an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Once churned, place in freezer until frozen (about 2 hours).

Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

Autumn officially begins this Wednesday, and in New York, I can feel it. "Why, hello there!" it says with a sly smile. "Why, hello!", I reply, "So nice to see you again!" I love this time of year - the cool breezes on my face, the here-then-gone explosion of color in the trees, and the lure of apple season right around the corner.

But I'm also sad to say goodbye to summer. No more picnics in the park. No more movies on the pier. And no more ice cream.

Well, you know me. At least less ice cream, and certainly not the kind I'm about to share with you. You see, the recipe below could only have been thought-up on one of those blissful, lazy summer days -  the kind when anything seems possible as the sunshine stretches out before you and you lean back in your chair with a monumental "life is good" sigh.

The credit for this one goes entirely to the Music Man. After enjoying a spectacular blueberry oatmeal crisp at the New Leaf Restaurant, my pie-loving creative genius of a boyfriend suddenly turns to me with a wild look of inspiration in his eyes and spews out the following: "What if we made ice cream that tastes like blueberry pie?!?! We could put, you know, little bits of pie crust in there! Yeah! Oohh! Yeah! That would be good! Let's do it! Do you have the stuff at home to do that?! Today?! We should do that!!!! That would be SO good!!! Don't you think that would be good!?!?!?!?!"

In fact, I did. And boy, was it GOOD. If my guy has more treat ideas like this one up his sleeve, we're going to make an even better pair than I thought. On multiple occasions I had to take the tupperware away from him so he didn't eat the entire thing in one sitting. And then, of course, I took it back out and ate more than I should have in one sitting.

So grab the last of those blueberries from the market and celebrate summer. Like this ice cream, it'll be gone before you know it.

-Becky

Blueberry Pie Ice Cream
Recipe by Becky, adapted from this recipe at Group Recipes and this recipe at Fine Cooking
Makes approximately one quart

For blueberry puree:
1 pint fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

For basic ice cream:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
table salt
5 large egg yolks

Mix-in:
1 frozen pie crust 

Directions:
1. Bake pie crust according to package directions. Allow to cool completely, then break into bite-size pieces and freeze until ready to use. 

Prepare blueberries:
2. Toss blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, prepare the basic ice cream custard:
3. Pour one cup of the heavy cream into a medium bowl and set a fine strainer over the top. Place this bowl inside a larger bowl prepared with an ice bath.
4. Whisk egg yolks in another medium bowl.
5. In a medium saucepan, mix the rest of the cream with the milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Warm over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Slowly pour about a cup of the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly (this tempers the egg yolks so they don't curdle). Then, pour the warmed yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture.

7. 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). (TIP: To test the thickness of the custard, run your fingernail down the back of the spatula. Don't burn yourself! If the line remains intact, the custard is ready; if the edges start running back together, give it another minute.)

8. Immediately strain the custard into the cream, then stir the mixture over the ice bath until cool. Cover and chill while preparing the blueberry puree.

When blueberries are ready (after 2 hours in the fridge), combine with the custard and churn into ice cream:
9. Drain the juice from the blueberries. Stir juice into custard.
10. Puree the berries in a food processor until smooth. Stir berries into custard. Chill mixture in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
11. Freeze in ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
12. When ice cream is churned, quickly stir in pie crust pieces with spatula or wooden spoon. Transfer to air-tight container and freeze until thickened and hard, at least 2 hours. Keeps for up to 2 weeks.

NOTE: I more or less halved this recipe, using 2 eggs and just over 1/2 pint blueberries. However, I still used the juice of half a lemon and a whole pie crust. Yum!

Strawberry Basil Ice Cream

Have I ever told you how awesome my sister is? It's the little things, really. I'll come back to that in a sec.

First, here's another instance where a little something made a huge difference:

See, I've never been a fan of strawberry ice cream. I am always just a little bit bored with it. That said, I like the idea of strawberry ice cream. I want to like strawberry ice cream.

So when I tasted and loved strawberry basil soda at Rouge Tomate during Restaurant Week, I thought basil might be just the thing my palate needed to get on board with strawberry ice cream.

I was right. My palate = totally on board with strawberry basil ice cream.

And now back to why my sister is awesome. Here's a recent chat exchange between us:

12:01 PM Beck: maybe i will make custard for ice cream tonight

  what kind?...a bunch of random chatting about stuff like what we ate for breakfast, (because telling each other what we ate for breakfast is a Very Important Part of being sisters)...

12:10 PM me: i want to try basil ice cream

 Beck: yeah

  should i get basil and do that?

12:11 PM me: sure

  i kinda wanna make strawberry basil ice cream

 Beck: how do you add the strawberries?

 me: not sure

12:12 PM maybe that recipe thing could do it

12:13 PM yeah it does it

12:14 PM Beck: so, what do i need to buy?

 me: i sent it to you

 Beck: ok

And that was the end of the ice cream conversation. We went on to chat about a ton of other random stuff that day, including me telling her I had lost my beloved aluminum water bottle, which was followed by this exchange:
 1:45 PM

  Beck: what color water bottle you want?

 me: hmmm

  just something not ugly

  and not red

  i don't like red water bottles, for some reason

  blue or silver would be fine

  or green

  whatever

 Beck: ok

And then we both went about our days.

I got home late that night and was greeted by 1) the overwhelming aroma of strawberries and basil and 2) a green water bottle.

To recap:
My sister wanted to make ice cream.
I suggested a flavor.
She made it.
And she bought me a not-ugly water bottle too.

Like I said, it's the little things.

Thank for being a great sister, Beck.  Because of you, not only do I now like strawberry (basil) ice cream, I'm also well hydrated.  I don't know what I'd do without you!

-Katie

Strawberry Basil Ice Cream
Yields about 1 quart
Recipe created using: Homemade Ice Cream Recipe Maker from FineCooking.com

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
table salt
1 cup tightly packed, coarsely torn basil leaves
5 large egg yolks
1 lb. fresh or frozen strawberries, pureed, strained, and mixed with 1/2 cup sugar

1. In a medium saucepan, mix 1 cup of the cream with the milk, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Warm the cream mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Stir in the basil. Cover, remove from the heat, and let sit for 1 hour. Taste and let sit longer if you want a stronger flavor.

3. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with several inches of ice water. Set a smaller metal bowl (one that holds at least 1-1/2 quarts) in the ice water. Pour the remaining cup of cream into the inner bowl (this helps the custard cool quicker when you pour it in later). Set a fine strainer on top. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl.

4. Rewarm the cream mixture over medium-high heat until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. In a steady stream, pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.

5. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heatproof rubber spatula until the custard thickens slightly (it should be thick enough to coat the spatula and hold a line drawn through it with a finger), 4 to 8 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 175 degrees to 180 degrees F at this point. Don't let the sauce overheat or boil, or it will curdle. Immediately strain the custard into the cold cream in the ice bath. Press firmly on the basil in the strainer with the spatula to extract as much flavor as possible.

6. Cool the custard to below 70 degrees F by stirring it over the ice bath. Stir the strawberry puree into the cooled custard.

7. Refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 4 hours. Then freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

8. Transfer the just-churned ice cream to an air-tight container, and freeze for at least 4 hours or up to 2 weeks.

IT'S-IT! The San Francisco Treat...

We're not talking about Rice-a-Roni here, people.

The IT'S-IT is a frozen treat that made its debut at San Francisco's Playland-at-the-Beach in 1928. Not just your regular ice cream sandwich, it combines vanilla or mint chip ice cream, soft oatmeal cookies, and an oh-so-thin chocolate coating that satisfactorily snaps in two at the first bite.

IT'S-ITs are melty and messy and make you go Mmmmmm. In short, when it comes to frozen ice cream treats, an IT'S-IT is it.

I make this bold statement as an expert on the IT'S-IT. You see, every day - every single day - of seventh grade, my good friend E and I shared a mint chip IT'S-IT. As the end of the lunch period drew closer and closer, our strength against temptation grew weaker and weaker, and with 5 or 4 or 3 minutes left before the bell, I'd run to the cafeteria, grab an IT'S-IT, and devour my half as fast as I could. I still have a mad tolerance for brain freeze.

For my friend E and I - two of the neatest, nicest, shyest kids at school - the daily IT'S-IT was our chance to get messy, be spontaneous, and share a sneaky smile. Plus, seventh grade is traumatic. I think all seventh graders deserve daily ice cream.

Alas, IT'S-ITs aren't sold on the east coast. Oh, the agony! So to celebrate National Ice Cream Sandwich Day on Monday, August 2, Katie and I decided to try our hand at creating a homemade IT'S-IT. None of the recipes we found on various blogs and food sites accurately replicated the original (you want me to dip only half the sandwich?!), so we pieced together our own.

What you'll need:
(These ingredients can be homemade or store-bought. Homemade recipes below.)
- plain oatmeal cookies
- ice cream, slightly softened
- "Magic Shell" chocolate for dipping

To assemble:

Line a baking dish with plastic wrap. Spread ice cream in the pan and let harden in the freezer. We used a 9-inch cake pan and about 1 quart of vanilla ice cream to get the desired thickness.

Get your cookies ready - match them up in pairs by size, or if you want to be really precise, use a cookie cutter to trim them into circles. We tried both and ended up liking the "rustic" look better, but if you're looking to replicate real IT'S-ITs, using a cookie cutter will produce a cleaner-looking sandwich.

When ice cream is hardened, use a cookie cutter to make circles of ice cream and place them between two cookies. Work quickly or you'll have a goopy mess!

Put the sandwiches in a baking dish and throw 'em back in the freezer to firm up.

Except maybe for this one.  This one you should eat.

When the sandwiches are firm and cold, dip them, roll them, do whatever you have to do to get them covered in chocolate.

Whatever you do, do it fast, or the ice cream will start to squish out the sides as it melts like it did in this one. Yes, that's my finger in the upper left - you try taking photos with hands covered in chocolate! Also, pay no attention to that mostly-dead basil plant in the background. I have a love-hate relationship with basil plants.

Place the sandwiches in the freezer so the chocolate hardens up completely. When you're ready to eat, make sure you have plenty of napkins! It's not a bad idea to have a bottle of stain remover handy, too.

-Becky

Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Oprah.com
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

    •    2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter
    •    1 cup packed dark brown sugar
    •    1/2 cup granulated sugar
    •    2 large eggs
    •    3/4 tsp fine salt
    •    1/2 tsp baking soda
    •    1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
    •    1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
    •    3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
    •    3/4 cup whole wheat flour
    •    2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until incorporated, scraping the bowl as necessary.
3. Add the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and vanilla and mix at medium speed until blended. Add the flours and mix at low speed until smooth.
4. With a strong rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the oats. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least one hour, or overnight.
5. Roll dough into golf-sized balls and place three inches apart on one of the prepared sheets. (We fit only four cookies on a standard size cookie sheet - they spread quite a bit.) Flatten balls to 1/2-inch discs using a flat-bottomed glass or the palm of your hand.
6. Bake for 14-15 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through, until the cookies are nearly set and golden brown. Let cool on the sheet for one minute, and then use a metal spatula to transfer to a rack to cool completely. Keep dough in the refrigerator between batches. The more chilled it is, the easier it is to roll.

Vanilla Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop
Makes about one quart

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pour one cup of the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. In a large bowl, prepare an ice bath.
3. Warm the milk, sugar, one cup of the cream, and salt in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. When warm, slowly pour about one third of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly (this tempers - i.e. slowly warms the eggs so they don't cook too quickly). Pour the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture.
4. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula , scraping at the bottom and sides, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula.
5. Pour the custard through the strainer into the cream. Add vanilla extract, place bowl in ice bath, and stir until mixture is cool. Chill in refrigerator at least three hours or overnight.
6. Churn ice cream in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

For Mint Chip Ice Cream (Becky's fav), click here!


Homemade "Magic Shell" Chocolate Coating
From AlphaMom
Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (measured when solid)
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Place ingredients in heatproof bowl (tupperware works well) and microwave for one minute.
2. Let sit for 2-3 minutes, allowing hot oil to melt chocolate chips.
3. Stir with heatproof spatula until smooth. It will be runny.

Store in refrigerator (will thicken), or in summertime, at room temperature (will remain liquid). To liquefy, heat in microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between.

Note: This chocolate coating is great for dipping IT'S-ITs because it is thin and hardens quickly. However, it does have a noticeable (and yummy) coconut flavor that the original IT'S-ITs do not. Next time, we'll try substituting butter or another type of oil for part of the coconut oil to achieve a more accurate version of the original!

National Ice Cream Day & Mint Chip Ice Cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

...ICE CREAM!

Today is National Ice Cream Day, and it's time to celebrate! I love ice cream. I mean I really, really love ice cream. Really, really, really, really, really, really absitively-posilutely love it. Here are a few examples to prove my point:

Example #1: Our crowded kitchen cabinets contain three types of bowls designed for one purpose only - eating ice cream.

Example #2: Freshman year of college, my favorite Friday night activity was chatting about life's mysteries over a bowl of pistachio Häagen Dazs with the Jesuit priest that lived across the hall. Now, the chats were awesome, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't stick around the dorm some Friday nights just for a taste of that contraband goodness from the Jesuits' well-stocked freezer. Weird, or wonderful? I'd say the latter.

Example #3: When it came time to choose a topic for my valedictorian speech at the end of high school, what did I pick? The lifelong friendships we'd made over the last four years? Nope. The great adventure of life upon which we were about to embark? Nah. Gratitude towards our parents and teachers? Academic and moral excellence?! World peace?!?! Cliché, my dear friends, all too cliché for my tastes. I chose something I could really talk about - ICE CREAM.

I'm serious.

I stood up in front of hundreds of people, not to mention my peers, and talked to them about ice cream.

Now THAT'S serious love, or at least a healthy obsession.

And no, you can't read the speech, because it's long been lost in the deep dark depths of hard drive disaster. Believe me - I've looked. What was my 18-year old mind thinking?!

Today, my love for ice cream is as strong as ever (hence the last two blog posts here and here). While my thighs keep reminding me I'd be better off spending Friday nights with a lower calorie friend, I still turn to ice cream when I feel lonely, nostalgic for simpler times, or spectacularly happy. For me, it's the best shoulder to cry on, the ultimate indulgence, and the greatest form of culinary celebration.

My favorite flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip, hands down. Always has been, always will be. Who's with me?

David Lebowitz's recipe uses mint leaves, not extract, to give this classic its intensely fresh flavor and barely-there green hue. I'm a big fan of the florescent ice cream shop stuff (ah, good ol' Baskin Robbins), but this all-natural taste and look could grow on me. My taste buds can be slow learners, though - I might have to eat a whole bunch of it to find out. Darn.

-Becky

Mint Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebowitz's The Perfect Scoop, via his website
Makes about 1 quart (1l)

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
pinch of salt
2 cups packed (80 gr) fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks
5 ounces (140 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Gently rinse mint leaves and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

2. In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup heavy cream, salt, and mint over medium heat.

3. When the mixture begins to steam, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

4. Set a large strainer (or colander) over a large bowl. Pour the mixture through the strainer, then firmly press down on mint with a spatula to extract as much mint flavor and color as possible. (You can also use your hands to do this, making sure the mint isn't too hot to safely handle.) Once the flavor is squeezed out, discard the mint. Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan. Rinse your large bowl and strainer if you don't have any more on hand.

5. Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl and set a strainer (not a colander) over the top. In a separate large bowl, prepare an ice bath.

6. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, then reheat the infused milk mixture over medium heat until warm to the touch. Slowly pour about a cup of the warm milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly (this tempers the egg yolks so they don't curdle). Scrape the warmed yolks into the saucepan.

7. 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).

8. Immediately strain the custard into the cream, then stir the mixture over the ice bath until cool. Cover and thoroughly chill, preferably overnight.

9. When ready to churn the ice cream, place a storage container in the freezer. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.

10. While the ice cream is churning, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

11. 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 (about 3 hours, or overnight).

Note: Using an exact quantity of mint leaves isn't imperative for this recipe, nor is the type of mint used. I ended up buying three small bunches of mint from two different markets, each with a slightly different color and scent. I pulled the best leaves from each bunch to measure approximately two packed cups (though I've never been sure of how packed "packed cups" are supposed to be.)

Honey-Peach Ice Cream

Happy National Peach Ice Cream Day!

The heat wave here in NYC continues. We've broken all previous high temperature records by about a million degrees...which makes sense, considering a million degrees is pretty much how hot it feels outside.

And if it's a million degrees outside, it's a million and ten degrees inside our tiny apartment. We'd all have melted into big ooey-gooey piles of sweat and nastiness by now (talk about a messy kitchen!) if it wasn't for one thing:

Ice cream.

Well, okay, modern AC technology has considerably helped, too, but I choose to focus on the tastier of the two appliances running to our rescue: our mighty and marvelous ice cream maker.

So far this summer we've made chocolate ice cream (one of mine and Katie's favorites), vanilla ice cream (the Music Man's favorite), and cheesecake ice cream (quite possibly my new favorite). But when Katie found a recipe for honey-peach ice cream, we knew that our charming-chugging-churning-machine wasn't going back in the cupboard anytime soon. What says 'summer' more than ripe, juicy, flavorful peaches? Nothing, that's what.

The combo of peaches and honey in this recipe reminds Katie of the honey sticks we used to devour each summer at the local farmer's market. Me - I just love peaches. I've been known to eat the canned variety right out of the, um, can. What can I say - they're just frickin' good.

But this ice cream is WAY better. Enjoy.

-Becky

Honey-Peach Ice Cream

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours” via Ezra Pound Cake
Makes about 1 quart

• For the best flavor, and to make sure you don’t have little icy peach pieces, let this ice cream sit at room temperature before serving, or warm it in a microwave using 5-second bursts of heat.

• You can replace the peaches with nectarines, which won’t need peeling, or apricots, which can be peeled with a serrated vegetable peeler.

4 large ripe peaches (or about 2 pounds)
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


STEP ONE: Peel & pit the peaches (say that ten times fast).

1. Fill a large pot with enough water to submerge your peaches. Bring water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set aside. Using a paring knife, lightly score the bottom of each peach with an X.

2. When water is boiling, gently add peaches to boiling water and boil for 45 seconds. Transfer peaches to ice water for 30 seconds.

3. Remove peach skin with your fingers or a paring knife. It may be helpful to do this under cold running water (like you do with hardboiled eggs).

4. Cut along the seam of each peeled peach to the pit, running your knife all the way around the fruit. Twist each half in opposite directions to free one half from the pit, or simply pull the two sides apart. Remove the pit with your fingers or the knife.

STEP TWO: Prepare peach puree (bonus points for adding that to the first tongue twister).

5. Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks, and toss them into a small saucepan. Add honey, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Puree the mixture using a blender, food processor or immersion blender. Set aside.

STEP THREE: Make custard and chill (the custard). YOU can chill too if you want - you've worked hard thus far.

6. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together.

7. Once milk and cream is boiling, drizzle about one third of the hot liquid into the egg/sugar mixture while constantly whisking – this will temper the eggs so they don’t curdle. Still whisking, slowly pour in the remaining cream mixture.

8. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and pour the custard into a 2-quart glass measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla and peach puree.

9. Refrigerate the custard at least 2 hours or until chilled before churning it into ice cream.

STEP FOUR: Churn ice cream and freeze (the ice cream). YOU can freeze too, if you happen to be playing freeze tag. If so, I call "not it"!

10. Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker, and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze it for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Cheesecake Ice Cream and...vampires?!

These last few weeks have posed a bit of an ethical and vocational challenge for Beck and me.

See, it's been hot in NYC.  Like, really hot.  Record-breaking hot.  Be-glad-you-live-with-your-sister-and-can-therefore-hang-out-in-your-underwear hot.

Wait.  Not that kind of hot.  Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have gone there.

Anyway, with such high temperatures, it's either been turn the oven on and therefore the air conditioner too (thus consuming 200% our usual energy and feeling guilty for being such irresponsible citizens), or deny ourselves our passion of baking.

But just as we were running out of no-bake ideas, we remembered that we had an ice cream maker way up there in the cupboard behind the fridge - the cupboard that requires one to climb on a chair and move everything off the fridge in order to open it.

Suddenly, climbing on a chair and moving everything off the fridge sounded like a REALLY exciting afternoon activity. We've now made three batches of ice cream in about a week.

Ice cream making can be complicated (heating cream and sugar; tempering eggs yolks; straining said cream, sugar and eggs; chilling it; churning it), or it can be simple, where you throw everything in the food processor, chill it, and churn it.

This ice cream falls into the latter category.  It's not as "fluffy" as regular ice cream - it's more like eating really creamy, frozen cheesecake. Which is a-okay with me, because I swear that my DNA is programmed to hunger for cheesecake like a vampire thirsts for blood.

Wait a sec.  What's that?

That looks like...

OMG OMG OMG!  A vampire ate my ice cream!

Nah, I'm kidding.  But this raspberry sauce did remind me of Adam Rex's FAT VAMPIRE, a hilarious YA novel that Harper's Balzer + Bray imprint will publish at the end of July:

That cover is disgusting and genius at the same time, right?*

Whether or not you're a vampire, the ice cream, raspberry sauce, and sugar cone bowl are all really simple to make.  Best of all, the ice cream allows Becky and me to practice our passion without feeling like irresponsible citizens.  Now let's just pray the vampires don't come knocking at our door to collect some "raspberry sauce" of their own...

-Katie

*Full disclosure: When not baking, I do work for HarperCollins.  FAT VAMPIRE will be available in hardcover, as an e-book, and as downloadable audio on July 27, 2010.


Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Makes about 3 cups (750 ml)

8 ounces cream cheese
1 lemon
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt

1. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces.
2. Zest the lemon directly into a food processor.
3. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, sugar, and salt. Puree until smooth.
4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
5. Freeze mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. (We have this Cuisanart, but any ice cream maker - even the old fashioned crank kind! - should do.)
6. For ideal scooping texture at serving time, freeze churned ice cream for a few hours or overnight.

Notes: We didn't have a whole cup of sour cream, so we substituted in about 1/2 cup of fat-free Greek yogurt. We also used heavy whipping cream instead of half-and-half.  It turned out fine!


Smooth Raspberry Sauce
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Makes 1 cup (250 ml)

2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 water
A few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor with the the sugar and water until smooth.
2. Press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove any seeds.
3. Mix in the lemon juice. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.


Sugar Cone Bowls
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Makes 6 cones

1/4 cup egg whites (about 2 large egg whites)
7 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla, then add the salt and half of the flour.
3. Mix in the melted butter.
4. Beat in the rest of the flour until smooth.
5. Scoop 2 tablespoons of the batter onto the top half of the parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread into a smooth 6-inch diameter circle.
6. Repeat step 5 above to make a second circle of batter on the bottom half of the baking sheet.
7. Place cookie sheet in oven. Begin checking the cones after about 10 minutes (total bake time could be up to 15 minutes, depending on your oven.) When circles are deep and golden brown throughout, remove the baking sheet from the oven. It's ok if there are some lighter or darker spots, but most of the circle should be golden brown.
8. Using a thin metal spatula and working quickly, immediately flip one disk over and onto the bottom of a small, upturned bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and press firmly to mold the cone over the bowl.
9. Let the cone cool slightly on the bowl until it feels firm, then flip it off and onto a plate or cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 above with second disk. (If it's too firm, return the cookie sheet to the oven for a minute or two until it's pliable again.)
11. Repeat steps 5-9 with rest of batter, making sure the cookie sheet cools between batches (or, use a second cookie sheet.) A warm cookie sheet will make the batter more difficult to spread.

Batter can be made up to four days in advance and stored in the fridge. Let come to room temperature before using. Baked and cooled sugar cone bowls can be stored in an airtight container until ready to serve, but are best on the same day they are baked.