In celebration of National Ice Cream Month, I have been making a concerted effort to make more frozen treats this summer!  Recently, my husband and I went to this adventurous little dessert cafe in the Queen Village area of Philadelphia – not only do they sell fantastic adventurous chocolates (such as the Balsamic Vinegar and Jalapeno truffles) but also have an incredible dessert selection which I highly recommend.  I saw Basil Gelato on the menu and the thought intrigued me – I, like many, had only enjoyed this fabulous herb in savory dishes like Caprese Salad and Pesto.  The idea of a basil ice cream was too unique to pass up – so I gave it a try.  The flavor was absolutely one of the most unique and amazing tastes I’ve ever enjoyed - spicy, sweet, and fresh all at the same time.  I returned home determined to try and replicate this flavor myself – I compiled a Basil Gelato recipe from a recipe I located in an old ice cream cookbook I found (Iced, by Jane Lawson) and this recipe I found online.  Simple enough for most anyone to follow, and requires only 10-12 basil leaves, which even the smallest container herb garden can supply!  It does require having a thermometer – but frankly I think a cooking thermometer is an indispensable kitchen tool.  There are multiple kinds – we have a fairly simple digital probe thermometer – its original purpose is for meat, but temperature is temperature - so we’ve also used it to  safely pasteurize frozen custards, make candy and fry things - so now’s a good time to pick one up!

Now, I liked the online recipe best, however it contains an astounding 12 egg yolks (or 2500+ mg of cholesterol) in just one batch.  For my day job, I am a pediatrician - and there is NO way I could in good conscience use a recipe like this!  I was able to cut the recipe down to just 5 egg yolks per batch, which seemed much more reasonable to me.  The texture was still velvety smooth like any good gelato, but had less than half the cholesterol than the original recipe. 

Now don’t get me wrong – I am as much a fan of ice cream as the next gal, but this is definitely a very rich recipe and I highly suggest enjoying it in small batches.  It would be fantastic with a nice dark hot fudge sauce on the side.  Get in touch with your Italian side and give this dessert a try!

Gelato al Basilico

Ingredients

• 10-12 fresh basil leaves, cut into 1/4 inch strips (chiffonade style)
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 large egg yolks

Begin by placing the egg yolks, 1 cups of the half-and-half, and half of the sugar into a large bowl, beating to combine thoroughly.  In a heavy saucepan, add the remaining 3 cups of half-and-half, the remaining sugar, and the thinly sliced basil.  Heat over low-medium heat until the mixture reaches a boil, then remove from heat.  Let this mixture sit and cool for 5 minutes to fully extract all the flavor from your basil.  Pour the heated basil mixture into the bowl containing the egg yolks and half-and-half, stirring constantly to make sure your eggs do not scramble on you!  Pour the bowl contents back into the saucepan through a strainer, removing the basil from the final product.  Over low-medium heat, bring the mixture to a temperature of 178 degrees stirring constantly and leave it there for 5 minutes in order to pasteurize your gelato.  Cool the finished liquid completely in a refrigerator – for at least 3-4 hours.  Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.  For firmer consistency, put gelato back in the freezer for several hours before serving.  Enjoy!

I don’t know if you’ve had this sense recently, but I’m getting the feeling it’s a good year for blackberries!  Our favorite produce store has had blackberry sales pretty much every time we’re there – so I’ve been searching for recipes to use them in.  Naturally, as July was appointed National Ice Cream Month, I figured heading into July it was time to break out the old ice cream maker again.  I’ve always loved the smooth sweet taste of black raspberry ice cream, so I figured giving blackberry ice cream a try would be my next logical step!  I adapted this recipe, adapted by the blog ’Salt and Chocolate’ for blackberries from a recipe originally for raspberry ice cream in David Lebowitz’s “The Perfect Scoop.”  My main changes related to using all half and half, as I was trying to cut the fat just a little…it came out great, perhaps a little firmer out of the freezer than it’s full-fat counterpart would be.  The flavor was perfectly sweet, and the lemon juice definitely helps emphasize the blackberries!  Perfect treat at the end of a long July day.

Blackberry Ice Cream

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Before you start, puree blackberries in a food processor and pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer to get all the seeds out.  Place 1 and 1/2 cups half-and-half in a saucepan with the sugar and heat over low-medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks until smooth.  Add about 1/4 cup of the heated half-and-half/sugar mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly so that the eggs don’t scramble on you!  Then add the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan and continue stirring constantly while heating until the mixture reaches 163-168 degrees farenheit – keep it in this range for 5 minutes in order to pasteurize the custard.  Remove custard from the heat.  Pour through mesh strainer into a bowl.  Stir in the remaining half and half, blackberry puree and the lemon juice.  Chill completely.  Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.  Enjoy!

I love entertaining!!  It gives me a chance to try out recipes I usually don’t make – for example, homemade Vanilla Bean ice cream.  As we were having company over, and we happened to have several Vanilla beans on hand, I decided to give it a whirl.  For my birthday last year, my lovely husband ordered (all the way from Europe!) the aptly titled “Book of Sweet Things,” full of ice cream recipes published by the world’s best ice cream makers (no exaggeration) who we happened upon by chance during our Ireland vacation last year.  I have tried a few of their recipes – Chocolate Whiskey, and Mint Chocolate Chip (which was so fabulous it didn’t last long enough to blog about!  Stay tuned, while my mint grows anew this spring…), and they have all been amazing.  I figured their vanilla would be equally as tasty.  I made a few modifications – first, while I typically do use cream in my ice creams, this time I just didn’t have any on hand – so I made due with just whole milk.  It was a little icy, but still tasted fantastic and had less fat than typical ice creams.  I modified the measurements since I don’t think in metric.  Additionally, I highly recommend a candy thermometer or digital cooking thermometer so that you can make sure everything gets to the right temperatures for the right amount of time; I do pasteurize everything, seeing as I’m a germophobe!  It was just wonderful, especially paired with ripe blackberries, chocolate mousse cake, and great friends!

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar 
5 Egg Yolk 
2 1/4 Cups Whole Milk
1 Vanilla bean

Optional – 1-2 tsp of vanilla liquor (I used Tuaca) – if you’re making low-fat ice cream like me, will help with the texture!

First, split the vanilla bean down the middle and place in a saucepan with a cup of milk.  Bring to a simmer over low heat.  In the meantime, beat together the sugar and egg yolks until they turn light yellow and are smooth.  When the milk is simmering, remove the bean and slowly beat the milk into the egg mixture.  Place the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan, and add back the bean, again over low heat.  Heat to 163 degrees Farenheit (73 degrees C), and keep at that temperature for 3-5 minutes (this will Pasteurize your ice cream!), being careful not to exceed 168 degrees Farenheit (76 degrees C) lest you have vanilla scrambled eggs instead of ice cream.  Cool the mixture in a refrigerator completely.  Mix in rest of the milk, and the liquor if you are using it, and freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions!

During our recent voyage to Ireland, we had the good fortune of visiting West Kerry, particularly enjoying Dingle town and peninsula. It was one of the highlights of our journey – not only was the scenery amazing, but we managed to have a drink at a combination hardware store & bar, eat at a brand new gourmet restaurant that had only opened 4 days earlier, and have the world’s most amazing ice cream. We were passing our evening wandering the streets of Dingle and enjoying the sites before retiring to our B&B when we came upon Murphy’s Ice Cream – having spent all day in the warmth and sunlight, we decided to stop in for a scoop. Quite possibly, this was the best decision on our entire trip! My husband & I both chose the Chocolate Whiskey ice cream, which was creamy and chocolatey and rich and amazing.

When we got back, I went on a bit of an Irish cooking kick…scones, stew, meat-laden breakfasts…and one day, I decided I would try to make the Chocolate Whiskey ice cream. After a quick Google search, I came upon this site, published by the same folks that happen to own Murphy’s! While I am quite sure nothing will ever match that scoop of ice cream I enjoyed while meandering through the streets of Dingle, this came as close as I think I can get without an international flight. I made small adjustments – mostly to accomodate using US measures – and it came out pretty accurate! A candy thermometer was very helpful for this dish, as I wanted to make sure the eggs were pasteurized. It is a bit labor-intensive, however completely worth it unless you can jet across the Atlantic at will to get Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream fashioned by pro’s.

Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1 cup milk

1 scant cup heavy cream (7oz or so)

5 squares (or ounces) dark baking chocolate

3 tablespoons Irish whiskey (I used Tullamore Dew because it was what we had on hand)

Instructions:

Melt the chocolate – I put the chocolate in the microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring in between. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until well blended. Bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and then add very slowly to the egg mixture (so you don’t accidentally cook the eggs too fast!) mixing constantly. Put the egg-sugar-milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat to 165 degrees farenheit, keeping it at that temperature for 5 minutes until the custard is thick. Immediately remove from the heat, and add this to bowl with the melted chocolate, stirring to combine. Let this cool (covered in plastic wrap) in the fridge. Stir in the whiskey. In a separate bowl, whip the cream on high until you have soft peaks and then fold this gently into the chocolate whiskey custard. Chill completely, and then freeze according to the instructions on your ice cream maker. Enjoy!

As I mentioned in my sorbet post, I’ve been stockpiling homemade ice cream and sorbet recipes for quite awhile. Mint Chocolate Chip is one of my favorite flavors, so I was quite excited when I saw this recipe on the blog Proceed with Caution.

This was my first attempt at homemade ice cream, so I hesitated to stray from the original recipe. I was quite pleased to find an ice cream recipe that didn’t use copious amounts of whipping cream and egg yolks. Since I’ve read conflicting information on consuming uncooked Egg Beaters, I followed the ice cream making method set forth by Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything, but used the ingredients and proportions found on Proceed with Caution. I’ve included both the original and modified preparation methods below.

When I was done mixing the base, I adjusted the flavor slightly. I found that I needed to increase the amount of sugar by two tablespoons (1/2 cup total) and I also decided to add an additional teaspoon of peppermint extract (1 1/2 teaspoons total). Since I like lots of chocolate bits in my ice cream, added a full cup of mini chocolate chips.

The finished product is rich, creamy and refreshingly minty. I’m happy that I had such a great recipe to follow for my first foray into homemade ice cream and will be consulting Proceed With Caution for other frozen confections.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from Doc Wilson, as found on Proceed with Caution

1/4 cup Egg Beaters
1/2 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup white sugar
4 ounces heavy whipping cream
16 ounces fat free half and half
4 ounces skim milk (or 1%, or 2%, whatever you have)
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
2 tsp vodka OR mint schnapps OR “The Good Doctor” (optional)
1 cup mini chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl whisk together egg beaters, sweetened condensed milk, and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Add heavy whipping cream, half and half, skim milk, salt, vodka or schnapps, and mint extract. For the very best results (who wants anything less?), let the mix chill in the refrigerator for about four hours which allows the mix to “age” before freezing according to the directions with your ice cream freezer. Add the mini chips in the last 5 minutes of freezing. This recipe makes the perfect amount to fit in a 1.5 quart ice cream maker. Makes between 4 and 5 cups of ice cream.

My revised preparation:
1. Pour half and half into small saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until steam rises. Remove from heat.
2. In a separate bowl, use a whisk or electric mixer to beat Egg Beaters, sweetened condensed milk and sugar together. Beat in 1/2 cup of hot half and half and then stir this mixture into the saucepan with the remaining half and half.
3. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue until the mixture reached 170-180 degrees or is slightly thickened. Do not bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Pour the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the cream and milk.
5. Once the mixture has cooled slightly, but is still hot, add the salt, mint extract and vodka. Taste the mixture and add more sugar or mint as needed.
6. Chill the mixture for several hours. You can speed up the process by placing the bowl containing the mixture in a large bowl filled with ice and water.
7. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions Add the mini chips during the last five minutes.

I was a relatively late adopter of the KitchenAid stand mixer. Just about everyone that I know registered for one when they got married. I looked at it and said “It’s big, heavy and expensive. Why would I possibly need it?” While I certainly could get by without it, I have come to love mine. Making breads, cookies and other concoctions is just so effortless. As Lisa’s husband said “You put things in, and food comes out.”

When I decided I was ready to jump on the KitchenAid bandwagon last fall, I researched prices and rebate deals. I was fortunate to catch the end of a fantastic rebate deal: purchase a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer from anywhere but Bed Bath and Beyond and get a slicer/shredder attachment or ice cream maker attachment free.

Armed with a 20% off coupon, I visited my local Linen’s ‘n Things (right before they started their going out of business sale) and emerged with an Artisan Stand Mixer in Metallic Chrome. I happily filled out my rebate form, figuring that my ice cream maker attachment would arrive in time to make delicious frozen concoctions in the dead of winter.

I’ve been bookmarking ice cream, sherbet and sorbet recipes in anticipation of my gadget’s arrival. It arrived on Friday. I was so excited. I think my husband was amused by how much effort I put into deciding what I would make first.

Ultimately, I decided to make chocolate sorbet, using a recipe that Lisa gave me (originally from Recipezaar). since my husband and I love mint chocolate, I added 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract.

I was amazed at how easy it was to make this sorbet. After heating the base, I chilled it in the refrigerator for about four hours before processing it in the ice cream maker. After running the maker for 30 minutes, the sorbet had a soft-serve consistency, so I transferred it to a 2-quart airtight container and put it in the freezer.

Four hours later, we sampled the chocolate mint sorbet for the first time. Wow. It’s amazing that something with so few ingredients and so little preparation can be so decadent. The finished product has a smooth, dense, luxurious look and feel. It has a rich dark chocolate flavor (almost bittersweet) with a cool hint of mint. If you’re looking for a lighter flavored chocolate dessert, this is not the one for you. But, if you want a taste of intensely satisfying dark chocolate, I highly recommend it.

Chocolate Mint Sorbet

Yields 6 servings

1 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1. Combine all but vanilla in a saucepan.
2. Heat on medium, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches a boil.
3. Turn off heat, and stir in vanilla and peppermint extract.
4. Chill in fridge for several hours.
5. Put in ice cream maker and run according to manufacturers directions until it reaches desired consistency.

The sorbet will have a soft-serve consistency. Sorbet will be firmer after several additional hours of freezing.