Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

In much of the US in recent days the weather has been just a bit warm shall we say?  I saw the forecast of the advancing heat wave, and prepared to hunker down: changed the filters in the air conditioning system, dug out shorts and tank tops, and closed the blinds against the strong afternoon sun.

And I made ice cream.

The Tuesdays With Dorie group choose Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream soon after I joined the group in 2008.  I didn't have an ice cream maker at the time, so I took and excused absence and baked something different that week.  But now that I'm trying to finish every recipe in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking From My Home to Yours, and with a well-broken-in ice cream maker in its permanent spot on my kitchen counter, this week was the perfect time for me to make that recipe.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe on the post of the original TWD host for this recipe, Chronicles of Culinary Curiosity.

-  Some lovely local blueberries came in my farm box, so that's what I used for the ice cream.    I like that Dorie gives flexibility to add sugar and lemon juice to taste; I added slightly less sugar and a solid dose of lemon juice.  I cut the amount of sour cream by a little bit because I didn't want it to mask the blueberry flavor.

-  After I finished making the ice cream base I gave it a little taste.  The blueberry flavor seemed a bit mild and I debated whether to make up more of the cooked, pureed blueberries and add them, but in the end I decided that I'd leave the ice cream as it was, and add some fresh blueberries or blueberry sauce when I served it, if we thought it needed something.

the verdict:

I brought this ice cream to dinner with some friends. (I packed it in this container so it wouldn't melt in the 106 degree heat)  Everyone finished eating the ice cream, but nobody raved.  To me it fell somewhere between "OK" and "not that great,"  The texture was nice and creamy, the sour cream added just the right amount of tang, but the blueberry flavor was too faint.  I think the ice cream could have benefited from a lot more blueberries.  My husband agreed, "Something about the blueberries didn't go with the creaminess."  It was cold, though, and a beautiful color!

{TWD} Puffed Double Plum Tart and Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream

OK, folks, *it's* getting real in the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group. We are down to our last 3 recipes in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking; From My Home to Yours. This week's host blogs are the two head honchos of the group: Laurie of Slush, who started this whole project 4 years ago, and Jules of Someone's in the Kitchen, who has been doing yeoman's duty administering the group.

Next Tuesday we all get to choose something from the past recipes to make and post. And the last Tuesday in December?

On December 27 Dorie Greenspan herself is choosing the final recipe of the book. Well when there's only one recipe left, I'm not sure you can really call it a choice, but Dorie is hosting us for the final week of TWD. I'm sure I'll be smiling through the tears at Dorie's "party" on the last week.

This week was another double header. First, a lovely tart:

Puffed Double Plum Tart

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe for this tart on Jules' tart post today.

- Back in October I found some Italian (prune) plums at the grocery store so I went ahead and baked this tart then.

- I made 1/3 recipe, using 6 dried prunes and 3 Italian prune plums. I didn't realize when I bought them, but the dried prunes were cherry flavored (and quite delicious!). Following Dorie's directions, the prunes are steeped for 15 minutes in spiced red wine. Then the wine mixture is boiled down to make a syrup which is dabbed on the tart before baking.

- For sprinkling on the edges of the crust I used turbinado sugar, figuring that the sugar crunch would add a nice texture.

- Once it's in the oven, I always halfway hold my breath until the puff pastry actually puffs

- I used duFour all-butter puff pastry that I had in the back corner of my freezer. Its directions say that moderate oven temperatures are best for this pastry, recommending the temperature of 375, so I baked the tart at 375 for 15 min + 360 for 10 minutes. At that point it was nicely golden and puffed around the edges.

- The pastry under the fruit didn't puff, so perhaps my tart might have needed more time in the oven. Also, syrup ran off the edges of the tart so it's possible that I was too generous with my "dabbing" of the (delicious) syrup!

- Although Dorie said to put some of the fresh plums cut side up and some cut side down, next time I would keep all of the fresh ones cut side up because their more golden color provided a greater contrast with the dried ones (which were dark).


the verdict:

This tart was a perfect autumnal treat. The buttery crust paired beautifully with the deeply intense wine-steeped plums. My husband said it was "a gustatory delight" and I totally agree with him. We ate the entire tart in one sitting and were very regretful that I'd only made a mini tart. I'd have to say that this was one of the top fruit desserts in Dorie's book; it was just that good.

...and the second recipe for this week:

Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream

I'm not sure why this recipe's flavor combination sounds so odd; chocolate and fruit are an age-old pairing. And I've been known to toss of handfuls of chocolate-covered blueberries at a time. But odd or not, after all these years of TWD I finally know well enough to trust Dorie's instincts, so I decided to make this ice cream as she developed it.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Laurie's ice cream post has the recipe and her reflections 4 years after starting the TWD group. Head over there and check it all out from the original TWD member!

- This was the kind of ice cream base that after an overnight in my fridge turned pudding-like and too thick to churn. I think this probably comes from using so much chopped chocolate. I guess the solution might be to not chill the base quite as long, and/or stir in preserves (and alcohol if you use it) before putting the base into ice cream maker rather than afterwards, as the recipe directs.

- My blueberry preserves had whole blueberries in it. I was hoping that they wouldn't turn into icy pieces as they froze but luckily they didn't.

- Per a tip from ice cream guru David Lebovitz, I added 1.5 T kirsch liqueur to improve texture of the ice cream and add a subtle fruity boost.

- This is a small-yield recipe; it made a heaping pint of ice cream

the verdict:

The blueberry is subtle in this ice cream, providing a hint of fruit to the intense chocolate flavor. The bits of blueberry in my preserves provide little fruity punctuation and a fun textural note.

Rich Vanilla Ice Cream a la Chez Panisse

This weekend the Berkeley, California restaurant Chez Panisse is celebrating the 40th anniversary of when it served its first meal. Far from being any ordinary restaurant, Chez Panisse, under the direction of its founder Alice Waters, was the standard bearer for fresh, local, and organic food, back at a time when those were exotic concepts.

Although I certainly cannot celebrate in person, I'm having a little virtual anniversary celebration right here on my blog, featuring a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from an old cookbook in my collection, Chez Panisse Desserts. I have the 1985 hardcover edition of the book, but it's available in softcover. I've included the recipe, below.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The recipe, as I made it, is at the end of this post, below.

- While I won't say I exactly changed the recipe, I made a few minor enhancements to boost the vanilla flavor. First, I used vanilla sugar for part of the sugar in the recipe. Vanilla sugar is about the easiest thing in the world to make: when you scrape the seeds out of vanilla pods, just rinse if necessary, then dry on the counter before popping them into a jar of regular sugar. The pods will infuse the sugar with a lovely flavor of vanilla.

- In addition to the recipe's directions to use vanilla seeds and infuse the custard with the pod, and my addition of vanilla sugar, I also added about 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract before churning. I learned that trick from David Lebovitz. His view is that several types of vanilla, especially extract with its alcohol base, give various experiences of the flavor: "Remarkably, alcohol also changes the way your senses ‘taste’ flavors, so I add a bit of vanilla extract to recipes even if I’ve infused them with vanilla beans."

- Incidentally, Lebovitz has a close connection with Chez Panisse. He worked in the kitchen there for 13 years, beginning as a line cook and ending up as the pastry chef, before leaving in 1999. Lebovitz is attending the 40th anniversary festivities this weekend, and has written a charming post about Chez Panisse.

- I also added a tiny pinch of salt.

the verdict:

This was the creamiest, most intensely vanilla-ish vanilla ice cream I've ever made. It had great texture and flavor, and held up well in the freezer.

the recipe:

Chez Panisse Vanilla Ice Cream
adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere
makes: 1 quart

1 vanilla bean
1 cup half and half ( I actually used 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk since I was out of half and half)
2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
6 egg yolks (I used about 105 grams of yolk)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the sugar, rubbing the mixture between your fingers until the sugar is fragrant.

2. Add the vanilla, sugar, vanilla pod, half and half, or milk and all the cream to a sauce pan. Warm the mixture, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.

3. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl until just mixed. Gradually pour the hot mixture into the egg yolks in a steady stream, whisking constantly.

4. Pour all back into the sauce pan and heat over medium-low heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens slightly into a custard and coats the back of the spoon.

5. Strain the custard into a storage container, add back the pod to the custard, and chill in the fridge until cold.

6. Add the vanilla extract, remove the vanilla pod, and freeze in an ice cream maker.

Splendid Vanilla Ice Cream and Meeting Jeni

Ice cream week on my blog continues:

I first learned of Jeni's ice cream from Tim Gaddis, the cheesemonger at the specialty market Star Provisions. Tim tweets as @Timthecheeseman, and his dairy cases hold many wondrous products, including ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, based in Columbus, Ohio.

Soon after, my bloggy buddy Di, who lives in Austin, Texas, began singing the praises of Jeni's ice cream, which she sampled on a family vacation to Ohio, and of Jeni's recipes. (At last count Di has made 9 or 10 flavors!)

So when I saw this tweet from Tim on Tuesday:

ICE CREAM TASTING!!!!! and book signing today at Star Provisions 4-6pm w/ @jenisicecreams

I mentally re-arranged my plans for the day so that I could stop by. It wasn't too hard; luckily Star Provisions is just a couple of miles from my house. I came in a few minutes after 4 to find that Jeni was doing a demonstration. She was in the darkest corner of a large room not known for being light, so photography was difficult. Additionally my good camera had gone to Yosemite with my brother, so I was left with a point and shoot. All to say "excuse the quality of these photos."

A woman standing near me already had the book and was very enthusiastic about Jeni's method. "The base is very versatile. Very neutral in flavor," she enthused.

Jeni did a wonderful job of introducing her operation, her ice cream, and her book. She has devised an unusual formula for her ice cream base. As she spoke, it became clear that every part of the recipe has a specific job and reason for being there, often related to texture or stability.

Jeni's story is interesting. Originally an art major, Jeni went from selling ice cream solo at a market in Columbus to today's operation with several shops, numerous other places that carry her ice cream (including Anthropologie stores) and 250+ employees. Even though the company has grown, everything - production, packing, labels - is still done by hand.

I loved the way Jeni described her relationship with local fruit growers and dairy. She uses milk from grass fed cows - raw milk that can be traced back to particular cows. She pasteurizes the milk one time, at very low temperatures. You and I might like the nutritional benefits from her methods, but from Jeni's perspective, everything she does contributes to one goal: flavor.

After hearing Jeni speak, sampling some of her ice cream (delicious!), and buying some of her books (she signed them in hot pink Sharpie!), I was so excited that I came home and immediately started making a double batch of vanilla ice cream.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- Jeni's ice cream is different, in that it is not custard-based. No eggs. Nor is it a plain Philadelphia-style either. Jeni makes her base by heating milk, cream, sugar and a bit of corn syrup, then thickening with cornstarch (similar to how a pudding is made) before whisking the hot thickened liquid into some cream cheese. The whole mixture is chilled; Jeni instructs us to put the ice cream base in a zippered plastic bag placed in an ice bath. Once cooled, the base can be churned in an ice cream maker. Jeni demonstrated by making vanilla ice cream in a small 1 quart Cuisinart ice cream maker (which was raffled off to an audience member!)

- You can find the vanilla ice cream recipe here.

- Jeni uses Ugandan vanilla beans, but I used some beautiful ones that I'd ordered online recently. I usually rub the vanilla seeds into the sugar to keep them from clumping together but this time I forgot. As it turned out, with all of the whisking in this recipe, the seeds separated and were dispersed nicely.

- Instead of corn starch you can use tapioca starch, and instead of corn syrup you can use tapioca syrup.

- I really made a serious mistake in preparing this ice cream. I started out fine, mixing up and setting aside the slurry, whisking and setting aside the cream cheese, and then heating the rest of the ingredients. But things went off the rails when I forgot to add the slurry to thicken the base. By the time I realized it, I had already added the cream cheese and put it all in a zipper bag in an ice bath. Then I remembered the corn starch slurry. What followed was a frantic session of dumping the liquid back into the pan and reheating it with the slurry to try to thicken it. That wasn't particularly successful; the cream cheese and some of the cornstarch preferred to stick to the bottom of the pan.

- Another, more minor problem, was the zipper bag. When I first put the ice cream base in the bag, it sprang a leak and I had to quickly put it all into another bag. I then emptied the bags in an effort to fix my ice cream base, and when it came time for the ice bath (again) I skipped the plastic bag method. I chilled the base in my usual manner: poured it into a metal bowl set into a bigger bowl of ice water, cooled for a bit then placed into the fridge to cool further. When the base was below 50 degrees I churned it.

yes, I realize this is the third post in a row where ice cream is pictured in a square plastic container!

- Although I'm pretty sure that the majority of the cornstarch thickener and the cream cheese was left on the bottom of my saucepan because of my mistakes in following directions, the ice cream churned up surprisingly well.

- The double batch of ice cream base filled my 2 qt ice cream maker pretty completely, and as it churned, the ice cream expanded over the brim. There would have been even more volume had I not left some of the base by the wayside as I transferred and re-transferred it from pan to bag and back again and then lost some in the bottom of the saucepan. Next time I'll make no more than 1.5 recipe.

the verdict:

To begin with, I couldn't believe how white this vanilla ice cream was. I suppose this was from the lack of egg yolks. All of the ingredients I used were white (and no vanilla extract) although Jeni told us that the milk she uses is from grass-fed cows and it's yellow.

As for taste, the ice cream has a fresh, clear flavor. The corn syrup and cream cheese keep it from being thin or icy, in fact the texture is actually a bit fluffy. It's quite different from the muddled, rich, taste of a custard-based vanilla ice cream. My vanilla-ice-cream-loving husband really enjoyed the ice cream, which is a good thing, seeing as we have 2 quarts of it!

Now I can't wait to try some of the other flavors in the cookbook!

Peach Frozen Yogurt

Ice cream week on my blog continues:

Living in the Peach State, we are inundated with delicious peaches in July. I have made a lot of peach frozen treats; in fact I previously posted 2 different peach ice creams and a peach sorbet in one peach marathon post! But there's always room for more frozen peachy goodness, so I tried this peach frozen yogurt.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I've included the recipe, from David Lebovitz' book The Perfect Scoop, is below. If you have any plans to make homemade ice cream, this book is a must-own.

- Don't try using lowfat yogurt for frozen yogurt; it will turn out icy.

- I used some perfectly ripe peaches from my farm box.

- You can peel peaches quickly by dipping them in boiling water for a minute or so, then submerging in cold water. The skins rub off easily.

- An immersion blender is perfect for the job of pureeing the peach mixture.

the verdict:

This is a fantastic choice for using perfect peaches which are perfectly ripe. The peach flavor comes through beautifully. While the mouthfeel isn't as creamy as with ice cream, the fresh fruit flavor more than makes up for it.

the recipe:

Peach Frozen Yogurt
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 1/2 pound ripe peaches (about 5 large)
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
a few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice


1. Peel the peaches, slice them in half and remove the pits. Cut peaches into chunks and cook them in water in a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and cooked through, about ten minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar and chill in the refrigerator.

2. When peaches are cool, puree them in a food processor or blender with the yogurt until almost smooth. Mix in a few drops of lemon juice.

3. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Yield: about 3 cups

{TWD} Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet

This week's recipe for the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group, Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet, is perfect for several reasons:

1. Much (but not all - I know the Pacific Northwest has been blissfully cool) of the US has suffered through a record-breaking heat wave for the past week or so. It hasn't been as hot here in Atlanta as in other places, such as Minneapolis, or Manhattan, but it's been plenty hot enough, thank you. Any time the mercury is over 90 degrees, ice cream becomes a valid coping strategy.

2. July is National Ice Cream Month.

3. I'm having Ice Cream Week on my blog, kicked off by Sunday's blueberry ice cream post for Sundae Sunday.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon chose the sorbet for us to make this week. She will have the recipe on her post this week, so head over there if you want to make this (and it's so easy that you should!)

- This recipe couldn't be simpler to make. You combine solid chocolate (chopped) with water, milk and some sugar in a pan on the stove. Boil for 5 minutes then cool in the fridge until time to churn in an ice cream maker.

- The chocolate flavor is front and center in this recipe, so use the best quality chocolate you have. I used El Rey bittersweet the first time I made this and Trader Joe's Swiss Chocolate the second time. I had to make the sorbet twice because after 3 years of weekly TWD participation, I finally forgot to photograph a recipe before consuming it, or, in this case, giving it to my book group hostess. The second time I was out of the best chocolate and felt kind of bad about the Trader Joe's stuff (which is actually quite good) when I gave the sorbet to my neighbor. Of course, she was thrilled to have homemade sorbet, no matter the kind of chocolate it contained!


the verdict:

This sorbet made a big impact at our summer book group dinner, although there were some pretty amazing desserts on hand that evening. Some folks requested the recipe, and I had no trouble convincing the hostess that her freezer needed to keep the leftover sorbet. I thought the sorbet was surprisingly rich and creamy, but then again it contains a hefty hit of solid chocolate! In fact the sorbet tasted to me like a chocolate candy bar in ice cream form, which it essentially is.

Blueberry Ice Cream

Happy Sundae Sunday!

My friend Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook had the fun idea to celebrate July, National Ice Cream Month, with a virtual ice cream social. She invited bloggers to post ice cream - or related recipes such as syrups or toppings - today. By month's end Di will gather all of the ice cream treats into one big round-up post on her blog. Click over there in a few days to see some fabulous frozen treats and accompaniments.

For Sundae Sunday I wanted to try an ice cream flavor that I've never made, which, among other things, rules out yet another vanilla or coffee ice cream post on this blog! My farm box has been including some wonderfully flavorful blueberries this month, so I set out to find a good blueberry ice cream recipe. [edit to add: after I wrote this I realized that I had actually posted a blueberry frozen yogurt two years ago]

When I'm ready to make ice cream, I usually turn to one of two volumes on my cookbook shelf, The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, or Murphy's Ice Cream Book of Sweet Things. But I also love exploring ice cream recipes that I find online or in one of my other cookbooks.

Recently I signed up for an online service called Eat Your Books. The way it works is that you input the cookbooks that you own (which is simple because they have tons of cookbooks - about 2000 - already in the database) and then you can search for recipes by ingredient or by type of dish. The search results will give you the recipe name, the cookbook name, and a list of the ingredients. I happily paid the $25 fee - about the cost of a new cookbook these days - and I use the service several times a week. As a result, I have ended up using my own cookbooks more than ever before. (I need to mention I have no connection with Eat Your Books. I have received no compensation from the site, nor have I been asked to mention it on my blog. I just want to share with you a service that I have found to be very useful.)


My search on Eat Your Books pointed me to several promising blueberry ice cream recipes, and I zeroed in on the Blueberry Ice Cream from Amanda Hesser's Essential New York Times Cookbook. Here's what Hesser says about this recipe:

"I love that when you taste this ice cream it's not immediately clear that it contains blueberries. The lemon gives the ice cream a sharp, high pitch and a soft, buttery texture."

I couldn't wait to try this ice cream and see what we thought!

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I've included the recipe for this ice cream, below.

- My blueberries were smallish, with a tart flavor, closer to wild than to typical cultivated berries, which I find to be sweet but often bland.

- I went strictly by the book for this recipe.

the verdict:

This flavor of this ice cream was rich and fruity, intense and bright. The cream supported and gave body to the ice cream but didn't weaken the impact of the blueberries and the lemon. I'm glad I added kirsch; it sharpened the flavors and lent a wonderfully smooth texture.

I objected to the bits of blueberry skins in the ice cream and I regretted that I hadn't strained the ice cream base before churning it, but my husband disagreed. He thought the little pieces of skin lent a nice textural contrast.

Stay tuned for more ice cream posts, as I finish out National Ice Cream Month with a week of ice cream on my blog!

the recipe:

Blueberry Ice Cream
Adapted slightly from The Essential New York Times Cookbook (Amanda Hesser, p. 726)

1 pint blueberries
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream

2 tsp kirsch (I added this ingredient to help keep the ice cream from freezing too hard)

Heat blueberries in a heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally, until they break down and yield their juices, 10 to 15 minutes.

In the meantime, dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until you have a thin syrup. Let cool.

Puree the blueberries in a food processor, then transfer to a bowl and add the lemon juice. Mix in the cooled syrup and the cream, and mix well. Chill overnight

Once chilled, pour the blueberry mixture into an ice cream maker, straining if desired, and freeze according to your machine’s instructions. Pack the ice cream in an airtight container, and freeze until ready to serve.

Coffee Ice Cream

July is National Ice Cream month (as well as being National Hot Dog month, and National Baked Beans month) and I thought I'd celebrate by sharing with you a wonderful version of my very favorite flavor: Coffee Ice Cream.

I've posted several different coffee ice creams on this blog in the past (a recipe from Baked Explorations made with instant espresso powder here; an America's Test Kitchen recipe made with instant espresso powder - I added toffee bits - here; a James Beard recipe made with instant coffee and cognac here) but this recipe, from ice cream guru David Lebovitz, intrigued me because it calls for steeping whole coffee beans in hot milk to extract the coffee flavor. I love infusing flavors, so I couldn't wait to try the method.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- I was on the verge of using old generic coffee beans from the freezer but my husband gave me the following advice, "use great beans, preferably Italian roast. How bout that stuff in the can from Trader Joe's?" This seemed to be sound advice, so that's what I used. The bonus was that my husband got to use the rest of the can for his morning coffee.


- To infuse the coffee, the recipe calls for the milk to be "warmed". While the milk was warming on the stove I got distracted, and proved once again that the corollary to the old adage "a watched pot never boils" is "an unwatched pot always boils." I crossed my fingers and just kept on with the recipe, using the boiled milk.


the verdict:

This ice cream is extraordinary! It is coffee ice cream perfection. If you let it soften a bit before serving, it tastes like the froth on a strong cup of cappuccino.


Stay tuned for more ice cream posts in July as Ice Cream Month continues...

Amaretto Ice Cream

In our house ice cream is popular in every season, but I realize that not everyone enjoys eating the cold stuff year-round (Except, have you ever noticed how popular ice cream is in very cold countries in very cold times of year? I think they might be onto something!) For those slightly-less-diehard ice cream eaters, the recent heat wave in many parts of the US has ushered in the churning season. So now I can share a delicious ice cream flavor with you!

I'm always on the lookout for new ice cream flavors to try. When I saw this recipe from The Times (London) Online, which calls for crushed amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur, both of which I happened to have in the pantry, I set forth to make it posthaste.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I've included the recipe for this ice cream below.

- I prefer creamy to sugary in my ice cream, and I nearly always reduce the amount of sugar in ice cream recipes.

the verdict:

This was a wonderfully almondy, slightly boozy ice cream with added crunch and flavor from the crushed cookies that were churned into the ice cream base.

Fittingly, in this post with a British ice cream recipe, let me share this youtube video of the world's first amphibious ice cream truck, developed in the UK by Cadbury's:





the recipe:

Amaretto Ice Cream
adapted from a recipe by Lucas Hollweg, in The Times Online

Serves 4-6

300ml whole milk
90g granulated sugar (I used a bit less)
3 medium egg yolks (I used around 45g of yolks)
3 tbsp amaretto
250ml chilled whipping cream
30g amaretti biscuits (I use the Lazzaroni brand, because it's sold in my local deli)

Heat the milk and sugar in a medium pan over medium heat until hot and the sugar is dissolved.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with a whisk until lightened. While whisking continuously, pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks in a steady stream. Pour back into the saucepan and heat until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. The custard should be about 170 F degrees.

Remove custard from the heat and pour into a bowl set in an ice water bath. Stir until cooled, then stir in the amaretto.

Chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Once cold, stir in the cream, then churn in an ice-cream machine or still-freeze.

When the mixture is nearly firm, break the amaretti biscuits into pieces about the size of petits pois and stir in until evenly distributed.

After churning, scrape into a container, cover and freeze for 2 hours until firm enough to scoop. The alcohol should mean it's scoopable straight from the freezer; if not, let it soften for 10 minutes in the fridge before serving.

{TWD} The Tale of the Ice Cream Tart

As a member of the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group for nearly three years, I've made every recipe that's been chosen since I joined the group, and I intend to bake all of the remaining recipes. (The jury's still out as to whether I'll go back and make all of the 25-or-so recipes that the group completed before my time.) So, since I know that each of the recipes will get chosen sooner or later, I usually wait and make recipes from Dorie Greenspan's book when they are selected for the group.

Every now and then, however, I find a recipe just too irresistible, and I make it before its turn rolls around. Then I save my notes until the recipe's turn in the spotlight and post my version along with the rest of the TWD group. Such was the case with this week's recipe, the Coffee Ice Cream Tart.

If ever a recipe had my name all over it, this was the one. I absolutely adore coffee ice cream, especially when accented with almond and chocolate, and the tart section is my favorite part of the book. It sounded delicious! I tried to patiently wait for the recipe to be chosen for TWD, but in December when we made plans to eat Christmas dinner with my husband's brother's family, I knew what I'd be making for dessert. Everyone in my brother-in-law's family are huge ice cream fans, and coffee ice cream is their favorite flavor too. I figured that this tart would be a great way to "dress up" coffee ice cream to bring to their house for Christmas.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Jessica of Domestic Deep Thought of the Day chose the tart this week; if you'd like the recipe, check out her ice cream tart post.

- For this tart, I made the coffee ice cream from Baked Explorations cookbook. I've tried a bunch of other coffee ice creams; and have liked them all. This recipe made a very nice ice cream, and was quite easy. But don't eat it in the evening if you are planning to go to sleep anytime soon! Usually I use a decaf option - decaf instant coffee or decaf beans, depending on the recipe - in coffee ice cream, but the recipe here called for espresso powder, so it definitely introduced a hit of caffeine. I've included the coffee ice cream recipe, below.

- The tart has an almond-based crust, then a layer of chocolate, then a filling made of ice cream combined with almond paste and almond extract.

- Even though I got the almond paste pretty darned smooth, it seemed like it gave a slightly gritty texture to the ice cream when I mixed the ingredients together for the tart filling.

- I topped the tart with sprinkled toffee bits and chocolate chips.

- We spent Christmas day visiting relatives and going to church. By the time the tart was finished, there was neither time nor daylight for me to take a picture of the tart. Time for plan "B": make sure there's one slice of tart left over so that I could photograph it the next day.

- As a result of its longer stint in the freezer, the crust got very hard, but the ice cream never quite got a chance to freeze completely and set up, so the tart didn't serve very neatly.

the verdict:

I can't say that this tart lived up to the anticipatory hype. The ice cream was a bit grainy with the almonds in there, and the crust was frozen way too hard. Each element was fine but I didn't love them together.

the rest of the story:

At this point you might be wondering why you haven't seen a picture of this dessert. Here's the rest of the tale:

We all enjoyed about 3/4 of the tart for dessert. It was below freezing - in fact we were enjoying a White Christmas - so with space in the freezer being a bit tight, after dinner I put the leftover tart on the table on the porch to keep cold. When it was time to head home I went outside to get the tart, and this is the sight that greeted me:

Buddy their dog had helped himself to a Christmas treat: he'd licked off all of the ice cream, leaving the chocolate-lined crust behind on the serving plate. And this is the only pictorial evidence I have of the coffee ice cream tart!

It wouldn't be very nice to leave you on that ugly note, so this week I made a mini ice cream tart, with a chocolate crust I happened to have in the freezer, and the Double Vanilla Bourbon ice cream I made over the weekend (which I posted here) It was an early birthday treat for my daughter JDE, whose birthday is in two days (but she won't be home. We've also celebrated with some delicious pots de creme, her favorite dessert.)

the recipe:

Coffee Ice Cream

adapted slightly from Baked Explorations, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Ingredients

6 egg yolks (90 - 120 g total yolks)

1 3/4 c heavy cream

2 c whole milk

3/4 c sugar plus 2 T

1 tsp salt

3 T instant espresso powder (not the same as coffee grounds)

1 T Kahlua

1. Put the egg yolks in a large heatproof bowl and set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, stir together the heavy cream, milk, sugar, salt, and instant espresso powder. Bring the mixture to a slow, consistent simmer and remove from heat.

3. Whisk the egg yolks until just combined, then slowly stream in the hot coffee cream mixture while whisking constantly. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 175 degrees)

4. Remove from heat and strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl set inside an ice bath. Whisk in the Kahlua, and let mixture cool to room temperature.

5. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the mixture and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

6. Freeze in an ice cream machine, following manufacturer's directions.

Double Vanilla Bourbon Ice Cream

Yesterday was my husband's birthday, and rumor has it that it was one of those round number ones. Instead of cake, I decided to make him his very favorite dessert: vanilla ice cream. I've made many different vanilla ice cream recipes, and wanted this one to be something special, so I turned to Fine Cooking's Double Vanilla Bourbon Ice Cream. I had actually bought the June 2009 issue of Fine Cooking magazine because of the ice cream article featuring David Lebovitz ice cream creations, including this recipe. But I forgot about it until my friend Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook mentioned that she made this ice cream recently (I don't think she's blogged it yet, though). I knew it would be perfect for my husband's birthday.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe in Fine Cooking, here.

- I made 3/4 recipe.

- I used a "bourbon" variety of vanilla bean, which sounded appropriate for this recipe. I ordered the vanilla beans here.

- For the bourbon, I dipped into my husband's bottle of Maker's Mark, which has been gathering dust carefully saved for lo, these many years.

the verdict:

This was a delicious version of my husband's favorite ice cream flavor. It had plenty of vanilla punch, and the hint of bourbon added another flavor dimension. Everyone in the family enjoyed this birthday ice cream treat.

Cognac & Coffee Ice Cream

James Beard was a seminal figure in the coming-of-age of American food in the middle of the last century. I've heard of his many cookbooks - Beard on Bread, Beard on Food, James Beard's American Cookery, and many more - but I don't own any of them, and the only James Beard recipe I've made was his sweet potato dinner roll (which is my very favorite dinner roll). Determined to explore his cooking, I've been perusing the James Beard Foundation website, which has an extensive selection of Beard's recipes online. I bookmarked several, but the one that reached out and grabbed me was his recipe for Cognac & Coffee Ice Cream.

If there is one sweet my husband truly loves, it's ice cream, and I try to have some in the freezer at all times. He never tires of it, so I figured a special ice cream recipe would be a fun Valentine's day treat to make for him.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the James Beard recipe here.

- Seriously, you've gotta love this recipe's simple directions for making ice cream base: "combine all ingredients and stir!" I wasn't sure that the sugar or the instant coffee would dissolve when mixed with a bunch of cream from the fridge.

- I made half a recipe of this ice cream because a full recipe calls for a cup of cognac and that's an awful lot of Henne$$y to use in one recipe!

- I'm pretty used to ice cream recipes that call for the sugar to be combined with some of the liquid and heated, and that's what I did here. I warmed 1 cup of the cream with the sugar and coffee until they both dissolved. Then I added this heated mixture to the rest of the cream in an ice bath. I used half and half in place of the recipe's light cream.

- Alcohol is a useful addition to homemade ice cream because it keeps the ice cream from freezing rock hard. In cases where you don't want the flavor to stand out, vodka is a good choice. For fruit-based ice creams, David Lebovitz, my ice cream guru, recommends kirsch.

- When it came time to add the cognac, I got cold feet. David Lebovitz's rule of thumb is that 3 tablespoons is about the upper limit of alcohol to use for each quart of ice cream. And yet this recipe calls for a whopping half cup, which comes out to 4 ounces - 8 tablespoons! - for less than a quart of ice cream! As I was pouring the cognac into the ice cream base, it was looking like a ton of cognac. I didn't want the ice cream to be a slushy, non-freezing mess, so I stopped at 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) for the half recipe.- Luckily the ice cream froze despite the large amount of alcohol, but once out of the freezer it melted at lightning speed. I seriously doubt that the ice cream would have frozen if it had the full amount of cognac.

the verdict:

I'm used to ice cream with alcohol; I routinely add rum to our everyday vanilla ice cream and I've made an assortment of alcohol-flavored ice creams (for example, here and here) I've also churned several different coffee ice creams, but I've never combined the coffee with alcohol in ice cream, so I was curious to sample Beard's recipe. The taste of the cognac was front and center - this ice cream is quite boozy - but the coffee provided a nice supporting flavor. In fact, the ice cream was a little bit like a frozen Irish coffee.

My husband enjoyed this ice cream flavor quite a bit. When I told him he couldn't polish off the carton of ice cream quite yet because I needed to photograph it, his comment was, "Why? all ice cream looks the same." I have to admit that he has a point, especially given all the tan and white ice creams that we eat! Luckily I could placate him with cookies and saved the ice cream to photograph the next day in daylight.

Because this ice cream was not custard based it tasted a little "thin" when I ate it on its own. But with a brownie on the side, this ice cream was an amazing complement to the chocolate. A perfect Valentine's dessert.

Happy Valentine's Day!

{TWD} Midnight Cinnamon Ice Cream Sandwiches

As is true every week, Tuesday is the day when I post baked goods from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home to Yours as part of the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group. But this is no ordinary Tuesday, it's the third anniversary of the founding of TWD by Laurie of the blog Slush. The recipe this week is Midnight Crackles, which are chocolate cookies. I thought I'd do something special to celebrate TWD's birthday and made the cookies into ice cream sandwiches, with David Lebovitz's Cinnamon Ice Cream! I've never really made ice cream sandwiches, and found that it was a fun and fairly simple process.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- If you want to find the recipe for the cookies, click on this link from the Tuesdays With Dorie website.

- The cool thing about this group and this book is that the author, Dorie Greenspan, has a blog where she often discusses her recipes. In the past I've learned things such as that Dorie's Swedish Visiting Cake can be baked as an apple variation. For this week's recipe, Dorie had posted about making the Midnight Crackle Cookies as cut out cookies rather than drop cookies. I was intrigued, and decided to use that method to make fancy cookies for the TWD anniversary.

- Once I planned to make cut out cookies, I figured I should make some sort of sandwiches with them. I had some cinnamon ice cream in the freezer, from David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop, and knew that would be a great combination with the chocolate cookies. You can find the recipe for the cinnamon ice cream here. The ice cream is made with cinnamon-stick-infused cream and it has a subtle depth of cinnamon flavor.

- The secret to making ice cream sandwiches that will last until a photo is taken is the freezer. Every stage and every element needs to spend time chilling, including the plate your will use. I froze the baked cookies while I softened the ice cream, spread out in a flat 3/4 inch thick patch on the lid of a leftover container and refroze it. After the ice cream had hardened, I cut it with the cookie cutter and placed it back in the freezer. Half and hour or so later, I removed the frozen plate, put a frozen cookie on it, put the shaped piece of ice cream on it, topped it all with another cookie, pressed just a bit, and voila!

- Yes, you read it correctly. I made one ice cream sandwich. The rest of the cookie dough I rolled out inside of a large zipper freezer bag and froze. The next time I need cookies, I can pull out the frozen dough, cut with cookie cutters and bake.

- To see the midnight crackle cookies as they were written, puffy with crackled tops, check out the posts of the other TWD bakers.

the verdict:

Some day I'll try the recipe as it was originally written and make crackly pillowy chocolate cookies, but this week I had fun trying the roll-out variation Dorie had suggested. I discovered a wonderfully versatile, easy, and delicious chocolate cut out cookie that was great for ice cream sandwiches and would also be good for decorating or sandwiching in a number of other ways.

Happy Anniversary to the Tuesdays With Dorie group! I've enjoyed every week that I've been a member.

{TWD} Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

I make a lot of ice cream. Summer and winter, I churn ice cream nearly every week. In fact, my ice cream maker has earned a permanent place on my kitchen counter and I try to always have the canister frozen and ready to churn a new batch of ice cream. The most common flavor around here is vanilla, because that is my husband's favorite, but I make my share of chocolate as well (and when it comes to chocolate, my share is usually pretty much all of it since my husband is allergic to chocolate!) As luck would have it, we invited some friends over for dinner last week and I knew that this week's assigned Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream, would be the perfect dessert. I altered it a tiny bit to meet dietary restrictions and preferences, but the end result was still quite wonderful.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- - Katrina of Baking and Boys picked this Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream. Find the recipe on her post.

- Very dark chcolate is a favorite of mine, so I used a combination of Callebaut bittersweet and Green & Black 85% chocolate to make the ganache.

- One of my guests is sensitive to milk (but not cream) so I replaced the milk with coconut milk. I've done this before in chocolate ice cream; and the coconut flavor is not actually detectable, and the ice cream's texture is nice and creamy.

- I used palm sugar rather than granulated. This has become a favorite sugar of mine - thanks to Sarah of Blue Ridge Baker for pointing it out to me.

- To bring out the flavor, I added pinch of salt.

- The custard was very thick and pudding-like. It was so thick that I knew it wouldn't churn very well. I was temped to just skip the ice cream maker and freeze the custard, but I ened up churning it for several minutes anyway.

the verdict:

My daughter JDE said this ice cream was the Platonic ideal of the kind of chocolate frozen treat that a fudgsicle is but a mere earthly reflection. Put another way: this ice cream is similar to a Fudgsicle but far better tasting.

I found it to be a very creamy, subtle chocolate ice cream. I've made chocolate ice cream that was more intensely chocolate in flavor (lots of cocoa powder involved), and I've made chocolate ice cream that was more mysteriously complex in flavor (based on steeped cocoa nibs), but this is a nice, straightforward, deeply chocolate ice cream.

{TWD} Coconut Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie

When the May recipe selections for the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group were announced, I puzzled for a minute or two about the Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie, but then I had the perfect plan: the folks at my gym are crazy about coconut things (whereas my husband, who generally loves ice cream, definitely is not, nor are my book group members) so I decided I'd make this one for an upcoming party at the gym. In order to fit my tasters, I adapted it to be gluten-free, and I decided to up the coconut factor too; if I'm going coconut, I might as well go all out.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The pie was chosen by Spike of the blog Spike Bakes. You can find it on her blog post.

- There's actually no baking involved in this recipe, which makes it perfect to make - and eat - for hot weather. The pie has a press-in toasted coconut crust and an ice cream/banana filling, along with some sliced bananas in the middle and on top. I decided right away to skip the banana slices but keep the mashed bananas in the ice cream filling.

- The pie's filling is made with premium-quality ice cream that is whirled in the food processor with some mashed bananas. Dorie calls for chocolate ice cream but luckily gives her permission to choose an alternate flavor. Chocolate + banana is still not my preferred combination, so I decided to churn some coconut milk ice cream for this pie. I wanted a creamy, custard-style ice cream, and started with this this recipe and made several changes in ingredients and method - scroll down to the end of this post, below, to see the recipe for the ice cream I made. Because I used palm sugar (another coconut ingredient) my ice cream was a tan color. I wish I had some coconut extract because I would have used it. Oh, and the recipe called for rum, but I left it out. 6:00 am is rather early for pie, but definitely too early in the morning for pie with alcohol.

- Dorie's crust contains butter, toasted sweetened shredded coconut and crushed butter cookies. I used unsweetened coconut flakes which toasted to a deep golden color and crunchy texture. To make the crust gluten-free, I skipped the cookies and added an equivalent volume of almond meal and toasted pecan pieces. I also added a bit of palm sugar to make up for some of the sweetness from the lost cookies and my unsweetened coconut. It's worth being a little sloppy when pressing the crust in the pie pan, because the crumbs are scrumptious!

- My pie looked a little naked (no bananas on top) so I wish I had toasted some extra coconut for garnish. Actually, I think that whipped cream and toasted coconut would have been pretty good as a topping.


the verdict:

The filling was smooth and creamy and just a little sweet, with hints of banana and coconut. The real star of this dessert was the crust: it had a surprisingly complex combination of tastes and the well-toasted coconut and pecans ensured a crispy crunch.

People seemed thrilled with the pie, and we kept having to cut smaller and smaller slices to make it stretch as folks came into the gym, until it was all gone except for a few crumbs of crust (the best part!)

I'd love to try this recipe again with different flavors of ice cream, maybe sans banana; Spike made a version with coffee ice cream, my favorite flavor, which sounds fabulous. I also think the crust would pair well with chocolate. Or possibly make the crust all by itself, just to nibble on...

the recipe:

Coconut Milk Ice Cream
my adaptation

4 egg yolks
scant 1/2 cup palm sugar
pinch of salt
2 (13.5- ounce) cans regular coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or coconut extract)

1. In a large bowl, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt together until pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Heat coconut milk in a medium heavy bottomed pot over medium heat until simmering.

3. Have an ice bath ready, big enough to fit the pot.

4. Pour the hot coconut milk into the egg mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly, to temper the eggs.

5. Scrape the liquid back into the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon, leaving a track when you run your finger along the spoon. It should register 65-70 degrees C. on a digital thermometer. This can take up to 7 minutes but start checking temperature almost immediately. Be sure not to let the mixture boil.

6. Remove pot from the heat and stir in vanilla.

7. Transfer contents of pot to a bowl and chill until cold, preferably overnight.

8. Process mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions then transfer to a container with a lid and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours more.

{TWD} Burnt Palm Sugar Ice Cream

You know that we're heading into warmer weather when ice cream is in the lineup of recipes for the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group - this week's assignment is Burnt Sugar Ice Cream. Luckily I've made enough caramel in the past couple of years that hot sugar no longer strikes terror into my heart, and making custard-style ice cream base is almost second nature by now. We eat a lot of ice cream around here; in fact the ice cream maker has a permanent spot right on the countertop.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- The ice cream was chosen this week by Becky of Project Domestication. The recipe is included in her post or you can find it on page 432 of Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

- As ice creams go, this recipe is on the higher-maintenance side. First you have to make caramel on the stovetop, then make it into a custard, also on the stovetop. Then the whole thing chills for a day or so before the ice cream churn gets to work its magic.

- I'd previously made caramel ice cream from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, posted here, and it's my absolute favorite ice cream. I was sorely tempted to make Dorie's as written so that I could compare the two recipes, but instead I took the ice cream in a different direction. In some of my baking lately I've been using palm sugar, a sweetener with a lower glycemic index than cane sugar. I was very curious to see how it would caramelize, so I decided to use it in this ice cream. Sarah of the blog Blue Ridge Baker uses palm sugar regularly, and I turned to her post where she made caramel corn (seriously amazing-looking stuff!) for some caramelizing pointers.

- I cooked my caramel to 250 degrees as measured on my instant read thermometer. This target temperature was a huge help because it was otherwise hard to tell when the sugar was done because it naturally has a deep caramel color.

- I was low on milk, so I used half & half and heavy cream. My guess is that the finished proportion was probably 1/3 milk to 2/3 cream, similar to other ice creams I've made (rather than the higher quantity of milk that Dorie specified).


the verdict:

The ice cream turned out smooth and creamy with a subtle burnt sugar edge. I sprinkled cocoa nibs on some, which added a good textural contrast. My husband and I both liked the ice cream, but I must say, as far as caramel ice cream, I preferred the opulently strong caramel flavor of Thomas Keller's (and my husband's favorite ice cream is still vanilla!) I'm glad I learned that I can use the palm sugar successfully in ice cream - even when it has a starring role.

Caramel Ice Cream

Ever since I tore the shrink wrap off of Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook back in November, I've been steadily trying recipes. I've made more than a dozen things by now, both sweet and savory, but I had yet to try any of the ice creams. It was just a matter of time, given our high rate of ice cream consumption around here. But where to start? Many of the AHAH flavors sound good, but the Caramel Ice Cream seemed to call my name the loudest.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe on the Wall Street Journal site, here.

- All of the Ad Hoc ice creams call for 10 egg yolks. Yes, 10! Most ice cream recipes call for 3 to 6 yolks, so at first Keller's yolk requirement seemed excessive. But a couple of factors helped me to realize that it really wasn't out of line after all. For one thing, the yield is two quarts, which is double the quantity of other recipes. Additionally, Keller explains that he assumes 15 g/yolk, and that East Coast yolks are bigger than West Coast ones (fascinating, right?), so what the recipe really called for was 150 g of yolk, which was 8 yolks in my case, producing a reasonable 4 yolks/quart ratio. I'm so excited to have Keller's yolk measurement, which I will use for future ice cream making (I usually assume 20 g/yolk).

- In some ways this ice cream was a measure of how far I've come as a baker. It required making caramel then using the caramel to make a custard. Besides fretting about the veritable mountain of dishes this recipe generated, I hardly batted an eye when making it.

- I made the caramel over medium heat and took it very slow, until it was a deep amber color.

- The caramel hardened/seized when I added the milk and cream, but I just heated the whole thing and stirred until the caramel softened and dissolved. Because the custard is strained at at several points later on, it didn't need to be entirely smooth.

- As the ice cream churned, it filled my 2 quart ice cream maker to just above the brim. It didn't overflow, but was very close. If you have a smaller ice cream maker, I'd advise a half recipe. But if you have a 2 quart machine, it's worth making the full amount. This ice cream is a bit more trouble than the average ice cream because of the caramelization step, so it's nice to have a huge yield to show for the effort.

- When fully churned, this ice cream was a softer soft-serve consistency than most. Even in the freezer, it stayed fairly soft.

- Although the recipe says the ice cream is best the first day, I found that the flavor seemed to get deeper and better the longer it sat in the freezer. In fact, it was still delicious two weeks later.

the verdict:

If love had a taste, this might just be it. The flavor was sweet, deep, complex, mysterious, and I never got tired of it. Additionally, the ice cream was versatile. It was good paired with cut out spice cookies (as in the picture up top), with brownies, with gingerbread, with chopped chocolate sprinkled on top, but most of all, it was perfect all by itself! I'm pretty sure this is the best ice cream I've ever churned.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cacao Nib Gelato

When I ordered my ice cream maker from costco.com last Fall, I had no idea how much fun I'd have exploring the world of frozen desserts - sorbet, frozen yogurt, sherbet, gelato, and good old ice cream, both custard and Philadelphia-style.

I've tried recipes from a variety of sources, and one source of inspiration and advice for me has been Wendy of the blog Pink Stripes. She always makes the most amazing ice creams, so when she mentioned that she was going to make the Cacao Nib Gelato from the September 2009 issue of Bon Appetit I was instantly interested. Even though we live 3000 miles apart, we made this ice cream together - virtually that is, each of us in our own kitchens, connected by our computers. (You can read about Wendy's ups and downs with this ice cream here.)

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe here.

- I was very intrigued by the method of this ice cream: heat the steep the cream with cacao nibs, let it steep, combine it with eggs and sugar to make the custard and chill overnight. The next day the nibs are strained out and discarded and the custard is churned.

- I made 1/2 recipe.

- Isn't it funny how scents can take you back? As the cacao nibs simmered with the milk and cream, the smell reminded me strongly of the hot chocolate that we made when I was growing up by heating milk on the stovetop. No session of playing out in the Western Massachusetts snow was complete until we'd made hot chocolate in a saucepan.

-It was hard to imagine how simple steeping was going to make this ice cream very chocolatey tasting; in fact it's closer to vanilla in color!

the verdict:

This ice cream is quite sly and deceptive. The color may be an innocuous creamy tan, but every spoonful packs an intense chocolate flavor. It's cocoa-ish but at the same time lush and dense and creamy. This would be perfect to serve for a dinner party - it's unusual and so delicious! In fact, of all the flavors that I've churned so far this ice cream is my favorite, hands down.

{TWD} Espresso Cheesecake Brownies and Coffee Toffee Ice Cream

Hybrid desserts are rarely satisfactory to me (see, inter alia, Chipster Topped Brownies, Chocolate Gingerbread, and Thanksgiving Twofer Pie) While they can taste pleasant enough, I'm usually left with the nagging feeling that I'd rather have had one or the other of the elements on its own rather than the combination concoction. That being said, however, I thought there would be a solid possibility that I'd like this week's Tuesdays With Dorie assignment, Espresso Cheesecake Brownies. Brownies and I are fast friends, and cheesecake, especially espresso cheesecake, sounded like a decent addition. The best part? I could make these for a neighborhood potluck dinner and whether I liked them or not I wouldn't have to worry about finishing a pan of brownies by myself (that prospect sounded alternately wonderful and horrible to me).

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I made 1.5 recipe,m and the math was perfect for a 9 x 13 pan. I was a little concerned that the middle wouldn't cook through. It was only later that I realized (after I wrestled with done-ness testing angst) that I should have used two 8 x 8 pans.

- My swirling was pretty weak; the brownie batter was too thick and Dorie warned against over-swirling.

- I found it very difficult to test the brownie layer because it was under the cheesecake layer, which also had to be done. I may have left in a tad too long because the brownies seemed dry. Luckily, the fridge time helped; the brownies became denser and fudgier in texture.

- I left off the sour cream layer for ease of cutting and transport to my neighbor's house.

- I was lazy when I cut the brownies and didn't wipe my knife clean between each cut, so they ended up pretty raggedy-looking!


the verdict:

Unfortunately we left the party before dessert was served, so I don't know how people liked the brownies! The plate came back empty but I'm not sure I can draw any conclusions from that. I kept a few brownies for photographing (see? no swirls) and tasting.

To me these brownies were lackluster. The brownie layer needed more chocolate or more texture or something. Some chocolate covered cocoa nibs (those things are to die for!) would have perked up the brownies nicely, I think. The espresso cheesecake layer was delicious, though. But I would definitely like a different brownie on the base. Hmm, on second thought, maybe I'll just take a fantastic fudgy brownie...


...and while we're in the espresso/coffee mode, here's the final installment of Ice Cream Week (actually it's been Ice Cream Week Plus 1 Day) This weekend we were invited to a spur of the moment family cookout. I offered to bring homemade ice cream and my brother-in-law (the Grill Meister) semi-jokingly dreamed up a flavor request: "Coffee Heath Bar Crunch." He was pretty surprised when I showed up at dinner the next evening with his ideal ice cream flavor in hand (along with a full container of chocolate gelato).

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I figured that I'd make my BIL's requested flavor (I think Coffee Toffee sounds catchier, don't you?) by stirring in Heath bar bits into a coffee ice cream. I was pretty excited to make this because coffee ice cream and Heath bars are two of my favorite sweets individually and sounded like a winning combination together!

- There were at least three coffee ice cream recipes that I wanted to try, but ultimately chose the America's Test Kitchen Coffee Ice Cream recipe that my friend Tracey made because (1) it was easiest and (2) I wanted to try ice cream from a different recipe source than I'd previously used.

- My friend Maria suggested that I use chopped Heath bars rather than the packaged Heath bits, so I bought a bag of mini Heaths, figuring there'd be a bit higher ratio of chocolate coating per interior toffee. I chopped about half the bars (6 oz).

- I cooked my custard a minute too long (thought I'd turned off the stove burner but didn't) so I had to deal with some custard scrambling. I strained out the eggy bits and it was fine.

verdict:

This ice cream was seriously delicious!! It was lovely as plain coffee ice cream (I had a spoonful before I stirred in the toffee) and fantastic with the Heath bar pieces. My brother-in-law and his family were thrilled with the dessert and even more excited when I left the extra ice cream in their freezer.