Currently viewing the category:
"Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts"
Butter.
Brown sugar.
Heavy whipping cream.
A heavy dose of vanilla extract.
A splash of scotch whiskey.
And pecans roasted in butter and salt.
Are you drooling yet? These are the star ingredients of this butterscotch pecan ice cream recipe, and a few reasons why you need this frozen dessert in your life.
What happens when you put vanilla ice cream, egg nog, and a piece of pumpkin pie in a blender? Well, recently I decided to find out.
I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin, but I will have a slice of pumpkin pie about once a year with a dollop of whipped cream. It’s obligatory, and I do enjoy it.
Lately I’ve been craving milkshakes all the time. I don’t think I can really call this a pregnancy craving, I think it’s more the case that I’ve remembered how delicious they are and I have an excuse to indulge. And so I’ve been indulging.
My husband, Steve, is the best. I make mistakes, and sometimes I’m a big doofus. And yet, he loves me anyway. We’ve been married for almost three years but it feels like I’ve known and loved him always, and I wouldn’t choose anyone else to spend the rest of my life with.
Steve has been extra patient with me recently and so when he asked if I would make him some basil ice cream, I couldn’t say no. We were treated to some amazing basil gelato at a small event organized by The Vintage Mixer at Vinto pizzeria here in Salt Lake City. It was presented with a sampling of other gelato flavors and Steve was alone in singling out the basil and happily lapped up the majority of it. And he’s been talking about it ever since.
I don’t blame him, really. The gelato’s flavor was clean and bright, only slightly sweet and bursting with basil. He’s the kind of person that prefers the savory to sweet (I couldn’t be more opposite) and so this is his perfect dessert. It’s in dishes like this that our tastes collide.
Our barrel herb garden that we planted this spring has flourished, particularly the boxwood basil that I bought on impulse from the nursery. The small plant with dainty leaves that I started with has expanded to an almost obnoxious bush. It may look different but it’s just as aromatic as regular basil.
Once the boxwood basil is blended together with sugar and cream, thickened with egg yolks, and brightened with a pinch of lemon zest, you can’t tell any difference. For those of us that love basil (and I’m assuming that’s pretty much everybody), this is a wonderfully refreshing alternative to more traditional ice cream flavors like chocolate and vanilla.
And since it uses a seasonal ingredient that you might have growing in your back yard, or could easily find at your local farmer’s market, it just screams summer to me. When the leaves have fallen from the trees and snow covers the ground, it will be dishes like this that I’ll think of and long for.
So in honor of Steve, and summer, I leave you with the recipe and hope that you don’t take anything for granted— warm weather, the fresh bounty of the season, and most of all, the ones you love.
You might enjoy other ice creams with unusual flavors:
Avocado Ice Cream by Two Peas and their Pod
Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream by Brown Eyed Baker
Candied Bacon Ice Cream by David Lebovitz
Honey Sage Ice Cream by The Cilantropist
Basic Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop
Makes about 1 quart
Print this recipe
1 cup packed basil leaves
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
Pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
1 lemon
Use a food processor to grind the basil leaves with the sugar and one cup of the heavy cream, until the leaves are ground as fine as possible. Pour half of the mixture through a strainer into a large bowl. Add the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream.
Heat the other half of the basil mixture in a saucepan along with the whole milk and salt over medium heat. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. When the basil mixture is steaming, slowly pour into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Return the mixture back into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about five minutes. Pour the custard through the strainer into the bowl with the cream mixture. Zest the lemon directly into the custard, then cool over an ice bath while stirring.
Chill completely, then freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let harden in the freezer for a few hours before serving.
For me, this is the Summer of Sangria. I cannot get enough. It seems every weekend I’m pouring some wine, whatever liqueur I have on hand, and some fruit together in a pitcher, either to share with friends or enjoy with my husband. A glass of chilled sangria out on our deck in the evening is my new favorite thing.
I have to give some credit to Tina of My Life as a Mrs. whose sangria recipe essentially started this whole thing. Her recipe was easy and everything I hoped a homemade sangria would be. It also inspired a lot of experimentation, partly out of curiosity, but also because sometimes it’s easier to raid the pantry than go to the grocery store. And you know what I’ve discovered? It’s hard to mess us sangria.
I love a traditional red wine sangria, but I’ve found that white wine works just as well. It’s lighter and seems even more appropriate on hot summer days, which so many of us have been enduring lately.
With sangria on my mind so much recently, it was only a matter of time before I thought to turn it into a frozen dessert. And since fresh peaches have finally returned to my local markets it made sense for me to include them somehow. The flavors of white wine and the peaches belong together in this sorbet, almost as if they were destined to be together.
I created this recipe with the hope that it really would be a scoop-able form of the beverage, and before being poured into my ice cream machine, I gladly would have drank it up. It’s simple— some white wine, peach schnapps, an entire peach blended in and a hint of mint. I substituted a simple syrup of water and sugar for some of the liqueur to aid in freezing, but even with it the sorbet is very soft. It’s firm enough to be eaten with a spoon, but soft enough that if you take your time, you might need to sip it near the end, which in my opinion, is a definite bonus.
Other boozy sorbets:
Raspberry Rosé Sorbet from Completely Delicious
Watermelon Mojito Sorbet from Cookin’ Canuck
Grapefruit Campari Sorbet from David Lebovitz
Limoncello Sorbet from Completely Delicious
Chocolate and hazelnuts go together like…
burgers and fries,
me and my flip flops,
my dog and his frisbee,
like summer and ice cream.
It’s that time of year when all I want to do is eat bowl after bowl of cold ice cream.
Chocolate and hazelnuts go together like… burgers and fries, me and my flip flops, my dog and his frisbee, like summer and ice cream. It’s that time of year when all I want to do is eat bowl after bowl of cold ice cream. This particular ice cream is among the best I have ever made myself at home.The flavors of chocolate and hazelnuts married together in one rich frozen treat cannot be beat. After I prepared the custard I put it in the fridge to chill overnight, but not before I considered slurping it all up with a straw. Thankfully, rationality prevailed. The next day while the ice cream was churning I could not stop dipping my spoon into the semi-frozen mixture as it tumbled in the machine. But again, I tried (and mostly succeeded) to exercise a little self control, knowing the finished product would be worth the wait. The ice cream survived my impatience only to then melt in my sweltering kitchen before I was done scooping, photographing and sampling (time to fix the swamp cooler!). Even only somewhat frozen, with the soupy puddle at the bottom of the cup growing larger by the second, it hit the spot. Subtly chocolaty and intensely hazelnut-y, this ice cream made my summer a little more awesome. 1 1/2 cups hazelnuts Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts in an even layer on a non-greased sheet pan. Bake the nuts for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once or twice so that they toast evenly. The nuts should be lightly golden brown. Let the nuts cool completely, then rub them in a kitchen towel to remove as much of the skins as possible. Finely chop the hazelnuts in a food processor. Warm the milk with 1 cup of the cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture starts steaming, and just before it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and stir in the hazelnuts. Cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour. Meanwhile, put 4 ounces of the milk chocolate pieces in a large boil. Heat the remaining 1 cup heavy cream until it just begins to boil. Pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set a mesh strainer over the top of the bowl. Pour the hazelnut-infused milk through another strainer into a medium saucepan, squeezing the nuts to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the hazelnuts. Rewarm the hazelnut mixture over medium low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. When the hazelnut mixture is warm, slowly pour it into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, while whisking constantly. Pour the custard through the strainer placed over the chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator for several hours, preferably overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, adding the remaining 4 ounces of chopped chocolate during the last 5 minutes of churning.
Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop
Makes 1 quart
Print this recipe
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
5 large egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
about me
Hi, I'm Annalise and I love to bake. Welcome to my blog! Follow along as I try new recipes, share baking tips and tricks, and overindulge my sweet tooth.Current Favorites
Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake
Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream
Old Fashioned Donuts
Shortcakes with Lemon Curd & Berries
Grilled FlatbreadNeed Baking Help?
Learn about baking ingredients and methods on my Baking Essentials page.
See what I use in my kitchen on my Baking Tools page.
Contributor to Houzz.com
Browse Bath Products on Houzz- For Example:
