Currently viewing the category: "Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts"

Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream

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.

Butterscotch Pecan Ice Cream Continue Reading…

 

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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.

Egg nog, ice cream, and pie

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.

Pumpkin pie

Adding the eggnog

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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.

 

IPeach Sangria Sorbet

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.

Peach 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.

Peach Sangria Sorbet

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

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