Snow Ice Cream

We live in Northern Illinois. If you have been watching the news at all, you know that we got a small amount of snow this week. Nothing major, just around 17 inches. Blizzard watch has been going on for days and it finally hit last night. There were howling winds and white out conditions. It was a little crazy. This is outside my front door this morning.



So what do you do when Mother Nature throws that much snow at you? You make Snow Ice Cream that's what!

A friend suggested this when he saw my snow pictures on facebook. I immediately grabbed some snow and got started. I was a little skeptical about how this would taste, but it is really good! It is sweet with just the perfect amount of vanilla. This is not gourmet ice cream, but it is fun to make with simple pantry ingredients and makes wonderful memories with your family. Enjoy and be careful out there!

Snow Ice Cream
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Source: Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1 gallon snow
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk

Directions

When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.

Chocolate Ice Cream

So in my last post I said that Michael and I are doing P90X. The program has a fairly strict diet, which we are starting to move away from. We are doing our best to limit carbs and sweets. We have been doing really well with this. Enter this ice cream!!

I love ice cream. Its getting warm out which is the best time for it. I actually made this before we started this program. I have done really well with avoiding sweets, but last night, the thought of this ice cream in the freezer got the best of me and I HAD to have some. It really doesn't take much of this ice cream because it is so rich but it is so wonderfully creamy! I used semi sweet chocolate to make this recipe so next time I will try bittersweet or unsweetened and see if that makes a difference in the richness. Enjoy!

Chocolate Ice Cream
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Source: David Lebovitz: The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over the medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (170°F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

For Christmas, I got the Kitchen aid Ice Cream maker attachment. I was so excited to make my own ice cream. As soon as I got home, I ordered David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop. I have heard rave reviews about this book and they are all true. It is filled with so many types of ice cream and sorbets and has wonderful tips for making your own ice cream divine. My hips are rejoicing!

First up for the ice cream maker was Michael's favorite, cookies and cream. I started with a basic vanilla ice cream and folded in oreos at the end of the churning. This ice cream is wonderful. The vanilla ice cream is so rich and is packed full of vanilla flavor. Using a vanilla bean really brings out the flavor. Pairing the vanilla with oreos is a perfect combination. I can not wait to make additional flavors. Stay tuned. Enjoy!!

Vanilla Ice Cream, Philadelphia-Style

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Source: The Perfect Scoop

Ingredients

3 cups heavy cream, or 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk (I did 2 cups cream and 1 cup milk)

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Pour 1 cup of the cream into a medium saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan and add the pod to the pot. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.

Remove from heat and add the remaining 2 cups cream (or remaining 1 cup cream and the milk) and the vanilla extract.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (I chilled overnight.) When ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean, rinsing and reserving it for another use, and then freeze the mixture in your ice cream make according to the manufacturer's instructions.

After the mixture has frozen in the ice cream maker, I removed the ice cream and folded in oreo cookie chunks. I failed to remove the cream center from the oreos. This left the oreos with a greasy texture. Next time I will remove the creamy center so I just have the oreo cookie chunks.