Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

If the weather is warm there is nothing I crave more than ice cream. Unfortunately most ice creams involve a lot of work and if you're working with a custard based ice cream it's even better to start making it a day in advance. Not really what you're looking for when it's hot outside... enter this Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt. This is about as lazy as you can get. You slice some strawberries and let them soak with some sugar. Put all the ingredients in a blender, refrigerate and pour it into your ice cream maker. But even that was too much work for me.

A while ago I bought a massive amount of strawberries and put lots of them in the freezer, thinking that there are a lot of ways I can use those strawberries... and boy, was I right, because these frozen strawberries are perfect for making this ice cream. I just tossed the strawberries right into the blender along with the other ingredients. Flipped on the blender and just let the blender work its magic. Because of the frozen strawberries, the mixture becomes very thick, it's already almost frozen. After this I just poured it into the ice cream maker (no refrigeration necessary!) and let it churn for about 20 minutes. So with this combination you can have strawberry frozen yoghurt in 30 minutes! Wooohoooo! I foresee a summer filled with this ice cream!

Recipe

Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

Yield: about 1 quart

Ingredients:

1 pound strawberries (fresh or frozen)
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vodka or kirsch (optional)
1 cup plain yoghurt (whole milk, but non-fat works also)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions:

If you're using fresh strawberries, slice them and toss it in a bowl with the sugar and vodka (or kirsch). Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve. Set aside and let stand for about 1  hour. If you're using frozen strawberries, just skip this step.

Put the yoghurt, strawberries and lemon juice into the blender and purée until smooth.

If you've used fresh strawberries refrigerate the mixture for 1 hour.

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

Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Rocky Road Ice Cream

For some bizar reason it feels as if spring and summer do not want to come. Where last year March, April and May were filled with sunshine and warmth, this year we've  had about two nice days so far... It is frustrating and depressing.

In an attempt to put some sunshine into our hearts I decided to make ice cream. Because frankly, who doesn't become happy from fresh home made ice cream? Right? Right! And being the chocolate addict that I am, of course I had to pick a chocolate ice cream! That makes me even happier!

Unfortunately, the ice cream was gone all too soon, but....fortunately I'm writing this post with the sun shining outside. It's not very warm, but it's a start! So I'm off to enjoy some sunshine!

Recipe

Rocky Road Ice Cream

Yield: about 1 quart

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup roasted peanuts

Instructions:

In a medium saucepan warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder, whisking thoroughly to blend. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for about 30 seconds, while whisking constantly. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Stir in the remaining cup of cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar and salt in the same saucepan. In a seperate medium bowl whisk together the egg yolks. Very slowly pour a little of the warm milk into the egg yolks, while whisking constantly. Keep slowly adding the milk and whisking until it is completely combined. Pour the mixture back in to the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat, scraping the bottom as you stir. until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through a strainer into the chocolate mixture and stir the mix well. Add the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

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

After the ice cream is ready fold in the marshmallows and peanuts.

Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Peach Ice Cream

We brought with us from France about a truckload of peaches, all of which had to be eaten in the course of three days. So what do you do when you've eaten all the peaches you can eat? That's right! You turn the peaches into something different. For instance.... Peach Ice Cream!

Now, I have to say that the weather here is terrible. It is almost like fall has come really, really early. But that doesn't stop me from making ice cream! I love ice cream all year round. I think it is one of the foods you can wake me up for at night.

I found the recipe in The Perfect Scoop (again). This book it starting to be really special to me... I'm definitely developing an intimate relation with it! I made one alteration: I reduced the amount of water to 1/4 cup, because I like my ice creams creamy. This worked out perfectly, because the peaches contain a lot of water also.

So without much further ado I give you: Peach Ice Cream.

Recipe

Peach Ice Cream

Yield: about 1 quart (or 1 liter)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 pounds (600 gram) ripe peaches (about 4 large peaches)
1/4 cup (60 ml) water (or 1/2 cup (125 ml))
3/4 cup (150 gram) sugar
1/2 cup (120 gram) sour cream
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
A few drops freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions:

Peel the peaches, remove the pits and slice them into chunks.

Put the peaches in a medium, nonreactive saucepan and cook them with the water over medium heat. Cover the pan, stir occasionally, until the peaches are soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the sugar and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Purée the mixture in a blender or foodprocessor with the rest of the ingredients until almost smooth but slightly chunky.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

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

Enjoy!


Source: slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz

Super Lemon Ice Cream

Due to unlucky circumstances my big baby girl had to spend an afternoon home without friends or baby sister. None of her friends were able to play and so she was faced with nothing to do. Off course there were plenty of things to do, but for some reason she was bored. And so I was faced with a dilemma. Do I let her be bored and grumpy? This would usually be my choice as I think it is also a bit of a learning experience for her... Or do I pick her up and do something fun with her?

I chose to do something with her, but under my conditions. I wanted her to help me cook something. Anything...didn't matter what. She could choose.

And she chose ice cream. But not just any ice cream. No, my baby girl has a thing for lemons, absolutely loves them! So when we found a recipe for Super Lemon Ice Cream, the choice was obvious.

Super Lemon Ice Cream it was to be. Again this is an easy recipe. No cooking involved (my favorite!), a nice fresh taste, but not too lemony so you won't be puckering up. No, it has a very full lemon flavour, but one you can easily handle. All-in-all a great recipe for those hot, sweltering days, when you really don't feel like doing anything!

Recipe

Super Lemon Ice Cream

Yield: about 1 quart

Ingredients:
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
2 cups of half-and-half
Pinch of salt

Instructions:

Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or blender.

Add the sugar and blend until the lemon zest is very fine.

Add the lemon juice and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Blend in the half-and-half until smooth.

Chill for 1 hour, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Enjoy!

Source: The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz

Peach Frozen yoghurt

Having both a new ice cream machine and a book filled with ice cream recipes should be total bliss! Too bad it's been raining almost non-stop these past few weeks...

But that hasn't stopped me completely from making ice cream. Every time the temperature rose slightly I ran to the store to get everything I needed to make some sort of ice cream. Any sort of ice cream... Doesn't matter what!

So when the temperature was going to rise again and I found good, ripe, flavourful peaches, it was meant to be...

Peach ice cream! I wanted a really fresh ice cream and found a recipe for Peach Frozen Yoghurt! Perfect!

The recipe is easy, but you still have to cook the peaches, so if at all possible....plan ahead, so you have enough time to let the mixture cool down. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of water but I think you can minimize that further to 1/4 cup and up the yoghurt to 1 1/4 cup, that way it becomes a little creamier.

Recipe

Peach Frozen Yoghurt

Yield: about 3 cups

1 1/2 pound peaches (4-5 peaches)
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 - 1 1/4 cup plain whole-milk yoghurt
A few drops lemon juice

Instructions:

Peel the peaches, slice them in half and remove the pits.

Cut the peaches into chunks and cook them with the water in a medium, nonreactive, saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar and chill in the refrigerator.

When the peaches are cool, purée them in a blender or food processor with the yoghurt until almost smooth, but slightly chunky.

Mix in a few drips of lemon juice.

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

Enjoy!


Source: The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz

Coke Icee

The day of my birthday party was extremely warm and as there were a couple of kids I wanted to have something for them to enjoy. Well, something other than cake and God knows what more. I wanted to have something for them to be able to cool off a little, while not completely filling them with ice cream.

And then I ran into something amazing. A lifesaver, the easiest thing to make. It felt like a real eye-opener. Why had I not thought about this? Why didn't I come up with this amazing idea??

Are you curious yet? Over on Bake at 350 I found a "recipe" for Coke Icees. And yes the " " are there for a reason, because you can't really call it a recipe. It's that easy!

You just take some Coke. I guess how much you need, depends on how much you want to make and the limits of your ice cream maker. Anyway, you pour the Coke into your ice cream maker, just as you would with your normal base for ice cream. And you let the ice cream maker churn away for about 20 minutes.

That's it! And you know what.... as long as you don't use a soda with artificial sweeteners, you can use any kind of soda you like!

I'm telling you... this is a gift from God!

So if you have kids, or not, doesn't matter, and if it's warm, or not, doesn't matter, go make this! And be ready to be loved by everyone who has one of these amazing icees!

Strawberry Ice Cream

My ice cream machine broke down! It left me heartbroken and crying in the kitchen. But then I realised I  had an excuse to buy a new one! I always love it when I have a valid reason to spend some money! So I started doing some research on ice cream machines. I would have loved to buy a self-freezing machine, but with prices starting at € 400,- I decided that was a bit too much. After a while I remembered that you can buy an ice cream maker attachment for a Kitchenaid standmixer. I was sold. It's perfect because you just put the bowl in the freezer and don't have to store an extra machine!

So I went out and bought it, put the bowl in the freezer and the next day I made this strawberry ice cream. It is another recipe from joy of baking. After the huge success of the chocolate ice cream I wanted to try out this recipe, to see if it would turn out just as great.

It was another custard-based ice cream, so it was indeed very creamy and smooth. But I did found it slightly lacking in the strawberry-department. I was looking for an ice cream which was bursting with strawberry-flavour. However, this is a very nice ice cream, but maybe more for a fancy dinner or a cold day.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups half-and-half

5 large egg yolks

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 vanilla bean

2/3 cup strawberry puree (strawberries pureed with a little sugar and a squize of lemon juice)

Instructions:

In a saucepan bring the half-and-half and the vanilla bean to the scalding point where the milk begins to foam up.

Remove from heat and take out the vanilla bean. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. Mix the seeds back into the half-and-half.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a stainless steel bowl until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Very slowly pour the scalding half-and-half into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk constantly so the eggs don't curdle.

Place the stainless steel bowl over a pan with simmering water and cook until the custard thickens. It needs to coats the back of a wooden spoon (77˚C or 170˚F).

Remove the custard from the heat and stir for a couple of minutes, making sure the custard doesn't overcook.

Stir in the strawberry puree.

Cover and let cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate until the custard is completely cold.

Pour the custard into your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Enjoy!

Perfect Chocolate Ice Cream

With all the warm weather outside it really feels like summer already and so I decided to make my first batch of ice cream of the season. I'm always looking for a good Chocolate ice cream recipe and have tried several recipes, but this one is definitely a winner! It has everything you want a good chocolate ice cream to have. It's silky smooth, creamy and has a fantastic chocolate taste!

The only thing I hate about custard-base ice creams is that you have to let the base cool down before you can actually pour it into the ice cream maker. Not something I'm very good at.... To help speed this process I put the warm pan in a sink filled with ice cold water. But it is of course best to make it ahead.

I found the recipe at Joy of Baking and was so pleased with the end result that I made no changes whatsoever.

Recipe

Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups half-and-half (or 1 cup whole milk and 1 cup single cream)
50 gram (1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons) dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 vanilla bean
55 gram (2 ounces) semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 large egg yolks
100 gram (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

Instructions:

In a saucepan whisk together the half-and-half and the cocoa powder until well blended.

Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture with the vanilla bean to a scalding point where the milk begins to foam up.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, take out the vanilla bean. Cut the vanilla bean in two, lengthwise, and scrape the seeds from the bean with the back of a knife. Mix the seeds back into the mixture.

Add the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted.

In a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about two minutes).

Very slowly pour the scalding half-and-half mixture into the egg yolk mixture, mixing constantly so the eggs don't curdle.

Place the bowl over a pan with simmering water. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon and cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (170ºF or 77ºC).

Immediately remove the mixture from the heat and keep stirring a few minutes so it doesn't overcook.

Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate the mixture for several hours or overnight until completely cold. You can speed the process along by placing the mixture in a sink with ice cold water. And if you're really impatient you can skip the refrigerator, but your ice will be very soft.

Transfer the cold mixture to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions. After it is finished you can store the ice cream in the freezer.