RE2PECT Ice Cream (vanilla ice cream with peanuts, cracker jacks and fudge swirls)

RE2PECT 

As an ode to Derek Jeter's last home game at Yankee Stadium, I decided to make an ice cream in his honor. RE2PECT Ice Cream is vanilla ice cream with peanuts, cracker jacks and fudge swirls.

My reasons for making RE2PECT Ice Cream were two fold. First and foremost, as a life long Yankee fan, I felt I had to do something to honor the career long Yankee. Second, this weekend my husband and I are running in the Bronx 10 Mile race. I thought I would combine my two favorite passions, running and ice cream eating, by making an ice cream flavor that represents my run in the Bronx. The first thing I think of when I think of the Bronx is the Bronx Bombers. The ultimate Bronx Bomber of my generation is Derek Jeter (though I will always have a soft spot for the Yankees of my childhood, such as: Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neil, Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly), hence the birth of RE2PECT Ice Cream.

For those of you who would like to make this recipe at home, I used the Cuisinart Simple Vanilla Recipe as my base. This is the same recipe I was going to use the night I made the sweet cream ice cream, except this time I had the vanilla.

Vanilla Ice Cream base (as seen in Cuisinart Recipe Booklet):
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (I only used 1 tablespoon)

Add-ins:
1/2 cup of honey roasted peanuts
1/2 cup of cracker jacks (or caramel popcorn)
fudge (to taste)

In a medium bowl use an electric beater to mix together the milk and granulated sugar. This should take about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the heavy cream and vanilla while continuing to beat the mixture until it is thick and creamy. Afterwards, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and churn for about 20 minutes.

As the ice cream is churning, use a food processor to chop the honey roasted peanuts and cracker jacks. If you want a crunchy texture, pulse the peanuts and cracker jacks. If you would like a smoother texture, then grind them until they are fine. After the ice cream has churned for 20 minutes, add in the grounded peanuts and cracker jacks. Add in as much fudge as desired as well. Churn for another 10 minutes and then put the mixture into the freezer for at least two hours before serving.

This ice cream is quite tasty. The peanuts provide a nice crunchy texture, but are well balanced by the sweet caramel popcorn and fudge. It is the exact kind of ice cream I would like to eat on a hot summer's day while enjoying a Yankee game with the bleacher creatures in the Bronx. The only thing that I am slightly disappointed by is that the vanilla ice cream absorbed the fudge. While you can taste the fudge, the fudge swirls that I wanted in the ice cream to represent the Yankee pinstripes are not visible. Ultimately, however, RE2PECT Ice Cream is as good as its namesake. The legend lives!

Also, for those of you keeping track, the chocolate ice cream from last week was delicious. I do not usually like chocolate ice cream, but I found this recipe delicious and well worth the wait. It is rich, decadent and will fulfill any chocolate craving you have.

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.

Chocolate Ice Cream or How To Bribe Your Favorite Five Year Old

This past weekend my in-laws came over for dinner. My husband and I made lots of delicious things for dinner, including chicken cutlets, pasta with fresh tomato sauce and a kale salad. When it came time to decide what to make for dessert, it was a no brainer. We knew we would make ice cream. It just so happens that my five year old niece's favorite dessert is chocolate ice cream. It also just so happens that my niece is the cutest five year old on the planet, so my husband and I love being presented with opportunities to spoil her with little treats, like fresh homemade ice cream.

Knowing that most ice cream recipes take at least 24 hours to freeze and become really solid for scooping, I excitedly started the ice cream the night before. As my sweet cream ice cream from the previous week turned out so well, I decided to play it safe and use the Simple Chocolate Ice Cream recipe found in the Cuisinart Recipe Booklet that came with my ice cream maker. Unfortunately, the Simple Chocolate Ice Cream did not turn out so well. The cocoa powder never really dissolved into the milk giving the ice cream a very grainy quality. Note: as my very sweet sister-in-law and subsequent recipes have pointed out, I think it is very important to mix the cocoa powder and milk together over low heat before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. This is a crucial step that the Cuisinart recipe leaves out. I am by no means an expert cook, but I think mixing the milk and cocoa powder together over low heat allows the milk to absorb the cocoa powder (like chocolate milk), making the ice cream less grainy. Perhaps if I re-tried the Cuisinart recipe using this method, it would taste better. Overall, as it is though, it tasted more like a bad cookies and cream ice cream than chocolate ice cream.

Determined to find a really good chocolate ice cream recipe that I could make the next time I want to get into my niece's good graces, I scoured the web for good chocolate ice cream recipes. I came up with this one from Bon Appetit magazine. Warning: This recipe requires lots of advance planning. Not only are there a lot of steps in making the ice cream "batter" (it probably took me close to an hour my first time around), it then requires 5 days of chilling. In other words, this recipe is not one you can make on the fly.

Ingredients (copied from the Bon Appetit website):
7 ounces dark chocolate finely chopped
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large egg yolks
13 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions (copied from the Bon Appetit website):

• Place chocolate in a medium metal bowl. Set bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Set melted chocolate aside; let cool slightly.
• Whisk milk and cocoa powder in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat until mixture begins to boil; set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in another medium bowl until very thick ribbons form, about 2 minutes.Whisking constantly, gradually add hot milk mixture to egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Add melted chocolate and whisk to blend. Stir over low heat until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 175°, about 5 minutes. Transfer chocolate custard to a large bowl and place over another large bowl of ice water. (Note: I just stuck it in the fridge for a few minutes). Stir until chocolate custard is cool.
• Bring remaining 6 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a small heavy, deep saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush (do not stir), until a dark amber color forms, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Whisk caramel into chocolate custard. Strain into a large container; cover and chill for 2 days.
• Process custard in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to another container; freeze for 3 days before eating. DO AHEAD.  Ice cream can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen.

Unfortunately, I am now in limbo and have to wait five days to know how this round of chocolate ice cream turned out. Judging from the how the "batter" tastes though, I think it is going to be excellent! If you want my final opinion, check back here next week and discover a new recipe as well. For those of you getting a little bored with the traditional flavors, I promise that next week will be something a little bit more unique.

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.

How Sweet It Is...

Yesterday, I made my very first batch of ice cream with my new ice cream maker. I decided to start off with a simple flavor like vanilla. Vanilla is not only my favorite flavor, but is basic enough that it seemed like a good flavor to start with. I figured if I couldn't make vanilla ice cream, I might as well nix this whole project. I also thought vanilla could serve as a good base for other flavors I may want to add into my ice cream in the future.

Alas, after mixing all the ingredients together, I realized I did not have any vanilla in my cupboard. I frantically looked through the recipe book to see what other flavors I could make, but could not find any that involved the same concentration of milk and sugar. With a friend arriving for dinner at any minute, I did not have time to run to the store to get vanilla. Rather than throwing the whole batch out, I decided to just try the batch as was (cooking with the ingredients we have and not the ones the recipe calls for is a popular tradition at my house). The cream, milk and sugar tasted sweet enough, so I figured I could just make my own version of Sweet Cream Ice Cream. According to the three of us that ate it, it was pretty tasty.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Cuisinart. The only change I made was leaving out the vanilla):

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cup granulated sugar
3 cups heavy cream

Combine the milk and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed whisk the milk and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved (this should take about 2 minutes).

Next, pour the heavy cream into the mixture and continue to whisk together.

Pour the entire mixture into your ice cream maker. My ice cream maker takes about 25 minutes to churn everything together, but depending on the type you have it may take more or less time. After churning the ice cream, give it a significant amount of time (a couple hours) to cool in your freezer. Otherwise it might turn out a little soupy.

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.

The Inspiration For This Blog

I LOVE ice cream. I love everything about ice cream. It's got fat; it's got sugar; it's got everything your body could possibly crave. What's not to like? If I could, I would eat ice cream 3 times a day.

Given my infatuation with ice cream, no one will be surprised to learn that for my birthday I asked my husband to buy me an ice cream maker, which he delivered on. Armed with my new ice cream maker, my goal is to make a flavor of ice cream a week over the next year. That's right folks, I'm going to make 32 flavors of ice cream and then some (for the mathematically challenged, that some is 20. 32+20 = 52 weeks in a year). Some of the flavors will be regular, ordinary flavors and some will be funky. All will be based entirely on my whim and fancy.

Fair warning: I am not an expert ice cream maker. This blog is meant to record my hilarious attempts at making ice cream. If you're looking for gourmet dessert or ice cream recipes, this blog is not for you. If you're looking to be amused and waste time on the internet instead of studying for that final tomorrow, paying attention to that work presentation that's happening right now or whatever else you're supposed to be doing, this blog is right up your alley. 

For those of you wondering why I keep saying "32 flavors and then some?", this comes from an Ani DiFranco song. When I was in high school, Ani DiFranco spoke to my angsty, feminist, teenage soul. I played her CD Not A Pretty Girl so many times I'm surprised it didn't break. 32 Flavors was one of my favorite songs. The song has nothing to do with ice cream, but the name works with the theme of this blog, so I thought I'd pay homage to the Righteous Babe.

In addition to making 52 flavors of ice cream over the course of the year, I also plan on ranking existing ice cream shops to help out the other ice cream lovers in the world. The genius for this idea came from my husband while we were in standing in a 40 minute line for the Michelin ranked Din Tai Fung in Taiwan. Per usual, I was talking about my love of ice cream and decrying the scarcity of ice cream parlors in Asia (America this may be the key to your obesity problem). My husband turned to me and said why don't you start a Michelin ranking for ice cream? Thus, the one scoop, two scoop, three scoop and three scoops with a cherry on top system was born. One scoop is the lowest, three scoops with a cherry on top is the highest. My comments are offered in parentheses.

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.