Holiday Peppermint Spice & Everything Nice!

This was a week of firsts for me. I went downhill skiing for the first time in my life. It was a lot of fun, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Given what everybody was telling me, which was mostly that I was going to hate the experience, I was dreading the upcoming weekend. It didn't help that I was sick. Thus, I was not exactly in the mood to be rolling down a snowy hill. I ended up having a great time though, which only goes to prove that you should always try new things once and that you can teach an old dog new tricks. I had some great instructors, who to my surprise kept telling me to slow down. Given that I'm a naturally cautious person, I was surprised to find that I was going down the hills too fast. I thought too slow would've been by problem. I stuck to the bunny slopes though and only fell once!

Anyway, enough about skiing, this is an ice cream blog after all. As promised, I made peppermint ice cream (also for this first time) this week. This is another recipe that is entirely of my own invention and I am very proud of the way it turned out.

Peppermint Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

4 egg yolks

1 ½ cups heavy cream

¼ cup crushed candy canes

Directions:

Bring the milk and sugar to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by pouring a cup of the warm milk mixture over them and whisking briskly. Add the egg yolks to the saucepan and simmer over low heat until it gets very thick, 5 to 7 minutes.

Take the mixture off the stove and pour in the heavy cream and vanilla. Stir to combine. Refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly cooled or overnight.

Add mixture to the ice cream maker. After it has churned for twenty minutes, add in the crushed candy cane pieces.

Note:  Year old candy canes left over from last Christmas work perfectly in this recipe. Don't judge, it gets tiring shopping for ice cream ingredients every week, especially at this time of year.

The ice cream had a nice, refreshing taste and wasn't too heavy or overly minty. I am not a huge fan of mint ice cream, so I was a little nervous about how this ice cream would turn out. In my mind, though, it was the perfect amount of peppermint. It reminded me a little of a york peppermint patty without the chocolate. Also, the texture or consistency was perfect! The egg yolks really seem to be doing the trick for helping the consistency of the ice cream.

I hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays! Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.

'Tis the Season: Coquito Ice Cream

It's that time of year again. The weather outside is frightful, but everything else is so delightful, so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! I am one of those people who love the Christmas season. I love that everyone is more cheerful; I love Christmas trees; I love baking holiday cookies; I love the angels at Rockefeller Center; I even love snow.

As I count down the days to Christmas on my advent calendar and listen to Christmas carols, I have also been making all the traditional Christmas treats. One such treat is coquito. I was introduced to coquito by one of my best friends in high school. For those of you who don't know, coquito is a Puerto Rican drink that is similar to eggnog, but even better. This recipe is not only delicious, but is extra special to me because it invokes all the nostalgia and warm feelings the holiday season traditionally brings. 

Ingredients:

2 cans (12 oz. each) Evaporated Milk

1 can (15 oz.) Cream of Coconut

1 can(13.5 oz.) Coconut Milk

½ cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

½ cup white rum (optional)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish, if desired

Cinnamon sticks (optional)

For ice cream, add:

1/2 cup of cream

2 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients together in a blender. Blend for 1 - 2 minutes. Serve cold.

2. If making ice cream, churn ingredients in an ice cream maker after blending.

As I was drinking coquito, I thought this would make for an amazing ice cream. I took the above recipe added half a cup of cream and two egg yolks and put it in my ice cream churner. It was delicious! I am particularly proud of this recipe because it is the first one I have made completely on my own (without looking at another recipe). For my first completely original flavor, I give it a thumbs up.

Spoiler Alerts: I plan on making a candy cake (peppermint) and eggnog ice cream  in the next couple of weeks to celebrate the holiday season!

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