Easy Ice Cream Cake

Here is the recipe for the second ice cream cake I made for my son's friend.  It is very easy.  My son did help me with it.  It is a great cake to make with kids.  If you make it without a kid, you will have to spread some flour on the counter and rub some on your face, sprinkle some water on it to make it look like you worked really hard.


Easy Ice Cream Cake
Prep Time:  10 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
Servings:  16

Ingredients:

16 ice cream sandwiches
1 (16 ounce) container frozen non-dairy whipped topping
1 (12 ounce) jar chocolate fudge topping, room temperature
1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy, grated

Directions:

1.  Place 8 of the ice cream sandwiches side by side in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Spread evenly with half of the hot fudge toppings, then half of the whipped topping.  Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and toppings.  Sprinkle with grated chocolate bar.

2.  Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving.  Keep unused portion covered and frozen.

Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

This recipe is from Rachel Ray's Magazine website.  I made it for my son's friend.  We were away during his friend's birthday party so we decided that making an ice cream cake or two would be nice.  Actually, we asked him what kind of cake he would like and he said "ice cream cake."  Making an ice cream cake in this weather is much better than having to crank up my oven and bake a cake.  The other cake I am making with my son's help  It is the one with the ice cream sandwiches.  I will post that recipe tomorrow.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM CAKE

By: Silvana Nardone

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream
• 12 ounces (1 package) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 12-ounce marble pound cake, such as Entenmann's brand, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
• 20 chocolate wafers, such as Nabisco brand, plus 4 crushed wafers
• 1 pint chocolate ice cream, softened

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Put the chocolate chips in a heatproof medium bowl and pour the boiling cream over the chocolate. Let sit until the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Stir the mixture with a fork for about 2 minutes, until the ganache is smooth.
2. Line a nonstick 9 x 5 x 3¾-inch loaf pan with 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap, allowing a 4-inch overhang on all sides.
3. Pour half of the ganache (1 cup) evenly into the lined pan and spread to cover the base. Cover the ganache with a single layer of tightly packed cake slices; be sure the layer is flat and even. Working quickly, spread the vanilla ice cream evenly over the pound cake. Cover the ice cream with a layer made of half of the chocolate wafers. Spread the remaining ganache evenly over the wafers, then top the ganache with another layer, using all of the remaining wafers, and place the cake in the freezer for about 30 minutes to chill and firm up.
4. Remove the cake from the freezer and spread the chocolate ice cream over the wafers. Top with another flat, single layer of tightly packed slices of pound cake, trimming 1 or 2 slices to fill in the gaps (there will be a few slices left over). The cake may be slightly higher than the pan. Cover the cake completely with the plastic overhang and freeze until firm, at least 5 hours or overnight.
5. To loosen the ice cream cake from the pan, open the plastic wrap and invert the pan over a flat serving platter. Remove the plastic wrap. Scatter the crushed chocolate wafers over the ice cream cake, then slice and serve immediately.

Chocolate Ice Cream Duo

I tried another chocolate ice cream recipe.  This time it comes from Laurent Schott's Seven Sins of Chocolate cookbook.  I tried the Dark Chocolate Ice Cream.  I'm sure the Milk Chocolate Ice Cream is great, too.  The only thing I'll mention here is that this recipe does not include any "cognac" or vanilla.  Because of that, the ice cream gets hard pretty fast.  The alcohol content of the cognac or vanilla keeps the ice cream from freezing too hard.  Just keep that in mind.  His comments in the book say that the ice cream is best eaten just after churning and I bet that is why.  Each recipe makes about 1-1/2 pints of ice cream. 

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

5 oz. bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks
Milk Chocolate Ice Cream


3/4 cup milk chocolate, chopped
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks

For Each Flavor:

• Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
• Bring the milk, cream, and half the sugar to a boil in a saucepan
• Whisk the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl with the remaining sugar until the mixture lightens in color, then whisk in the boiling milk.
• Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Strain through a wire sieve over the chopped chocolate and whisk until all the chocolate has melted.
• Refrigerate, stirring from time to time until chilled.  Churn each custard individually in an ice-cream maker.
• Transfer to airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Week - Blueberry Ice Cream Parfaits

Sadly, blueberry week has come to an end. I am not sure how I managed to post about sloppy joe's last night. I was just starting that post to keep for a later date and it wound up getting posted without either of the recipes.

I want to end blueberry week on a high note. These parfaits sound absolutely heavenly. I haven't tried them yet but I definitely will. I have a large bag of blueberries in my freezer just waiting.... I can't imagine why I wouldn't be able to use frozen blueberries for this but I'll find out soon enough.

Tomorrow, I'm starting zucchini week. I have also been getting tons of zucchini from my sister's garden. Her hubby loves to grow vegetables. They are always so fresh and good. I can't stand to see them go to waste. When I think of all the years during my youth that I turned up my nose at zucchini and eggplant, it makes me sad. I've even got D eating zucchini and he has tasted the eggplant. As far as I know, my sister still does turn up her nose at zucchini and eggplant but two of her kids (at least) eat both! Good for them.


BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM PARFAITS
Serves 8
Active: 15 Min
Total: 5 Hr (includes freezing)

4 cups blueberries
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 qt vanilla ice cream
1 (10-oz) pkg frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
2 cups sweetened whipped cream or frozen whipped topping, defrosted
1 cup fresh raspberries

1. Place 3 cups blueberries, the sugar and lemon juice in medium saucepan; mash berries well with a potato masher. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer; cook 5 minutes. Pour mixture into a blender and puree. Pour into a 2-cup measure, cover and chill 2 hours. Place a 1-1/2 qt freezer container in freezer to chill.

2. Let vanilla ice cream stand at room temperature until softened. Fold chilled blueberry puree into ice cream until well blended. Scrape ice cream into chilled container in freezer; freeze several hours or until firm enough to scoop.

3. Puree thawed raspberries and syrup in blender until smooth; scrape mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds.

4. To make parfaits: For each parfait, spoon 1 Tbsp raspberry puree into a dessert glass and top with a small scoop blueberry ice cream. Top with 1 Tbsp whipped cream, and a few blueberries and raspberries. Repeat the layers. Top parfaits with a dollop of whipped cream.



The Creative Cook

Potatoes

I received this kind of funny video about how to peel a potato very easily. At first, I thought it was a joke but after watching the video I've decided that it might be very useful. I can see using this method of peeling a potato when making potato salad or mashed potatoes. If you need to boil and peel a boatload of potatoes, give this method a try. I'm definitely going to try it since peeling potatoes is one of my least favorite cooking tasks. We all do it but I don't know anyone who really enjoys it. In honor of discovering this new easy method to peel potatoes, I thought I would provide a few great potato salad recipes and an interesting potato ice cream recipe. We haven't tried it yet but I think we will.

Southern Potato Salad
by allrecipes.com

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 potatoes
4 eggs
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 cup sweet relish
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes; drain and chop.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water; peel and chop.

In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, sweet relish, garlic, mustard, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Gently mix together and serve warm.


GERMAN POTATO SALAD
by Allrecipes.com

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 potatoes
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped green onions
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop.

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve bacon fat.

Add the flour, sugar, water and vinegar to skillet and cook in reserved bacon fat over medium heat until dressing is thick.

Add bacon, potatoes and green onions to skillet and stir until coated. Cook until heated and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

CLASSIC POTATO SALAD
by Recipezaar.com

Serves 8

Ingredients

8 medium potatoes, cooked and diced
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 cup minced onion
5 hard-boiled eggs
paprika

Directions

1. Boil peeled potatoes in salted water till done. Cool to room temperature.
2. Place diced potatoes in large bowl.
3. Mix next 7 ingredients in another bowl.
4. Add to potatoes.
5. Add celery and onions and mix well.
6. Stir in eggs.
7. Sprinkle a little paprika on top.


GRILLED POTATO ICE CREAM

By H. Alexander Talbot

500g raw russet potatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise
530g skim milk
80g agave nectar
4g salt
370g whole milk yogurt

Cook the potato quarters on the grill until they are charred on all sides. Once the potatoes are grilled, cut them into chunks and put them in a pot with the skim milk, salt and the agave nectar. When the potatoes are falling apart, turn off the heat and fold in the yogurt. Use a food mill to coarsely pulverize the base mixture.

Chill the mixture. We use a pacojet to make ice cream, a device which thinly shaves the frozen mixture into creamy ice cream. In lieu of the pacojet, I would recommend quickly pulsing the ice cream mixture in a blender to smooth the mixture. This process must be done quickly so as not to overwork the gluten in the potatoes. At this point, freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker.


Grilled Idaho® Potato Ice Cream
http://www.idahopotato.com/

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
2 cups cream
4 - 5 each skins of grilled Idaho® potatoes
¾ cup sugar
9 egg yolks

Directions:

Bring the milk and cream to a boil with the potato skins.

Whisk the yolks and the sugar together. Temper the liquid into the yolk mixture and return to stovetop.

Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Strain and cool in an ice bath. Process in ice cream machine.

Fresh Fig Ice Cream

Here is the second unusual flavor of ice cream that we made this summer. We used another recipe from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop" cookbook. D wanted to make it for his grandma. My mom is a fig-lover. I have to admit that I didn't try this ice cream. I packed it up and passed it on to her. D insisted that he wanted to try some so I kept just one scoop for him. My mom said it was very "figgy". We weren't able to get the Black Mission figs that David Lebovitz suggests using in the recipe. In fact, I didn't think we would be able to get any figs at all. One day last week, my mom called and said, "I found figs." We never get a steady supply of figs in this part of the world. As the expert on figs, my mom ate a few to see how they tasted. She said they were terrible but tasted really good in the ice cream. If you can obtain the Black Mission figs, please do use them in this recipe. I am sure the ice cream would be a much prettier color than the yellowish-green color we got. David Lebovitz says it comes out a "lovely deep-violet color." Maybe next summer we'll find some really good figs and try this again.

2 pounds fresh figs (about 20)
1/2 cup water
1 lemon, preferably unsprayed
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste

Remove the hard stem ends from the figs, then cut each fig into 8 pieces. Put the figs in a medium, non-reactive saucepan with the water, and zest the lemon directly into the saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the figs are tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the sugar, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the figs are a jam like consistency. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, puree the fig paste in a blender or food processor with the cream and lemon juice. Taste, then add more lemon juice if desired.

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

The first picture above shows the figs cooking on the stove in the first step. The second picture shows the mixture or batter after we pureed it with the cream and lemon juice and the last picture shows the ice cream after it was frozen in my "Big Chill" ice cream maker.

In his book, David Lebovitz expresses surprise that many people don't know what a fresh fig looks like. I am not that surprised. I grew up in NYC so I did see figs in the grocery stores and fruit markets but, as I mentioned, out here in the "boonies" you don't see figs in the markets very often. He also informs us that once a fig is picked, it won't ripen any further. He says to buy only figs that are "dead-ripe." Per David, "a ripe fig is one whose sides crack and split and a dewy drop of juice starts to ooze from the tiny hole in the bottom." Thanks David. I had no idea~! My only experience with figs is eating the famous Fig Newton cookies (which I love) and sometimes a dried fig. I learned a lot from this experience. Next, D wants to make baked-potato ice cream. Sounds yucky but who knows??

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Plum Ice Cream

How about some delicious, refreshing ice cream. Last year, I bought a very inexpensive ice cream maker at a church sale. It only cost me $2.00 so I figured that if I ever used it even one time I would get my money's worth out of it. It is called "The Big Chill" by Salton. Well, so far this summer D and I have made two types of ice cream. The first type we made is Plum Ice Cream from David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop. We went through the entire book. It is a beautifully photographed cookbook. D picked out the plum ice cream recipe. He thought it would be great to make plum ice cream because (1) it is an unusual flavor that you can't buy it in a grocery store or at any ice cream shops; and (2) he likes plums. I followed the recipe explicitly except I didn't use the kirsch that was called for. I didn't want to use any alcohol in the recipe so I substituted the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries. We really liked the results of the recipe except both my mom and D say the ice cream tastes more like cherry than plum. I don't agree. It also results in such a pretty pink colored ice cream. Try this recipe yourself and let me know what you think.

Plum Ice Cream by

David Lebovitz

1 pound plums (about 8)

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon kirsch (substitute 1/2 teaspoon juice from maraschino cherries)

Slice the plums in half and remove the pits. Cut the plums into eighths and put them in a medium, nonreactive saucepan with the water. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.

Once cool, puree in a blender or food processor with the cream and kirsch until smooth.

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

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook