Dairy-free Peach & Scotch Bonnet Pepper Ice Cream

Combining a little bit of heat with sweetness and vanilla.

Equipment

1 Ice Cream Maker
1 Blender or immersion blender

Ingredients
4 large egg yolks
⅔ cups cane sugar
1 can coconut milk
1 can coconut cream
¼ teaspoon salt
1 TBSP bourbon vanilla flavoring
2TBSP + 1 oz brandy (We used Courvoisier)
1½ pounds of sliced fresh peaches (We started with 2 pounds of frozen fresh peaches, and ate about half a pound in preparation.)

Instructions
Prep your ice cream maker so that it is ready to make ice cream.

Prepare Scotch Bonnet pepper:
• Mince very, very fine.
• Soak in brandy in 2 TBSP brandy for a few days.
NB: I started with a dehydrated Scotch Bonnet pepper. I chopped it fine & rehydrated in brandy, marinating it for a week, mincing it finer after rehydrating. Next time: consider grinding dried pepper to powder & marinating the powder.)

Prepare peaches:
• If frozen, thaw.
• Stew gently in a medium saucepan over a low heat until softened.
• Divide in half. Blend half to pretty small texture. Stir in 1oz brandy.
• Cut the other half of the peaches into small pieces. (Recommended: keep stewing these until they begin to get soft.)

Prepare Custard:

• Combine egg yolks, coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a blender and process until smooth.
• Pour mixture into a medium sauce pan, and heat over medium low just until steamy. You should see little bubbles forming around the edge of the pan. Do not boil.
• Strain peppers from brandy. Stir in the finely minced, marinated pepper, reserving brandy.
• Continue to cook the coconut milk mixture until it has thickened to the consistency of a thin custard that will coat the back of a spoon. This will take longer than you expect.
• Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract, brandy from peppers & blended peaches.
• Re-blend again until smooth.

Refrigerate the mixture for 2-4 hours, or until the custard mixture is very cold.

Churn Ice Cream:
Pour cooled mixture into ice cream maker and churn until partly/largely frozen. This should take about 30-40 minutes.
When you’ve finished churning, the ice cream will have the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Pour into freezer-safe container. Make some openings in the soft ice cream and pour stewed peach pieces in to make ripples of peaches.
For soft-serve style ice cream, serve immediately. For a harder scoopable ice cream, place in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
Take out and place on the counter for 10 minutes to soften for serving.

This is actually pretty good.

Sugar Free Chocolate Ice Cream

(Not completely free of sugar; just no sugar added as an ingredient.)

1/3 cup powdered baking chocolate.

1/3 cup powdered stevia sweetener.

2 cups half & half

1 cup whole milk

1 TBSP vanilla

½ of a Lindt 70% dark chocolate bar, chopped

2 oz walnuts, chopped

Run it through the ice cream maker.

Result: pretty good chocolate flavor, but it freezes rock hard. Gotta work on that. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream:

For the Ice Cream: 

Ingredients: 

¾ cup Hershey’s cocoa powder

⅓ cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar

pinch salt (oops. Forgot this.)

2 cups Half & Half

½ TBSP vanilla extract

For the Cookie Dough: 

½ package Nestle Toll House cookie dough

    (I used Ultimates Turtle Cookie Dough)

Powdered sugar.

Cut the dough into small pieces.

Roll into little balls (pea to marble size).

Coat in powdered sugar to keep separate.

Freeze for at least an hour before using.

Directions: 

·         Mix the ice cream ingredients together. Alternate stirring and waiting (no cooking, no cooling) every few minutes until the sugar dissolves (might take 20 minutes).

·         Load it into your ice cream maker and fire it off.

·         When you’re just about ready to take it out of the machine, drop in the cookie dough balls, one at a time, letting them mix evenly into the ice cream.

·         Freeze for an hour or two (or more) before eating.

Basil Custard Ice Cream

We first tasted basil ice cream in a castle in Germany. We had to have more! So I found some recipes and combined them.

Here’s the theory:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups whole milk

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

½ cup sugar

4 large egg yolks

½ cup well-chilled heavy cream

Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer

an ice cream maker

PREPARATION

Bring milk, basil, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, then remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender (reserve saucepan) and blend until basil is finely ground, about 1 minute.

Beat together yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. 

Add milk mixture in a stream, beating until combined well. Pour mixture into reserved saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon and registers 175°F on thermometer (do not let boil).

Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir until cold, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in cream and freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours.

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Now here’s what I actually did. The result was delicious, but it was yellow (from the yolks), not green!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups half & half

½ cup finely chopped fresh basil

½ cup sugar

4 large egg yolks

1½ cups more well-chilled half & half

PREPARATION

Bring milk, basil, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, then turn heat down and let it simmer 30 minutes. Transfer to a food processor (save the saucepan) and blend until basil is finely ground, about 1 minute.

Beat together yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl with a whisk until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Add some of the milk mixture in a stream, beating until combined well.

Pour mixture into reserved saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon (do not let boil). Warning: this may be quick. Taste regularly to make sure it’s yummy. Add the rest of the half & half. Taste some more.

Refrigerate the mixture for half an hour or so. Freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least an hour.

Results: Really, really good.

Serving Suggestions:

·         Grille some nectarines (perhaps in a honey/cayenne rub?), and serve with the ice cream.

·         Sprinkle fresh raspberries on top, maybe a sprig of fresh basil beside. 

Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream

I love peanut butter on bananas.
So I thought I'd try peanut butter & banana ice cream.

Peanut Butter Balls
In advance: 
1/2 cup or more of peanut butter,
A couple of tablespoons of butter

A couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar or honey.

Mix it all together.
Make little balls, either by spooning onto a plate full of powdered sugar (so it doesn't stick), or by using a (greased) ice cube tray for tiny ice cubes.
Freeze these balls/cubes for several hours ahead of time.

Ice Cream ingredients: 
2 cups half & half, well chilled
4 over-ripe bananas

1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 – 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste

In a blender, combine the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.

Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25 – 30 minutes. Then add peanut butter balls, mix well, then freeze for a couple of hours. Thaw for 10 minutes or so before serving. 

This is pretty darned good, flavorful but simple. Worth remembering. 

Alden Family Lemon Banana Ice Cream

Apparently this is is a family tradition.

Ingredients (my version):


2 lemons, peeled very well.
2 oranges, peeled very well.
2 bananas, peeled.
1 cup sugar.
2 cups half & half.

Process: 

Load everything except the half & half into the blender. Set blender on high for several minutes: until everything is completely blended, and then let it blend some more. We want this extremely smooth.

Stop blender. Add half & half. Blend on lowest setting for a few seconds, until it's well mixed together.

Load it into the ice cream maker and fire it up. This takes a little longer to freeze than some.

The original recipe called for the juice of the lemons and the oranges. I used the whole fruit, since the blender did such a good job of reducing the substance to liquid. 

This is really good. Got some zing to it. I might add a little vanilla to it next time, to round it off. 

Good with cookies, or dark chocolate. 

Barrel-Aged Beer Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup barrel-aged beer
• 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, quickly whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture becomes a pale yellow. 

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, bring the beer and cream to a simmer. Do not allow it to boil.

Slowly pour the beer mixture over the egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper the yolks. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until it thickens. Pour the mixture through a strainer into a mixing bowl set over ice and stir until cool. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Candied Bacon Ice Cream

Ingredients:

For the candied bacon: 

½ pound bacon, in slices.
2 or three Tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark, though light tastes slightly better).

For the ice cream custard:

3 tablespoons salted butter
¾ cup (packed) brown sugar, light or dark (you can use either)
2¾ cup half-and-half
5 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons dark rum or whiskey
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: & ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

To candy the bacon

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down.

Sprinkle 1½-2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon, depending on length.

Bake for 12-16 minutes. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that's collected on the baking sheet. Continue to bake until as dark as mahogany. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack.

Once crisp (As in "done." Doesn't need to be crunchy)  and cool, chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice. Resist the urge to eat it all.

(Bacon bits can be stored in an airtight container and chilled for a day or so, or stored in the freezer a few weeks ahead.)

To make the ice cream custard

Melt the butter in a heavy, medium-size saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and half of the half-and-half. Pour the remaining half-and-half into a bowl set in an ice bath and set a mesh strainer over the top.

In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm brown sugar mixture to them, whisking the yolks constantly as you pour. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Cook over low to moderate heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

 

Strain the custard into the half-and-half, stirring over the ice bath, until cool. Add liquor, vanilla and cinnamon, if using.

Refrigerate the mixture.

Once thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the bacon bits during the last moment of churning, or stir them in when you remove the ice cream from the machine.

Double Chocolate Espresso Custard Ice Cream

Ingredients

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

1½ cups sugar

⅔ cup espresso coffee beans
1 TBSP coffee emulsion

6 egg yolks

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

¼ cup Dutch-processed cocoa

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Combine the cream, milk, and sugar together in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the mixture becomes hot and the sugar dissolves. Heat to about 175⁰.

Grind the beans very roughly; goal is just to crack the beans: a pulse or three. When the milk mixture is hot, add the cracked beans, and steep in the hot milk for 30 minutes or so. 

Strain the mixture into another bowl, clean the strainer, and strain the mixture a second time, back into the saucepan.

Whisk the egg yolks together in a spacious, heat-tolerant bowl. Temper the yolks by slowly adding one cup of the hot cream mixture while whisking vigorously. Re-heat the mixture to 175⁰. Stir constantly until the custard thickens slightly. Stir carefully and do not let the custard boil, or the yolks will curdle.

Add the melted chocolate, finely ground powder and cocoa to the custard and stir until smooth. Add 1 TBSP coffee emulsion. Stir well. 

[The first trial involved adding some extra dark chocolate, maybe an additional ounce (with the appropriate sugar and a bit of cream), and an additional ½ TBSP of coffee emulsion, making it "Double Chocolate Espresso Overload Custard Ice Cream ." The Mrs. thought it was "perfect." Tough to argue with "perfect." ]

Allow the custard to cool to room temperature (maybe an hour). Stir in the vanilla, then refrigerate for 4–6 hours, or overnight. We put it in the freezer for an hour one time, put it warm into the ice cream canister the second time, but transferred it to a second canister before it was done.

Pour the cold custard into the canister of your ice cream maker and fire it up.

Transfer the ice cream to a container, cover, and freeze for at least 4 hours to firm up. For best flavor, always remove ice cream from the freezer 20 minutes before serving, or place it in the microwave for 15–20 seconds.

Comment: If you use caffeinated coffee, this will have a pretty substantial caffeine kick. Probably need to have this for breakfast. 

Summary: this is one of the finest ice cream recipes I've ever encountered. It's not easy, but it comes out pretty darned good. It tasted like it was still a "75%" dark chocolate bar, with espresso. 

Mango Sorbet

Ingredients:
2½ cups Mango Nectar

½ - ¾ cup granulated sugar

1½ cups frozen, sliced, sweetened strawberries

Instructions:

Dissolve sugar in mango nectar. Add frozen strawberries. Put it in the machine and turn it on. Freeze for an hour or two before serving. 

Option: serve with a sprig of fresh mint.

 

This is incredibly good. 

Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

3½ cups chocolate almond milk

4 TBSP soy milk powder

4 TBSP Hershey’s cocoa powder

½ cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Put the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Heat ½ cup of the almond milk to modestly warm. Mix it into the dry ingredients to form an epic chocolate paste. 
• Resist the temptation to pour this over vanilla ice cream and hide away eating it. 
• When it’s mixed smoothly, add the rest of the (refrigerated) almond milk. You might cool this in the fridge for an hour or three. 
• Then load it into the ice cream maker & let ‘er run. It’ll be best if you freeze it for a couple of hours before serving it.

Comments:

1.      This is really quite good.

2.      It could be better. Try soy milk next time. Add a little more sugar.

3.      Be really careful to mix things very well before adding to the ice cream maker.
4.      Don't hesitate to add other chocolatey goodness: chopped dark chocolate peanut butter cups is a favorite. 

Chocolate Overload Ice Cream

Ingredients:
4 TBSP cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar

3 cups half & half

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup dark chocolate chips

¾ cup dark chocolate peanut butter cups, chopped (half a package)

Instructions:

• Put the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Heat ½ cup of half & half to modestly warm. Mix it into the dry ingredients to form an epic chocolate paste. 
• Resist the temptation to pour this over vanilla ice cream and hide away eating it. 
• When it’s mixed smoothly, add the rest of the (refrigerated) half & half. You might cool this in the fridge for an hour or three. 
• Then load it into the ice cream maker & let ’er run.
• About 10 minutes after starting the process, add the chocolate chunks.
• When it’s done, it’ll be best if you freeze it for a couple of hours before serving it.

Non Dairy Ice Cream

Ingredients:

3 cups dairy free milk (Soy, Hemp, Almond, Rice)

2 tablespoons soy milk powder

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 to 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine all of the ingredients. Cover, refrigerate, 1 to 2 hours, or overnight. 

 

2. Turn the Cuisinart® Ice Cream Maker on; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 30 to 35 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. 

 

If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Cuisinart’s comments: “We have created a basic vanilla ice cream where any type of dairy free "milk" can be used, be it Soy, Almond, Rice, Hemp, etc. The final product is a bit icier than traditional ice cream, but the flavor has not been compromised!

Variations: When it's halfway there, add: 

• 1 cup frozen, sliced strawberries, sweetened. Thaw them a little.
• 1 cup frozen blackberries, sweetened. Mash them up a little. 
• 1 cup Trader Joe's dark chocolate peanut butter cups, chopped

Vanilla Ice Cream

This will, no doubt, be the foundation for many wonderful discoveries. From the manual.

Preparation: 5 minutes, plus 20 – 25 minutes chilling time;

Optional: up to 2 hours to ripen.

Makes ten 1/2-cup servings.

3 cups half & half, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 – 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 – 2 minutes on low speed. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25 – 30 minutes.

Note: This is incredible ice cream.

Nutritional analysis per 1/2 cup serving:

Calories 239 (68% from fat) • carbo. 17g • pro 2g • fat 18g •

sat. fat 11g • chol. 69mg • sod. 30mg
no wonder it's yummy. 

Variations: 

Cookies & Cream: when this gets to "soft serve" state (about 15 - 20 minutes), add a cup of crushed Oreos, or crushed peanut butter cups, or something yummy.

Banana Ice Cream: Add 3 ripe bananas (the riper the better). Puree into ice cream mix. Consider topping with (crushed?) vanilla wafers as sprinkles. 

Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Add 3 oz of melted creamy peanut butter (@ 40 seconds in microwave), blend with ice cream recipe. Consider topping with crumbled dry roasted peanuts as sprinkles.

Coconut Almond Ice Cream: Add 4-6 oz of Cream of Coconut to ice cream recipe. Use toasted shredded coconut & slivered almonds as sprinkles, or add them to the last 2 minutes of the mixing process. 

Alternative basic vanilla base:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 qt heavy cream or half and half
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla



Dairy Free base:
3 cups reduced fat coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
(Chill before making ice cream)



Alternative Dairy Free base:
3 cups dairy free milk (Soy, Hemp, Almond, Rice)
2 tablespoons soy milk powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
(Chill before making ice cream)

Roasted Peaches and Ice Cream

This isn't so complicated.

Buy some peaches. They'll work better if they're completely ripe, maybe even a bit over-ripe, than if they're under ripe.

Cut them in half. Remove the stone. (Cutting them in quarters works, too.)

Roast them over a medium grille. Turn them every few minutes to keep the sugars from burning. You'll know they're done when they're tender, but not mushy.

While they're roasting, scoop good vanilla ice cream into bowls. Add the peaches, when well cooked, to the ice cream.

If you like, you can marinade the peaches before roasting, and / or brush on a glaze while they're roasting:

• Cover the bottom of a bowl with honey, about a quarter of an inch. 
• Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon, a smaller dash of cayenne pepper, and a drop or five of vanilla. 
• Add a light layer of bourbon, top with half as much hot water and mix till totally melted.  
• (This makes enough to brush onto eight or ten peaches, cut into quarters or halves, or coat the peaches and let them marinade in the glaze for half an hour.)

Brush the peaches with the glaze as you place them on the grille.