You Can Call Me Ice Cream Girl



A lovely sundae.

 Why yes, that is what you can call me, for I have made a most delectable ice cream. You see, my sister, Frakah, had planned to have an ice cream social at her place this past weekend. There would be ice cream, toppings, add-ins, what have you. At the inception of her plan, I knew that I must make some ice cream for the party. I've made ice cream several times before- I believe I have a pretty good recipe for vanilla, and I make a chocolate truffle ice cream that is to die for. But I wanted to do something new.

So I bought a book. I really must stop acquiring cookbooks, but they're just so wonderful and full of new, exciting recipes. The book in question is The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. When I received the book in the mail, I excitedly flipped through, checking out all of the wonderful recipes I could make. There are recipes for ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, sherbets, toppings, add-ins, and vessels. It is nothing short of awesome.

When it came time to actually pick a recipe, I looked at the ingredients I already had (whole milk and eggs), and the preparation required. I decided on coffee ice cream because a) I love coffee ice cream, and b) the recipe looked easy to pull together. Boy, am I happy with that decision. Not only was this ice cream easy to make, but the result was phenomenal. So phenomenal, I was sad after I finished the last bite (but not too sad, because of all the caffeine).

I also decided upon coffee ice cream because it would go well with toppings (i.e. chocolate). For this purpose, I looked to the back of the book and happened upon a recipe for chocolate marshmallow topping. Lord Almighty, was this good. Again, it was an easy recipe with ingredients that I mostly had on hand (Frakah supplied the marshmallows).

The ice cream social itself didn't really happen as planned. It turned out to just be me, Frakah, our friend, and our friend's fiance. But a good time was had by all! Three of us enjoyed sundaes (yes, coffee ice cream and chocolate marshmallow sauce taste fantastic together), and our friend worked on a beer float/milkshake. We played Cranium (Frakah and I won!) and Imaginiff (the only guy there won!) and then we watched one of the strangest movies I've seen in awhile.



Churn, baby, churn!



Coffee Ice Cream

from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp finely ground coffee

Warm the milk, sugar, whole coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Once the mixture is warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Rewarm the coffee-infused milk mixture. Pour in the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible, then discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla and the finely ground coffee and let cool.

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



Enjoy!



Marshmallow Hot Fudge Sauce

from the same source as above

2/3 cup whole milk

2 tbsp salted butter
185 grams marshmallows
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Warm the milk and butter in a medium saucepan. Add the marshmallows and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until they've melted. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate pieces. Let stand for 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add the vanilla. Serve warm.