2016 Ice Cream Night! Part 1

 

Well, we went a little overboard this year...especially since we had two ice cream nights this summer (but I'm posting them all together). So, get ready for ice cream overload.

 

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
4 large egg yolks
1/2-3/4 tsp. mint extract, to taste
Green and blue food coloring, optional
3-4 oz. chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine milk, 1 cup cream, and fresh mint leaves. Heat over medium heat and bring just to a gentle bubble, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to steep, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream with granulated sugar, corn syrup, and egg yolks until slightly pale and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

While whisking egg yolk mixture, slowly add about 1/2 cup warm milk mixture to egg yolk mixture (don't strain leaves yet). Add egg yolk mixture to milk mixture in saucepan and return to medium heat. Cook mixture, stirring constantly until thickened, about 5-8 inutes (mixture should coat the back of a wooden spoon. A light bubble is fine, but don't let it boil). Remove from heat and pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a heat proof bowl. Using a rubber spatula, rub mint leaves back and forth over sieve to strain oils and natural flavors from leaves into bowl (also scrape bottom of sieve once done and add that to bowl). Discard leaves. Mix in a few drops green and blue food coloring, if desired (about 4 green/2 blue) and mint extract. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly against surface of mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Transfer to refrigerator and allow to thoroughly chill, about 4-5 hours.

Once fully chilled, process mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, adding in chopped chocolate during last few minutes of processing. Transfer mixture to an airtight container and freeze until nearly firm.

 

Source: Cooking Classy. You can find it here.

Notes: This was really good. The use of the fresh mint leaves was fantastic...but it wasn't for everyone. My son said it, "Tasted like leaves," and those who were looking for a more basic mint chocolate chip ice cream didn't really have their cravings fulfilled. I loved it, however.

 

Champagne Sorbet (Non-Alcoholic Version)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sparkling white grape juice (like Welch's) or regular white grape juice
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 teaspoon of lemon and/or grapefruit zest
1 1/2 cups fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (Meyer, if you have access to them)

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine sparkling white grape juice, sugar, corn syrup, and zest. Bring to a vigorous boil. Stir constantly until sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat.

Strain mixture into a large bowl (stainless steel bowl, if you have one) and add the grapefruit juice and lemon juice.

Chill completely in refrigerator or ice bath.

Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Transfer mixture to a storage container and ripen in your freezer until firm, at least 6 hours.

Chill completely.

Source: Simply Recipes. You can find it here. The original recipe used actual champagne.

Notes: We added some pink food coloring to this as well to make it more fun for some of the little girls.

 

Ricotta-Honey Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup wildflower honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

Pour 1 3/4 cups heavy cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment.

In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup heavy cream with the ricotta cheese, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon to combine. Whisk vigorously to help thin the texture of the ricotta so it's less clumpy.

Whip the heavy cream on medium speed until it forms medium peaks.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the ricotta mixture, mixing just until fully combined.

Pour the mixture into an airtight container and freeze until set, 3 to 4 hours. Soften for 15 minutes before scooping and serving.

Source: Pure Wow. You can find it here.

Notes: This was really good. The honey flavor was lovely and the texture was nice and creamy.

Bubble Gum Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
Pink or blue food coloring
1-3 tsp. bubble gum flavoring, to taste
Chopped gumballs, for garnish, optional

Directions:

In large bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold in sweetened condensed milk until completely incorporated.

Add vanilla, pinch of salt, food coloring, and bubble gum flavoring. Gently mix until combined.

Pour into airtight freezer safe container. Freeze completely before serving. Garnish with chopped gumballs, if desired.

Source: Jamie Cooks it Up. You can find it here. She got her easy 2-ingredient homemade ice cream from Kevin and Amanda which you can find here, but I suspect they all got it from Martha Stewart here minus the bourbon.

Notes: We skipped the gumballs. I would definitely only use them for garnish though because when they freeze, they freeze as hard as a rock.

 

Unicorn Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups whipping craem
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blue, pink, purple, and green good coloring gels

Directions:

Whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and whip until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in the sweetened condensed milk.

Separate into 4 bowls.

Add one gel food coloring to each bowl: pink, blue, green, and purple.

Gently mix each with a spoon until the color is fully incorporated.

In a freezer container, drop heaping spoonfuls of each color, overlapping one another.

When you've added all the colors and all the ice cream, gently tap the container on the counter until the cream mixture is smooth on top. This will help mix the colors a bit.

Cover and freeze for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Source: The Tip Toe Fairy. You can find it here.

Notes: This was so cute and kid-friendly. You could also put any flavoring in this that you wanted: almond, lemon, orange, bubblegum, etc.

No-Churn Cookie Butter Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cookie butter
2/3 cups finely ground Speculoos cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Whip cream until stiff peaks form.

Mix together remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.

Gently fold the cream into the cookie butter mixture.

Pour the ice cream into a freezer container and put in freezer until completely frozen, at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Source: The Daily Meal. You can find it here. It was originally from Keep it Sweet Desserts, and you can find it here.

 

No Churn Whole Lemon Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 1/8 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup full fat sour cream
1 whole lemon, thinly sliced and seeds removed

Directions:

Add all three ingredients into a blender. Blend on high speed until lemon is fully dissolved (about 30 seconds on the smoothie setting works great).

Pour into freezer container. Thump bottom of container against the counter a few times to let the ice cream settle and smooth out.

Freeze overnight before serving.

Source: Kirbie's Cravings. You can find it here.

Notes: This had a really good flavor. This one freezes hard though and takes a little longer to thaw than some of the other homemade ice creams we made this year. Still tasty stuff though!