We all Scream for Homemade Cookies and Cream

The Setting: Another beautiful, blue-sky day, best enjoyed indoors with a cup of hot tea and the furnace cranked up.

The Soundtrack: Bobby Deen's new show on the Food Network. He just showed a clip of Paula making Country Fried Steak, and now I want it so badly my stomach is in knots.

On the Stovetop: Hoosband's cabbage and white bean soup.

The Scenario: What's better than Homemade Oreos? Cookies and Cream Ice Cream made with Homemade Oreos, of course.

It's not likely you're going to make a batch of Homemade Oreos and think, "Now, what am I going to do with all these?" I mean, they're Oreos...only better.

I could easily have eaten my entire first batch within a week--and with Hoosband's help, they wouldn't have lasted half that long--but I had a mission. I imagined the cookies would make an out-of-this world addition to ice cream, and I simply had to confirm my suspicions.

The concept was straightforward enough: mix crumbled cookies into vanilla ice cream. But what ice-cream recipe to use?

My own vanilla ice-cream recipe, which begins with more of a custard or creme-anglaise-like base, served me well in my beloved Brown Bread Ice Cream, but I felt like its egg-yolk-fortified richness was somehow wrong for this particular application. Thus--and this should be no surprise to anyone who follows this blog with much regularity--I turned to Jeni.

On page 148, in the "Winter"  chapter of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, I found the answer: Ugandan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Jeni's egg-less, cream-cheese-fortified recipe would produce a perfectly balanced, vanilla-bean backdrop for my cookie crumbles.

Now, just to be clear, I did not source vanilla beans from Uganda to make this ice cream, even though Jeni's description of them--complex and smoky, with prominent notes of honey, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and amber (p 145)--is quite appealing . Maybe I will go on an online ordering spree at some point and snatch up all the exotic ingredients necessary to take me to the highest level of ice-cream nirvana. But for this experiment I was content using whatever beans Costco had in stock, as I was relatively certain any subtle Ugandan nuances would be obscured by the onslaught of Oreos anyway.

The following recipe is excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. My notes are in blue.

Ugandan Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out, seeds and bean reserved
For my Cookies and Cream variation you'll need 12 or so Homemade Oreos, pulsed into coarse crumbles and crumbs in the food processor or zipped in a gallon-sized bag and smashed to crumbles with a rolling pin or wooden mallet. 

PREP Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. If you have trouble whisking the cream cheese, microwave it for about 10 seconds to soften it a bit more. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup, and vanilla seeds and bean in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually is the key word--if you add it all at once, it will be very difficult to get out all the lumps. Speaking of lumps, I like to strain my mixture into a clean bowl at this point, just to make sure the ice cream will be silky-smooth. Use a spatula to help work the mixture through the strainer.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. I generally make the mixture the day before I want to freeze the ice cream so it can chill thoroughly in the fridge overnight.

FREEZE Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. For best results, always freeze the canister for AT LEAST 24 hours before using.

NOTE: For my Cookies and Cream variation, I added my Homemade Oreo crumbles right into the opening of the ice cream machine in the last moments of spinning, once the ice cream was thick and creamy, just before I turned off the machine.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. The parchment is awesome at helping to prevent freezer burn. Every time you scoop out ice-cream, be sure to press the parchment back down over the remaining ice cream to help keep it tasty. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes about 1 quart (or a generous quart of Cookies and Cream). 

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Whiskey-Pecan Ice Cream and Easy Fudge Pie

The Setting: White skies; stark, charcoal-colored trees; it looks like someone hit the grayscale button outside my window.

The Soundtrack: The washer, the dryer, the dishwasher; a much-needed day of cleaning in progress.

Steaming up the (microwave) Oven: Various containers of leftovers.

The Scenario: When life--or whiskey--gets a little too intense, just add chocolate.

When Hoosband saw "Bourbon Ice Cream with Toasted Buttered Pecans" on the list of Jeni's fall flavors, he immediately added it to our shortlist of recipes to try.

We agreed to substitute Tennessee whiskey for the bourbon since the bottle of Jack on the counter had been collecting dust for the better part of a year and looked like it needed a little love.

Everything started out so well. The pecans roasted beautifully; the cream and sugar simmered blissfully; the only thing that could make this better was booze.

Then, as I poured one-half cup of whiskey into the warm ice-cream base, the smell of oak-aged alcohol smacked me upside the head. A second glance at the recipe revealed I'd used a quarter-cup too much. So much for a little love--this was beginning to look like a serious relationship...for better or for worse.

When Hoosband and I tasted the ice cream the next day, my fears were confirmed.

The ice cream was gorgeous: perfectly scoopable, a textural dream. The flavor, however, was somewhat lost in the sensation of having just thrown back a shot or two.

It conjured up memories of dive-bar nights and head-spinning morning-afters, best left in the dorm-room days.

It needed something to soften the blow...something to bring it from "night I'll never remember" to "dessert I'll never forget."

It needed something...like chocolate.

The next day I paired it with a simple fudge pie, and it completely transformed the experience.

I'd still recommend sticking to the called-for quarter-cup of booze as opposed to the highly excessive half-cup. But the combination of chocolate, pecans, whiskey, and cream is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Serve it for company. Serve it for the holidays. Or when, in the extreme situation, you need a little hair-of-the-dog, serve it for breakfast--no judging here.

The following recipe is excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. My notes are in blue.

Jeni's Bourbon and Buttered Pecan Ice Cream
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup Bourbon  I used Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey
Salty Buttered Pecans recipe follows

PREP Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. If you have trouble whisking the cream cheese, microwave it for about 10 seconds to soften it a bit more. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the bourbon. Gradually is the key word--if you add it all at once, it will be very difficult to get out all the lumps. Speaking of lumps, I like to strain my mixture into a clean bowl at this point, just to make sure the ice cream will be silky-smooth. Use a spatula to help work the mixture through the strainer.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. I generally make the mixture the day before I want to freeze the ice cream so it can chill thoroughly in the fridge overnight.

FREEZE Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. For best results, always freeze the canister for AT LEAST 24 hours before using.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, folding in 3/4 cup Salty Buttered Pecans as you go, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. The parchment is awesome at helping to prevent freezer burn. Every time you scoop out ice-cream, be sure to press the parchment back down over the remaining ice cream to help keep it tasty. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes 1 generous quart.

Salty Buttered Pecans
3/4 cup pecan halves or quarters I used coarsely chopped pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the nuts with the butter and salt in a bowl, tossing to coat. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, turning once, until crisp and aromatic. Let cool completely.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Fudge Pie
1 unbaked pie crust, fitted into a greased pie pan, placed on a baking sheet
4 T butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure a rack is positioned in the center of the oven.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust all over with a fork.

Place the butter and chocolate in a large, microwave-safe bowl or 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup, and microwave for 1 minute.

Add the cream cheese to the chocolate and melted butter, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the sugar and salt, then the eggs and vanilla, and finally the flour.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving (I like it best the next day).

The pie will keep, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to one week.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Coco Zin Ice Cream

The Setting: A crisp, fall day.

The Soundtrack: Storage Wars.

Steaming up the Panini Press: Two hot Cubans. (Sandwiches, that is.)

The Scenario: Watch out, Haagen Dazs. There's a new chocolate ice cream in town.

If it weren't for the copious containers of Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream I consumed in between sleeves of Saltines during my pregnancy with Oia, I never would have made it through the first trimester.

Even now, if I had to make a list of my top-five-favorite foods, ice cream and chocolate in various forms and combinations would sweep at least the top four spots.

When I'm in the mood for textural variety and over-the-top flavor combinations, Ben and Jerry's wins with Chubby Hubby, Coffee Caramel Buzz (formerly Bonnaroo Buzz), and Oatmeal Cookie Chunk.

But when pure, clean, simple chocolate ice cream is what I crave, nothing has ever hit the spot like creamy, chocolate Haagen Dazs...that is...until now.

Jeni's Coco Zin sneaks a hint of red wine into a deep, dark, chocolate ice cream to deliver a rich, flavorful complexity that plays up the natural fruitiness of the cacao and intensifies the chocolaty experience without sacrificing the lush, velvety mouthfeel of quality ice cream--no easy task.

To accomplish this, Jeni calls for a combination of unsweetened cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate.

Head's up: when it comes to chocolate, there's no legal distinction between the terms "semisweet" and "bittersweet." Their correlation to cacao percentage varies from brand to brand, and between two different brands, the terms are often synonymous. Basically, it's all dark chocolate.

 Just look for a product with 55% to 70% cacao and no dairy added.

A product's cacao percentage represents its combined amounts of cocoa butter (the fat from cacao bean) and cocoa solids (the rest of the bean). Products with identical cacao percentages may contain different ratios of cocoa solids to cocoa fat. So when it comes to dark chocolate, where milk is not a part of the equation, the main thing the percentage tells us is how much sugar is involved--the higher the percentage, the lower the sugar.

It's tempting to use chocolate chips instead of finely chopping bar or block chocolate. But this is not always the best option when "good chocolate" is called for, as chips tend to contain higher amounts of stabilizers, which can throw off the results in some recipes.

As far as the cocoa powder goes, Jeni does not stipulate between natural or Dutched. My default is always natural, and it gave me amazing results here.

A note on serving: I thought it would be a nice touch to make meringue shells to hold giant scoops of this perfect chocolate ice cream, but the Coco Zin was better on its own. Turns out the perfect pairing for this ice cream is the wine you use to make it.

The following recipe is excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. My notes are in blue.

Jeni's Coco Zin Ice Cream
"Mouth-filling, palate-gripping, intense chocolate with a fudge-like texture and a pleasantly dry finish." --Jeni Britton Bauer

CHOCOLATE SYRUP
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder I used Ghirardelli
1/2 cup Zinfandel or other dry red wine I used Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (55% to 70% cacao), finely chopped I used a Ghirardelli baking bar

ICE CREAM BASE
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

PREP
For the chocolate syrup:
Combine the cocoa, wine, and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and boil for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Stir the syrup until smooth. Set aside.

For the ice cream base:
Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese, warm chocolate syrup, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually is the key word--if you add it all at once, it will be very difficult to get out all the lumps. Speaking of lumps, I like to strain my mixture into a clean bowl at this point, just to make sure the ice cream will be silky-smooth. Use a spatula to help work the mixture through the strainer.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. I generally make the mixture the day before I want to freeze the ice cream so it can chill thoroughly in the fridge overnight.

FREEZE Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. For best results, always freeze the canister for AT LEAST 24 hours before using.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. The parchment is awesome at helping to prevent freezer burn. Every time you scoop out ice-cream, be sure to press the parchment back down over the remaining ice cream to help keep it tasty. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes 1 generous quart.

 Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011. 

 

 Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Oh Snap! Roasted Pumpkin 5-Spice Ice Cream with a Gingersnap Swirl

The Setting: An unexpectedly gorgeous day.

The Soundtrack: Oia, flipping through the pages of one of my cheap paperbacks and babbling as though she were reading it aloud.

Sizzling on the Griddle: Pumpkin Pancakes with Honey Cardamom Butter and pure Michigan maple syrup.

The Scenario: Fall has fallen, and the pages of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home have re-opened to welcome the season of root vegetables and warming spices.

If you missed our summer frolic with the queen of artisan ice cream, here's a re-cap. But for the present, let me say, "It's pumpkin time!"

I always look forward to the time of the year when pumpkin lattes dominate cafe menus and ginger becomes much more than the movie star on Gilligan's Island.

I'm one of those weirdos who can't stand pumpkin pie (it's some combination of the texture and flavor...like two great voices who should never do a duet), so I always have to find other ways to express my love of fall's favorite flavor: pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, and, thanks to Jeni, pumpkin ice cream.

Since this is Roasted Pumpkin 5-Spice Ice Cream, and I happened to have a bunch of 5-Spice Gingersnaps in the freezer, I couldn't resist throwing a few cookie crumbles in for added texture and flavor.

If you like a little textural variation in your ice cream, you can't go wrong with this addition.

To create the gingersnap "swirl," coarsely crush/crumble six or so medium-sized 5-Spice Gingersnaps to make about two cups of gingersnap crumbles. After freezing the ice cream in the machine, pack the ice cream into a container, alternating layers of ice cream and cookies so that you begin and end with layers of ice cream. You should aim for at least five layers in all--three layers of ice cream and two layers of cookie crumbles. If using a tall, skinny container, aim for at least seven layers in all.

If you prefer uninterrupted, velvety smoothness in every spoonful, by all means, leave the cookies out.

This recipe calls for an actual pumpkin, cut in half, roasted, scooped out of the skin, pureed, and measured out.

I typically reach right for the can o'puree when the need for pumpkin knocks, so going whole-gourd was a first for me. I admit I had to enlist Hoosband to cut it in half (I am very short, my counters are sized for a normal person, that equals poor leverage, and, oh yeah, I am weak), but the remaining work was a cinch.

An ice-cream scoop is the perfect tool for both scooping out and discarding seeds and membranes and scooping roasted pumpkin into your food processor.

After measuring out the pumpkin for the ice cream, I had about 2 cups leftover to store in the fridge for this morning's pancakes and future baked goods or sauces.



The following recipe is excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. My notes are in blue.

Jeni's Roasted Pumpkin 5-Spice Ice Cream
"A modern classic--rich pumpkin blended with exotic spices, which give the ice cream a light finish and a pleasant tingle." --Jeni Britton Bauer

1 small pie pumpkin or Kabocha, Buttercup, or butternut squash (2-3 lbs)
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Chinese 5-spice powder

PREP Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and membranes. An ice-cream scoop works perfectly for this. Place Cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes, until soft when pierced with a fork. Be sure to use a rimmed baking sheet or jellyroll pan, as the pumpkin will release some liquid. Let cool slightly.

Scoop the flesh into a food processor and puree until completely smooth. The ice-cream scoop works perfectly for this part as well.

Measure out 3/4 cup for the ice cream; reserve the rest of the puree for another use.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. If you have trouble whisking the cream cheese, microwave it for about 10 seconds to soften it a bit more. Add the pumpkin puree and the honey and whisk until smooth.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and 5-spice powder in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually is the key word--if you add it all at once, it will be very difficult to get out all the lumps. Speaking of lumps, I like to strain my mixture into a clean bowl at this point, just to make sure the ice cream will be silky-smooth. Use a spatula to help work the mixture through the strainer.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. I generally make the mixture the day before I want to freeze the ice cream so it can chill thoroughly in the fridge overnight.

FREEZE Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. For best results, always freeze the canister for AT LEAST 24 hours before using.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container (if adding gingersnaps, layer them in now as you pack the ice cream into the container), press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. The parchment is awesome at helping to prevent freezer burn. Every time you scoop out ice-cream, be sure to press the parchment back down over the remaining ice cream to help keep it tasty. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes 1 generous quart.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Jeni's Summer Recap

The Setting: A balmy 79-degree-Fahrenheit day. Love it.

The Soundtrack: The whir of the box fan perched in my bedroom window.

On the Stovetop: Kale and mushrooms.

The Scenario: I hope everyone has stayed cool this summer and enjoyed the excerpts from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.

Working my way through this colorful cookbook has been a double-scoop of a good time, and I can't wait to break it open again soon when the leaves outside are various shades of  autumn and the flavors of fall begin to beckon--Roasted Pumpkin Five-Spice Ice Cream, anyone?

But for now, as we cling to the final days of summer, I thought I'd offer up a little recap of what we've scooped up so far:

Backyard Mint Ice Cream

Kona Stout Ice Cream

Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream

Homemade Ice Cream Cones

BombeBasticks

If you can't decide on just one flavor to keep you cool before the thermostat starts its autumnal descent (and how could anyone blame you?), why not round up your friends, divide up the flavors, and throw a little ice-cream party to send summer out on a sweet note?


Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life!

BombeBasticks

The Setting: A cool apartment in a summer heatwave.

The Soundtrack: The little washing machine that could--I swear I hear it chugging out, "I think I can, I think I can."

On the Stovetop: Wild mushroom tortellini.

The Scenario: I don't know what it's like where you are, but here in the DC area Temperatures are setting record highs, air conditioning units are shutting off because they just can't handle the heat, and "cooling stations" are popping up in churches and gymnasiums to give those without power a moment's sanctuary.

If ever there were a time for a frozen treat, this is it.

Jeni's BombeBasticks are the concession-stand sundae-cones you loved as a kid, all grown up and all from scratch--if, that is, you want them to be.

Make the cones, prepare the chocolate bombe shell, and whip up one of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams; or swap in store-bought components as you desire.

Top them with peanuts, pretzels, pumpkin seeds--whatever gets your mouth watering the most.

The following recipes are excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. My Notes are in red.

BombeBasticks
"Buttery handmade cones, artfully assembled with ice cream, and encased in Bombe Shell chocolate."

Chocolate Bombe Shell (page 200) (recipe follows)
6 small handmade Ice Cream Cones (page 203)
1 batch any flavor of ice cream
1/2 cup toasted nuts, pretzels, or other crunchy interesting bits

If the chocolate bombe shell is solid, melt gently in a hot water bath (fill bowl with very hot water and place jar of chocolate bombe shell in it), or pulse in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, stirring regularly. You don't want the chocolate to be too hot.

One cone at a time, pour about 1/4 cup chocolate into a cone and swirl to coat the interior.

Pour the excess back into the melted chocolate, and dip the top 1/2 inch of the cone into the chocolate. Set the cone upright in a tall glass and place in the freezer to harden. Repeat with remaining cones.

Soften the ice cream to a scoopable consistency. Remove one cone at a time from the freezer and place a scoop firmly on the top--you don't have to fill the cone, just squish it in really well at the opening. Return the cone to the freezer and repeat with the rest of the cones.

Allow to harden for 1 hour.

Coarsely chop nuts, pretzels, chips, or whatever you want to use and spread on a sheet pan.

Remove one cone at a time from the freezer and dip into the liquid chocolate, rolling to coat. Quickly roll in the nuts, if using, and return to the freezer. Freeze until firm.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Chocolate Bombe Shell
You know that Magic Shell you loved as a kid? Wait till you try the homemade version with real bittersweet chocolate and pure coconut oil!

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% or greater cocoa), chopped
1/3 cup coconut oil I used unrefined, which has more coconut flavor

Combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler and heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate is almost melted.

Remove from the heat and stir until completely melted and smooth. Let cool, then store, covered or in a jar, in the refrigerator. The chocolate will keep for up to 3 weeks.

To use the chocolate, you can melt it just by leaving it in a warm place--like the windowsill or the porch--for half an hour or so, then stir until smooth. Or scrape it into a bowl, set it in a larger bowl of very warm tap water, and let stand, stirring occasionally, until liquefied and smooth. You can also melt it in the microwave, heating it for 20-second intervals and stirring often, but be careful not to let it overheat.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading. Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life!

Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream with Homemade Ice Cream Cones

The Setting: A dim but otherwise lovely apartment in the DC suburbs, decorated with a pitcher of flowers from my birthday and a smattering of baby paraphernalia...from life.

The Soundtrack: The same three chords pitifully squeaking out again and again as Oia's favorite musical book clings to its last breaths of battery life.

On the Stovetop: Quesadillas.

The Scenario: So far the flavors we've savored from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home have been fairly standard: Backyard Mint was a fresh take on an old standby, and while Kona Stout was a far cry from your average coffee ice cream, you could probably imagine ordering a scoop at your favorite brew-pub. Today, however, I bring you excitingly unexpected flavors that collide in a full-on scoop of summer.

This, my friends, is the blessed time of the year when bushels of sweet corn fill the floors of farmer's markets and produce departments, and fresh berries are cheaper than frozen.

This is the time for Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream.

A smooth, sweet base of fresh-corn-steeped cream is frozen in a standard machine and layered with a simple berry sauce to create a surprising treat that'll have you wishing it were summer all year long.

Of course, part of the childlike joy of eating ice cream in the summer is skipping the bowl and spoon in favor of the ever-portable, edible vessel, the cone.

Jeni's recipe produces a sweet and crispy cone good enough to stand on its own but even better when filled.

The batter is extremely simple, but an iron is required (these can be purchased from a variety of online sources and tend to be in the $25- $50 price range).

Jeni says her recipe will make 8 medium cones, but I've been averaging 14 small-to-medium-sized cones from one batch of batter using my 9-inch KrumKake Express, and the whole process takes 30-45 minutes.

Poolside parties and Slip 'N Slides will come to mind as your tongue reaches around the edges of the cone to catch those first drips of ice cream melting in the summer heat.

By the time you're licking your fingers and savoring the last crunch of cone, you'll feel just like a kid again...but with a slightly more elevated palate.

The following recipes are excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. My notes are in red.

Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream
"A sublime summer match--initial hits of milky sweet corn give way to the floral nose of sweet black raspberry." 

1 ear sweet corn, husked
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Black Raspberry Sauce (page 196) (recipe follows)

PREP  Slice the kernels from the corn cob, then "milk" the cob by scraping it with the back of your knife to extract the liquid; reserve kernels and liquid.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Make sure the cream cheese is fully softened--microwave for 10-15 seconds if necessary--otherwise whisking it is nearly impossible, and it could cause your ice cream to be clumpy.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK  Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn and juices, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and force the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, leaving the corn "cases" behind. Return the mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL  Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. You could refrigerate the mixture overnight at this point if desired.

FREEZE  (Snip the corner off your Ziploc bag and...) Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, alternating it with layers of the black raspberry sauce and ending with a spoonful of sauce; do not mix. Press a sheet of parchment paper directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes 1 generous quart.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Black Raspberry Sauce
2 cups raspberries, black raspberries, and/or blackberries I was unable to find black raspberries, so I used half red raspberries and half blackberries
1 cup sugar

Combine the berries and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 220 degrees F (5 to 8 minutes). I set mine on lower heat and let it cook a lot longer than I was supposed to (probably to the tune of 25 minutes), which made the sauce a little chewy. I actually found the texture rather pleasant, but it made straining out the seeds a major chore.

Let cool slightly, then force through a sieve to remove the seeds. (Or leave a few seeds in there just to prove you made it.) Refrigerate until cold before using.

Makes about 1 1/4 cup.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.



Ice Cream Cones

2 large egg whites
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Turn on the waffle cone iron.

Combine the egg whites and cream in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add the sugar, salt, and both extracts and whisk for about a minute to combine well. Whisk in the melted butter. Add the flour, whisking only until the lumps have disappeared and the batter is smooth.

Make the cones in the waffle cone iron according to the directions for your iron. To shape the cones, follow the instructions on the next page (sorry, you'll have to get the book for that...but don't you want to get it anyway?). When you get really good, there should be no hole in the bottom of the cone!

These cones are best the day they are made, but they will keep for a week in a sealed container.

Makes 8 medium cones (4 to 6 inches tall and 2 inches across at the top).

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

At Home with Jeni's...Part Two: Kona Stout

The Setting: A bit brighter inside than out, but if the thunderstorms hold off, I'll be happy.

The Soundtrack: Birds chirping, children playing.

Steaming up the Oven: Brownies.

The Scenario: More incredible ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Come have a scoop--and invite your dad!

One of the many cool (minor pun intended) things about JSICAH is that Jeni organizes her recipes by season.

In the spring, for instance, you might try "Passion Fruit Frozen Yogurt" or "Toasted Rice Ice Cream with a Whiff of Coconut and Black Tea." Autumn might be filled with scoops of "Gorgonzola Dolce Ice Cream with Candied Walnuts" or "Roasted Pumpkin 5-Spice Ice Cream," while winter might dish up "Black Walnut Divinity Ice Cream" or "Banana Ice Cream with Caramelized White Chocolate Freckles."

But right now it is summer (whether the solstice has decreed it so or not), and Father's Day is on the horizon.

Jeni says her Kona Stout Ice Cream, flavored with dark-roasted Kona coffee beans and deep, malty Russian Imperial Stout, pairs perfectly with chocolate cake, barbecue, whiskey, and "your dad."

That sounds like the making of a pretty happy Father's Day (or any summer grill-out) to me.

And after receiving the "When can we have this again?" seal of approval from Hoosband, Kona Stout Ice Cream will definitely be making an appearance at this and future Father's Day celebrations at casa de Crumm.

...In fact...I'm growing so in love with it myself, we might have to keep it on hand for my favorite daily celebration: dessert.

Kona Stout Ice Cream
"Roasted malt and coffee beans impart a chocolaty nose to this rich, refreshing ice cream."

2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons dark-roast Kona coffee beans, coarsely ground
1/2 cup Barley's Russian Imperial Stout or other very dark stout I have used both Old Rasputin Imperial Stout and Sam Adams Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, both were excellent

PREP  Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Make sure the cream cheese is fully softened--microwave for 10-15 seconds if necessary--otherwise whisking it is nearly impossible, and it could cause your ice cream to be clumpy.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK  Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the coffee, and let steep for 5 minutes.

Strain the milk mixture through a sieve lined with a layer of cheesecloth. Squeeze the coffee in the cheesecloth to extract as much liquid as possible, then discard the grounds. The second time I made this ice cream I didn't have any cheesecloth. Instead of grinding the coffee beans, I very coarsely chopped them with a knife (some remained whole) so that the pieces would not be small enough to pass through my sieve. To compensate for the decreased surface area of the beans, I doubled the amount of beans and increased the steeping time to 10 minutes.

Return the cream mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL  Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the stout and blend well.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes. You could refrigerate the mixture overnight at this point if desired.

FREEZE  (Snip the corner off your Ziploc bag and...) Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes about 1 quart.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

Malibu Mojito Float

The Setting: A warm and breezy Dallas day.

The Soundtrack: Oia, who has learned that a ball and a cup are all she needs to form a one-woman band.

Steaming up the Oven: Beer-Caramel Pretzels.

The Scenario: A simple twist on Jeni's mint ice cream takes it from the backyard to the beach...somewhere between Malibu and Miami.

As much as I love Jeni's Backyard Mint ice cream all by itself (or with a drizzle of warm chocolate ganache), it's been hard to shake the craving for some accompanying lime and rum on these hot summer days.

Maybe it's because I miss Miami or maybe it's because rum with muddled mint and lime is summer in a cup.

Either way, I simply had to make another batch of Backyard Mint, this time mojito-style.

The plan was to add a bit of rum to the ice-cream base and include the zest of a couple of limes along with the handful of mint in the steeping process.

I eagerly poured milk, cream, and sugar into a pot on the stove, and then it hit me: my arsenal of alcohol was back in Notre Dame.  Besides a couple bottles of Texas red, my Dallas kitchen was as dry as a Baptist convention center.

And, as I discovered when I went to make a quick rum-run, the rest of my new town was, too.

Unwilling to venture into wet territories without the help of MapQuest or Hoosband (I have no GPS, and my phone is app-less, map-less, and hapless), I returned home to make mint-lime ice cream.

Remaining fully committed to my ice-cream-mojito dreams, I swerved into a liquor store a few days later when driving through the smuttier part of town and picked up a bottle of coconut rum.

It might not have made it into the ice cream, but it would certainly make it onto the ice cream.

"Hold up," you might be tempted to say. "Coconut rum is not traditionally used in mojitos."

Well, that's where the Malibu part comes in (though, technically, this time it's Parrot Bay...).

I tend to buy two kinds of rum: Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum and coconut rum (generally Malibu). I don't have much use for plain white rum in my kitchen since most of the things I'd use it for taste even better with a hint of coconut, mojito floats included--of course, that's just me.

To make the float, just scoop some mint-lime ice cream into a lowball glass, pour a couple capfulls (or more, to taste) of coconut rum over the top, and serve with a spoon. To make it even more of a float, top with club soda, spoon optional. To serve frozen-drink style, blend until smooth and serve with a straw (little umbrella optional).

Check out Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books) for Jeni's Ohito Sundae and Mint Julep cocktail, also featuring Backyard Mint Ice Cream.

And be sure to stay tuned for more of Jeni's tasty ice creams, coming soon!

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.

At Home with Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Part One: Backyard Mint

The Setting: A lovely apartment made even lovelier by ceiling fans and central air. Oh, how I will miss these luxuries come August!

The Soundtrack: Children playing boisterously somewhere nearby. Sounds like summer.

Steaming up the Oven: Muffins.

The Scenario: It's been a long time in the coming...but finally...at long last...I present to you...courtesy of Artisan Books...Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home!

How can I even begin to express my love for this cookbook?

Hoosband and I first discovered Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Hot and Cold, a small coffee/tea/ice-cream/ice-pop shop in Nashville's Hillsboro Village.



With flavors such as Cherry Lambic, Salty Caramel, and Riesling Poached Pear (Hoosband's favorite), the artisan ice creams and sorbets had us clamoring for more with each enticing spoonful.

At first we assumed that Jeni's was native to Nashville, as most of Hot and Cold's offerings come from local artisans (Bongo Java coffee, Olive and Sinclair chocolate, and Las Paletas ice pops), but we were surprised to learn Jeni's is actually a proud product of the Buckeye State.

Whether your allegiance to Jeni's dates back to the original North Market shop in Columbus, Ohio, or you're just hearing about the deliciousness for the first time, you can now make Jeni Britton Bauer's incredible ice creams at home, thanks to this easy-to-follow cookbook that breaks down fan-favorite flavors for reproduction in the average household ice-cream maker.

What are Jeni's secrets?

There are several. Jeni is an ice-cream-science nerd, and proud of it.

She eschews the use of eggs as a thickener, favoring a one-two punch of corn (or tapioca) starch and cream cheese to keep ice crystals in check (meaning this homemade ice cream gets the green light for any pregnant mamas out there avoiding potentially uncooked eggs--woohoo!).

The main secret, however, is Jeni's focus on quality ingredients and fresh, natural flavors, as expressed in my current summer favorite, Backyard Mint, which literally derives its crisp, clean flavor from a big handful of mint leaves fresh from the backyard...or grocery store...you know, whatever works.

The Following recipe is excerpted with permission from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. My notes are in red.

Backyard Mint Ice Cream
"Bright and sweet-scented muddled mint and fresh cream--completely refreshing."

2 cups whole milk
1 T plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
A large handful of fresh mint from your backyard or farmers' market, leaves roughly torn into small pieces.

PREP  Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. If you have trouble whisking the cream cheese, microwave it for 10-15 seconds to soften it a bit more.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK  Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

CHILL  Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually is the key word--if you add it all at once, it will be very difficult to get out all the lumps. Add the mint. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Refrigerate to steep for 4 to 12 hours.

FREEZE  Strain out the mint. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest park of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.


Makes about 1 quart.

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011.

Thanks for reading! Here's to Being the Secret Ingredient in your life.