Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream

It's always a struggle to clear out enough room in my freezer for the giant ice cream maker bowl but the results are always well worth the effort. This peanut butter and jelly ice cream is no exception.

For some reason I've been craving peanut butter desserts lately so I dug into the archives of bookmarked recipes for this gem. The ice cream is wonderfully creamy and full of peanut butter flavor with the added bonus of sweet jam. It really does taste like all the best parts of a PB&J sandwich. I used some of my favorite raspberry jam from Trader Joe's and this really hit the spot. Yum!

Amusingly, after I'd mixed the ingredients together and set it in the fridge to cool I went out to a specialty ice cream shop and they just so happened to have peanut butter and jelly ice cream on their menu. See? It's not a totally unheard of idea!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream
Recipe from Steph's Bite by Bite

2/3 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter (not the natural kind)
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Jam – however much you like and whatever flavor of jam you want

In a large mixing bowl with the paddle attachment (a handheld mixer works fine), mix together the sugar and creamy peanut butter on medium low speed until combined. On low speed, add in the milk. Then add in the heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract and mix to completely combine. Use a whisk to finish mixing the ingredients together.

Pour the mixture in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or chill overnight (recommended).

Turn your ice cream maker on and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. Freeze according to your manufacturer’s instructions.

Once the ice cream is done churning, spread a layer of the ice cream in the bottom of a container. Add some jam on top and swirl it. Spread some more ice cream on top. Add more jam and swirl again. Finally spread on the last layer of ice cream.

Cover the ice cream and freeze for a couple of hours or more.

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Cupcakes

I can't quite remember when I first discovered the Cupcake Project blog but in the time that I've followed her "experimental cupcake blog" I've gotten tons of great ideas and even won two of her giveaways. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of hers as a result. She constantly pushes the boundaries of what you'd think can be done with ingredients and seems to have no fear when it comes to trying out crazy combinations and new ideas. And this month she hosted a contest encouraging the rest of us to come up with something new in the form of an ice cream cupcake. What better time of year to combine my two loves, ice cream and baked goods?

I tossed a few ideas around including turning my pretzel-stuffed banana, chocolate, and peanut butter cupcakes into an ice cream concoction but when I stumbled across a recipe for key lime pie ice cream on Pinterest the decision was made for me. Something about the sweltering heat we've been having lately calls for the tangy tartness of limes in a soothingly cool ice cream.


Although the idea of a key lime pie cupcake is hardly a novel one, I did my research to put together a recipe that combined the best elements: graham cracker base, cake with a flavorful kick from some lime zest, and a fluffy meringue-like frosting lightly toasted with the help of my handy blowtorch. Add in the tart key lime pie ice cream and I knew I had a recipe for success.

This was my first experience with this sort of meringue-based frosting and the recipe I chose did not disappoint! It whipped up beautifully into a saccharine marshmallowy cloud perfect for piling on top of the cupcakes and molding into fun shapes like this:


To make these ice cream cupcakes as easy to eat as possible, I went with the tried-and-true method of cutting out a cone and inserting the ice cream into each cupcake. I've seen other ice cream cupcakes with the ice cream sandwiched between two cake layers or on top in place of the frosting but this seemed the most efficient and neatest way to combine all of the elements and flavors. Considering how much of a mess my husband can make while eating I needed to find the least messy option here.


Not to toot my own horn but these are probably one of the top five best cupcakes I've ever made. I'm so glad I was challenged to make some ice cream cupcakes because as tasty as the cupcakes are on their own the added element of ice cream gives them another dimension of flavor and texture to complete the equation. All of the elements work perfectly together from the sweet, airy frosting to the tart, cool ice cream and the surprising crunch from the graham cracker crust. Absolutely delicious and, as I expected, a perfect treat for a hot summer day.


Note: No key limes were harmed in the making of these cupcakes. In other words, I was too cheap to splurge on the real deal and instead invested in a large bag of regular limes from my local produce market. They turned out wonderfully limey all the same but for authenticity feel free to substitute key lime juice.

Graham Cracker Crust
Recipe adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/8 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

1) Prepare one muffin pan with paper liners.

2) In a food processor, blend together graham cracker crumbs and sugar.
Add 2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter. Pulse a few times. If it seems like it needs more butter add the remaining melted butter.

3) Distribute evenly among cupcake liners and press to form a shell using a spoon or your fingertips.

Lime Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 cup granulated sugar
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons lime zest
2 large eggs

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.

3) Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer at low speed, until the mixture looks sandy.

4) Combine the milk and vanilla and add, all at once. Add the lime zest and mix at low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl.

5) With the mixer running at low speed, add 1 egg. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Add the second egg, again beating for 30 seconds.

6) Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat briefly, just until smooth.

7) Scoop the batter by heaping 1/4-cupfuls into the prepared muffin tin. A muffin scoop works well here.

8) Bake the cupcakes for 23 to 25 minutes, until they've domed, and are a light golden brown around the edges. They'll spring back when pressed gently on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

9) Remove the cupcakes from the oven, cool in pan on a rack for ten minutes. Then remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on the rack.

10) Using the cone method cut a large cavity into each cooled cupcake.

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
Recipe from Good Life Eats

This recipe makes much more ice cream than you'll need for the cupcakes. If you really can't think of anything to do with the extra delicious ice cream you should quarter the recipe.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup lime juice (you can use bottled key lime juice)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Dash of salt
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
Green food coloring (optional)
1/3 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers

1) In a large bowl, combine milk, lime juice, heavy cream, salt, lime zest, sweetened condensed milk, and food coloring if desired. Whisk to combine.

2) Pour mixture into your ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir 1/3 cup graham crackers into ice cream.

3) Spoon enough ice cream into each cupcake to fill each cavity. Place in a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze cupcakes about 1 hour or until ice cream is firm. Spoon the extra ice cream into a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze.

Fluffy Seven-Minute Frosting
Recipe from King Arthur Flour

This recipe makes a generous amount of frosting so feel free to halve the recipe.

2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sanding sugar (optional)
A servant to clean up the sticky dishes (optional but recommended)

1) Place the 2 egg whites in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat until the egg whites are foamy and thick; they should mound in the bowl, without holding a peak. Set them aside while you prepare the sugar syrup.

2) Combine the sugar, cream of tartar, water, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently; the sugar should be dissolved. If the sugar hasn't dissolved, cook and stir a bit more, until it has.

3) Begin to beat the egg whites, and immediately pour the boiling sugar syrup into the egg whites in a slow stream, beating all the while. As you beat, the mixture will thicken.

4) Once all the syrup is added, stir in the vanilla, and continue to beat until the frosting is thick and will hold a peak.

5) Spoon the hot frosting atop the cooled cupcakes, swirling it decoratively. Sprinkle with sanding sugar and lightly brown with a blowtorch.





The contest is hosted by both Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious so be sure to check them both out for delicious inspiration.

Nutella Ice Cream

There is a Nutella theme to this blog lately. Good thing our supermarket carries a knockoff version that's a lot cheaper than the real stuff and tastes almost as good. Almost. I still prefer the real deal but for all of this baking I've been doing lately it's been good to have a few jars of the discount version on hand too.

I decided to go all out for my birthday and whip up a batch of Nutella ice cream to pair with my birthday cake. I had a lot of house cleaning to do in anticipation of my mom's visit so I needed something that would be quick and easy to make. Found Sugarlaws' recipe that only called for five simple ingredients and minimal work so I was all set.

I did double her recipe because two cups didn't seem like it would be enough for three Nutella-loving folks. Turns out I have lots of leftovers because the ice cream, while delicious, is pretty rich. It probably didn't help that we had an entire 9" birthday cake to consume too. I assumed the vodka was just thrown in there to prevent the ice cream from turning into a hard, rock-like lump, but I found I could still taste it in the end product. Which isn't a bad thing because it's still pretty subtle, but expect a kick from that if you make this recipe yourself.

Nutella Ice Cream
Recipe from Sugarlaws

Makes about 4 cups

2/3 cup Nutella
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
2 tbsp vodka

Beat together the Nutella, sugar, heavy cream, milk and vodka until blended evenly. Churn into ice cream according to your ice cream machine’s directions, and then freeze for four hours before serving. The ice cream lasts about a week in the freezer.

Peach & Caramel Frozen Yogurt

It seems that every time I make a new batch of ice cream I manage to decrease the cream and fat content little by little. At this rate I'll be feeding my husband a bowl of ice and trying to convince him it's a delicious homemade frozen delicacy within the month. Only joking, although one of my main motivations for breaking down and buying an ice cream maker was so I could make lower fat versions of ice cream. I'm always on a quest to find ways my husband and I can eat more healthily while still indulging in dessert. The first batch I made was delicious but it was also far too full of cream and fat. A good way to christen the ice cream maker but not something I intend to make regularly.

When I discovered that I not only had a bunch of ripe peaches on the counter but also a large container of plain yogurt near expiration I began searching for the perfect peach frozen yogurt recipe. I found a few that looked promising and eventually settled on the simplest one involving only peaches, yogurt, water, and sugar. To make it even easier on myself (ok, ok, and because I didn't read the directions closely enough) I wound up dumping everything into a saucepan, heated until the peaches were soft enough to mash, and didn't bother blending the mixture in a food processor for smoothness. I'd prefer to have chunks of peaches visible and even left the skins on the peaches because I actually like that fuzzy covering. Because I used fat free yogurt I substituted half and half for some of the water and because I had some peach simple syrup left over I poured that in and decreased the sugar a bit to compensate.

I also had some caramel left over so I poured that in while I was transferring the frozen yogurt from the ice cream maker to the container. I know my husband well enough to predict that he'd never remember to add the caramel sauce himself to each bowl so better to mix it in. That way he can't miss it!

The end result is tasty but surprisingly hard. My husband may have to invest in a chisel to get his next serving out of the freezer. Not sure if this is what one should always expect to get with homemade frozen yogurt or if it's all due to my fat-free yogurt substitution. I'm not ready to go with full fat yogurt but next time I'll try upping the fat content a little and maybe even try the trick of adding a dash of vodka to the mix since alcohol doesn't freeze. It's still edible but requires a little planning ahead since it needs to sit out to soften.

Peach Frozen Yogurt
Recipe adapted from The Perfect Scoop

Makes about 3 cups

4 medium peaches, roughly chopped (skins on or off)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup half and half
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons peach simple syrup (optional, if you omit use 3/4 cup sugar above)
1 cup plain yogurt

Dump all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium low heat, covered, stirring occasionally until peaches are soft, about 5 minutes. Thoroughly mash with a potato masher or fork and continue to cook another 3-5 minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat and cool in refrigerator overnight.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. When transferring churned frozen yogurt from ice cream maker to freezer container, drizzle caramel between layers.

Caramel
Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
Pinch of salt
1/8 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons heavy cream, at room temperature

1) Melt the sugar over medium heat in a large pot. With a wooden spoon, stir the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color.

2) Add the butter and salt and stir it in until melted.

3) Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. You may have some lumps but keep stirring until they have melted. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Peach Simple Syrup
Adapted from Cook's Recipes

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 small peach, roughly chopped

In a saucepan combine sugar, water, corn syrup and peach pieces. Heat over high heat, and once the peaches are softened a bit mash with a potato masher or fork. Heat to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer syrup, undisturbed, 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour syrup through a fine sieve, pressing on solids. Cool at room temperature.

Note: This recipe makes much more than you'll actually need. Syrup keeps, covered, in the refrigerator for weeks.

Pink Lemonade Ice Cream

About a year ago I saw a billboard advertising what I thought was lemonade ice cream. Turns out it was merely advertising the fact that the store sold both lemonade and ice cream but was by no means suggesting that you try and combine the two. Unfortunate, because since then the idea of lemonade ice cream has haunted me. It wasn't until I got my own ice cream maker that I was able to finally do something about that.

I happened to have a nearly full can of pink lemonade concentrate left over after another recipe so I made no changes to the ice cream recipe to compensate. Which was probably a good move because my husband found the ice cream to be very tart. I too found it to be tart but also very sweet, so aside from adding even less lemonade concentrate I can't think of a way to solve that. Not that I necessarily think it needs solving. This is an ice cream that's best eaten in small doses, which is just as well since I only have time to work out once a day. It would take a miracle to keep my waistline in check if I feasted on huge portions of ice cream and cupcakes all the time, as I'm sure all you bakers out there understand.

I did make a few changes to the recipe by substituting skim milk for whole milk, which I think was a fine move since part of the reason I want to make my own ice cream is to control what ingredients go in. Plus it's all I had on hand. It still turned out nice and creamy. I was also surprised by the large amount of almond extract called for (one tablespoon!) and reduced that to a much more reasonable one teaspoon, which I again think worked just fine although you might want to experiment with adding more to taste.

To prevent the same cruel fate from befalling this batch of ice cream, I added a few helpful notes to the lid of the container so my husband would remember to put this back in the freezer, not the refrigerator as he did no fewer than three times with the banana ice cream. Let's hope it works. For his sake...

Pink Lemonade Ice Cream
Adapted from Finding Inspiration In Food

1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk (whole, skim, whatever you have on hand)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 can pink lemonade concentrate
pinch of salt
3 drops red food color, if desired for a darker pink look

Whisk together all ingredients and chill covered in fridge at least 20 minutes. Process in ice cream maker per manufacturer’s directions. The mixture will not be completely hard. To finish, put mixture into a lidded container and allow to harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

I Think This Is the Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Meet Loretta*, my pastel blue KitchenAid mixer. She has been my trusty sidekick throughout most of my baking (mis)adventures these past ten months. I don't know how I ever survived without her. Sure, I had an old Sunbeam mixer (a gift from a wonderful friend when he upgraded to a KitchenAid) that did a lot of the same functions, but because it was so very beige I kept it hidden away in a cupboard and didn't always bother to dig it out unless absolutely necessary. While I'm sure I built up some nice muscles from doing most of the stirring by hand in those days, I was thrilled when my birthday rolled around and I was able to combine a great sale with a rebate to finally snag my very own goofily-colored KitchenAid. As with all big ticket items that only I'm going to use I really had to talk myself into it but there's no doubt I've put mine to good use since then.

Is it just me or does the ice cream maker look like a legless Adipose from Doctor Who?

Like any fashion-forward young woman, she has a variety of accessories and now, thanks to a good price at Amazon a month ago, she even has a brand new one: an ice cream maker attachment. Grr, I actually now see that the price has dropped even further since then. So if you're in the market for one you can now grab it for $59. Much better than the $67 I paid. But even at that price I have to wonder what took me so long to get around to buying it. I am a homemade ice cream convert already! Oh, the things I can do with the power to not only control what goes into my ice cream, but also to control exactly what flavor I wind up with!

I'm hoping to make healthier versions in the future, perhaps even experiment with gelato, but the first recipe I tried does not fall into the category of healthy one bit. It was chosen mostly because it happened to arrive in my mailbox the same weekend I was already planning to make ice cream and because I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, including exactly four egg yolks left over from another baking project. Plus I didn't want to use some fancy ingredients only to have the endeavor fail and wind up in the rubbish bin. Nutella ice cream will have to wait until I've perfected my skills.

I made Brown Sugar & Spiced Banana Ice Cream from a recipe in the current issue of ReadyMade magazine. You'll notice that it uses a lot of cream, which you can really taste in the final product. When I say it's creamy I'm not just talking about the texture but also the taste. I did use heavy cream instead of the whipping cream called for because that's what I had on hand. Apparently there's a slight difference between the two. If you're lucky enough to live in an area that offers both you'll probably want to pick up the slightly less fatty whipping cream for this one. The spices are lovely but, perhaps because I used extra potent Vietnamese cinnamon, completely overpower the banana flavor. In fact, my husband thought it was supposed to be pumpkin ice cream because the combination of spices is exactly what one would expect to find there. I doubt I'll make this one again without some major changes, but it was a good beginner recipe.

The attachment was extremely easy to use and I had no problems at all setting it up. I of course followed the instructions precisely even though it meant I had to wait while the ice cream bowl sat in the freezer overnight. And wait some more while the cooked custard cooled completely, about four hours. And even more waiting once the ice cream is churned because it still needs to chill in the freezer an additional three hours. So the process is definitely more time consuming than driving to the grocery store and picking up a carton and it's also more expensive, but I plan to go crazy coming up with unique flavors one can't find in the supermarket. I can see this as the beginning of a wonderful love affair with my ice cream maker.

There is a tragic footnote to this story: After I'd written this blog post I went home to discover that my husband had accidentally put the container of ice cream into the fridge after he scooped some out. Woe. :( I think he got confused due to the homemade nature of the ice cream and because the container it was in (a Ziploc plastic storage tub) is nothing like the cartons he's accustomed to. I suspect it's ruined but am hoping to rejuvenate it a bit in the freezer, at least back to the point of being edible. What a sad end to my first homemade ice cream experience.

Brown Sugar & Spiced Banana Ice Cream

Recipe from ReadyMade Magazine (June/July 2010 issue)

1 medium ripe banana
1/4 cup plus 1 3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup plus 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Puree the banana and ¼ cup of the milk in a food processor until smooth.

2. Combine the banana puree, the remaining 1¾ cups milk, ½ cup brown sugar, the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt in a medium-size heavy saucepan. Scald the milk mixture (heat nearly to a boil) over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

3. While the milk is scalding, whisk together the egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl. Add the remaining ½ cup brown sugar and whisk until the eggs are light and fluffy. Whisking constantly, add a small amount of the hot milk to the egg mixture (to temper the eggs). Gradually whisk in the remaining hot milk.

4. Return the custard mixture to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and place in a bowl of ice water to quickly cool the custard. Let the custard cool, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, combine cream and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir in the custard mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and press wrap directly onto the surface of the custard. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. The custard may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

6. Freeze the chilled custard mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and place in the freezer for 2 to 4 hours before serving.

Makes about 1.5 quarts

*Alright, I'll admit I haven't actually named any of my kitchen appliances, but in an effort to make it seem more personable and likable to you I went ahead and put the first name that came to mind. Clearly I've spent too much time watching Monty Python's Life of Brian and it has irreparably warped my tiny little mind.