Twenty Days of Ice Cream: The Roundup

Twenty days of ice cream. Somewhere in mid July, I thought wouldn't it be fun to make a bunch of homemade ice creams and post them on the blog. I had no idea it would grow into a challenge consisting of twenty consecutive days of ice cream posts a lot of churning, a few meltdowns, and some truly delicious ice cream flavors. Though I may have cursed myself several times during the process (ok, almost every day) I've really enjoyed being able to explore one genre in depth. I've learned that homemade ice cream making is really quite easy and very fun. Once you've got the basics down (making a custard, and being sure to chill it thoroughly), you can let your imagination run wild. Here are some ideas for people wanting to experiment with creating their own ice cream flavors:

1. Infusions- Start with your favorite basic ice cream recipe (I recommend this one). Now think about what you can infuse the milk/cream with. Spices, like cinnamon, anise, curry, Chinese five spice? Herbs- fresh mint, lemon verbena, basil? Or what about teas- jasmine tea, earl grey, or chai. Also, nuts can be roughly ground, used to infuse the custard and then strained out- hazelnuts, almonds, pinenuts, even sesame seeds.

2. Think beyond the usual dairy- mascarpone, cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, even cheeses like goat cheese or pecorino can be good in ice cream.

3. Alcohol and liquers- because alcohol reduces the freezing point, it does double duty to keep homemade ice cream soft in the freezer. Bailey's, Kahlua, Riesling, Margarita, or Vin Santo are some good ideas.



Someone recently asked what my favorite flavor was from this recent project, and I started out saying beet (yes, really), and then of course the olive oil, and there is that grapefruit, and before I knew it, I'd practically listed them all. So choose for yourself, I present to you the ice creams, in alphabetical order:

Avocado Ice Cream
Baklava Ice Cream
Blueberry-White Chocolate Tartufi
Chocolate Covered Fleur du Sel (for topping your ice cream)
Chocolate Sorbet
Coconut Sorbet with Coffee-Simmered Dates
Fig Ice Cream
Grapefruit Ice Cream with Poppy Seed Swirl
Indian Pudding Ice Cream
Key Lime Pie Ice Cream (lower fat)
Kulfi Pops(Indian-style ice cream)
Malted Milk Chocolate Ice Cream
Olive Oil Ice Cream with Balsamic Chocolate Sauce
Orange Blossom Ice Cream
Peanut Ice Cream
Peach-Buttermilk Milkshakes
Peppermint Ice Cream
Quince Ice Cream with Almond Praline
Sour Cream Brown Sugar Sherbert
Sweet Beet Ice Cream

Believe it or not, I've got ideas for many, many more flavors, and there are lots of good looking recipes floating around that I've got my eye on. I have a feeling ice cream making is going to be a part of my regular repertoire (and if you've got recommendations, please send them this way). But for now, I'll be happy to take a very long rest from churning. Thanks for tuning in.

Tiramisu Ice Cream

As a kid, tiramisu was one of those desserts that adults always ordered if you went to an Italian restaurant. It didn't look terribly exciting, and it had the funny translation of "pick me up," which sounded about as stodgy as your Uncle Lou's paisley tie. Besides, if it was an Italian restaurant, that meant gelato was on order, so who would even contemplate anything else. Which is why I'd never had tiramisu until one day when I bought one at a Damascus cafe. Now, I realize Syria is not the place for one's first tiramisu experience, but it looked good and the pastry shop was a very reputable one. It was delicious, with fluffy filling, the bite of coffee and hint of chocolate.

Since then, I've had many more tiramisus (from more traditional sources), but I still love gelato, and this tiramisu ice cream is a perfect marriage of the two. In fact, it's one of my favorite flavors, and the best part is that all you do is put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz! Which means that you'll only have one dish to wash, provided you haven't licked it squeaky clean already.

In other ice cream news, I'm working on a little ice cream project for the month of August. I'm quite excited about it so I hope you'll stay tuned for the details!

Tiramisu Ice Cream
Two classic Italian desserts in one, this ice cream has the rich tang of mascarpone with hints of coffee liquer. Layering the ice cream with cocoa powder after you've churned it gives it beautiful stripes.

2 cups mascarpone (or 8 oz cream cheese plus 1 cup sour cream)
2/3 cup whole milk
2/3 cup cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Kahlua (or substitute strong espresso)
1 tbl brandy or rum
pinch salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1. Place all the ingredients except the cocoa powder in the blender and blend until completely smooth. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill thoroughly (at least 4 hours), then churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
2. After you've churned the ice cream, transfer 1/3 of the ice cream to your storage container, then sift some of the cocoa powder over top, top with another layer of ice cream, sift with cocoa powder, and finally cover with the remaining ice cream. Store in the freezer.

Note: you can substitute 1 1/3 cups half-and-half for the milk and cream.
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