Red Velvet Ice Cream

Hubby loves Red Velvet Cake. I love ice cream. We both love ice cream mixed with cake. Therefore, I decided to see if I could pull off a concoction that married the best of both worlds.

Red Velvet Cake recipes are everywhere…so much so that I was overwhelmed by the options I found on the Internet. Some call for butter, others use oil. Almost all call for a generous serving of red food coloring (Though, I did see at least one recipe that used beets to dye the cake).

I finally settled on a largely reviewed and positively received recipe for Red Velvet Cake from Epicurious.com. I can’t comment on the entire recipe because I stuck strictly to making the cake (sans berries and icing). The cake was surprisingly light and made waaaay more cake then I would ever need for this project. Next time, I’ll cut the recipe in half.

For the ice cream, I went to the source: Dave Lebovitz’ “The Perfect Scoop” and was delighted to find a recipe for Cheesecake Ice Cream. When I went to make the ice cream base I averted almost near disaster after opening the package of cream cheese at 10pm to find that 2 ounces were missing…I must have used some before and forgot about it! A wonderful resource that had I just discovered earlier that day helped me do some quick conversions to account for having less cream cheese than the recipe called for. I tasted the mix before chilling and it was perfect…tasted just like cheesecake.

When it came time to actually make the ice cream, I decided to briefly chill in the freezer the bite size pieces of red velvet cake that I wanted to mix in. I then added them as I transferred the finished ice cream into the container, finding that they broke apart pretty easily.

My husband, the Red velvet cake afficianado, declared that the finished product tasted just like a piece of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, but colder. We augmented the final dish with some buttered pecans and extra pieces of cake. Revisions for the next batch will include adding larger pieces of cake, and possibly some of those yummy pecans.


Cheesecake Ice Cream - Adapted from “The Perfect Scoop” by Dave Lebovitz

6 ounces cream cheese – cut into small pieces
Zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons half and half
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt

Zest lemon directly into a blender; add sour cream, half and half, sugar, salt and cream cheese. Puree until smooth and chill in fridge at least 24 hours.

Churn mix in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Mix in chilled pieces of red velvet cake as you transfer ice cream from the machine to its container. Freeze, wait patiently and then enjoy!

Salty Carmel Ice Cream with Chocolate Crumble

I'm a huge fan of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams' Salted Caramel flavor, so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. As you can tell from the list of ingredients this is very rich with an intense caramel flavor. Not intense like rosewater, but intense like "it packs a lot of punch so one scoop will satiate me". Its overall consistency reminds my a lot like gelato.

To add a little something to compliment the chewiness of the ice cream I sprinkled it with a chocolate crumble. Johnny Iuzzini uses this at Jean Georges by laying the ice cream on a small bed of this stuff, to keep it from sliding around. It also does a fantastic job of adding some texture to the dessert.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate Crumble

Caramel Ice Cream
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups whole milk, warm
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, warm
• 10 large egg yolks
  
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Put 1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar ina deep heavy saucepan and stir in the water to moisten the sugar and make a mixture that resembles wet sand. (This will help the sugar caramelize evenly.) Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then simmer, without stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the sugar melts into a rich amber caramel. *for me it started to turn, and fast, at about 13 1/2 minutes. Make sure you're paying attention.* If any sugar crystallizes on the sides of the pan, brush with a wet pastry brush.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly (to prevent bubbling up) stir in the milk and cream. Should the caramel seize and harden, return the mixture to the heat and stir to dissolve the caramel, then remove from the heat.
3. Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and yolks in a medium bowl until slightly thickened and the whisk leaves a trail. Slowly, while whisking, add about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid to the yolks, then whisk in the remaining liquid. Set a fine-mesh basket strainer over a clean saucepan and strain the liquid into the pan.
4. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Set a medium bowl in the ice bath; have a strainer ready.
5. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides often with a wooden spoon, until steam begins to rise from the surface and the custard thickens enough to coat the spoon. Strain into the bowl, add the salt, and let cool, stirring from time to time.
6. Refrigerate until cold or, preferably, overnight.
7. Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the texture is "soft serve," transfer to a storage container and freeze to harden. (The ice cream is best eaten within a day, but it can be made several days ahead.)

Chocolate Crumble
Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini

• 6-1/2 tablespoons (94g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Valrhona)
• 1/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour
• 7 tablespoons (87g) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon (1g) coarse salt

1. Heat the oven to 375 or 350 convection. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment.
2. Cut the butter into pieces and put it in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle. Whisk the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, and salt together and add to the bowl. Mix at medium speed until well combined, dark brown, and in big crumbs.
3. Spread out on the baking sheet breaking up the biggest crumbs and leaving room for spreading. Bake until crisp, about 20 minutes *I burned the first batch at 16 minutes, and the next batch was decent at 13. I'd start checking it at about 11 minutes. It takes less than a minute to burn* rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool.
4. When the crumble is cool, put it in a food processor and process to fine, even crumbs. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
   

Black and Tan Ice Cream

For years we had talked about making ice cream. It just seemed to be one of those things that we had always talked about doing, but never got around to actually doing. I think a big part of it had to do with the translation of the kitchen gadgetry for the home cook. I have never had cappuccino, from a machine made for the home, which tasted remotely close to the stuff I obsessively consumed in Italy. My fear was without spending a mint, homemade ice cream was going to be in the same category.

The fears were laid to rest when we borrowed my brother-in-law’s ice cream maker and tried a recipe out of Fine Cooking. After screwing up one batch of custard, my second try proved successful. It was official; with a good recipe you can make not only edible, but downright good ice cream out of a home ice cream maker.

Besides the ice cream maker, Dave Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop” is an absolute must for the aspiring home ice cream creator. The recipes are well written and a great bases from which to create more creative flavors.

Most ice cream recipes (especially the custard based ones) can be a little involved, but this Peanut Butter Ice Cream is as easy as it gets.


Peanut Butter Ice Cream
From “The Perfect Scoop”, by Dave Lebovitz

• ¾ C (180g) Smooth Peanut Butter (like JIF or Skippy the stuff you have to stir doesn’t work)
• ¾ C plus 2 Tbsp (180g) Sugar
• 2 2/3 C (660ml) Half and Half
• pinch of Salt
• 1/8 tspn vanilla extract

Puree the peanut butter, sugar, half and half, salt, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth.

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

My addition was to mix twenty crumbled Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, as I transferred the ice cream from the ice cream maker to the storage container. I also added chocolate covered candied macadamia nuts (which will be another post).

Weber's Premium Custard & Ice Cream (Fairview Park)

Since I was on the west side I figured I’d stop at Weber’s Premium Custard & Ice Cream in Fairview Park, and see if it was any different than the one over in Mentor. In talking to the guy in Mentor last winter, I think they used to be owned by the same guy, but today are different entities. What I was most interested in was whether or not they had the malted chocolate custard.

For fear of not getting the story right, I’m not going to try and recount the history of the “Higbee’s malted chocolate custard pie”, but it goes way back. People my parent’s age fondly place this dessert in the same hallowed company as the Hough cake.

When we strolled into the shop the first thing I noticed was an autographed picture from Drew Carey. So now I know he likes Antonio’s and Weber’s. I then looked up on the wall and there it was “HIGBEE’S MALTED CUSTARD”. Bingo! That’s what I came for.

The girl at the counter served it up and before she could get the money out of my hand I was already inhaling it. Melting fast, I knew this cone was not going to last long. It’s good stuff, no doubt. I was tempted to get another one, but was content talking to my partner in crime (Mike “Cheesecake” Mihna), while he finished his butter pecan.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any childhood memories of this custard, or even the pie (I grew up in Medina). If you happen to be in the area and you can remember this stuff, I’d stop in, but I don’t think I’d make a special trip just to try it. They have a ton of other traditional ice creams, custards, sundaes, and shakes. If malted custard isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there’s something for everyone.

*Edit August 21, 2009*
Posted by Anonymous - " The former owner in Mentor sold his shop. It is now owned by the same folks as the Fairview Park store." Thanks for the update, hopefully they add it to their website.

Weber's Premium Custard & Ice Cream
20230 Lorain Rd
Cleveland, OH 44126
(440) 331-0004
www.webersicecream.com/phpinclude/index2.php

Please vote for our Banana Bread Macadamia Nut Crunch Ice Cream on Fine Cooking.com!

We owe a lot to Fine Cooking magazine. It was with my purchase of this magazine about 5 years ago that we stepped out of the realm of my wife’s cooking (i.e. jarred pasta sauce, refrigerated mashed potatoes, frozen garlic bread, etc.) and into gourmet home cooked meals. From the first recipe I made, I found the steps in Fine Cooking to be easy to follow, almost always fool proof and resulting in excellent quality meals. I was so pleased that I became a subscriber and quickly bought up the back issues I didn’t yet own. It's also been with the help of Fine Cooking, that my wife has become a much better cook.

So, it came as no surprise when the June/July 2009 issue of Fine Cooking published a terrific article on homemade ice cream, utilizing the assistance of former Chez Panisse pastry chef and author of The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz. Their timing was perfect…right on the heels of my wife receiving a Cuisinart ice cream maker for her birthday. In conjunction with the article, Fine Cooking launched a Create Your Own Ice Cream Challenge, asking for entries that used the issue’s master recipe for the ice cream base provided Mr. Lebovitz, along with your own creative twists. Inspired by our recent trip to Hawaii and a newly discovered love of making ice cream, my wife created her contest entry of Banana Bread Mac Nut Crunch Ice Cream.

The recipe consists of a vanilla infused custard base (vanilla beans, whole milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract and salt). To the freshly churned product, she added chunks of dense, sweet homemade banana bread and chopped, toasted macadamia nuts. When allowed to melt just a tad, this ice cream sent us right back to the Big Island. It was perfectly creamy and the flavor from the banana bread permeated throughout each bite, along with the crunch of the chopped macadamia nuts.

Today, Fine Cooking posted its top 10 finalists for their contest, and I’m proud to report that my wife’s entry made the cut. Over the next two weeks, users can log onto their site and vote for their favorite. The winner will receive exactly what they need to perpetuate this obsession…an ice cream maker! We invite you to peruse the site and vote for your favorite; hopefully it will be the Banana Bread Mac Nut Crunch Ice Cream!

To vote for our Banana Bread Mac Nut Crunch Ice Cream, click on this link and scroll to the bottom to cast your vote. Thanks in advance for your support!

Mitchell's - My local dessert spot

By Mrs. Dine O Mite

My first trip to Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream didn’t win me over. I had some flavor of frozen yogurt. That was my mistake. Several months later, I found myself jonesin’ for a hot fudge sundae, only to find that I was no where close to my favorite low fat indulgence, Dairy Queen. I was in Rocky River and happened upon a Mitchell’s. I ordered a vanilla hot fudge sundae with pecans and whipped cream. As the sales girl began to ring up my order, I said “Um, I wanted whipped cream”…she replied, that is whipped cream, pointing to the top of my sundae. As I looked closer, I noticed it was indeed whipped cream, so thick that it literally looked like a scoop of ice cream. Sold.

While I do not consider Mitchell’s to be the best ice cream I’ve ever had (it’s no Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia or Bi Rite Creamery in San Francisco), it is some of the best in the Cleveland area. The positives are that it’s a locally owned organization, their founders are alumni of the famed Penn State Creamery Ice Cream short course, they offer junior scoops of ice cream (to save me from myself), their pecans are buttery and salty, a fantastic combo, and of course, their ultra thick whipped cream.

However, what keeps them from the top of my list is their lack of creativity. Sure, they have a few seasonal flavor additions to the menu every month, but that’s it. Just a few monthly specials and they are by no means “outside of the box” combinations (think Thai Chile or Burnt Sugar ice cream). Their ice cream menu is essentially static. The originality of places like Capogiro Gelato in Philadelphia or Jeni’s Ice Cream in Columbus is what keeps people coming in and coming back…they always want to know what you’re up to.

Unfortunately, I do not see Mitchell’s changing their approach because I think what they’re doing is working for them. They are a reliable local choice for me to get my sundae fix, so I can’t complain about that. I guess I’ll just need to take full advantage of any opportunities for eating great ice cream when I’m out of town. Plus, I suppose I could take what they’re missing and use it as inspiration for creating what I want…Santa, I’ve been good this year. Do you think you could hook me up with an ice cream maker this Christmas?

Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream
2101 Richmond Rd
Cleveland, OH 44122
(216) 831-2722
http://mitchellshomemade.com/index.html