True Peppermint and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

When it's stuffy, sticky and hot outside it's time for something smooth, creamy and cold for a little relief and for me that's peppermint ice cream! Since I rarely to never use air conditioning this ice cream has been sounding better and better every day, especially with it's refreshing fresh peppermint. Over the last month or so our freezer has hardly gone a day without this ice cream being in it. As soon as I run out I quickly whip up another batch. 

What You'll Need

• 2 cups organic milk - I prefer whole milk
• 2 cups organic cream
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 50 - 60 or about 3/8 oz. washed, fresh peppermint leaves  I used orange peppermint I have growing in some flower pots
• 1 bar of dark, organic chocolate coarsely chopped into smaller chunks   The darker the chocolate, the better, milk chocolate won't do this ice cream justice. I use chocolate that is 80% cocoa.
• 1 - 1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract 
• 4 raw egg yolks - optional   The yolks make the ice cream richer and healthier. Get the freshest and healthiest eggs possible. The local farmer's market can be a great source for delicious and healthy eggs, they are much better than the ones at the grocery store. 

Getting Started

1. Pour your milk, cream, honey, peppermint leaves, 1 tsp. of peppermint extract and egg yolks (optional, but recommended) into a blender and process for about 30 second or until everything is thoroughly mixed and the peppermint leaves are in small bits.

Note: All the ingredients together will likely fill your blender to close to the top, so put a towel over the lid before you turn it on to protect your kitchen counter from a spraying of milk and cream. Yes, I am speaking from experience. :-D I could have made the recipe with a little less liquid, but I like the proportion of ingredients so much that I didn't want to mess with them, plus this makes about 1/2 gallon of ice cream. A perfect amount in my book.

2. Try a sample of the milk/cream mixture to decide if you want the extra 1/2 tsp. of peppermint extract. If you think it needs it, add the extract and mix for 15 seconds more. 

3. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker and then dump in your chopped chocolate. Follow manufacturers instruction for freezing ice cream.

4. Garnish with fresh peppermint leaves and enjoy every scrumptious bite. I know I will!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Oh boy, vanilla bean ice cream. This is an awesome dessert, whether eaten plain or alongside any number of things. For instance, strawberry pie which I'm making for dessert tonight!

It's a gorgeous day outside here in the Twin Cities (that is if you like blue skies, sun and 70 degrees) and a perfect day to enjoy some ice cream. I'm sure I'll have no complaints from the family tonight when they get ice cream and pie too!

If you read my post about strawberry and raspberry ice cream, I mentioned that vanilla bean ice cream goes great with it, so if you try that recipe, try this one too and put them side by side. Oh so very, very good. (-:

Okay, to get down to business. This is one of those recipes where you really want the best ingredients possible. There aren't that many ingredients in ice cream so don't cheat and try to cut the fat with skim milk or use imitation vanilla extract. It won't do the recipe justice and you'll likely be disappointed. In my opinion, desserts are one place where cutting the fat is just a bad idea. I'd rather cut out the dessert all together.


What You'll Need - makes about a 1/2 gallon

• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tsp. organic, pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 3 cups organic whole milk
• 2 cups organic cream - try to avoid the ultra-pasteurized stuff (hard to do these days as a lot of cream you'll find at the market is ultra-pasteurized)
  
• 5 organic, free-range egg yolks - an idea, save the whites and make an angel food cake or an egg white omelet
• 1 cup organic sugar

• 2 quart pot
• whisk
• rubber spatula
• measuring cups
  
• small mixing bowl
• large mixing bowl

Getting Started

1. Cut open your vanilla bean and scrape all the seeds out. Add both the seeds and the vanilla bean to your pot along with 1 cup of milk. Heat the mixture so it just barely simmers for 15-20 minutes.




This step releases the vanilla flavor from the vanilla bean into the milk. I only heat 1 cup of the milk because there are those who read this blog who use raw milk and cream. If you heat your raw milk too much you are essentially pasteurizing it and then what's the point.



2. Place your five egg yolks in your small mixing bowl and very slowly whisk in your milk/vanilla bean mixture. This is how you temper your eggs. If you added your egg yolks straight to the hot milk mixture they would basically turn into a scrambled eggs consistency and we want a smooth custard.

3. Pour tempered egg mixture back into the pot and whisk in 2 tsp. of vanilla extra and the 1/4 tsp. of sea salt.

4. Over medium heat, whisking constantly, gradually heat the above ingredients until they have thickened to something like custard.



5. Add the rest of your milk, the cream and sugar to your pot and whisk together well.

6. Pour ice cream mixture into large mixing bowl, cover and allow to chill in the fridge for several hours or even all night.

7. Once chilled, pour ice cream mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions.





8. Once done in the ice cream maker you can freeze your ice cream a bit more in the freezer if you want it hard, like the ice cream you buy at the store.


Now it's time to sit down to a bowl full and enjoy each and every bite!

Strawberry and Raspberry Ice Cream

Spring is here and at least for the next couple of days so is some warm weather. After recently making some homemade vanilla bean ice cream (recipe to come soon), I was reminded of how delicious homemade ice cream can be. Honestly, there is no comparison to ice cream made at home and the stuff at the store with fillers and thickeners, whether it's organic or not. Have you ever taken the time to read the ingredient list of store bought ice cream? Why they need so many extra ingredients, even in plain vanilla, I shall never understand.

Simple, healthy ingredients always make the best food, at least in my opinion! This dish is very easy to make and you can use fresh or frozen fruit. I have been trying to use up all the berries I froze from last summer, so I'm ready to go for the fresh ones that will be arriving in the next couple of months. Buying berries in season and than freezing them can be a huge money saver and allows you to enjoy those summer time items all winter long. They can be a huge lift to the spirits when your tired of all the normal winter time foods. I love berries in muffins, pancakes. smoothies or making fresh berry syrup to put into yogurt, on ice cream or top off pancakes.

This ice cream is excellent by itself, but even better with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream along side it. You'll be begging for seconds! You can use all strawberries or a mix of strawberries and raspberries. You could also use all raspberries, but depending on how sweet they are, you might need a little bit more sugar.




What You'll Need

• 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
• 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1 cup organic sugar
• 2 tsp. pure, organic vanilla extract
• 2 cups organic whole milk
• 2 cups organic cream
• 1/4 tsp. salt

• Ice cream maker
• Blender
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Large mixing bowl
• Mixing spoon
• Sharp knife
  

Getting Started

1. Using your blender, blend together your whole milk, 1 1/2 cups of strawberries, 1 1/2 cups of raspberries, sugar and salt until mixture is smooth.






2. Pour mixture into large mixing bowl and stir in cream. Chop your last two cups of fruit into small pieces and then add to above mixture, mixing well.






3. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer instructions for making ice cream.

Note: This filled my ice cream maker to the very top. Depending on what your ice cream makers capacity is, you might have to do this recipe in two batches.



Now the wonderful part, eating it all up! What's great is this recipe doesn't have an excessive amount of sugar and you could easily use a sugar substitute like stevia if you wanted to avoid sugar all together. If you use good quality ingredients, this dessert is actually healthy for you and can be a great desert for kids, especially if you omit the sugar and use stevia. Yes, you read correctly I did write that this could be a healthy dessert, remember the right types of fats are great for our bodies. Our bodies will actually burn the calories better and we need healthy fats for our brains to function properly. Now I'm not saying to go and eat a gallon of ice cream, but you could do much, much worse in the dessert department.