THE ICE CREAM CLUB

Reeses Cup Crunch

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 09:48:11 -0400

ICC member Bart, who recently relocated to the East coast from SF, writes:
“So for my first club post I wanted to go back to basics and recreate my absolute favorite ice cream flavor ever, Heath Bar Crunch, which was originally created by Ben & Jerry's and to this day is their all-time best selling flavor. But after a couple of weeks of searching for Heath Bars in what seemed like every bodega in Manhattan with no luck, I decided to modify the recipe slightly and make a Reese's Cup Crunch.

A couple of important side notes - I've since discovered that you can find Heath Bars at Economy Candy down on the LES. Also Skor bars, which you see everywhere, are virtually identical to the Heath. In fact Skor was developed by Hershey specifically to compete with the Heath Bar and then years later Hershey ended up buying the company that created Heath. Which is probably why you don't see many Heath Bars around these days.

Heath Bars are more hygroscopic than Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. That's a fancy way of saying they soak up and retain the creamy moisture of ice cream really well and one reason I've always loved Heath Bar Crunch ice cream but found eating the bars themselves too dry and brittle.

Anyway peanut butter, chocolate and ice cream make a devastating combo. Haul this out at the next party and it will be a definite crowd pleaser:

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
2 packages Reeses Peanut Butter Cup (4 total) frozen and cut to 1/2 inch chunks (The peanut butter cups become frozen solid once dropped into the ice cream, killing all of their flavor, so it's important to cut the chunks relatively small so they'll quickly melt in your mouth.)

Soundtrack:
"Peanut Butter" by Padlock (Sly & Robbie, Larry Levan & Gwen Guthrie)

Directions:
Whisk eggs in a mixing bowl for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Whisk in sugar, a little at a time, until completely blended, about a minute more.

Pour in cream and milk and whisk to blend. Add to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers instructions. Add the Reeses Cups two minutes before the ice cream is finished. Enjoy the hell out of it.”

– Bart

Mint Chocolate Chip

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:28:36 -0400

Bill writes:
"Mint chocolate chip is one of my favorite flavors ever. I used to get a scoop at the Thrifty's drug store below our house every time we went in... When I was a kid, nearly every Thrifty's in San Diego had an ice cream counter. Thinking back on it, the counter was an anachronism even back in the 80s, a 60s notion that was rarely ever manned - you would have to wait until one of the clerks noticed you standing looking at flavors, who would then wander over and put on the rubber gloves, a look coming over their face that someone gets when they're thrown into task they weren't expecting, like changing a flat tire or retrieving a frisbee stuck up on the roof.

Anyway, the other night I threw together this easy modification of the vanilla recipe, simply by adding a teaspoon of peppermint extract, a quarter-cup of chopped-up dark chocolate chips (a few quick strikes on the Slap Chop™, added in the final 5 minutes of a 30-minute spin in the machine - earlier and they might all sink to the bottom of the mix), and three drops of green food coloring. I think I can hear you asking "Food coloring? Is that even cool these days? It's so unnecessary!" To which I respond... Ice cream in itself is unnecessary. It gave the ice cream more of an 'ice cream counter' look - completed the picture, if you ask me. I wouldn't bother with a Shamrock Shake if it wasn't clover-colored, and I want my mint ice cream green. In fact, if charged with doing it again, I would go with four or five drops of green, because it turned out a bit pale with only three."

– Bill

Nutty Chestnut ice cream

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 01:32:12 -0400

I love chestnuts. I love chestnuts. I love chestnuts.
What? Chestnut ice cream?!

Chestnut Purée
7 oz jar of chestnuts, I use these chestnuts in a bag from Sunrise Mart (99¢ a bag!)
1 cup whole milk
½ a vanilla bean
pinch of salt

Combine chestnuts, milk, and salt in saucepan. Take a paring knife and split the vanilla bean lengthwise and then using the blunt end of the knife scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the vanilla bean into the saucepan. Bring to simmer, partially covered with a lid, til chestnuts are very soft and all but ¼ cup liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

When done, skim and discard the milk skin on the surface of the saucepan and discard the vanilla pod. Process entire contents into a food processor until very smooth. There will be some bits and that’s fine.

2¼ cups heavy cream
1¾ cup lowfat milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ vanilla bean
2 large eggs
2 large yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup of loosely broken whole chestnuts

I only had lowfat milk in the fridge so I changed the proportion of milk to heavy cream to make up for the lowfat milk. I would have done 2 cups heavy cream and 2 cups whole milk.

In a large saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk and vanilla bean, scraping seeds from inside as previously done. Throw in pod as well. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Skim and discard the milk skin on the surface of the saucepan and discard the vanilla pod.

In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thickened like mayonnaise. Add chestnut purée and the egg/sugar mixture into the cream/milk/vanilla saucepan slowly but steadily in order not to cook and curdle the eggs. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to resemble pudding. Transfer this mixture into a bowl and stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the chestnut mixture, and refrigerate until completely cooled.

Turn on the machine, pour the chilled custard into the freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer ice cream into an airtight container and mix in at the last minute the extra cup of chestnuts to taste.

– Yuki

Salt Peanuts ice cream

Tue, 1 Sep 2009 22:14:22 -0400

ICC member Marcella submitted this one!

Marcella writes “A few weeks ago we had some friends over and made peanut butter cookies with both milk and dark chocolate chips. I always put sugar on top of peanut butter cookies, just like my mom used to do, but one of the girls suggested sea salt... we tried it and it was amazing. This was my attempt to recreate that peanut-buttery, chocolatey, sweet and salty deliciousness. The goal was a peanut butter ice cream base, a ripple of chocolate (I thought chocolate chips would freeze too hard and thus be too difficult to enjoy), and the enjoyable crunch of salty peanuts throughout... we were basically successful.”

The recipe is as follows:

1 cup creamy Jif peanut butter
(my internet research availed the suggestion that one NOT use "natural" peanut butter as the texture would be too sandy)
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
½ cup Half n Half
1½ cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 about cup, rough chopped dry roasted, salted peanuts

Chocolate sauce. I used a Fresh Direct brand.

S’mores ice cream

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:52:50 -0400

We pitched the tent last night on the roof and slept out under the stars. Lo and behold the inspiration was born – campers need S’MORES!! We based our new recipe on a simplified version of the “deep dark chocolate ice cream” recipe in the Cuisinart booklet, and from there we added toasted mini marshmallows and graham crackers.