Lemon Speculoos Ice Cream

I've had David Lebovitz's book The Perfect Scoop on my wish list for the past, I don't know, five years? Every birthday and every Christmas list had this book on it. Every time the used bookstore had a sale, I would browse their cookbook section, hoping this book would show up (side note - I never buy books at full cover price). Finally, this past Christmas, I didn't ask for much - two books and a few movies.



Surprisingly, I don't own an ice cream maker. My parents asked if I was going to buy one now. I said no, I've made ice cream by hand before and plan on doing it again. The first flavor I made was Lemon Speculoos. Speculoos is, simply put, a Belgium gingersnap. The book offers a recipe to make homemade speculoos, but I had leftover store-bought gingersnaps I bought on clearance because they were broken. I must admit, I was a little unsure about this. I LOVE lemon, but lemon and gingerbread??



I'm not sure how David decided on lemon and gingerbread, but this ice cream was definitely not a let-down. I served it with warm double chocolate mousse cake. Hey can't go wrong with lemon and chocolate (or lemon and vanilla, or lemon and cheesecake, or...) Because I made the ice cream by hand, it is hard to scoop. Hence why my ice cream looks a little melted because you have to let it sit out for about 10 minutes.

Since I pretty much followed his recipe without changing anything (except cutting the amount in half), I'm not going to post the recipe. I can, however, encourage you to buy the book because it has so many great ice cream recipes and won't disappoint you. The recipe is on page 86. I'm currently making the base for Tin Roof ice cream as I type this. Great way to use leftover peanuts that have been sitting on my counter the past month...

Tuesdays With Dorie - Honey Mango Ice Cream

I have a confession - I hate honey. I've been in denial for quite some time. How can I hate something that looks and sounds so sweet, yet the smell and taste just make me unsatisfied? I've tried so hard. I bought honey to make honey sesame chicken. The taste just wasn't there for me. I've ordered a honey latte from Starbucks once because the picture of the honey just made it irresistible. I took one sip and wanted to know what I was thinking. Then one morning, I was craving it, so I put honey in my coffee. However, I love, love, love baklava. WTF honey? I also enjoy Honey Nut Cheerios and Honey Bunches of Oats, but err do those really count? It makes me wonder since there are so many types of honey, maybe I just don't like whatever I have? The bottle says Clover Grade A Golden Honey.

Anyway, that bottle of honey I bought sat in my cupboard for awhile, probably six months I'm guessing. It solidified and insteading of throwing it away, I decided to warm it up in the microwave and stir like crazy. It somewhat worked. However, the smell made me want to gag a little.

As for Dorie's recipe, I have been waiting to make this ice cream ever since I saw the picture. I was going to, but then winter soon rolled around and said ok maybe in the spring. It was actually going to be my pick when it was my turn for TwD (only a few more months!), but somebody beat me to it. Oh well. The original recipe called for peaches, but since I had mangoes in the fridge, I used those instead.

I can't really say if the mangoes worked because the honey really put me off. I couldn't really eat more that a bite. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, so IDK.




Thanks Tommi of Brown Interior for picking this recipe! You can find the recipe on page 437 of Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Tommi's blog.

See's Peanut Brittle Ice Cream

A few weeks back, I mentioned See's Candy offered me a sample of anything from their company if I agreed to make a recipe with it. Originally, I had asked for Awesome Peanut Brittle Bars, but I received an email from their lovely staff and was informed that they sent me regular peanut brittle instead. They even offered to send me the bars along with the regular brittle. As tempting as it was, I figured both would be good in ice cream, so I stuck with the peanut brittle.



Honestly, I expected a small sample. When I went home Easter weekend, I was being nudged, both by my cat and my dad, to hurry up and open the giant box. Inside was a 1 1/2 lb. box of brittle. 24 ounces!! I better get to work! I already had in mind a peanut butter ice cream with brittle thrown in. I was debating on adding a fudge swirl, but I decided not this time because I didn't want to cover the brittle flavor. While I was getting everything ready, of course I ate a piece. Mmmm, yummy! Definitely high quality. It reminded me of pecan pralines except peanut and more crunchy.

I definitely endore See's Candy, not only for excellent peanut brittle but for awesome customer service. The guys who emailed me seemed down-to-earth and not stuck-up sales people. Go buy their candy now!



The ice cream turned out really well. The peanut butter base came from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream book. I was skeptical because it only calls for 1/3 cup peanut butter, but it's enough without overpowering. Now, I was a little concerned because they don't cook their eggs. After a discussion on Live Journal, salmonella is found mainly on the outside of the egg and doesn't affect that many people. As long as you don't drop shell into the mix, it should be fine. Unless you have someone with a poor immune system.

I freeze my ice cream by hand because I don't have room for an ice cream maker. Hasn't failed yet! I included those instructions below.


See's Peanut Brittle Ice Cream


1 egg
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup broken peanut brittle chunks

1. Beat egg until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Beat in sugar, little at a time. Beat 1 minute more. Pour in cream and milk. Beat in peanut butter. Place in a freezer-safe bowl and freeze 45 minutes.

2. After 45 minutes, bring out ice cream. Beat for 1-2 minutes to break up any ice crystals forming. Repeat every half hour for 2-3 hours. When it looks almost firm, stir in peanut brittle. Freeze for another 30 minutes then serve if ready. If not, keep freezing.

Makes 1 pint.

Source: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Dessert Book

The Ice Cream Bug Is Unleashed

Now that I know I can make ice cream without a maker, I've become addicted. Ok, so I've only made Blackberry Sour Cream Ice Cream and this vanilla ice cream, but I've been collecting all sorts of recipes. It figures - I discovered this technique last week and now I'm leaving for school in two days. No, I'm not going to make ice cream at school because I will be stuck eating the whole thing (my roommates actually watch what they eat haha).

A few months ago, Megan from Megan's Cookin mailed me a bunch of vanilla beans. I decided I was going to make real vanilla ice cream, so I turned to (who else?) Dorie Greenspan. This is by far the best vanilla ice cream I've ever eaten. Usually I pass on vanilla, but not this time. Guess that tells you something about most ice cream places.

My custard heated to 180F pretty quickly, so just be prepared to move fast so you don't overheat the mixture.

Dorie's Vanilla Ice Cream




You can find the recipe on p. 428 of Baking: From My Home To Yours. Has anyone tried Dorie's Honey-Peach Ice Cream on p. 437? I'm not a honey fan, but I might make this anyway.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Blueberry Blackberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

When I first read that this week's recipe was Blueberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream and that those who don't own an ice cream maker can make something from the past, I immediately thought, nope not doing ice cream, let's see what I can make from past picks. Then Laurie (the wonderful creator of this group <3) posted two links on how to make ice cream by hand. I knew you could do the plastic bag way and the coffee can way, but those involve rock salt or a ton of table salt. But I clicked on David Lebovitz' link anyway. After reading that tutorial, I immediately wanted to go in the kitchen and give it a try. So I decided to actually look at Dorie's recipe. First, no eggs. I use a ton of eggs in baking, so we are always running out, and well, grocery bills aren't exactly pleasant. Just knowing that there are more eggs for other recipes made me happy.

Then I ran into one slight problem - I hate blueberries. Just looking at blueberry pie makes me queasy. Blueberry oatmeal literally makes me sick. I once had a dried blueberry in my spinach bagel (by accident), and when I tasted it, I immediately spit it back out (talk about your reflexes). The only time I can eat blueberries without getting a bad stomach reaction is when it is mixed with pomegranate because one time, I had blueberry pomegranate juice and another time, I had blueberry pomegranate applesauce. So needless to say, I wasn't going to make blueberry ice cream. Well, why not use another berry? I went on a hunt, ON A HUNT, for raspberries, and the local farm nor the grocery stores had raspberries. I didn't know the window for raspberry season was tiny or I would've taken more advantage *grumble grumble*. So I ended up buying blackberries at the store.

So after my berry hunt, I am finally ready to make some ice cream. Honestly, I didn't think the method was going to work. I thought I would still have some ice crystals, but nope, it all worked out fine. Towards the end of freezing, I was watching CSI so I didn't exactly go out and mix it every 30 minutes, maybe every 45 minutes or so. I will warn that there was too much sour cream for my family and I to handle, so next time I would reduce the amount from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup sour cream.

Blueberry Blackberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream




Thanks to Dolores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity for picking this week's recipe. For the recipe, you can look in Baking: From My Home To Yours on p. 434 or visit Dolores' blog for the recipe.