Easy 3 Ingredient Vanilla Ice Cream

Believe it! It's true! You can make yummy ice cream with 3 ingredients or less. Apparently you don't even need an ice cream maker to make this (I did use one). You can also experiment with add ins, extracts, candy, etc. to find your favorite flavor. The best part is that seriously you don't have to make a custard over the stove and burn yourself like I did! Anyone can make this! One mistake I did make was to use milk instead of all the cream- mine was a little icy. Next time I would stick to 100% cream or at least do 50% cream, 50% milk.

Easy 3 Ingredient Vanilla Ice Cream
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

• 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• splash of vanilla extract

If you have an ice cream maker- In a large bowl, mix together cream & condensed milk until combined. Condensed milk should be mostly dissolved. Add vanilla. Pour into ice cream maker & freeze as directed.

If you don't have an ice cream maker - Whip cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Pour condensed milk into a large bowl. Slowly fold cream into condensed milk until combined. Spread evenly in an airtight container and freeze until firm- about 6 hours.

Enjoy!!

Mango Peach Sorbet

Would you believe it if I told you I was a little behind on writing posts? I normally don't have time to put them together during the week, so I write up the week's posts the weekend before. Well me only writing 2 posts = no Friday post, so here I am typing up the shortest recipe I have on my list after my spin class.... and now its much later since I had to upload the photos at work (my home computer was taking FOREVER)...

This is definitely one of the best recipes I have in my "queue" though. :) Sorbet is such a refreshing treat, and making it yourself is super easy. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can just use a regular glass bowl or a big ziploc bag and place in the freezer - just need to keep an eye on it.

The secret to keeping your sorbet from freezing too hard is adding a little vodka. You can experiment with different flavors if you want- I had citrus flavored which worked well with the mango-peach. Don't worry, you can't even taste the vodka though. :) Feel free to omit if you are serving to kiddos...

You can also experiment with adding other kinds of fruit. Always add the sugar to taste depending on how tart/sweet your fruit is. My peach was pretty tart and this was the perfect amount of sweetness!
I got my inspiration from both What's Cookin' Chicago? and The Parsley Thief, although I ended up with my own recipe.

Mango Peach Sorbet

• 1 large very ripe mango (kinda mushy)
• 1 large ripe peach
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup sugar (to taste, you may only need 1/2 cup)
• 1-2 TBSP water- used to help puree
• 1 TBSP vodka

Puree mango and peach in food processor/blender until smooth with water and lemon juice. If it is kind lumpy, you can strain it. 

In a bowl, mix with sugar and vodka until smooth. 

Chill completely for a couple hours or overnight depending if your fruit was cold or not. 

Freeze in ice cream maker according to directions (mine was about 30 minutes). It will be pretty soft, but ready to eat! If you like it harder, freeze in a lidded container for a couple hours. 

Scoop and enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Brown Sugar Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Mmmm.. When I made my MEGA double grocery store trip on Sunday, I got a few things to bake a delicious apple pie. Well, I haven't quite gotten around to that yet, but thinking in advance, I wanted to whip up the custard after I made these delicious pork chops with grilled pineapple salsa, since I just felt like it. The custard has to be refrigerated overnight, which is unfortunate when you want it NOW. It's totally worth it though and super easy!

I found this recipe on Mangio Da Sola, the first cooking/baking blog that I started reading. Her blog made me really get into baking again- its fabulous! I've made this recipe several times, but this was my first time using brown sugar instead of white. It was VERY delicious the way it was, but I was intrigued when I saw a recipe for brown sugar ice cream on Baked Bree. I decided to risk tinkering with my favorite ice cream recipe... and the results were delicious! When I asked the bf how he liked it after he was done, he was like "OH! You made that? I just thought you bought it." (Doesn't he know by now that I make my own ice cream?) "It was really good!" :)

What I love about this recipe is how rich and creamy the custard makes the ice cream. And the teeny tiny vanilla bean specks make it look SO GOOD! :) I've also made ice cream sandwiches with this and its perfect.

Brown Sugar Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup sugar (Brown or white)
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

*If you don't have a vanilla bean, you can double the vanilla extract

Split your vanilla bean and place the seeds, empty bean and milk into medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until ALMOST boiling.

Remove from heat and allow vanilla to infuse for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy in a large heatproof bowl. I did it by hand, but you could use a mixer if you want.

Slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture, stirring until smooth. You can leave the vanilla bean in the mixture as long as you like- the longer you leave it the more flavor it will have. I took mine out right before I mixed in the cream and vanilla extract.

Place bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until mixture is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon (about 5-8 minutes).

Remove from heat, strain to remove the stray pieces and cover immediately with plastic wrap, placing directly on surface of custard to avoid a skin forming.

Place in fridge overnight until thoroughly chilled. Give it a quick mix. Stir in cream and vanilla extract right before pouring into ice cream machine.

I used a funnel to pour mine in- avoids the spillage that normally happens! Use according to manufacture's instructions (30 minutes for me).

Place in airtight container with lid and freeze several hours until firm.

Mmmmm enjoy all by itself or on top of your favorite dessert....

What's your go-to ice cream recipe?

-M

Caramel Ice Cream- Take two!

Since my first caramel ice cream recipe failed, Frieda over at Lovin' from the Oven, graciously sent me a much better recipe to try! Saturday night the bf was feeling a little under the weather, so we stayed home from our date night and it was the perfect opportunity to try it out. Unfortunately, about halfway through this recipe I badly burned myself and became glued to the sink with my hand under the faucet. The bf took over where I left off while I yelled read the directions to him from the sink-I'd come too far to give up! haha It really was silly of me, now that I look back on it. He was like "How's your hand? Who cares about the stupid ice cream?!", but I insisted he persevere and finish out the recipe. It was just a little more hectic because my accident happened during the critical time of melting the caramel (read: almost BOILING SUGAR) and mixing in the cream/eggs, etc. Anyway, he did a good job, but I kept screaming lovingly saying things like "Pour SLOWER!", "NOT the whisk!!"and "turn the burner down!" haha well I have to say this ice cream was much better than the other one! Not sure if I have a permanent Sous chef or if it was worth a badly burned finger though. :( The bf gobbled it up and said it was MUCH better than the last caramel ice cream, but he thought it was too rich to eat on its own. He suggested mixing it with the vanilla bean I normally make. Hmmm... We'll see. I kind of have my heart set on a cookie dough or cookies and cream ice cream next time...yum yum!

Salted Caramel Praline (To mix in)

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp sea salt (NOT table salt)

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or grease lightly with vegetable oil. In a heavy-bottom skillet, spread sugar in an even layer. Heat over medium until edges begin to melt, use a heat-proof spatula to push the melted edges in towards the middle. Stir gently until all sugar is dissolved. Cook, stirring infrequently, until sugar starts to smoke (I had a hard time telling if it was smoking or not, but figured out this step is right before it boils. DO NOT let the sugar boil or it will get a burnt taste.) Caramel will be the color of an old copper penny. Quickly sprinkle sea salt over caramel without stirring. Pour caramel onto prepared baking sheet, turning sheet to spread thinly. Set aside to cool and harden.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 TBSP salted butter ( I only had unsalted)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 large egg yolks
• 3/4 tsp vanilla

Make an ice bath by filling a large bowl 1/3 full with ice cubes and about 1 cup water (ice cubes should be floating in the water). Nestle a smaller, 2 quart bowl on top of ice. Pour 1 cup cold milk into bowl and place mesh strainer over top.

Spread 1 1/2 cups sugar in a heavy-bottom skillet in an even layer. Heat over medium until edges begin to melt, use a heat-proof spatula to push the melted edges in towards the middle.

Stir gently until all sugar is dissolved. Cook, stirring infrequently, until sugar starts to smoke (I had a hard time telling if it was smoking or not, but figured out this step is right before it boils. DO NOT let the sugar boil or it will get a burnt taste.) Caramel will be the color of an old copper penny. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and salt. (This is where I burnt myself on HOT HOT caramel when I added the butter. Add butter CAREFULLY!). Stir until completely melted. Gradually whisk in the cream, stirring constantly. If the caramel begins to harden, return pan to heat and continue stirring until melted. Stir in 1 cup milk. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Slowly add about 1 cup of caramel mixture into yolks, whisking constantly. Slowly add yolk/caramel mixture back into saucepan. Cook custard until it coats the back of a spoon and you can draw a line down the back of a spoon without custard running into it. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk in the ice bath and add vanilla. Stir until mixture has cooled down.Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker for about 30 minutes.

While it is freezing, crumble praline bits in a large plastic bag with a rolling pin.
Sprinkle in bits after ice cream is churned. Pour into container with lid and freeze until firm (2-4 hours). While you're eating it, the tiny caramel bits will melt and add a nice ooey-gooey texture to your ice cream! Enjoy!

Like I said before, I love my ice cream maker, but it does have to washed by hand. :(
Sonny volunteered to wash it for me, but I figured licking it clean wouldn't be too sanitary...
For the brave, posted last are a few photos of my sugar burn Sunday morning. It's OK- when I'm eating this ice cream I forget that my finger hurts! :)







Hope you had a great weekend!

Caramel Ice Cream

I have made many things since I first thought of creating this blog, however this ice cream is the first thing I've actually taken a picture of recently, and today is the day I finally pulled it all together and made my blog come to life! :)

I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker a while back for $20 at Marshalls (one of my favorite stores) - something I simply could not pass up! Honestly, I was not confident when I placed it in my cart that I would use it too often. However, I have to say I'm glad I proved myself wrong! I use it to make fro yo/ice cream/gelato/margaritas once or twice a month. Definitely a good investment! I love this brand, and my boyfriend's only complaint is that it is a little noisy.... but after he shuts his office door he is happy to come out again once the treats are ready!

Let my just preface this recipe by saying that I am not an expert on making ice cream at all. I have only made a couple flavors. My previous fav was vanilla bean- I will post that recipe sometime as well. I was looking for a recipe to change it up a bit but still wanted to use a vanilla bean (since I just got a bunch in bulk from eBay) and came across this caramel version. OK... so I googled "Caramel Ice Cream Recipes." I should save you the trouble and say this recipe isn't great, but some people who do not like super sweet things may like it better.. Anyway on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 8 large egg yolks

Preparation:

• Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape seeds into large saucepan; add bean.
  
• Add sugar and 1/4 cup water and stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.
• Increase heat and boil without stirring until syrup turns deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 8 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously and caramel will initially harden- don't worry, it will dissolve in next step!)
  
• Stir over low heat until any caramel bits dissolve, about 4 minutes.
  
• Add milk; bring to simmer. Whisk yolks in large bowl to blend.
  
• Gradually whisk caramel mixture into yolks.
  
• Return custard to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes (do not boil).
  
• Strain custard into large bowl; refrigerate until cold.
  

• Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions (I did 30 minutes).
  
• Transfer ice cream to covered container and freeze until firm.

To be honest, this was not as good/sweet as traditional caramel ice cream and mine had a little bit of a burnt caramel taste (almost bitter), to which other reviewers of this recipe called "sophisticated." hmm To combat this, I served with fresh whipped cream and homemade chocolate syrup that I had leftover from this chocolate Sybil cake I made last week. It's not like I didn't eat it, but I think I might look for another ice cream recipe next time.

Boyfriend's comments (I should warn you that he is a harsh critic):
"Is this COFFEE flavored? I DON'T like this. ..... If I got this at a restaurant I would send it back. " After thinking for a few moments he said, "Well maybe other people would like it..." HA I knew this would not be sweet enough for him. I also made him try it before it had completely frozen because I couldn't wait to post my first blog entry, so that could also have had an effect.... haha





This was a bit of a disappointing treat to top off a great day spent with bf's brother and sister in law, who were in town for the weekend. There was no shortage of food as we started off the day with a delicious brunch on South Congress, went for a dip in chilly Barton Springs and enjoyed a margarita (or two) overlooking Lake Austin. Hoping they are able to come back soon so we have an excuse to try out the duck tour! :)

Have a great weekend!

M