happy 4th

we are going to my aunts house today for the requisite hamburger and hot dogs barbecue. my contribution is two homemade ice creams. #1 is a peanut butter base with a ton of peanut butter cups and fudge swirl. #2 is a vanilla base with crumbled homemade oatmeal cookies and a caramel swirl. i'll have to take funny pics tonight of my family eating them. but in case any of you have that ice cream maker canister freezing up for some fabulous creation, i'm posting these. my son liked these so much he told me we should turn our kitchen into an ice cream shop. he even named it - ice flames ice cream ?!?!

peanut butter cup and fudge swirl ice cream

Makes about 1.5 quarts

1 ¼ cups whole milk

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
1.5 cups creamy peanut butter, jif works great
3/4 cup sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla
jar of your favorite hot fudge, I love whole foods dark chocolate sauce

as many chopped peanut butter cups as you can handle, we used 10 double cup packages

In a saucepan simmer milk, cream, peanut butter, and 3/4 cup sugar over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in vanilla and cool mixture to room temperature. Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

As soon as ice cream is finished in machine and at soft serve stage stir in peanut butter cups then fudge.we used a whole small jar. Just dump a bunch onto top of ice cream and then slowly stir in. if you stir too much it won’t swirl. If ice cream gets too soft to do this, just freeze for a while before you stir it in.

Freeze ice cream, covered with plastic wrap, until hard.

Caramel swirl and oatmeal cookie ice cream

If you don’t want to splurge on vanilla beans, three teaspoons of vanilla extract may be substituted for the vanilla bean. To maximize the extract’s potency, stir it into the chilled custard just before churning.

Makes 1.5 quarts

2	1/4 cups whole milk
2	1/4 cups heavy cream
1	1/8 cup granulated sugar
6	inch piece vanilla bean , slit lengthwise and seeds removed, pod reserved (see illustration below)
6	large egg yolks
1	batch homemade or storebought oatmeal cookies, baked, cooled and crumbled
1	cup homemade or store bought caramel

1. Position a strainer over a medium bowl set in a larger bowl containing ice water. Heat the milk, cream, 1 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla seeds and pod in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally to break up the vanilla seeds, until steam appears and the milk is warm (about 175 degrees), about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and remaining 1/8 cup sugar in a medium bowl until combined and pale yellow. Whisk half the warm milk mixture into the beaten yolks, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. Whisk the milk-yolk mixture into the warm milk in the saucepan; set the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until steam appears, foam subsides, and the mixture is slightly thickened or an instant-read thermometer registers 180 to 185 degrees. (Do not boil the mixture, or the eggs will curdle.) Immediately strain the custard into the bowl set in the ice bath; cool the custard to room temperature, stirring it occasionally to help it cool. Cover and refrigerate until an instant-read thermometer -registers 40 degrees or lower, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

3. Remove and discard the vanilla pod from the custard (or add the vanilla extract, if using) and stir well. Pour the custard into the ice cream machine canister and churn, following the manufacturer’s instructions, until the mixture resembles soft-serve ice cream.

4. While at soft serve stage, mix in crumbled oatmeal cookies as desired. We used a lot! Then pour room temp caramel on top and carefully mix in. if you over mix you’ll lose the swirl. If ice cream gets too soft just freeze for a while before you add it in.

5. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, press plastic wrap flush against the surface, cover the container, and freeze the ice cream until firm, at least 2 hours. (The ice cream will keep for up to 2 days.)

mmmm . . . ice cream

i forgot to take pics of my homemade ice cream but its not like it looks any different than store bought. but when i took it over to our friends brooke and ed's house for dinner last night i couldn't help but shoot her kids eating it in the gorgeous light. i'm not sure they can appreciate the fact that i used $12 worth of vanilla beans and $6 of strauss dairy cream but they did enjoy it. of course my kid wouldn't oblige.

homemade ice cream and snickerdoodles

my friend joy and her family are coming to dinner tomorrow night. joy loves snickerdoodles and i have been wanting to break out the ice cream maker. i went nuts and also made another batch of my famous tricked out, better than levain bakery cookies cause joy is pregnant and i want to indulge her cookie cravings. the two cookies couldn't be more different. the chocolate chip, coconut, pecan cookies are almost gluttonous compared to the simple snickerdoodles. but those puppies are deceptively decadent and simple enough the you can really taste the subtle flavors of the ingredients. the ice cream is a super rich tyler florence recipe, of course vanilla, to go with the cookies, but there are some delicious variations! warning: its a pain in the butt but worth it :)
the snickerdoodles are out of some old cookbook i have with no cover but its a great recipe :( the ice cream is still firming up but here is a pic of the snickerdoodles and i'll post more tomorrow when we eat it after a fabulous dinner.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence 10 cups heavy cream 5 cups whole milk Pinch salt 3 cups sugar 3 vanilla beans 24 large egg yolks Variations: Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream: 3/4 cup whole milk 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped in chunks Strawberry Cheese Cake Ice Cream: 1 1/2 cups strawberry preserves, no sugar added 1/2 frozen strawberry cheesecake, cut in large chunks 10 large fresh strawberries, halved Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream: 1 tube ready to bake peanut butter cookie dough, cut in large pieces To make the vanilla ice cream: Combine the cream, milk, salt, and 2 cups of the sugar in a large pot. Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor. In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend them lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 6 minutes. Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in about 4 cups of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes (do not let boil.) Pour the vanilla custard through a fine strainer into another pot* and chill completely in a sink full of ice, stirring here and there; this should take about 1 hour. Ideally, let the ice cream base "age" overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker to improve the flavor and texture of the final product – but it is still good if you decide to process it right away. Divide the ice cream into quarts** and churn each in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. When done, the ice cream will be the consistency of "soft serve." ***To harden the ice cream fully, freeze in plastic covered containers. Flavor Variations: *To make the Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream: Heat 3/4 up of milk in a pot over medium-low heat. Add 12 ounces of the chopped chocolate and stir until completely melted. Pour 1 quart of the strained hot vanilla ice cream base into the melted chocolate and stir until very well incorporated. Chill and process as directed in the master recipe. Fold in the remaining 4 ounces of chopped chocolate after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Churn another 1 to 2 minutes just until combined. **To make the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream: Mix the strawberry preserves into the vanilla custard just before you start churning in the ice cream maker. Add the pieces of strawberry cheesecake and fresh strawberries after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 5 minutes or until combined but still chunky. ***To make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Add the pieces of cookie dough after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 1 to 2 minutes until combined but still chunky. Snickerdoodles 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 1/4 vegetable shortening 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus 3 tbsps for rolling 2 large eggs 1 tbsp cinnamon for rolling 1. preheat oven to 375. adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle. line cookie sheets with parchment. 2. whisk all dry ingredients together and set aside. 3. by hand or with mixer, cream butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar until fluffy. and eggs and beat until combined. 4. add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined. 5. mix remaining sugar and cinnamon on shallow plate. using an ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of dough, roll dough into balls with hands then roll in cinnamon sugar and place on baking sheet. 6. bake reversing position of baking pans halfway through baking to ensure even top and bottom browning until edges are set and cookies are puffy in center, 9 to 12 minutes. let cookies cool on baking sheet 2 to 3 minute before you very carefully transfer to rack to cool.