Schwan's delivers something sweet right to your doorstep

I always love to come home to a styrofoam container on my doorstep because that means some great brand wants me to test out their ice cream and let you all know how it is. So really, who turns down ice cream especially when it is delivered to your doorstep. This time around the ice cream was from Schwan's. Honestly I hadn't a clue who or what Schwan's was so quick to my computer I went to and turns out they are an online grocer and food delivery service providing "delicious, easy-to-prepare meals and friendly personalized service". Hmm..let's see a full time job, two kids, and a blog to keep up with…sadly prepared foods are right up my alley. When I said the name most friends said "hey I've seen those trucks" but I can't say I know anyone who has used the service. Unfortunately we didn't get any pizza or crabcakes but we were lucky enough to get a 1/2 gallon of Loaded Waffle Cone with Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream, another of Monkeying Around Banana Ice Cream, and a Rainbow CONFETTI™ Ice Cream Cake. 

Lord knows I could probably eat all this ice cream we get myself but I really do try to share it with others so they can also give their opinion because one person's opinion might not always be the best review. So lucky enough I had a playdate planned…the perfect occasion to break out the Rainbow CONFETTI™ Ice Cream Cake. I can't even tell you how excited the kids were to have ice cream cake. Why do ice cream cakes only seem appropriate for parties? All it is is ice cream in a cake form. Why not eat it every day? So anyways we broke open the box and saw a sort of sad looking cake but I have to take credit for that as I don't think the 40 minute ride there did it any good. It is not so big either, about 7",  but plenty for the small group we had. So I think I have to let this video speak for itself about how much the girls loved this cake. And there truly was no prompting as they loved it and came back for seconds.

The adults had a different take on this and I am in this pool of thoughts. I was totally expecting the "confetti" to be more like sprinkles but as the kids described they were sort of like Nerd candy. Very sweet and it was throughout the ice cream so there was no avoiding. What I do have to say I loved was the whipped topping. Very similar to the Carvel cake frosting..ooh so good.  In all the cake goes for $12 and serves about 8 people. I think for a small kids party this would be a great dessert but not an ending to an adult dinner party. 

Have you ever used the Schwan's food service? I really am interested to know how it is. Some of the products really look good and I heard the service is supposed to be top notch. Drop us a  note if you have. We'd love to hear more about it.

Happy Birthday to Me!: Oreo Ice Cream Cake

My birthday was two days ago and my dear friend Anisha knows the way to my heart. She surprised me with an ice cream cake...Oreo.

Maybe it's because I never had Oreos as a kid except for when they were swirled into ice cream to make Cookies 'n' Cream, or maybe it's the Cookies 'n' Cream that makes me nostalgic, but Oreo Ice Cream/Cookies 'n' Cream is one of my all time favorite flavors.

This cake was perfect. Cookies 'n' cream ice cream with a giant oreo in the middle. It was edged with vanilla frosting which was then covered with Oreo cookie crumbs. I loved it.

It certainly was a happy birthday to me -- ice cream cake after dinner and Richardson's ice cream for lunch before Harry Potter.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

I made an ice cream cake this week. It was only the second one I have ever made, so I was pretty excited with how it came out.

Basically, I layered the all the ingredients (except for the whipped frosting, sprinkles, and peanut butter cups) in a spring form pan, froze it, then when completely frozen, released it, and frosted and decorated it.

1.  I crumbled a box of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies in the food processor and added a half a stick of butter to help them stick. I used half of this crumble (or maybe a little more) as the bottom layer. In retrospect, next time I probably would use Oreos in place of the Wafer Cookies , because the cream would help it stick better. 
2. Next, I piled on a layer of ice cream. I used Jacques Torres Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe (it's a little hidden in the entire recipe listed, but well worth it.) While not usually a honey fan, I love the flavor that the touch of honey adds to it. Instead of vanilla bean, I used 2 tablespoons of vanilla bean paste. Unfortunately, I used to be able to get this at Trader Joe's for $4.99 a bottle, but as with everything I love from Trader Joes, they stopped carrying it. It's best to use the ice cream right out of the ice cream maker, so have the crust ready to go.
3. Next, the remainder of the cookie crumble.
4. I then added peanut butter sauce. My friend and I have been trying to reproduce Friendly's sauce. I found a recipe online here, but as I was making it, I thought it wasn't peanut buttery enough, and I added more. I shouldn't have. I think if I had left it as is, it would have been perfect. Thanks Rachelle at the Saucy Little Dish! Spreading was impossible, so I more dropped it on as dollops. I froze this layer while I made the next layer. 
5. I then added a layer of peanut butter ice cream straight out of the ice cream maker. This recipe was from The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book: Savory and Sweet, Breakfast to Dessert, Hundereds of Ways to Use America's Favorite Spread by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. I love these guys. You can also use the recipe from their The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More (my bible in ice cream making) but the one in The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book is more peanut butter, which is what the cake recipients liked! Freeze the cake after this step until frozen solid.
6. I then released the cake from the spring form, and frosted it. Frosting was made up of two cups of whipping cream whipped with 1/4 cup cocoa powder and a 1/4 cup granulated sugar until stiff peaks formed.
7. I decorated the cake with six Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and chocolate sprinkles, but really, you could do as you please!

Freeze again until the whipped topping is frozen and enjoy!

My apologies for the coloring on both photos. My phone makes them a little too yellow and the quality isn't great, we were impatient to try the cake (which, I forgot to add, was AMAZING, if I do say so myself -- but the guests enjoyed it too), and I am not great at color adjustment!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Churn Up Some Red, White and Blue

Election Day 2004, I headed to the nearest convenience store in the North End and found a carton of fabulous red, white, and blue ice cream. I think it was this no name brand and probably fake fake fake, but I really liked it. I have never found it since.

I guess we are on our own to fulfill our red, white and blue needs this year BUT judging from what I found below, I think this recipe will leave me having had forgotten that carton of fake ice cream. 

A google search brought up this fabulous cake, its only downfall being it's not great for July fourth picnics because it can't just sit out on the picnic table.

The photo at left (taken by Zoe Singer for Epicurious) says it best -- um, yum! Layers of blueberry and strawberry sorbet and lemon ice cream separated by chocolate cookie crumbs (or candied ginger, but not being a ginger fan myself and loving chocolate cookies, I have to ask why would you do the ginger?!), and topped with fresh, local fruit, this cake is not only gorgeous to look at, but looks amazing to eat. 

The recipe was created by Gabrielle Carbone of The Bent Spoon (Artisan Ice Cream and Good Ingredient Bakery) in Princeton, New Jersey. Um, I need to go there!

Head over to Epicurious for a great article about The Bent Spoon, its owners, their love of local (and for that alone we love them!), the recipe for this cake (including separate recipes for each of the ice cream/sorbet flavors), and Carbone's ingredient secrets (with a great little blurb about making creamy ice cream).

I know I can't make this for the Fourth of July picnic I am attending, but I do think I will be trying this one out sometime soon!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Tomorrow, November 24, 6-9 PM -- Free Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake and Pie Tasting

Cold Stone has certainly been all over our blog in the past couple of days, with contests to win and cakes to taste.

Visit your local participating Cold Stone Creamery from 6-9 tomorrow (Monday) for a tasting of their cakes and pies. While you are there, pick up a cake for Thanksgiving, and enter to win!

Note: I got this in my email because I am on the Cold Stone Creamery mailing list. I am not sure if this is only in Massachusetts and New Hampshire or all over, because I can't find the event on their site. You might want to call ahead to confirm whether this event is happening in your area.

Another piece of cake...ice cream cake, that is!

Today I got an email from Cold Stone Creamery. Before I got into that, I do want to point out that Gmail now has themes, and if you use Gmail and choose the "candy" theme, you will have a cute little ice cream staring at you every time you check your mail. And if you are like me, that would be all the time...oh! oh! And if you choose the "bus stop" theme and make your location Boston, you also have a kid holding a huge (um, "dream" might be a better word) cone down at the bottom.

Oh, and wait...one more digression. I am on my computer that doesn't have Adobe Creative Suite on it and I am too lazy to go upstairs and use Photoshop, so I just wanted to mention this super cool online photo editing site I just read about. Picnik. Great for on-the-go editing!

All over the news, I am hearing about bailout this and bankrupt that. Apparently Cold Stone Creamery isn't having these problems, because they have a contest this holiday season with a chance to win up to $10,000 when you buy one of their cakes. Sweet! Cakes and money! (Although right now I can't even begin to think about ordering a cake because I ate too much Party Favors cake at a reception at the Museum School's Art Sale, InsideOut.) Anyway, $10,000. How could I get away from that? Without further ado, here is the $10,000 news!

Now through January 6th, 2009 (or sooner, if they run out of game pieces), purchase a Cold Stone cake and get a "gold medal." With this gold medal, you have a chance to win one of three $10,000 prizes, five $500 prizes, or one of 1000 cakes! Even the smallest prize has some sweet potential!

Anyway, this is an ice cream filled post along with a couple of hot tips, so I hope between this post and Tina's yesterday, we are getting out of the dog house for being kind of MIA.

Speaking of $10,000...er, um, at least 10,000 lakes...I will be in the land of 10,000 lakes (Minnesota) next week but hopefully will be able to report back on some midwestern ice cream.