Another indulgent year at Scooper Bowl

 

Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl 2012

Thankfully Mr. Weatherman was wrong. Sun brought crowds and fun. 
We met at 5:30 and looks like we weren't the only ones having an ice cream dinner.

Can you guess what the blue one is? We couldn't!

Volunteer scoopers hard at work.

Ben and Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt is a hit.

My favorite of the day...SoCo Creamery.

SoCo Creamery can't scoop fast enough.

Now these are diehards. Looks at all those cups.

All for a good cause. My daughter loves her new hat.


I am almost embarrassed to admit all that we tried but that is what you're there for! Some brands offered their tried and true flavors while some ventured out. Sort of felt like every one was serving up Cotton Candy but then again this is an event for kids too and if I had my daughter there that is what she would be eating...not the Mission Fig. I think the booth that inspired and intrigued us the most was SoCo Creamery. I had heard of them before but never actually tried them. They definitely had a crowd and offered up the most unique flavors. 


And drum roll for all the flavors we taste tested (see below). Funny thing is my husband called me on the way home asking what I wanted for dinner. Silly question...we had ice cream!

Soco Creamery

Lemon Poppy Seed (Tina's top pick!)

Salted Caramel (Bethany's top pick!)

Mission Fig

Cake Batter

Ciao Bella

Passion Fruit Sorbet (SO refreshing)

Malted Milk Ball Gelato
Strawberry Gelato 

Baskin Robbins

Splish splash

Lunar cheesecake (A 1969 flavor revisited! Bethany's second?)

Super Fudge Truffle (worthy of seconds)

Icing on the cake

Hood

Hood Bear Creek Caramel

Hood Maine Blueberry and Sweet Cream

Brighams 

Peppermint Stick

Edys

Espresso Chip

Rainbow Sherbert (Another very refreshing flavor)

Friendlys

Hunka chunka PB Fudge

Graham Central Station

Rockin Poppin Cotton Candy

Byrne Dairy

Mint Chocolate Chip

Holy Cow

Ben and Jerry's

Chocolate therapy (OMG!)

Americone Dream

Blueberry Vanilla Graham Greek Froyo

An awesome Ciao Bella guilt-free Sorbet Bar

A perfect treat on a 100 degree New England, or anywhere, day! Ciao Bella does it again with their Blueberry Passion Sorbet pops. Somewhat tart and super refreshing. I was very psyched to have these in the freezer yesterday when it hit 103 degrees. What's even better is that I felt no guilt eating it. It's simple... all natural Blueberry sorbet swirled with all natural Passion Fruit sorbet. Love it and it was honored with Self Magazine's "Best Fruit Pop" award in their 3rd annual Healthy Food Awards lists being dairy and fat free and a lonely 70 calories. Love it even more! The photo of my bar is a little sad because they didn't survive the heat all that well, or the delivery (thanks Ciao Bella for sharing with us!) so it's actually missing part of the bar along the bottom (see pic of it on box below...much bigger) but I had to share what's inside the box because these are super good and look yummy too. There are 3 to a box and definitely a decent size. 

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream: Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet

A month or so ago I got Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. I have never had Jeni's but have heard some really good things about it. I think the first time I heard about it was from my dear friend Pam, who at the time lived on the same block as one of Jeni's locations in Columbus, Ohio. (Coincidentally, Pam now lives five minutes away from Tina -- even though they don't know each other).

When purchasing Jeni's book, I don't think I knew what I was in for -- there are some very unique and daring flavors!

I decided to try out her Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet. I didn't know at the time, but this is one of her signature flavors, so it was a good one to start with. Um, it may be a good one to finish with. I may never make another recipe from that book since now I am addicted to the sorbet and I want to make it all the time. My husband thinks it is too sweet, but to me, it's perfection. I am not a big drinker, but I do love my Riesling. And lately, when making baby food, I always steal some of Violet's cooked pears. I love cooked fruit, but I particularly love cooked pears. (On an unrelated note, here's another great recipe for poached pears.) Anyway, the Riesling and cooked pears is a perfect combo to me.

I pretty much followed Jeni's recipe but might try something different next time, too, because there are two things I don't like to do that I was supposed to do in this recipe (one of which I already avoided -- see line item number 1 below):

1. Since I hate taking out my food processor, I put the mixture through the food mill instead. I don't think this made a difference, especially since you then push the mixture through a sieve.
2. Another thing I dislike is peeling pears. I wonder if I really needed to do this. I mean, first of all, I wonder if the specs of pear skin (especially if you used a red pear) would look kind of pretty -- that is, if they even made it into the final stage -- I kind of feel like the pear skin would have been strained out when the mixture was pushed through the sieve anyway. Next time, I'm skipping the peeling part...unless you completely disagree, Jeni.

Jeni, I'm a fan. Please open up a shop in Boston. Thank you!

Real Simple Interviews Ice Cream Authority David Lebovitz

If there is a god of ice cream David Lebovitz is it. I am so lucky to have an awesome coblogger who sent me his book, The Perfect Scoop, and ever since I have been a follower. He has made success out of making premium ice cream and really really interesting recipes. Tonight while catching up on all my favorite blogs, one being Simply Stated,  I stumbled upon an interview that Real Simple just did with him. It gives some insight into his beginnings, some quick tips, and his take on some good flavors. I love his foolproof advice....use good ingredients. Seems so simple but when you taste the difference between farm fresh ingredients vs Stop & Shop you'll see why. Don't get me wrong I make plenty of ice cream with good old Hood products and the end result isn't so bad, actually it's pretty darn good but when I get the chance to hit our local dairy farm it definitely kicks it up a notch. Regardless, check out his interview and if you are new to making ice cream or even if you have had your hand in it for awhile David Lebovitz is one to follow. 


Here's an easy and awesome recipe of his. And as David says, if you can't find Blood Oranges you can use tangerine, grapefruit or plain old orange juice. Just be sure it's fresh for the best taste.

Blood Orange Sorbet

1. Juice your blood oranges. The measure the juice.

2. For each 1 cup (250ml) of juice, figure 1/4 cup (50g) of granulated sugar to be added.

For example: Use 1/2 cup (100g) sugar for 2 cups juice (500ml).

3. Put the sugar in a small, non-reactive saucepan. Add just enough juice to saturate it very well. Heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

4. Stir the sugar back into the reserved blood orange juice.

5. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker.

Spice Dish Saturday {January}: Chocolate-Almond Sorbet

We are so spoiled to have Spice Dish and her wonderful recipes, since I haven't made ice cream in quite a while. Thanks, Spice Dish! What a treat your recipes are!

This is a post-holiday gorge-fest recipe. It not only uses leftover chocolate from your Christmas stocking but is on the lighter for all those resolution makers.

Chocolate-Almond Sorbet
2 cups of cold water
1 1/8 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
8 oz semisweet chocolate (chopped or chips)
Small pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp Amaretto
1/2 cup toasted almonds

Whisk together 1 cup of the water, the sugar, the cocoa powder and salt together in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and whisk it for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate until it is melted completely. Add the Amaretto and remaining cup of water. Use an immersion blender (a standing one will work fine too) and blend the mixture completely. Chill completely. Once chilled freeze in your ice cream maker. Just before serving, top with the almonds for a great crunch!

Thanks again, Spice Dish! We ♥ you!

Chilly Cocktails for a Hot Summer Day

Just in time for all those labor Day parties....cool summer cocktails! This past Friday on The Early Show Somer Perez, a mixologist of Couture Cocktail Concepts, had me running for my blender with these hot summer cocktails. Try em out this weekend and we'd love to know how they were. Enjoy! 

RECIPES: 

Poppin' Pomegranate 
Whole Foods Pomegranate Sorbet* 
Zyr Vodka*
Simple Syrup 
Pop Rocks Candy (to rim glass)

Ice Creamed Brazilian Mojito 

Haagen-Daz "5" Mint Ice Cream*

Leblon Cachaca*

Brown Sugar 
Blender 

(if anything check out the Couture Cocktail Concept web site....LOVE it....typography is so elegant and chic and the less is more design is truly beautiful

*try these brands if you can but I am sure any brand will do

Recipe: Strawberry Basil Ice Cream

I know, I know! I keep pushing these emails to the limit in fitting them into the day. However, in my defense, I did spend all day making ice cream and sorbets for my ice cream shindig next weekend. Husband Kevin will tell you instead that I spent all day making a mess of the kitchen. Technically, I think we both are right.


There are a couple I want to share with you, but since the Strawberry Basil Sorbet just looked so pretty simmering in the pot, I thought I would share this first. Unfortunately the quality isn't great -- I was mid-process in a couple of ice creams, and the situation didn't allow for me to go find a real camera. I had to grab the closest one -- my phone (which for the record, I just had to scrape custard off of...)

It's a simple strawberry sorbet to which I added some purple and green basil leaves. I nearly used all the basil in my garden, because my garden really isn't doing well this year with all the rain.

Ingredients:

• About 4 cups of strawberries, hulls removed
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 cups of water
• About 10 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped (I used purple and green in this recipe, but you can use all of one color)

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredient in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Puree mixture in a blender or food processor.
4. Pour mixture into a clean bowl, cover, and cool completely in the refrigerator.
5. Churn the mixture according to manufacturer's instructions.
6. Enjoy!
   

Spice Dish Saturday {July}: Blueberry Apricot Sorbet

EB of Spice Dish is off to Europe for the summer, so we'll have to savor this recipe for a while. Won't be hard as it looks amazing. Thanks, EB and have a safe and wonderful trip!

This is the perfect summer sorbet. Light, refreshing and perfectly sweet.

Blueberry Apricot Sorbet

1 lb fresh apricots
1 pkg blueberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp Amaretto


Cut the apricots into small pieces. Cook the apricots, blueberries and water over medium heat until they have the texture of mush. Stir frequently. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Add the Amaretto and puree the mixture in a blender until smooth. Chill the mixture until completely cold. Freeze in your ice cream maker.

Pomegranate Pinkberry

So this is odd. I went to the Pinkberry site to try to explain Pinkberry to my friend Melanie and guess what? They now have Pomegranate Frozen Yogurt! So weird since I just wrote a post about a Pomegranate Buttermilk Sorbet I thought must taste very much like what would happen it Pinkberry made a pomegranate flavor. And they do! I promise I did not know they had when I wrote my post or created my ice cream -- I was just trying to use up ingredients and make my Buttermilk Sorbet taste better!

Image from the pinkberry.com site.

SpiceDish Saturday {January}: Champagne Sorbet

So it's time for another SpiceDish Saturday. I am going to let SpiceDish's post and pictures speak for itself! Thanks, SpiceDish!

I love champagne sorbet. It was a special occasion treat for me growing up. Every time there was a special occasion birthdays, anniversaries, graduations etc. my dad liked to go to a very small little French restaurant run by a Turkish chef. He always made champagne sorbet for us when we came in. It was the perfect palate cleanser. But beyond that it was perfectly pink, perfectly sweet and made my teenage self feel very grown up and sophisticated.

This is where you can use not leftover champagne, because lets face it… who has leftover champagne… but maybe you have that bottle that you passed out before you opened. This recipe is very easy. You can either make it in an ice cream maker or make it 'granita' style.

Champagne Sorbet

2 cups champagne (pink preferably) chilled
1/4 cup sparkling mineral water
3 tbsp grapefruit juice
1 1/4 cup fine granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
Heat the water, grapefruit juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and chill completely. Once completely cold add the champagne and stir until well blended.

Either place in ice cream maker and freeze according to directions or pour mixture into shallow baking dish. Place in freezer and freeze mixture for 2 hours. With a fork, scrape and break up the mixture. Freeze another hour and then scrape again. Repeat until you achieve a frozen texture you like. I like to serve with a mint sprig.

Recipe: Pomegranate Buttermilk Sorbet

So lucky for me that Lisa doesn't read my blog that much, because then maybe she won't know that dessert tonight is made up of leftovers!

I made my favorite carrot cake on Sunday, followed that by a quick bread, and I was still left with two cups of buttermilk. I don't know why they don't sell it in smaller quantities, because I don't know of one recipe that uses more than a cup of it at a time! So I looked up buttermilk recipes and came across a lot for buttermilk ice creams and sorbets. So I decided to follow one of the recipes from Cooking Light -- which was basically two cups of buttermilk, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of corn syrup.

I mixed and tasted it, and while thrilled I wasn't wasting any buttermilk, I wasn't so thrilled that it reminded me a lot of Pinkberry (and you know my feelings about that!). Should I add lemon extract? Orange? Then it hit me...I had a lot of homemade grenadine leftover from when I tried my first stab at Shirley Temple Ice Cream. I added 1/4 cup, but thought it needed more, so I added another 1/4 cup for a total of 1/2 cup of grenadine.

The sorbet froze up nicely, with a muted wine color. It still tasted a little yogurty to me, and with my sweet tooth, even though I love yogurt, when I am after frozen treats, I much prefer sweet sweet sweet!

What was nice about this recipe was that it was easy and quick. There was no stove prep, which was a nice break.

Lisa and I both liked the sorbet. As Lisa put it, "I feel like I shouldn't like it, but I do!" I know that sounds crazy, but I understand what she meant. It was very refreshing (I think it would be a great summer treat!) and at the same time, the sourness of the buttermilk was balanced by the sweetened grenadine.

Would I make it again? Not just for me. But it most definitely is a contender for I Scream 2009!

(Apologies for the photo quality -- had to use the iPhone because the sorbet was melting so quickly!)