Ice Cream in the Sky

SKYplay by Horst J. Bernhart via Drawn!. (Thanks Kevin!) 


[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!]

Amazing Ice Cream at Kimball Farm Westford MA

No better way to start off National Ice Cream month than with having ice cream and lots of it. Just so happens that on this first day of the month I was at a work outing at a place that is famous for its gigantic portions and udderly (excuse the pun) good homemade ice cream, Kimball Farm in Westford Massachusetts. This place is super fun for all ages. It is the quintessential jump in the car with the kids and head on down summer place...bumper boats, mini golf, batting cages, country store, arcade, and last but not least...homemade ice cream. See this picture above...apparently its a typical jam-packed summer night.

So after some mean games of corporate tug o war and then a not too shabby game of golf we regrouped for the highlight of the day, the ice cream. Since this was a private company outing we didn't have the tons of flavors available at their main counter but none the less we had some good ones. My choices were mint oreo (because mint is my favorite and if its there I have to have it), Kahlua Crunch, and Mocha Almond Assault (now after telling you my choices I guess we really did have some good options ).

I obviously had a mound o ice cream but I always have such a hard time just having one flavor. A coworker sits beside me with his favorite, black rasperry and we all went on about how could he just have that and even without sprinkles. How dare he...oh and then he went on about how Black Raspberry is his favorite but an old-timers favorite so we debated that for a bit. It is sort of old school when Ben & Jerry's has all these cool flavors now but its such a great classic. Anyways, back to mine. The Mint Oreo was fantastic. I love Mint ice cream that is white. It says I am not trying too hard and I am going to be good no matter the color. White mint ice cream also says natural to me but I am so sure if they use a flavoring instead but I would have to guess that is the case. So then I move onto the Kahlua Crunch...kahlua ice cream with chocolate covered toffee pieces.....wow! And lastly the Mocha Almond Assault...and that is what it was...super creamy Mocha ice cream with almonds. I think the latter was my favorite. The sweet mocha ice cream with salty almonds was to die for. Definitely a keeper. (this photo below is a typical portion size..ouch!)

So even if Kimball Farm is over an hour away from my home its so worth a family road trip. If you ask anyone from Massachusetts if they've been to this infamous summer spot I have a feeling they can tell you some good memory of it.


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

Through August 24th: Enter to Win a Chance to Create Your OWN Cold Stone Creamery Flavor

The summer months always show a spike in my inbox of ice cream related emails. It's hard to keep up. Many are coupons or deals from the birthday clubs I have joined, but some are a little more exciting, as this one I got from Cold Stone Creamery. I hadn't yet read about their Gold Cone Collection, their celebration of 2010 (well, there's always a reason to celebrate, isn't there? Whether it's the month of July and National Ice Cream Month or just because it is 2010 -- hurrah!) This summer, though, Cold Stone is combining their Gold Cone Collection with a special contest: "Try [their] new Summer Fresh Fruit Flavors and enter [their] Gold Cone Facebook Contest for a chance to create your own flavor to be featured in stores in 2011."

What you have to do:

1. Go to Cold Stone and try one of their new Gold Cone Collection cones: Key to My Heart (Key Lime), Peaches 'n' Creamery (Harvest Peach), or Blueberry Bliss (Blueberry).
2. Go to Cold Stone's Facebook Page and write "passionately" and "uniquely" about the flavor you tried.

What do you win?

1. The first prize winner for each flavor gets to go to head to Scottsdale, AZ to Cold Stone's Headquarters to create their own unique flavor. From there, one of the new creations is chose by the Cold Stone "Tastemaster" to be sold in stores in 2011.
2. The three second prize winners win an ice cream party at their nearest Cold Stone -- start choosing your 50 closest family and friends. Don't forget who told you about this contest!

Good luck!

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

The Winner of the 2010 Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup (in honor of National Creative Ice Cream Day!)

Happy National Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day!

We think the winner of the Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup this year also falls under a creative ice cream flavor, so we are excited that we are posting the winner today!

Voters had the following things to say about the winning cupcake in this year's Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup:

• All I have to say is--this looks awesome!
• I wish I had a dozen to snack on right now!
• Yum, can't wait to make this!
• Beautiful presentation--obviously made by a wonderful, loving chef that really knows cupcakes!!
• OMG, this is mouthwatering.. I'm going to go out and make this right now.
• Sounds super tasty, but not too out there! And perfect all year round.
• Very creative, appealing, and perfectly executed cupcake!
• This one makes me drrrrroooooool.
• Its Sooo tempting... i wish i could just eat it out of my screeen :)
• one of the best combos in a cupcake, my mouths watering just thinking about it
• this cupcake looks like a little party in my mouth and I want to make them.

Still wondering which cupcake it was?  These comments might help:

• This recipe brings me back to my fantastic trip to Seville!
• Crunchy and creamy! The best combination ever!
• I will definitely try to make come next Cinco de Mayo!
• Wow! How different - usually we see cinnamon used in baked goods - these are so original!

And if you still haven't figured it out, this should do it:

• I would absolutely dive into the Churro Pecan Icecream Cupcake! It sounds like a trifecta of yum!
• Churros are my favorite dessert aside from cupcakes, so this one captured the best of the best for me :-)
• If only they sold those Churro Pecan Ice Cream Cupcakes on the streets of Mexico City! Mmm mmm delicious!
• The churro pecan ice cream cupcake has got to be the most fabulous thing I've ever heard of!
• Cupcake+Churros+Cinammon = No Competition !
• The churro pecan ice cream cupcake looks pretty, but not fussy. It seems like there would be great harmony in the flavors. And I like the idea of the crunchy churro texture and the caramelized pecans in the ice cream.
• Churros are the guilty pleasure of any fair in Florida! Combined with the southern flair of pecans- sounds perfect to me!
• In my opinion, the Churro Pecan ice cream cupcapke has a perfect blending of flavors and textures. This cupcake gets my vote.
• They all look pretty great, but churros+pecans=yowza!
• I love churros! I love pecans! Putting them together is one of the smartest things I personally have ever heard. I wish I had one of these right now!! :) The presentation is gorgeous, too!
• MMmmm... Churros... 
• Green Doxie should really open up a five star cup cake shop! She is creative in her makings! I want to buy all her cupcakes!

Congrats to Green Doxie on her winning Churro Pecan Ice Cream Cupcakes!

She's won a Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker and an

OXO prize pack containing an OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop, Oxo Good Grips 2-Cup Angled Measuring Cup, OXO Good Grips 1169600 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set, Blue/Green/Yellow, Oxo Good Grips Bent Icing Knife, and an Oxo Good Grips PRO Grater! 

We will also be mailing an OXO prize pack to our other two finalists (The Ultimate Bacon Chocolate Ice Cream Cupcake by Stephanie of 52 Kitchen Adventures and Tiny Rainbow Sherbet Cupcakes by Jenn of JustJenn Recipes) and two lucky voters (Joy Sato and Christine (figgee.geo))! 

We wish that we could give everyone a prize.  It was such a close competition with so many amazing entries.  Congrats go out to all of our participants!

Thanks again to all of our participants, sponsors, and voters and to Stef at Cupcake Project for co-hosting and doing so much work for the roundup!

Cinnamon pecan ice cream that was used in the winning entry seems to be a pretty creative flavor (and a creative use of the ice cream as well), but keep coming back this month for more exciting and creative flavors.

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

Again, congrats to all!