Boston's Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl is 1 week away...yippee

The event of all ice cream events is only 1 week away. Boston will hold its annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, the all-you-can-eat ice cream (yogurt, gelato and sorbet too!) extravaganza on Boston's City Hall Plaza. Seriously we start planning for this months in advance and gather up all friends to join us for an ice cream lunch. I am totally bummed this year because I am traveling 2 of the 3 days the event is being held so I guess I'll just have to make my one day worthwhile. 

Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl 2011

Tuesday, June 7-9, 2011

Noon - 8pm

Boston City Hall Plaza

Here are all the awesome flavors. So excited to see my favorite Key Lime Graham gelato from Ciao Bella once again and am excited to try Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream. Oh and I just tried Baskin Robbins S'More the Merrier...OMG..love it and will definitely plan on getting a couple scoops of that one. Check out all the flavors to expect and like usual I am sure there will be more.

Baskin-Robbins®

• Lucky Mint
• Firehouse #31
• S'More the Merrier
• Oreo®Gold Rush

Ben & Jerry's®

• Late Night Snack
• Americone Dream
• Milk and Cookies
• Bonnaroo Buzz^TM
• 
  
• Ciao Bella Gelato®
• Chocolate S'mores
• Mango Sorbet
• Wild Blueberry Sorbet
• Key Lime Graham Gelato

Edy's®

• The Original Rocky Road
• Cookies and Cream
• Orange Sherbert
• Espresso Chip

Friendly's

• Hunka Chunka
• Vienna Mocha
• Mocha Chocolate Chip
• Rocky Road

HP Hood/Brigham's®

• Hood BoSox Brownie
• Hood Frozen Tangy Yogurt Rasberry Vanilla
• Brigham's Oreo
• Brigham's Mocha Chip

SoCo Creamery

• Dirty Chocolate
• Vanilla
• Espresso Cookie
• Berkshire Berry
• Mexicali Chocolate

How appropriate for today....Red White and Blue Ice Cream Cupcakes

Annie's Eats Red, White and Blue Ice Cream Cupcakes look so refreshing and are perfectly patriotic...great for a Memorial Day celebration! 

Win a library of cookbooks...enter our annual Ice Cream Cupcake Contest now!

Enter the 2011 Ice Cream Cupcake contest through June 15 for a chance to win a library of awesome cookbooks! 

We here at Scoopalicious and Cupcake Project look forward to seeing all the great entries this year!

Reviews: Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack and Clusterfluff

In my last post I wrote about the danger of going to the grocery store on an empty stomach. At right is the result. Three different flavors of Ben & Jerry's!

So Clusterfluff* had real potential to be a favorite. My favorite ice cream sundae at Friendly's is the Reese's Pieces Sundae. Probably my all time favorite ice cream ever was Brigham's short run Fluffernutter Ice Cream. I like peanut butter and fluff in my ice cream. So when I saw Clusterfluff (Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Caramel Cluster Pieces, Peanut Butter & Marshmallow Swirls.) in the freezer cabinet, it went right into the cart. I knew my husband would love it too, so it was for sure a winner.

While overall I thought it was yummy, there were two things that disappointed me...I didn't really see any marshmallow swirls, and in turn didn't really specifically taste them. Perhaps though, I was distracted by my other huge disappointment. I found the "caramel cluster pieces" to have the texture of stale, um, I don't really know. The closest I can come to describe the texture is stale popcorn or ice cream cones.

Of all three, Late Night Snack (Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Salty Caramel Swirls & Fudge Covered Potato Chip Clusters) was my favorite of the three. (Yes, Drea, I finally tried it, and yes, Leah, good choice in favorites!) I loved the caramel swirls in the vanilla base -- I have concluded that I think that vanilla is the best base flavoring for mix-ins. As for the fudge covered potato chip clusters? Yum! I liked surprise saltiness in the sea of sweetness. It was a nice complement.

Maybe I am a little biased because I love love love Jimmy Fallon, who inspired this ice cream. My all time favorite Saturday Night Live sketches is Jeffrey's where Jimmy Fallon and Sean Hayes start laughing so hard in the middle of it...I so wish I could find a video link but I can't! For some reason it's really really hard to come by!) A couple of months ago I was invited last minute to a B&J press release in NYC. My sister and I tried to arrange getting down there, but it didn't happen. They didn't say what for and how long it would be, and the logistics of getting me from Massachusetts, to meet Arianna in Connecticut, to have someone watch baby Violet and finally get to NYC for something that could have lasted five minutes seemed a little much for one day. Later on we found it was a press release for Late Night Snack and Jimmy Fallon was there -- we both knew it still would have been too hard to get to it, but we were SO sad we missed Jimmy!

Anyway, I truly digressed there, but just as I like Jimmy Fallon best, of the three ice creams I tried, I liked Late Night Snack the best as well. Jimmy, I'd be proud to put my name to that flavor, too. Jimmy, though my husband likes you too, he's a fair weather friend, and when push came to shove, he chose Clusterfluff as his favorite of the three.

*Note: Ben & Jerry's site, as I said in my previous post, is kind of frustrating because it is done in Flash rather than HTML. While it's pretty to the eye, it's not searchable and it's not easy to link directly to any of the flavors I write about. If you want to learn more about them, you need to go to their "freezer case" and scroll through to find the flavor you are interested in. Sorry we can't link you directly.

Review: Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream

I went to the grocery store today, hungry. Bad idea. Even worse idea? On my way to the cash register I thought that the best route would be past the frozen treats. I bought three pints of Ben & Jerry's. That's after the package of cookies I picked up, but I don't really think they count because in the end they were just horrible.

The ice cream though? I thought it was in my best interest as an ice cream blogger to pick up three new flavors: Red Velvet Cake, Clusterfluff and Late Night Snack (to find out more, you'll have to visit their flavor case because unfortunately their Flash-heavy site does not allow you to link to a particular flavor. Tonight I opened the Red Velvet (described as "Red Velvet Cake Batter Ice Cream with Red Velvet Cake Pieces & a Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl" on the container) and I can't say I was impressed. Maybe I'm biased with my own made-it-to-Craftzine Red Velvet Ice Cream, but not only did I not find B&J's Red Velvet to be that yummy, but I also didn't find it to be too Red Velvet-y.

First of all, when you open the container, it's not bright red like you'd expect (which might be a bonus, because that would be a super lot of food coloring additive!), but it looked like strawberry ice cream. I mean, completely -- strawberry chunks and everything. And I couldn't see any cream cheese swirls in the pale pink ice cream. I actually found the first bite to be super sweet, but not with any particular flavor. Eventually, I got a little bit of cream cheese taste, but really no striking Red Velvet taste. In the end, I kept thinking I was eating strawberry ice cream, so I don't know if it is what I expected to taste, but I kinda did taste strawberry! (No, I did not buy strawberry by accident!) I am a fan of lots of Ben & Jerry's flavors, so I can afford to be picky -- it's not like I will open the grocery freezer and find nothing I like -- so I think this flavor is going to be on my "not again" list. But it was worth a try.

I just saw Blue Bunny has a new Red Velvet Ice Cream in collaboration with Duff of Charm City Cakes and Ace of Cakes fame. They also created a wedding cake ice cream together too, so maybe those two Blue Bunny flavors are the next I will have to try, because with the price tags on those Charm City Cakes, the ice cream is the closest I'll get to an actual Duff creation!

Right now though, Stone Ridge Creamery is my top contender in the Red Velvet craze category.

Stay tuned for the Late Night Snack and the Clusterfluff review!

Note that when I took the camera out to take photos this morning to take photos of the ice cream (I wrote the post last night), I have to admit I had a couple of spoonfuls of the ice cream -- it's not bad, just not my favorite! I mean, it still is ice cream...and I like ice cream!

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Announcing the 2011 Ice Cream Cupcake Contest

It's time again for the Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious Ice Cream Cupcake Contest - your opportunity to showcase your amazing ice cream cupcake creations just in time for Summer!

What's an Ice Cream Cupcake?

For a brief introduction to ice cream cupcakes, check out Stef's post on ice cream cupcakes. For tons of inspiration, check out the drool-worthy entries from 2008, 2009, and 2010.


Prizes

This year's winner will receive a whole library of baking cookbooks!!  For the complete list of prizes, see the end of this post.

Judges

This year, we are doing things a bit differently.  We've asked three of our favorite dessert bloggers to help us judge the contest.  If you have not checked out these amazing blogs, now is a good time to head over there, try to figure out what flavors they like and don't like browse their recipes, and leave bribes say, "Hi!"

• Nicole Weston from Baking Bites
• Jessie Oleson from CakeSpy
• Naomi Robinson from Bakers Royale

Each of these judges will be writing a post on their own blogs about their top three ice cream cupcakes - giving you a chance for your cupcake and your blog to get even more exposure!

Official Rules:

• Dates: You can enter any time through June 15, 2011.
• How to Enter:  

1. Create a recipe for ice cream cupcakes! The ice cream cupcakes must contain cake and ice cream (or frozen yogurt, gelato, or something ice cream-like). Cupcakes baked in ice cream cones without a frozen element are not eligible.
2. Write a post on your blog about your creation any time prior to June 15. The post must include a photo, a recipe, and a link to both this post and the post at Cupcake Project. If you don't have a blog, you can still enter (you'll find details on the entry form), but why not start one? 
3. Post a photo of your cupcake to the Cupcake Project Facebook Wall. Please upload as large a photo as possible so that we can be sure to best showcase it in the roundup post. Please include the title of your cupcake and a link to your post in the photo caption.
4. Complete the entry form. 

• Number of Entries per Person: Sorry, we are allowing just one entry per person this year - so make it count! 
• International Entrants:  International readers are welcome to enter, but prizes can not be shipped internationally. You will win bragging rights and you will have the opportunity to gift your prizes to any person or organization in the United States. Update 5/18:  We are willing to ship internationally, but only if you are willing to pay the postage. 

Prizes

The winner will be announced by July 1 and will receive an amazing collection of dessert cookbooks from some of our favorite authors!

From author Krystina Castella:



From authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough:



From Nicole Weston, author and contest judge:



From Jessie Oleson, author and contest judge (to be delivered upon book release):



From Bakerella:




From Emma Hand, creator of Snap Stories and designer of our amazing new Ice Cream Cupcake Contest logo:


(I admit, this last book isn't a cookbook, but baking is definitely a Big Adventure!)

HUGE HUGE thanks to our judges and to all of the authors that provided prizes for this event! 

Happy baking, and start making some room on your bookshelf (you've got to be an optimist, right?)!

First ice cream of vacation

Key Lime Pie and Dulce de Leche at The Ice Cream Cone on Hilton Head Island

Recipe: Crazy for Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

I hate to admit it but it's been so long since I made ice cream :( I can give you the million and one excuses but this post could get very long so instead I'll tell you about how much I missed it. It was so rewarding once done to see my work of art and to see how excited the family was to see I was making a batch especially because it is their favorite kind, Cookies & Cream. 

Funny thing is it is not a flavor I have ever made for some reason and not one I would order but I was reading one of my favorite blogs recently, Beantown Baker (shout out to Boston bloggers), who shared a Cookies & Cream Recipe that sparked my interest. She has a great series called Friday Favs where she has her favorite bloggers providing guest posts every Friday....great idea and glad I caught this one. So a few Fridays ago while catching up on my favorite blogs I came across her Friday Fav featuring Pennies on a Platter who shared her recipe for this great Cookies and Cream Ice Cream and I immediately made it a must make because I knew the family would love it.

I stayed almost true to her recipe. I only had 5 eggs so I was minus an egg, I used Reduced Fat Oreos instead of Double Stuffed basically because I had them in the house and hey saving a few calories can't hurt, and one must when I make ice cream is cooling the final mixture over an ice bath before placing it in the fridge. I truly believe this final step along with straining the final mix helps to make ice cream nice and smooth. Because the mixture will still continue to cook when removed from the stove due to the heat itself, this cooling process allows the mixture to cool rapidly to stop the cooking process immediately. All in all this recipe is a keeper and I am so glad I stumbled upon it.

So I am back on the ice cream making wagon. It was so fun and realized what I have been missing. One reason I hate to make ice cream all the time is because I say to myself, well I will eat it all. But truth be told my husband and daughter ate it all and all I did was have a spoonful..well maybe two! 

Recipe follows after the photo journal...enjoy!

Egg yolks and sugar

Milk and cream

Strain and cool

Churn

Cookies

Mix

Freeze

Eat

Cookies 'N Cream Ice Cream

-adapted from Pennies on a Platter - makes 1 quart 

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

15 Reduced Fat Oreo Cookies, roughly chopped

Bring the milk and cream to just under a boil in a sauce pan, over medium heat. (Bubbles will form around the edges.) Set aside.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium high speed. Reduce the mixer to low speed. Slowly add the milk to the egg mixture until well combined. It is important to pour slowly to prevent the eggs from curdling.

Scrape the combined liquid back into the sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat. Stir constantly for about 3-4 minutes until thickened and coats the back of the spoon. Pour the liquid through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Add the vanilla, cool over an ice bath, cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Pour the cream into the ice-cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. Spoon into a lidded freezer container then stir in the chopped cookies. Freeze 3-4 hours or overnight.