Saturday, April 28, 2012
SpiceDish Saturday {April}: Sweet Tart Lemon Sherbet
Saturday, March 3, 2012
SpiceDish Saturday {March}: Banana Pudding Ice Cream
There is a southern restaurant in my neighborhood called The Front Porch. Fried chicken, grits, pickled okra and banana pudding. Delicious, rightly rich banana pudding served in a small Ball jar. I'm sort of addicted to it. Ok not sort of. Completely. The other night, while gorging myself of a serving of the pudding I decided that it just had to be made into a frozen treat. I make my own vanilla wafers but go ahead and use the boxed ones. They are just as delicious.Banana Pudding Ice Cream
1 cup whole milk
2 cups half and half
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas cut into slices and smashed
1 vanilla bean with seed scraped out
pinch of nutmeg
2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
Place the vanilla bean and seeds into a medium sauce pan. Warm the milk and half and half on medium heat don't let it boil. Beat the yolks with the sugar. Add the yolk mixture to ½ a cup of the cream mixture, then whisk the egg mixture and banana mush into the remaining cream.
Simmer the mixture until it thickens (to the point where it will coat the back of a spoon). Stir in the nutmeg and vanilla. Chill completely then freeze according to your ice-cream maker’s instructions. About five minutes before the ice cream is finished add the crushed wafers.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
What a Bust!
I could lie and say it's made of ice cream. (It's not. It's clay.)
Thanks to Dad for being so great and sending a photo so promptly!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
SpiceDish Saturday {November}: Salt & Pepper Ice Cream
Salt & Pepper Ice Cream
1 ½ cups half & half
1/3 cups sugar
1 ½ tbs mixed color peppercorns- cracked
Pinch of sea salt
3 egg yolks
High quality extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
Pinch of pink sea salt (for topping)
Warm the half & half, sugar, pepper and salt in a medium saucepan. Turn off the heat and cover. Let sit for an hour. Set a strainer on top of a large bowl then re-warm the mixture. Whisk egg yolks in another medium sized bowl. Add a few tbs of the warmed mixture to the yolks and whisk. Continue until all of the mixture has been whisked into the eggs then add mixture back into saucepan on a low heat. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom of pan until the mixture thickens and coats your spoon. Pour through the strainer into bowl then cool over an ice bath. Refrigerate until completely cooled then freeze in ice cream maker.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pink sea salt just before serving.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Spice Dish Saturday {January}: Chocolate-Almond Sorbet
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.
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!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Spice Dish Saturday {December}: Bourbon-Gingerbread Ice Cream
Bourbon-Gingerbread Ice Cream
3 cups half & half
5 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground clove
3 tbs bourbon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup broken gingerbread cake or ½ cup gingerbread cookie pieces
Warm 2 cups of the ½ & ½ , sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Pour the remaining ½ & ½ into a large bowl and put a mesh strainer over the bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yolks. Slowly add some of the warmed mixture into the yolks and whisk vigorously. Slowly combine the two mixtures until completely combined, then return the mixture to the saucepan.Constantly stir the mixture as it warms over medium heat. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pan, until the mixture coats your spoon. Pour the cooked mixture through the strainer, into the remaining ½ & ½. Mix in the spices, bourbon, and vanilla. Cool over ice.
Chill the batter completely! Once it is chilled through, churn it in your ice cream maker according to the instructions. 5 minutes before it is finished add your gingerbread. Let finish freezing in the freezer.
Thanks, EB! You rock! Happy holidays to all and to all a good scoop!
Photo by DNAMichaud on Flickr.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Spice Dish Saturday {October}: Chocolate Guinness Milkshake

One of our favorites, Guinness- milk chocolate ice cream as a milkshake. Genius!
This is a take on David Lebovitz' Guinness-Milk Chocolate ice cream. I love that flavor, but was looking for something a little different for a party I was having a few weeks ago. I wanted a dessert-slash-adult beverage so I started with his basics and came up with a Chocolate Guinness Milkshake. It's a two-fer! Boozy and desserty! So tasty and unexpected. It's doesn't really taste like beer, more like the richest brownie you ever drank.
I made it in the ice cream machine because it really does do 'frozen' cocktails well, but you could easily do this in the blender.
Chocolate Guinness Milkshake
5 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of kosher salt
3 cups half & half
1 cup Guinness
1 tsp amaretto
Warm the cocoa powder, 1 cup half & half, sugar and salt in a saucepan. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks together, then slowly add the warmed mixture to the yolks, whisking quickly. Once incorporated, pour mixture back into the saucepan. Let the mixture warm again over medium heat, stirring constantly until it is thick enough to cover the back of your spoon. Remove from heat and add the chocolate pieces. Whisk until the chocolate melts. Strain the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in the remaining half & half, amaretto and Guinness.
Chill thoroughly in the fridge. It should only take about 15-20 minutes of churning (depending on your maker) to get this to milkshake consistency. Plunk in a straw and enjoy!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Spice Dish Saturday {September}: Cream Green Apple Ice Cream
This flavor was inspired by my recent trip to Paris. One morning for breakfast, I happened across some apple flavored yogurt. Simple, but completely divine. Unlike anything I’ve ever tasted in the US. Maybe it’s because French dairy products, are well, actually made of dairy. Not a collection of chemicals and preservatives. Whatever the reason, I was in love. I couldn’t stop thinking about that yogurt and decided I hate to recreate it at home. This is rich, creamy, speckled with vanilla and perfumed with a hint of tart, green apple. Enjoy!
Creamy Green Apple Ice Cream
1 lb tart green apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean (split lengthwise)
With a cheese grater, shred apples (including the peel) into a medium saucepan. Stir in lemon juice. Pour 1 cup of the cream into the pan. Add sugar & salt. Stir. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and add to the mixture. Then drop the bean in. Warm the mixture until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add rest of cream and milk. Let steep, covered, for one hour. Strain into large bowl and chill completely. Churn in your mixer. For a caramel apple effect, top with a creamy caramel sauce.
Thanks, EB!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Spice Dish Saturday {July}: Blueberry Apricot Sorbet
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.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
SpiceDish Saturday {June}: Plain But Perfect Vanilla Gelato
Thanks, EB!
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 whole vanilla beans
In a thick bottomed saucepan, mix the milk and cream. Split your vanilla beans and scrape the seeds into the milk mixture. Drop the beans in. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Let steep for 1 hour. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until whipped. Remove bean pods from milk mixture. Gradually pour the mixture into the egg yolks, and whisk constantly. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Pour the mixture through a strainer and back into a large bowl. Cover, and chill completely in the fridge. Once chilled through, pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. You may need to put the gelato in a container, and ‘ripen’ it in the freezer until it is firm.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
SpiceDish Saturday {May}: Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
We love us some SpiceDish Saturdays and we are so happy it's that time of month! I am especially excited for this one because my strawberries are growing like weeds (um, yeah...) and flowering like crazy. So, if Ernie the dog doesn't eat them, I'll have to make some of this when our strawberries start to appear...Thanks EB!
Okay folks, so it’s the beginning of strawberry season around these parts and I’m a sucker for ‘em. I always have been. I was not a Barbie girl. I was a Strawberry Shortcake girl. There’s just something about those little, dimple covered bombs of deliciousness. This recipe highlights the first, sweet berries of the season and is just the right balance of tart to that sweet.
Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
1 lb organic strawberries, chopped into small pieces
1 cup of sugar
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
The zest of 1 lemon
1 cup cream-top whole milk plain yogurt
Cover the strawberries with the sugar, add the lemon juice and the lemon zest. Stir well. Let sit for about 30-45 minutes. Squish the mixture with a potato masher until it resembles jam. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Stir in the yogurt and mix well. Freeze according to your mixer’s directions.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
SpiceDish Saturday {April}: Lemon-Rose Petal Ice Cream
The world is thawing, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and new fresh flavors are everywhere. I was gifted with a large stash of lemons so perfect, they looked like plastic. Their fragrant, oil packed skin called out to be blended with rich cream an a little something special. I found the perfect something special at Bi-Rite the other day. Candied rose petals! This recipe would work fantastically with candied violets too. Lemon-Rose Petal Ice Cream
3 Large lemons (zested & juiced)
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups ½ & ½
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
4 tbs candied rose petals
Warm the ½ & ½, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a saucepan until just simmering. Remove from heat and let sit for1 hour. Re-warm mixture. While it warms, whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add several tablespoons of the cream mixture into the yolk mixture and whisk. Repeat procedure until the two mixtures are completely blended together. Return mixture to the saucepan and heat on medium, stirring constantly. The custard is cooked when it thickens and coats the spoon.
Pour the mixture through a strainer back into your mixing bowl. Chill the mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes. Stir thoroughly and put into mixer. While the ice cream churns, crush 2 tbs of the rose petals (or lavender, or violet). 5 minutes before the mixture is finished churning add both the crushed and whole candied rose petals.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
SpiceDish Saturday {March}: Brown Sugar Banana Bread Ice Cream
Here’s another banana based ice cream for you. I just love a good banana flavored anything and I wanted something to complement my Panettone Bread Pudding. This one is crazy easy. No cooking, just mix and freeze!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Brown Sugar Banana Bread Ice Cream
3 frozen and thawed bananas
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup ½ & ½
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp brandy
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp each of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, & ginger
Dash of salt
4 squares of cinnamon graham crackers, crushed
With a banana masher, mix the bananas, brown sugar, brandy, vanilla and spices. Whisk in the cream and ½ & ½. Chill for 30 minutes. Stir to mix completely and pour into your ice cream maker. While it is churning, crush the crackers. Pour the crackers into the maker 5 minutes before the mixture is finished churning.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
SpiceDish Saturday {February}: Cocoa-Sour Cream-Blackberry Ice Cream
It's time for another SpiceDish Saturday. Without further ado...
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There's no custard base so it's really very easy and all the richness comes from the sour cream. Enjoy!
Cocoa-Sour Cream-Blackberry Ice Cream
1 ½ cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
4 tbs dutch cocoa
1 ½ cup frozen blackberries
Heat the sour cream, cocoa and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisking until it comes to a low simmer. Pour mixture into bowl and add blackberries. Cover and place in refrigerator until cooled completely. Once cooled, use a handheld immersion blender to blitz the mixture (if you don't have one a blender works just as well).
Pour into mixer and chill following directions.
Thanks, SpiceDish!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
SpiceDish Saturday {January}: Champagne Sorbet
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.
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.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
SpiceDish Saturday {December}: Banana Spice Snap
Call it a sign of the economic times, but I find that most of my recipes lately consist of leftovers or pantry items that I try to stretch as far as possible. This ice cream was no different.... and surprisingly led to great tasting results. Trying to rid myself of at least a few of the dozens of frozen bananas I have in the freezer, I decided to make banana ice cream. When making banana ice cream it's actually very important to use bananas that have been previously frozen (I could go into an Alton Brown like spiel here but lets just say it has to do with the formation of ice crystals and move on). I wanted to add some oomph to the banana with spices because, well, I love spice ice cream so I added ginger and then one upped the spice factor with a few crumbled ginger snaps I had sitting in the pantry. This is a surprisingly rich, creamy and decadent ice cream that also happens to be pretty easy to put together! Enjoy.
Banana Spice Snap
3/4 cup whole milk
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 ½ cups mashed banana that has been frozen and thawed (fresh banana will turn into frozen ice chunks!)
1 cup ginger snaps, broken in pieces
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 dash nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
Warm the milk, sugar and ginger in a saucepan. When sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Pour cream into a bowl and set a strainer on top of the bowl. In another bowl, whisk yolks. Add a few tbsp's of the milk to the yolks and whisk. Slowly add rest of the milk while whisking constantly. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Heat on medium. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, until mixture thickens and coats the spoon. Be sure to stir constantly so eggs don't harden. Pour the mixture, through the strainer, into the cream. Stir in well mushed banana and vanilla. (For a smoother texture, blend in blender). Cool over ice, then put in the fridge to cool completely. When cold, freeze in ice cream mixer (according to directions). 5 minutes before finished, add cookie pieces. If soft, ripen in the freezer for a few hours.Thanks, AFEB!
P.S. Check out SpiceDish's site for some "Rubberized Awesomeness" -- totally up our alley. Really, this is rated G, people (as my friend Ashu would say).
Saturday, November 8, 2008
New Feature: Spice Dish Saturday!
A while back the oh-so-fabulous Cakespy introduced us to EB of SpiceDish...with that introduction, we found a new friend, a charming person, and a ice cream maker a la mode! (ok, I just made up that expression -- what I am trying to say is she is AWESOME.) After following her wonderful blog and all the recipes she creates and/or tries, Tina and I had a wonderful idea -- let's invite SpiceDish to be a monthly guest blogger. So we asked and she said "yes!" How lucky we are!Without further ado, here is the first installment of SpiceDish Saturday!
This is an ice cream for the adults out there who find themselves pulling melted skittles out of their carpets, bubble gum wads stuck in sox and new cavities in their kid's heads. This is a treat to that will use up that bit of pumpkin you have leftover from muffin making, the dregs of cocoa you haven't made hot chocolate with and what's leftover in those pumpkin heads full of 'fun-size' candy bars. It may feature kid-sized candy bits but its flavor is most decidedly adult. The deep chocolate base with a hint of vegetal pumpkin flavor both spiced by cinnamon is decadent all by itself, but the candy bits bring back those holiday memories.
Cocoa-Pumpkin Ice Cream With Goodies! (aka Holiday Aftermath)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup dutch cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup pumpkin puree
½ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Mixed mini-candy bars, chopped
In a saucepan add the milk, sugar, cocoa and salt. Heat while whisking until it froths up. Turn off the heat and add the pumpkin. Stir in. Chill until cold then freeze in your ice cream maker. 5 minutes before it is finished churning add the candy pieces. Enjoy!
Beautiful photos courtesy of EB of SpiceDish as well!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Recipe: Cake Batter Ice Cream
For the recipe I used the Vanilla Ice Cream #1 (Pure and Simple) from Bruce Weinstein's The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More
Ingredients:2/3 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Yellow Cake Mix
1 cup skim milk
2/3 cup half and half
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Add the cake mix.
Bring the milk and half and half to a simmer in a medium sauce pan. Once simmering, remove from stove and pour the milk mixture into the egg, sugar and cake mix and beat until well mixed. Pour the entire mixture back into the sauce pan, and cook over low heat while mixing constantly until the mixture thickens. The mixture may start to "bake" -- if this happens, take it off the stove immediately, and then pour through a strainer into a clean bowl. Allow the mixture to cool for a bit and add the heavy cream.
Cover and refrigerate until cool.
Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.
For an extra treat, I added rainbow sprinkles to the ice cream semi-frozen ice cream (about five minutes before I was ready to remove it from the ice cream maker.) Eat immediately or transfer to another container and freeze.
For another cake batter recipe that looks amazing, visit EB at SpiceDish.



