Brown Sugar Strawberry Ice Cream

Happy National Ice Cream Month!

Here's a recipe to start your month off right!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pint strawberries
1/4 cup white sugar

3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch salt
2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon vodka

FOR THE STRAWBERRIES:

Hull and quarter the strawberries (or even eighth them if they are really big). 

Add berries and white sugar to sauce pan and cook on low for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Remove from heat and strain the strawberry and sugar mixture through a fine sieve. 

If the liquid is runny, put it back on the stove for a bit until it thickens to a syrup. (I didn't have to do this the second time I made it, as it had thickened nicely.) Set aside syrup to cool. 

Place cooked strawberries in a small bowl and set aside to cool as well.

Once cooled, add vodka to the cooked strawberries. The vodka will help the strawberries from becoming icy when they are frozen.

FOR THE CUSTARD:

Whisk egg yolks, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl until smooth. 

Pour cream into saucepan and heat to just before it begins to simmer.

Slowly add the hot cream into the egg mixture while beating them together.

Pour mixture back into saucepan and cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Strain mixture through a strainer into a clean bowl. Allow it to cool slightly and add the strawberry syrup.

FINAL STEPS:

Refrigerate strawberries and ice cream base overnight (or until completely cooled).

Pour in custard into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions. Near the end of churning, strain the strawberry-vodka mixture reserving the strawberries. (I made my husband drink the strained vodka. He didn't complain!) 

Add the strawberries to the ice cream maker and churn for a few minutes longer until well mixed. 

Ice Cream Monsters by Erik X. Raj

A while back we got an email from Erik Raj telling us about a book he wrote for the iPad, Ice Cream Monsters. He asked if we'd like to take a peek and we agreed.

Ice Cream Monsters is a cute story for kids about embracing our differences: "Some ice cream monsters have [blank]...some ice cream monsters don't," each page reads. It then goes on to say how even though the monsters are different, they are still friends.

The pages graced with wonderful (and interactive) illustrations.

The book can be read on your own or have it read to you by Raj.


It's a short story that's fun and easy for kids to grasp. I haven't tried it yet with my own almost-two-year-old -- she might be a little young. It's recommended for the 4+ crowd. 


Check out the demo here!


It's an inexpensive purchase at the App Store, but if you leave a comment by Friday, you can be entered to win a promo code to get it for free!

Thanks for sharing, Erik!

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

Happy last day of National Ice Cream Month!

Wow...made our final post in the final hours of the last day of National Ice Cream month. It's been an awesome month posting daily and I think we both have to admit it's a lot of work but in the end so much awesome stuff to share and we too learn lots along the way and eat way too much ice cream. 

BUT summer's not over yet and there's definitely more to come including an awesome giveaway so stay tuned!

Ultimate Coupons' Cool Ice Cream Infographic

We've posted about this topic in the past but none have had a fun Infographic for this same important question. In honor of National Ice Cream Month, Ultimate Coupons created this fun graphic based on "what does your favorite ice cream flavor say about your personality?" and we thought it'd be fun to share. Funny according to this chart I am a "romantic" (mint chocolate chip) and my husband is a "wildcard" (Rum Raisin). I was amused by his chuckle at that one. Must admit it's the other way around but still fun none the less. As Ultimate Coupons says, it's as accurate as reading your daily horoscope, but lots of fun to read. Check out what your favorite flavor says about you."

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

Enjoy the Last Day of National Ice Cream Month

Today is the last day of National Ice Cream Month -- we've enjoyed it thoroughly but we are ready to take a break from daily posts for a bit -- though we'll still post often. This month always reminds us of how many awesome ice cream related things there are to post about. So we'll keep 'em coming and please feel free to send us anything you think is blog-worthy as well!

It was a big month, full of contests, recipes, events, and even our 300th post! (We got some great feedback which I'll share soon, as well as picked the winners from our drawing, but I just realized I can't post the winners names because I only have their email addresses -- but congrats to our winners!)

I am keeping this short because today is a special day for me...my golden birthday...thirty-one on the thirty-first. While my friend Karla (who first told me about "golden birthdays") wanted to celebrate her golden birthday by being on Deal or No Deal, I am off to celebrate in a simpler way -- with cake and ice cream -- perfection!

Thanks to Anisha Palmer for the yummy photo above.

[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!

National Ice Cream Month--July 1-31

Get ready for a month full of posts celebrating National Ice Cream Month! Check back daily for a new recipe, a fun fact, or anything else ice cream that we find particularly inspiring! We'll also be celebrating the many ice cream specific holidays that fall in July.

Photo at right by Anisha Palmer Photography.

Bittersweet Ice Cream...

July 31 has often been a bittersweet day for me. When I was in school, it just about marked the halfway point of summer vacation (it was all downhill from there!), but it is also my birthday.

Now, even as I get older, I love birthdays, but now that I am aware of the existence of National Ice Cream Month, it will forever be the last day of the best month of the year.

So, here I am, another year older, and one ice cream month wiser.

Thanks for taking part in our National Ice Cream Month post-a-thon and keep visiting! (This month has certainly inspired us to be better bloggers!)

P.S. Results of the onesie cone-test will be up soon! Good luck!

And we have a winner!...

I randomly drew a name from the feedback on the most creative ice cream flavors, and xsquared was the winner of the free pint of Ben and Jerry's! Way to go!

I loved the feedback though and I am going to relist the creative flavors our readers posted:

• i never seen these crazy flavours you speak of! I am going to have to start looking harder!
  Weirdest Ive had is Green Tea, but thats fairly common really :S -Tanybug
  

• I actually tried Red Bean at our local chinese restaurant and it was surprisingly very good. It had more of a spicy flavor like Ginger does rather than sweet. -Our very own Tina
  

• I've made 2 slightly odd flavors:
  
  1. David Lebovitz's Candied Bacon Ice Cream - delicious! But only the first night. After that, the bacon got unpleasantly rubbery in the ice cream. Recipe: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/03/candied_bacon_i_1.html
  
  2. Toasted Sesame Vanilla - the base base delicious but I didn't like the texture of the sesame seeds - next time I would leave them out.
  Recipe: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/03/in-the-kitchen-with-lara-ferroni.html -xsquared
  

• I didn't try this because it really looked disgusting, but we had a friend whose favorite concoction was Mint Chocolate Chip with a dollop of peanut butter mixed in! -Jennifer from Ohio

Thanks all for some good flavor ideas to fill out Ice Cream Month! I am not sure I will try all of them (I don't like sesame seeds or green tea), but they are good to have on the back burner for my ice cream party.

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

Happy Fourth of July!

Trying to find some super cool Independence Day Ice Cream treats for you, and it has been quite a struggle.

I found a couple to get you in the mood though...

Thinking frozen treats and red, white, and blue,the first thing that comes to mind is being about seven years old, standing in line at the Washington Monument, and Mom and Dad buying us those rocket pops from a vendor. . What a treat! It certainly made the line go faster (or at least it seemed...) I also remember thinking how cool it was that our popsicle mimicked the monument ahead of us It looks like it is a Blue Bunny treat that we had: Bomb Pop, Jr.: cherry, lime and blue raspberry on a stick! Added bonus? I just found a Blue Bunny coupon! Yay!

On my search for Rocket Pops, I also found them called Firecracker Pops as well as the Blue Bunny Bomb Pops. Though Firecracker Pops aren't exactly the treats we had, but they look pretty close as well -- I am sure though, in 1986, our treats did not have an exploding candy top. I would have remembered that! A search on Google also brought up a listing of tons of recipes to make your own "rocket pops."

I am headed up to Concord, Vermont for the fourth, but if I were home, I certainly would be making these little fellas from BakeSpace. How cute!

Have a great fourth of July -- full of frozen treats!


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