Book Review: Scoop: 125 Specialty Ice Creams from the Nation's Best Creameries

My parents got me a copy of Ellen Brown's Scoop: 125 Specialty Ice Creams from the Nation's Best Creameries for Christmas. The other day I was able to crack it open and made Vietnamese Cinnamon Gelato (adapted from Cold Fusion Gelato in Newport, Rhode Island).

Since the picture speaks a thousand words, here are some brief thoughts:

1. This flavor is among one of my husband's favorites. I love it too. This is great since I have a Costco sized purchase of Vietnamese (Saigon) Cinnamon.
2. This book is among one my new favorites. I highly recommend it!
3. I must go to Newport for some Cold Fusion!
4. It's good news that I can get Cold Fusion at Whole Foods in the meantime.

Waffle Sundae

Tina and I are often get emails from companies asking if we want to try their products. Since we both love getting mail and packages, if we can find a way to work the product in with ice cream, we are quick to agree!

A few months back we got an email asking if we wanted to try Smucker's Snack'n Waffles. Well, sure! I wasn't quite sure how we'd work it in, but we'd figure out a way.

We got coupons in the mail, but took me a while to pick up my box of waffles since my regular store didn't carry them. I finally picked them up today. My husband is at the gym and I am eating a waffle sundae. A chocolate chip Snack'n Waffle, a scoop of vanilla and some hot fudge sauce I had lying around (yes, it happened to be Smucker's Hot Fudge as well!). Not the most beautiful creation, but it sure was good...A waffle-y cone type thing going on, some vanilla, and some syrup flavor (it's baked right into the waffle) and lots of chocolate!

SpiceDish Saturday {January}: Espresso Chip Frozen Yogurt

When EB of SpiceDish sent this recipe she said: “I HIGHLY recommend [this recipe]. I was kind of shocked how well it came out. Had it for breakfast this morning!” If I liked anything in the coffee family, I certainly would have, but I'll have to trust EB's opinion -- which is usually spot on...

It's that paradoxical time of year when our bodies crave lighter foods after months of feasting but we still have those cravings for sweet treats that became habitual. This is the perfect thing for these January days. It's sweet, but not too sweet, tart but not too tart, creamy but not too creamy.... you get the idea. It's also possibly one of the easiest recipes ever!

Espresso Chip Frozen Yogurt
1cup greek yogurt (either plain or vanilla)
¾ cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
¾ cup whole milk
1 cup cold espresso
1 tbs crushed chocolate covered coffee beans

Whisk together all ingredients and chill completely. Freeze in your ice cream maker, 10 minutes for a shake, 20 for frozen yogurt.

Enjoy!

Fried Ice Cream Friday

I had never had fried ice cream until New Year's Eve. You would think I would have tried it a the Minnesota State Fair where everything is deep fried, but I didn't see it when I went. Luckily, I have a new source. My brother-in-law is the king of deep frying! ☺ Since almost no one in my family is really that into New Year's, we've kind of started this tradition of "Deep Fried New Year's" -- yep, we go out with a bang, before starting afresh in the New Year.

This year, the hit of the party was fried ice cream. Deep fried ice cream takes commitment. You can't just decide you want deep fried ice cream. It takes preparation. Though I wasn't there for the prep, there's a lot of scooping, coating, and freezing to be done.

My brother-in-law used Rick Browne's The Frequent Fryers Cookbook, which apparently hasn't been purchased by the public that frequently because it is unfortunately out of print.

Anyway, I urge you to try fried ice cream at the store. Order it next time it is offered at a restaurant or find a recipe online (perhaps this one by Emeril?) if you can't procure a copy of The Frequent Fryers Cookbook. I can't quite explain the goodness of fried ice cream, but it's truly worth trying.

Deep fried photo courtesy of Larry Schlegel © 2011.

Happy National Irish Cream Day!

Sorry I happened to stumble across a National Food and Drink Day calendar and it inspired me for posts! So today happens to be National Irish Cream day...hmmm...gotta say I love it with coffee but that has nothing to do with ice cream. Recently Baileys Coffee Creamers contacted us to see if we wanted to promote their Coffee creamers and the both of us scratched our head thinking but how do we incorporate it into ice cream. We all love free samples but really it has to be relevant, right?! My first thought was a mocha milk shake with irish cream creamer mixed in YUM! Hopefully you'll see  a future post on that but in the mean time we've also found some great recipes using the true thing. Here's a recipe straight from Ice Cream Ireland for some great Irish Cream Liqueur Ice Cream...enjoy!