Happy Trails to You!

My awesome younger sister, Arianna, emailed me today with some news...Maryland and Eastern Connecticut also have "ice cream trails" (just like New Hampshire!). She said she thinks only these three states are part of the trend, but like me, she hopes other states follow suit! Apparently these "trails" are a take off on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which I wouldn't have known about unless I read the article Arianna found later in the day...) -- I know ice cream, not liquor!

So, Maryland's trail is quite small (only seven shops) with a special focus: on-farm ice cream. As stated  on their site: "Maryland has seven dairy farms that offer fresh, delicious on-farm ice cream. Together, they make up the newly minted Maryland's Best Ice Cream Trail."  Maryland's trail also has a contest attached. If you are into geocaching (or even if you aren't, now's the time to get started!), get your passport (found in the PDF flyer) stamped at each location, mail it in, and you could win some prizes!

Connecticut's trail focuses only on the eastern part of the state, but it covers thirty-nine ice cream locations, and has a pretty cool map (click on the numbers on the map for more info about each location). In addition to their great brochure, they also have some super special picks (Hockey Fight -- "cherry vanilla original featuring white chocolate chunks as teeth and shredded Bing cherries as blood" -- anyone?) on their site. Maybe the best part of Connecticut's trail? The name. Sundae Drives! I love it.

My sister already suggested a road trip -- I'm totally game.

Graphics courtesy of marylandsbest.net and mystic.org.


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

New Hampshire Does Ice Cream Right!

I came across this awesome, awesome promo for the New Hampshire Dairy Farmers: New Hampshire's 2012 Ice Cream Trail! (Please note that the PDF is a printable version so the list half will be upsidedown when you open it.)

I think every state should be required to have a map like this.

I have only one checked off on this list -- I have a lot of work to do.

Tina, how many have you been to?

Does anyone else know of any other maps like this for other states or areas?

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

Recipe: Three Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

On a whim yesterday I bought Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter at the brand new Ocean State Job Lot that opened in town. Well, kind of a whim. I went to OSJL because I remembered sometimes they have some different foods, and I was actually hoping I'd get ice cream inspired. I did. (I also bought my dog a lot of treats -- they have a huge variety! -- but don't worry, that won't go into any ice cream.)

Anyway, I decided to try and alter a recipe we wrote about a while back...but I think this is the second time I had a tough time altering this recipe for other uses (though I have had some success too...)

Despite what I keep thinking, peanut butter and Nutella really don't have similar texture or viscosity.

So the ice cream tastes good (basically, it tastes like a peanut butter cup in ice cream form) and Husband likes the taste and the texture, but I put it in the ice cream maker and it didn't really freeze and it seemed like no air mixed in. The texture before freezing was like a rich, dense gelato and the texture after freezing was like a rich, dense gelato. Which might not be a bad thing.

Once frozen, it was still dense (obviously) but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Like all ice cream, it would benefit from tempering (sitting at room temperature for a few minutes).

In the meantime, here's how you do it and you can be your own judge. 

Mix one 16 ounce jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams (OK, this is starting out to sound like one of those "Recipes for a Successful Marriage" or something you get as a favor at a wedding), one can of sweetened condensed milk, and 1.5 cups of heavy cream.

Put it in the ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions. Warning: it probably won't "freeze" too much.

Next time (if there is a next time) maybe more cream would make it better for freezing?

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

Happy Ice Cream Cone Day!

When you walk into a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop, they can't pull you in with the smell of ice cream. What smell? Exactly. There's another smell that permeates the air and once I smell it, it screams Ben & Jerry's to me: the waffle cone. When I visited Ben & Jerry's, we had our hand at making waffle cones and waffle bowls -- but we just made the waffles in the iron and shaped them into cones and bowls. Amanda had already made the batter. Darn her! I wanted that recipe. Just so my house could smell like a B&J Scoop Shop on a daily basis! (Hmmmm, marketing idea for B&J...a waffle cone candle -- and I don't even usually like to burn candles. But I'd burn this one!)

I could go into the history of ice cream cones, but it seems like this site and Wikipedia have got us covered. Wikipedia also lists the varieties of cones, including: "waffle cones, cake cones (or wafer cones), pretzel cones, sugar cones and chocolate-coated cones."

What would we do without cones or and the variations they have spawned? Here are a few ice cream cone creations, modifications, and a squirrelly little story about ice cream cones to whet your appetite and perhaps send you out for an ice cream cone to celebrate a very special day: Ice Cream Cone Day.

Emack & Bolio's Flavored Cone
Photo from their website

• Emack & Bolio's claims to have invented the "flavored cone." From their website: "Emack & Bolio’s invented the flavored cone in 1980 and have been improving on the concept ever since. Making the perfect accessory to our Super Premium Ice Cream, there is a large selection to choose from. Looking for something different? Try our Marsh”mellow covered cones with your choice of Oreos, Rice Krispies, Fruit Loops, or Fruity Pebbles! If you are a fan of rainbow or chocolate jimmies we have cones that are dipped in chocolate and then rolled in this delicious topping. If you are feeling a little nuts, we have a cones that are rolled in a mix of them! Chocolate dipped waffle cones also look great rolled in shaved coconut. No matter which one you choose, you can’t go wrong!" Certainly sounds like you "can't go wrong!" Good invention, E&B!
• In Sea Isle City, New Jersey, at Yum Yum's Ice Cream, the signature gum drop that is placed at the bottom of each ice cream cone keeps the ice cream from dripping out the hole at the bottom of a sugar cone. Genius!
• In college, the only food you could easily take out of our dining hall was a soft serve ice cream in a wafer cone, since the cone was the "disposable" dish they didn't mind us taking. I was never a fan of wafer cones, but the sugar cone dripped (no gum drops for us!) so wafer cone it was for me and many of my peers. One day I was with my roommate in the Admissions Building when we looked outside to see a squirrel holding someone's discarded ice cream cone between his paws, munching away.

P.S. Happy National Strawberry Sundae Day too!

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

King Arthur Flour (and Ice Cream?!)

When I think of King Arthur Flour, I think "baked goods" more so than "frozen goods." But I guess I also think "sweets, sweets, sweets," so I guess this awesome King Arthur post shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

My friend Marsha at First Things First sent this awesome link from King Arthur Flour: Cool! Easy homemade ice cream. In particular, I was taken by recipes for Tart Cherry Ice Cream and Pineapple-Coconut Gelato (Pina Colada, anyone?!), but whether you like fruit or chocolate, sorbet or ice cream, they've got you covered!

They also discuss ice cream makers, and have a strong (positive) opinion for the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker: "We’ve tested other brands, and other models; and we’ve found the Cuisinart offers the best balance between performance and price." Of course, at first I thought, "Of course they do, because they sell it and want us to buy it," but then it occurred to me that they aren't the manufacturer and they probably did test a lot to figure out just which one they wanted to sell at their store. 


I've always loved King Arthur Flour (can I just tell you how fun -- and dangerous to my wallet) it was when Jenn and I took a pilgrimage to The Baker's Store last year? And thank you Stacey for introducing me to it all those years ago. Anyway, this post and their dedicated section to ice cream making supplies and ingredients made me love them a little bit more (if possible)...


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