Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream & Brownie Sundae

Hi, everybody! I'm Michelle from One Ordinary Day and I'm excited to be Ingrid's guest blogger today. She's off enjoying her vacation, and while she's away it seems like the perfect time to make something dark and chocolaty. Are you with me?

There's a lot of pressure when you're writing for someone else's blog... I don't want to spell any words wrong. I want to share a great recipe with you. I want to make my friend happy. And I really want to make a good impression. With those things swirling around in my head, I just couldn't quite make up my mind about what to bake. My indecision turned out to be a good thing, because instead of posting only one recipe, I'm sharing two! It's a two-for-one! Come to think of it, if I give you the recipe for my chocolate sauce then you're really getting three recipes. Woop!

Let's start out with the brownies. You can definitely use a boxed mix, but if you have the time to make Ultimate Brownies, you won't be disappointed. The name says it all. They are seriously good and pair perfectly with this ice cream. Come to think of it, they pair perfectly with anything and everything. But since you can find that recipe on my blog, let's move on and meet the real star here. Chocolate-peanut butter ice cream. Hello, new best friend.

I love peanut butter. My kids and I could possibly starve if peanut butter was taken from us. I swear, at least one person eats a peanut butter sandwich in our house every single day. And chocolate? I can't even describe my baby girl's love of the stuff or how smitten Sam and I are with anything dark and fudgy. Jim's got a sweet tooth too, and he would surely never turn down dessert. So it comes as no surprise that this sundae was a hit with all of us.

This chocolate-peanut butter ice cream recipe comes straight from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. The man knows his ice cream. His recipes never disappoint, and this one has the added perk of requiring no eggs and very little prep time. And, people, I can't even put into words how delicious this ice cream is. Is it appropriate to use the word "luscious" when you're describing ice cream? Yes? Good, because this is absolutely luscious!

Don't let summer pass by without building a big, beautiful sundae with all the trimmings. It's the perfect way to end a sunny day.
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Recipe: Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 c. half and half
1/4 c. unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 c. granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter

Whisk together the half and half, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil. (It will start to foam up.) Remove from heat and whisk in the peanut butter, stirring until thoroughly blended.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions. (I find that chilling the ice cream mixture in an ice bath is the fastest way to get to eat my ice cream. I fill a big bowl with ice and water, then set my saucepan inside. You can also just use the fridge, but when I'm craving ice cream, I want to use the fastest method I can!)

Makes 1 quart.

Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Syrup

1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. water
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Whisk cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a pot until combined. Add water and whisk or stir until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove syrup from heat and allow to cool. When cooled completely, stir in vanilla extract until well combined. Pour syrup into an airtight container and refrigerate.

Makes approx. 1 3/4 c. of syrup and will keep nicely in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.

Caramelized Banana Crisp with Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

Yes!  This is as good as it sounds especially if you are a fan of bananas and we are!  My three loved it!

I saw the crisp on Teanna’s blog, Spork or Foon and took Jaime of Good Eats ‘n Sweet Treats’ advice and made Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream.  The ice cream was made in the beginning of July by the baking group Sweet Melissa Sundays.  Only the weekly hostess posts the recipe.  Everyone else links back to her.  I’m following their tradition and just giving you the link to the recipe.  I will though provide you with Teanna’s Caramelized Banana Crisp recipe. ‘Cause I’m nice like that. Other than doubling the recipe I didn’t change anything.  Teanna  topped hers with ice cream and Hot Buttered Rum Sauce. I forgot about the sauce and by the time I remembered we had already scrapped our “bowls” clean!  :) 

Caramelized Banana Crisp

For the Bananas:

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 medium bananas

Melt butter in large sauce pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and lower heat to a simmer.  Let simmer for 2 min. Slice bananas in a diagonal into 1/3" inch slices. Arrange in a single layer in sauce pan, turning after 2 minutes, until golden brown on each side.

For the Crisp:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup oats

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter or spray two individual ramekins.Combine bananas, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a ramekin.Mix sugar, flour, oats and salt. Cut in butter until it forms crumbs. Scatter mixture over batter and bake 40 minutes or until browned.

Okay, so you checked out the recipe?  Would I make this again?  Yes!  BUT here’s what I would do differently……skip caramelizing the banana.  It’s unnecessary.  With the crisp baked for 40 minutes the bananas will caramelize inside the oven. I followed the recipe and mine were actually past caramelized and extremely mushy.  Instead place the banana slices in the ramekins and top with the brown sugar and butter.  While I baked my crisps for the 40 minutes and I think I should have checked and pulled them earlier.  Maybe 5 minutes earlier.  Watch yours.  Last change, I’d add some nuts to the crisp.  

I did make some changes to the ice cream recipe. I didn’t have any vanilla beans so I used some vanilla bean paste instead.  I also didn’t have any dry skim milk and just omitted it.

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In an earlier post I mentioned being busy with football and cheerleading practices after work everyday. Devon, one of the twins is playing football again and  Babygirl is now a cheerleader. She’ll be cheering for his team!  She’s very excited, especially with her uniform and all the other girlie accessories that go along with it.  Here’s a photo of her.  (Monica, think Ingrid with glasses and curly, darker hair, LOL!)

Technorati Tags: bananas,brown sugar,crisps,ice cream,vanilla

I Know What You’re Thinking…..

You’re thinking these look familiar but they’re not the mini cheesecakes I blogged about recently. These are the Twins’ birthday request.  Last Saturday was their 13th birthday. A few days prior I asked them if there was anything special they’d like me to bake for them.  Jalen quickly responded with a request for a cookies and cream ice cream cake.  Devon’s request was for a cookie cake.   After much deliberation they decided on the cookies and cream ice cream cake.   Though the request was made for a cake I decided to go with a brownie base as they love to top their brownies with ice cream and generally take a pass on chocolate cake.  It only took me a minute longer to remember seeing these two posts on Annie’s Eats. 

Here’s Annie’s post for the brownies and directions which I used as my guideline.  While I used Annie’s brownie recipe  I’m pretty certain you can use whichever one floats your boat.  You could even use your fave boxed brownie mix.  My biggest change was to use my mini cheesecake pan (Love it!) and to top my brownies with a different flavor ice cream.  I also made standard size ice cream brownies cupcakes as I had plenty of batter left over.  Besides being super cool looking and tasting great the stand out part of this dessert was the cookies and cream ice cream. 

My only bit of advice is to let your ice cream brownie cupcakes sit out for several minutes before peeling off the cupcake liner but not too long.  It becomes mess once the ice cream truly starts to melt.  Even after peeling the liner off you’ll need to let it sit for several more minutes as the brownie will be difficult to cut into with your spoon otherwise.   It’s a pain but wait as it doesn’t taste as good when the brownie is hard as a rock.

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
15-20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat.  Heat until bubbles form around the edges.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth and well combined.  Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.   Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 5-8 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon (about 175 degrees F on an instant read thermometer).  Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until completely chilled.

Once the mixture is well chilled, pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Once the mixture is softly frozen, transfer half of it to a storage container.  Add half of the chopped Oreo pieces and fold in gently with a rubber spatula.  Add the remaining ice cream and Oreo pieces to the container, and fold once more until the mixture is evenly combined.  Freeze until completely hardened.

Technorati Tags: brownies,cookies and cream,ice cream

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream & Flavor of the Month

Bridget from Bake at 350 has started a new baking group and I’ve decided to throw my hat in.  In the past I’ve been leery of joining any of the groups.  There are so many talented bakers and bloggers I felt that I really wasn’t up to their standards.  It didn’t help that I also hate deadlines.  I tend to leave things to the last minute. Then of course life decides to throw me curveball and I’m scrambling to get done even later than I intended. Well, no more!  While I still have a waaays to go before I’d consider myself proficient  I am more confident in what skills I do have.  So with that said I’ve join The Flavor of the Month. 

This month’s flavor was pie.  The rules are simple make and blog about anything “pie”. Then post on the last or second to the last day of the month.  When I first saw that we were doing “pie” my thoughts were great the one thing I haven’t yet tried to make.  Knowing for my first “challenge” I didn’t want to go too far outside my comfort zone I racked my brain for something pie but not in the traditional sense.  Last week while catching up on my blog reads I was ecstatic to see Key Lime Pie Ice Cream on Erin’s blog, Erin’s Food Files. Yay, this was what I was making as my entry, Key Lime Pie Ice Cream!

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
from Cooking Light
1 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup bottled Key lime juice (such as Nellie and Joe's)
1/2 cup whipping cream
Dash of salt
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
6 graham crackers (1 1/2 cookie sheets), coarsely crushed, divided (I didn’t crush mine but broke them into big pieces.)
Key lime wedges (optional)
Combine first 5 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour mixture into freezer can of an ice-cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir 1/3 cup graham crackers into ice cream. (I gently added mine after I stopped churning it and spooned it out.) Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container, and cover and freeze for 1 hour or until firm. Sprinkle each serving with 1 teaspoon graham crackers. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired. (I broke up several more graham crackers and layered them on the bottom of my glass then topped ‘em with two big scoops of key lime pie ice cream.  Top the scoops with cool whip (which oddly enough tasted better to me than whipped cream with this).  Garnish with zest and lime slice and you have Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Sundae! )
Yield 6 servings (3/4 cup) Calories: 317; Fat: 9.5g (sat 5.3g,mono 2.7g,poly 0.3g); Protein: 8.8g; Carbohydrate: 50.3g; Fiber: 0.1g; Cholesterol: 36mg; Iron: 0.4mg; Sodium: 190mg; Calcium: 275mg

I’ve you like lime, like tart and tangy then this is for YOU!  This might be my new fave ice cream of the summer.  It’s so good I’ve kept quiet about it.  Thank goodness the Twins don’t read my blog (Though they do tell everyone about it!  They’re proud of their Mama!  :)) The only one who knows about it is Babygirl and she’s still up in the air about it.

Btw, I had every intention of making homemade graham crackers as seen here but time and other baking ventures yummily got in my way.

Technorati Tags: flavor of the month,ice cream,key lime