I is for Ice Cream

My favorite desserts are cakes or cupcakes, but Peter's first choice is ice cream just about every time.  We've had some fantastic frozen treats together.  In Charlottesville, we like to get the chilled glass artist's palette at Splendora's where you can sample eight different tiny scoops of gelato; the presentation is so fun and you get to try lots of different flavors without committing to a whole serving.  I have always enjoyed going to Arch's to get a scoop of frozen yogurt with a glob of half-cooked gooey brownie batter on top.  It's one of their signature toppings and it takes fro-yo to the next level.  Arch's is a college girl's staple at UVA, especially since they offer all sorts of Wow Cow low-calorie frozen yogurts and they have a hotline to call and check on the flavors of the day.  Genius!

Beyond Charlottesville, Peter and I like to indulge in ice cream when we travel.  I've got fond memories of sharing gelato in Rome while sitting outside the Pantheon, splitting a dipped ice cream in Prague, and trying some snazzy sundaes on a boat tour of the Rhine River valley in Germany.  We also love the occasional Blizzard from Dairy Queen at Smith Mountain Lake.  Who doesn't?  One of my favorite ice creams on a vacation though was on our honeymoon in Cabo; we ordered a trio of flavors and absolutely adored the combo of mango, tequila, and Mexican raw sugar ice creams.  We came home with the resort's recipe for tequila ice cream and have since recreated it for a flashback to our best vacation ever.  I promise I'll share that recipe one day!              

Since we got married, I've started making ice creams for us to enjoy at home.  We received the Kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment as a wedding gift and I'd definitely recommend it.  It's easy to use and doesn't require any rock salt because you freeze the canister before churning your ice cream.  It also allows you to make just the right amount of ice cream.  Many of the recipes I've come across are for 1 quart and I find that's a nice size for storing and serving.  We seem to run out of ice cream just as we're getting tired of the flavor.  A quart isn't so much that it sits around in the freezer collecting freezer burn.  

One of our favorite homemade ice cream flavors is Cookies n' Cream and I'll share that recipe today.  I've tried other "quick" ice cream recipes that don't require making a custard or "low fat" versions that use skim milk or don't have cream, but I find that the whole milk and cream are required for the smooth, creamy consistency we expect and crave.  The lower fat milks (skim or 1%) are more sensitive to curdling during the cooking process and tend to be icier and more crystalized after a few days in the freezer.  Splurge on whole milk and cream because the ice cream is rich and delicious and you don't need much to feel satisfied.  Be careful when heating your custard because if the temperature rises above 170 F, you can easily end up scrambling your whole recipe and there's no going back from there.  Stir it constantly and use a thermometer if you're worried that you're going to overheat it.  Check out this website that shows a picture of how your custard should look on the back of a spoon.          

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

From Williams-Sonoma Ice Cream  

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract)

6 egg yolks

1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

In a saucepan, combine the milk, 1 c. cream, and vanilla.  Cook over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pan (about 5 minutes).  Combine the egg yolks, sugar, and remaining 1/2 c. cream in a bowl and whisk to smooth out the mixture.  The sugar should begin to dissolve.  Remove the milk mixture from the heat and gradually add about 1/2 c. of it to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the eggs.  Pour the whole egg mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk mixture and stir to combine.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (don't stop!) with a wooden spoon until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it. Do not let the custard boil.  Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl and if you used a vanilla bean, discard it.  Place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and water.  Stir occasionally until cook and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of your mixture to prevent a skin from forming.  Refrigerate your ice cream mixture for several hours or up to a day.  

Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and let it churn until it's a soft-serve consistency.  Transfer your ice cream to a freezer-safe container.  Let it harden in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving.  Makes 1 quart.  

Cookies n' Cream Variety

Put 15-20 Oreo cookies in a gallon-size plastic bag and crush them using a rolling pin or your hands.  You want some larger chunks.  I've used the food processor before to make fine Oreo crumbs, but this usually just turns the ice cream gray when I mix it together;  it's best to have some small pieces and some large pieces of cookie.  As soon as you take the vanilla ice cream out of your ice cream maker, use a spatula to gently blend in the cookie crumbs.  Don't over stir.  

M is for Meringues

One of my favorite cookies is a light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth meringue.  I like vanilla the most and I like the teeny tiny bite-sized ones because you can eat a whole bunch and you haven't done much damage to your health.  Because of a meringue's low-calorie reputation, dieters often get hooked on their crispy, light goodness.  One take on meringues is a dessert called a pavlova;  it's actually named after a Russian ballerina named Anna Pavlova. Evidently she liked big fluffy piles of meringue served with fruit and whipped cream on top.  It's a really common dessert during holidays in New Zealand and Russia and it often gets topped with berries, kiwi, or plums.  mmm...

I have had successful and unsuccessful meringue adventures.  I know that egg whites can be sensitive and I've done all I can to avoid their tragic "fall," but sometimes the reasons just escape me.  After some research (AKA Googling), I learned that egg whites need to be room temperature and that your mixing bowl must be immaculate.  Okay, done.  I also learned that egg whites are very sensitive to humidity and changes in weather because they have so much air whipped into them.  The type of air you're putting in there truly matters.  I can deal with that.  Note to self:  do not make meringues in August in Virginia.  Egg whites will not fluff up if they have any yolk mixed in with them and if you use your fingers to dig out shell or yolk when separating the whites, then you might as well pitch the whole thing.  Grease and oils, even from hands, mess up the whole situation.  Other things you should know about meringues is that they have to be mixed with a fine sugar and they must be cooked at a low temperature for a long time because you're drying them out more than cooking them.  Whew!  Can we say high maintenance?!  

This afternoon I tried to make some brown sugar meringues and I failed.  The whites fell and I could not get them back up.  I added the sugar slowly!  They were room temperature!  Everything was spic n' span!  I think my problem was that I had a couple windows open in the house.  It's because it was a glorious 70 degrees outside today and I was awfully excited about spring.  Oh, well.  I tried baking the drooly mess of whites in muffin cups as a last stitch effort, but it just made a nastier mess and I ended up tossing the whole situation in the trashcan.  I chose not to photo document this embarrassing episode.

Tonight, after Peter escaped to the office to work on taxes, I got the mixer out again, tied my apron on tighter than usual, and got to work again.  Same meringue recipe.  More determination this time!  I used eggs that weren't quite room temperature and I added the sugar after the whites were a little more stiff and perhaps that was the ticket.  I also whipped them for nearly 10 minutes while I did various kitchen chores and packed lunches for me and my man.  Boy, were those whites fluffy!  I used my Pampered Chef piping tool (thank you, Grandma!) and made beautiful star shaped cookies on parchment paper.  They're in the oven now, and I'll have you know they look great.  I'm going to let them cool in the oven overnight so they're nice and crisp.  I've read about how meringues sweat and droop in the fridge and are best kept in a breathable container like a tin at room temperature.  Goodness, they're high maintenance from beginning to end!

I've come to grips with the fact that my open windows doomed my first batch of brown sugar meringues, but I'm still unsure of what happened to my chocolate meringues a few weeks ago.  When I followed the recipe exactly, why did they flatten out into tooth-breaking discs in the oven?  They were absolutely fluffy when I piped them out and put them in the oven, so what happened in there?!  Let me know if you have any insight because I will not let this cookie defeat me.  I like it too much!

Brown Sugar Vanilla Meringues
adapted from The Williams-Sonoma baking book and Cook Yourself Thin Faster

3-4 egg whites
pinch of salt
few drops of lemon juice
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 250.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, combine egg whites, salt, and lemon juice.  Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes.  Reduce the speed and slowly add the sugar.  Return the mixer to high speed and beat until the egg whites are firm and glossy.  It might take 7-10 minutes.  Slow the speed again and add the tsp. of vanilla extract.

You can pipe your meringues using a plastic bag, an accent decorator, an ice cream scoop, or even just a spoon.  Bake the meringues for 1 hour and then turn off the oven and let them stay in the oven for another hour.  You can even crack the door and let them stay in there to dry overnight.  Enjoy!