Malted Chocolate and Oreo Ice Cream

I hate the Summer!  There, I said it!  I spend the vast majority of the sunshiny months in an epic huff, demanding that people stay out of my personal space and frowning angrily while clutching an ice cold bottle of water in my clammy little hands.  Luckily my nearest and dearest know how to handle me when the mercury starts rising.  More often than not, I can be tamed with a simple ice cream cone at the breezy Northern seaside.

This summer, work commitments and insane storms have meant I've been unable to make many trips to the coast;  the few evenings and afternoons I've had spare have seen thunder and lightning like I have never seen before.  This means I've had to make my own ice cream, plop it in a waffle cone and happily lick away while watching the heavens light up from the comfort of my living room.

Normally, if I'm out, I'd never go for a chocolate ice cream.  I'll always favour a fruity number over a chocolatey one, but homemade chocolate ice cream is different.  It's so much more delicious than a store bought variety, richer and smoother.  I seriously can't sing its praises enough, add some chocolate stuffed Oreos into the mix and this baby is just heavenly.  I can see a lot more home made ice cream in my future, I just hope you'll allow me to share my frozen adventures.

Malted Chocolate and Oreo Ice Cream

Ingredients:

750ml whole milk

250ml double cream

6 large egg yolks

140g caster sugar

100g milk chocolate, chopped

100g plain chocolate, chopped

150g Ovaltine

1 pack of chocolate stuffed Oreo cookies chopped into small pieces

Method:

To make the base custard bring the milk and cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Once the milk is simmering whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till creamy. Pour the warm milk onto the eggs, whisking constantly.  Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  The custard is ready once it's thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Once thickened, place the chopped chocolate in a large bowl and pour over the hot custard. allow the chocolate to melt and stir in, add the Ovaltine and mix until combined.  Pop the bowl in the fridge for a few hours to cool completely.

Once cool churn the custard in an ice cream machine, following the manufacturers instructions.  Once thick and creamy, transfer to a freezer proof container and freeze until ready to serve.  

If you don't have an ice cream machine just pour the custard into a large freezer proof container and place in the freezer.  Every two hours stir the ice cream with a fork, after around 6 hours the ice cream will be ready.

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Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream

I know the weather hardly justifies ice cream at the moment but it's July damnit and I'll make ice cream if I want to!  Since being a little girl my ice cream flavour of choice has always been mint chocolate chip covered in chocolate sauce.  Something about the bright green treat just transports me back to sunny days at the beach, something which never seems to happen these days.

When I decided to have a crack at making my favorite frozen treat I took to the world wide web in search of recipe inspiration.  I settled upon the wise words of David Lebovitz, after all he is an expert in the subject.  I was originally planning on using peppermint extract to flavour my ice cream but after reading Davids article on fresh mint I decided to give it a whirl.  The resulting ice cream is a far cry from the green version I was so used to.  It had a much more sophisticated flavour and was delightfully refreshing.  I don't think this ice cream will ever overtake the synthetic version I love so dearly but it's certainly up there with the best of them.

Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream:

(Recipe from David Lebovits)

For the mint ice cream:

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk

3/4 cup (150 gr) sugar

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream

pinch of salt

2 cups packed (80 gr) fresh mint leaves

5 large egg yolks

For the chocolate chips:

5 ounces (140 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Method:

In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream, salt, and mint.

Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

Remove the mint with a strainer, then press down with a spatula firmly to extract as much mint flavor and color as possible. (You can also use well-washed hands to do it as well, making sure the mixture isn’t too hot to safely handle.) Once the flavor is squeezed out, discard the mint.

Pour the remaining heavy cream into a large bowl and set the strainer over the top.

Rewarm the infused milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, then slowly pour some of the warm mint mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170ºF (77ºC).

 

Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, then stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.

Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

While the mixture is freezing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave oven on low power, stirring until smooth. Place a storage container in the freezer.

When the ice cream in the machine is ready, scribble some of the chocolate into the container, then add a layer of the just-churned ice cream to the container. Scribble melted chocolate over the top of the ice cream, then quickly stir it in, breaking up the chocolate into irregular pieces. Continue layering the ice cream, scribbling more chocolate and stirring as you go.

When finished, cover and freeze until firm.

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Chocolate and Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Since Christmas I've been leaving a little trail of nudges and hints leading towards my Birthday.  I've been both subtle and even a little obvious in my mission but it worked. When my months of hints were finally recognised I, at long last, found myself the owner of the amazing ice cream attachment for my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.  I was half expecting the weather to be a little more cheerful in this, the month of May but sadly the rain has kept the sunshine away.  Despite it not really being quite the weather for ice cream I just couldn't wait to give my new toy a whirl.

Since Kris is the major sweet tooth in our home I let him pick the the flavour of the maiden batch, surprisingly he chose chocolate and salted peanut butter.  By the size of the bowl he devoured I can hand on heart say this this is a great recipe.  Much more chocolatey than store bought ice creams and when you hit a nugget of peanut butter you're in heaven!

Chocolate and Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream

(adapted from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:

300ml whole milk

200g sugar

75g cocoa powder

pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons corn flour

60ml double cream

150g plain chocolate chips

100g smooth salted peanut butter 

Method:

In a sauce pan over medium heat, stir together the whole milk, sugar, cocoa powder, corn flour and salt. Heat until the milk start to steam, but before it starts to boil.  Boil until thickened slightly. Remove from the heat.

In a small sauce pan, heat the double cream until boiling, remove from the heat and stir through the chocolate chips till melted and smooth.  Stir the cream and chocolate mixture into the cooling chocolate ice cream base. Place in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or a lid, and put in the fridge until cool.

Once cool, follow the manufacturers instructions on the ice cream maker to churn ice cream. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in half the peanut butter. Don’t over mix. You want a nice ribbon of peanut butter running through the ice cream.

Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining peanut butter. Cover and freeze until solid.

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Lemon Meringue Ice Cream

Yes, that's right, I've been at it again!  I just can't walk past kitschy kitchenwares without whipping out my debit card and investing on yet more space consuming toys for my kitchen cupboards to house.  This time I was having a lesurely stroll through House of Fraser while Kris was on the hunt for a new football kit.  I didn't mean to buy anything, I promised myself I would just have a browse, that was until I saw these fabulous ice cream moulds.  I just had to have them!  Don't they just scream tat, I love them!

Despite the dreadful weather we've been seeing up north I decided to have a go at making some ice cream. Lemon meringue ice cream to be exact.  Don't be afraid my dear readers, this ice cream requires no special tools, nor does it demand churning every few hours.  This is ice cream for the lazy girl, for ladies on the go, people like me.  If you have more of a sweet tooth I'd recommend adding some sugar or leave out the passion fruit.  I like my fruit tart and tangy ;)

If you're feeling a bit saucy, try melting some white chocolate for dipping and covering in hundreds and thousands. You know, just to add to the tacky nature of these kick ass cones!  I can feel a pina colada concoction coming on, I sure can relate to getting caught in the rain...

Lemon Curd and Meringue Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 jar good quality lemon curd

250ml double cream

250ml Greek yoghurt

Zest of 1 lemon

Mini meringues crumbled

Flesh of 3 passion fruit

Method:

Whisk together the lemon curd, cream and yoghurt, stir in crumbled meringue and passionfruit. Pour into four ice cream moulds or four ramekins, sprinkle over the lemon zest and, if using ramekins, cover with foil

Freeze for 6-8 hours before serving.

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