Lemon Curd Ice Cream

I've been doing a lot of lemon desserts since a friend at work gave me a bunch of her ginormous end-of-crop Meyer lemons. They sat in my fridge for a couple of weeks before I decided what I wanted to make with them, but I've been making up for lost time ever since.

I started by making lemon curd using my favorite recipe (you can find it here). I made a double recipe, so I had plenty of luscious lemon curd to play with. First up were lemon curd scones and now this ice cream.

Some people confine ice cream to the warmer months (I lean in this direction myself), but others enjoy it year round. That's great news since lemons are a winter fruit and it would be a shame to miss out on this ice cream because the seasons don't cooperate with the fruit.

This ice cream starts with a basic custard, to which you add lemon curd. Yowza, how great does that sound? I doubled the amount of lemon curd since what is lemon curd but a custard with lemon in it, and what is vanilla ice cream but a custard? The mad scientist in me thought of dumping the entire bowl of lemon curd in the ice cream maker but I resisted. Maybe next time.

I heard about this ice cream from some of my Twitter buddies. Kayte was almost in a state of rapture (she L-O-V-E-S lemon). I read Tracey's post about it, and she loved it, then Margaret raved about it. Three for three, so I simply had to make it, even though fall weather had definitely arrived.

When I made it, I didn't read the recipe before I made it and thought it was a typo that the cream wasn't added with the milk, so I tossed it in too. So I missed the part of the recipe where you're supposed to whip the cream and add it to the chilled custard. And it was so fabulous that I'll do it exactly the same way next time I make it. I can't imagine it being any lighter or creamier.

The true test of how good this was is that we have chocolate gelatto in the freezer, and this lemon ice cream is the one we go for every time. Yes, it's that good.

Lemon Curd Ice Cream (adapted from Murphy's Ice Cream Book of Sweet Things by way of Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

Printer-friendly recipe

2/3 cup/130 g sugar
5 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup lemon curd
zest of one lemon

Bring the milk and cream to a low simmer in a saucepan. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow. Temper the eggs by pouring in the milk in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly and just coats the back of a spoon (about 170 F). Immediately remove pan from the heat.

Add the lemon curd and lemon zest to the warm custard, stirring to incorporate fully. Cover the custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the custard from the refrigerator and strain it to remove the lemon zest (unless you like it in there). Churn mixture in ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. The ice cream will still be fairly soft after churning so transfer it to a freezer-proof container and freeze until solid.

German Chocolate Ice Cream

What do you get when you combine toasted coconut and pecans, deep, dark chocolate, cream and eggs?

German chocolate ice cream. Not the ooey gooey confection that sits on the eponymous cake, but an irresistible bowl of crunchy, chewy, chocolaty goodness.

My friend Margaret of Tea and Scones talked me into making this ice cream with her. The original recipe called for German chocolate, which I don't have because it's just too sweet for me, so I substituted semisweet. Margaret suggested toasting the coconut (she didn't but thought it would enhance the coconut's flavor). I was hesitant to use whole eggs in a "custard" but since you strain and process the custard in the blender, the risk of cooked egg bits was close to zero. I might try making this with all egg yolks next time to get an even more luscious ice cream.

Because of the straining, blending and multiple bowls and appliances required for this one, it isn't a low maintenance dessert but I think you'll agree it's worth it.

German Chocolate Ice Cream - adapted from Blue Ridge Mountain Ice cream Maker Store
Printer-friendly recipe
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
½ cup toasted chopped pecans

Make an ice bath: fill a large mixing bowl with ice water and place a 2 quart bowl on top, resting in the ice bath. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on medium, stirring every ten seconds or so, or in the top of a double boiler. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the cream, milk and sugar. Cook until bubbles form around the edge and mixture is warm to the touch. 

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and slowly whisk in several spoonfuls of the hot milk mixture to the eggs to gradually warm them, then slowly add the rest of the hot milk, whisking constantly. Add the mixture to the same saucepan and continue to cook over low heat, whisking constantly. Mixture will thicken slightly and reach a temperature of 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Stir in the warm melted chocolate and vanilla. 

Pour the mixture into the bowl in the ice bath to cool the mixture. When cool, pour the mixture through a strainer into a 1 quart measuring cup and then into the container of a blender, cover and process until well combined. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to freeze. 

Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions for freezing. Just before the ice cream is completely frozen, stir in the 3 coconut and pecans and stir to combine ingredients. Transfer to a container and freeze until ready to serve.

Makes about 1 quart

*******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. I will be responding to comments but not keeping up with my Google Reader or visiting bloggers other than those who leave comments. I'll be back around August 31st with a spirit refreshed by this blessed month of fasting and prayer. Peace.

Mine, Mine, Mine

Even preschoolers know that sharing is caring.

They haven't tried this chocolate sorbet. As much as I love chocolate ice cream, this sorbet is ten times better. With no egg yolks and no custard, the flavor of the chocolate dominates in a very good way.

Start with your best quality bittersweet chocolate (I used Valrhona 70% bittersweet). If you have a scale, put your pan on it and turn it on, then add all of the ingredients. Fewer dishes to wash!

This recipe was selected by Steph at A Whisk and a Spoon for Tuesdays with Dorie. It's so delicious I may never go back to traditional chocolate rice cream. Fortunately I made it within a few days of when I made this mango sorbet (which M. loves), so I don't even have to share with him. Sweet!

Deepest, Darkest Chocolate Sorbet (adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours)
Printer-friendly recipe
7 ounces/200 grams bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup/232 grams milk
1 cup/222 grams water
3/4 cup/150 grams sugar

Stir the ingredients together in a 3- to 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium heat and bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring frequently.

Lower the temperature and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula.

Pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl (a one quart measuring cup is perfect) and refrigerate until chilled before churning the sorbet.

Scrape the chilled sorbet mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the sorbet into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Mango Sorbet for Sundae Sunday

Cool, refreshing and slightly exotic, this mango sorbet is the perfect healthy treat on a hot summer afternoon.

Sundae Sunday is the brainchild of my buddy Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook. She challenged a group of us to make an ice cream and post together today. She's doing a round up and will post it later this week.

With the weather sizzling around the U.S., I wanted to make something light and refreshing. I first had this sorbet when I spent the night at a coworker's house in the Napa Valley. A friend and I drove up to have dinner at the French Laundry, and Karen served us this treat when we got in. Although I thought I didn't like mangos, I loved it. M. adores mangos, and I've made it for him dozens of times since. I've tweaked it over the years, so that it is all about the mango. I hope you like it.

Notes:

• Don't make this unless you can find really good mangos. How can you tell? I am the woman sniffing each and every mango I buy. If I can't smell its perfume, I don't buy it. One way to tell: find the ripest mango in the bin and smell it. If it's fragrant, the unripe ones will be, too.
• Large markets will sometimes have mangos from a couple different distributors in the same bin. If you find a fragrant ripe one, make sure the others you select have the same sticker.
• Leave mangos to ripen at room temperature in a paper bag.
• You want your mangos to be a tiny bit riper for this recipe than perhaps you'd want them to be for eating. And by a tiny bit, I mean a day, maybe two. Overripe mangos have an offensive flavor (to me anyway) that tastes like eating perfume. Blech!
• Some mangos have a lot of flesh and small puts, some have giant pits and little flesh. I buy an extra mango or two in case I end up with the giant pit variety.
• You can freeze simple syrup. Try putting it in an ice cube tray, then transferring to a zip top bag when frozen.
• Add only enough simple syrup to the mixture as you need to highlight the mango. We're not making candy here.
• The lime is only to make the flavor of the mango more prominent: you don't want your sorbet to be at all tart.
• Start with a small quantity of the simple syrup and lime, adding small amounts to fine tune the flavor until it's perfect for you.

Mango Sorbet - adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Printer-friendly recipe
Makes about 1 quart

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
6 ripe mangos (see Notes)
1 lime

Make the simple syrup:
Boil the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool completely before using (I make this the day before and store in the fridge).

Make the sorbet:
Extract as much fiber-free flesh from the mango as possible, and put it in the jar of your blender. Add a couple tablespoons of simple syrup and the juice of half a lime. Blend until the mixture is smooth, then taste it. The mango should be predominant - not sweet, not tart, but somehow better than the fruit was by itself. When you reach that point and the mixture is perfectly smooth, transfer it to the canister of an ice cream maker and churn until the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze. Use within one week.

Daring Bakers - Ice Cream Petit Fours

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I was both excited and scared when I saw Elissa's pick. I LOVE browned butter anything, but petit fours sounded so beyond my expertise. But the recipes looked so easy that I decided I'd make the petit fours instead of the baked Alaska (piping is a huge obstacle for me).

The brown butter pound cake Elissa selected from Gourmet (sniff, sniff) was a snap to make and the batter tasted so good I wanted to eat it out of the mixing bowl. I made the pound cake and base for the ice cream before work, split the cake layers, churned the ice cream and spread 2 cups of it in a 9x9 pan and froze it when I got home (early for the first time in well over a month). I had to go out for the evening but when I got home I sandwiched the frozen ice cream layer between the split cake layers, wrapped it and froze it. Everything was going so well that as I laid in bed trying to fall asleep, I decided I'd use transfers to decorate my petit fours. I imagined perfect, square petit fours coated with a thin layer of chocolate with elegant gold marbling on them. My decorating demons would be vanquished forever.

The next morning, I heated the cream, mixed in the chocolate and let it sit while I sliced the frozen cake and ice cream. So far so good. My squares weren't perfect, and I cut them smaller so more people at work could have one. Then I started enrobing them in chocolate and that's where everything fell apart (sometimes literally). The chocolate didn't want to coat all sides of the chocolate. If I got it all coated, the ice cream started oozing through. Some fell over on the tray or, worse, into my pan of glaze. At least they would still look elegant with their gold marbling from the transfers.

Or not. When I peeled off the transfers, I realized the chocolate was too cool to melt the pattern onto the petit fours, so the transfers only dulled the glossy appearance of the chocolate. By this time, I had long abandoned enrobing one petit four at a time and had lined them all up on the sheet pan and poured the glaze over them.

No worries. I didn't get to taste one as I left ours out of the freezer by mistake but my coworkers loved them. What's not to love about brown butter pound cake, rich vanilla ice cream and bittersweet chocolate glaze? For me, the real keeper was the brown butter pound cake. The vanilla ice cream was good, but not as good as my standby vanilla ice cream from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking From My Home to Yours.

Thanks, Elissa, for a fun challenge. When I was 17, I was also baking, but from a mix. I hope your first semester of college is easy and painless!

*******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. I will be responding to comments but not keeping up with my Google Reader or visiting bloggers other than those who leave comments. I'll be back around Sept. 10th with a spirit refreshed by this blessed month of fasting and prayer. Peace.


Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (165g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise OR 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean with a paring knife and add to the milk, along with the bean pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let infuse for an hour. (If you do not have a vanilla bean, simply heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams, then let cool to room temperature.)

2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2 litre) bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.

3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour ¼ cup warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.

4. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract (1 teaspoon [5ml] if you are using a vanilla bean; 3 teaspoons [15ml] if you are not using a vanilla bean) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

5. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in an ice cream maker.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Glaze

9 ounces (250g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract

Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.


Assembly Instructions

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.

2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.

3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make the chocolate glaze (see above.)

5. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

6. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.

7. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.

TWD - Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

This ice cream and I go way back. I first made it last year, and it has been so popular around here that once I told M. that we were making it for Tuesdays with Dorie, he said to go ahead and take this bombe into work, he'd rather have Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream.

I've made this ice cream with 60% and 70% bittersweet chocolate, and it's definitely better with 70%. If you're not a dark chocolate lover, you'll want to stick with 60%. If you are a dark chocolate lover, who doesn't love a ganache you can practically stand a spoon in? I used to mix the custard into the ganache obsessively to ensure a smooth texture, but I've since decided that leaving it a little shaggy gives it a texture similar to a stracciatella. Those crunchy bits of chocolate are delightful with the creamy chocolate ice cream. When I made this batch, I let the ganache cool quite a bit before making the custard, so my chocolate pieces a bit larger. Crunchy and delicious!

The hilarious, talented and oh so creative Katrina at Baking and Boys! selected this one, and it didn't surprise me at all that she would gravitate to chocolate ganache. She puts chocolate on or in practically everything. Katrina will have the recipe for you (and I expect she'll do a lot of variations with mix-ins, toppings, etc.) My fellow TWD bakers will also have a field day with this. You can find them all here.

Daring Bakers - Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

When you're working 10-12 hours days, six days a week do you:

a) Enlist help from family and friends,

b) Say no to requests for time, desserts, favors, etc.,

c) Make sure you're eating right, sleeping enough and getting plenty of exercise, or

d) Join a new baking group, for which the challenges truly are challenging.

If you said d, you know me too well. Yes, it's official, I have lost my mind.

Daring Bakers caught my attention over a year ago. I kept seeing blog posts with these fantastic desserts that I wouldn't tackle on a good day. It seemed like an exclusive club of accomplished bakers, so I knew right away I wouldn't fit in. But as time went on, I wanted to challenge myself to more involved recipes and learn some new skills. When it was my turn to pick for Chocolate with Francois, I chose macarons and with some trial and error, managed to turn out some decent looking and delicious macarons. Emboldened, I emailed the powers that be and in due time got my reply. I'm in!

The July 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita's World - Life and Food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that's then used to make a bombe filled with hot fudge.

Sunita provided her recipes for the cake roll, ice creams and hot fudge but gave us the freedom to use our own recipes and play around with the flavors. We like chocolate and vanilla so I decided to stick with those. I used Dorie Greenspan's vanilla and chocolate ganache ice cream recipes from Baking From My Home to Yours, and I used my own hot fudge recipe, but I used Sunita's recipe for the Swiss cake roll and cream filling.

I made this recipe over two days, making the chocolate ganache ice cream and hot fudge sauce one day, and the other components and assembling the cake the next. I served it the day after it was assembled. As Sunita promised, none of the recipes were difficult, but the bombe did require lots of freezer time in between assembly steps.

This recipe made me so grateful for my standing freezer in the garage, which M. talked me into last year. The forum on the Daring Kitchen site had several comments from bakers who were more challenged by finding space in their freezers than they were by making the dessert.

The fun began when I started on the sponge cake and filling. The sponge couldn't be easier--whip eggs and sugar until they reach the ribbon stage, add the flour and cocoa (presifted), fold in and then add a couple tablespoons of boiling water. Divide evenly between two 9x11 pans (I used quarter-sheet pans, which are 9x13, because that's what I had). Fortunately, I have an extra bowl for my KitchenAid, so I weighed it on the scale empty and then weighed the bowl with the sponge batter. I then weighed the sheet pan, and added 1/2 of the batter by weight. If I eyeball it, my cakes end up very different heights.

My sponges baked for about 14 minutes at 400 degrees, longer than the recipe stated. After removing them from the oven, I lifted them out by their slings and flipped one onto a dish towel sprinkled with sugar. I then rolled the layer into the towel and left it on a rack to cool, then tackled the other layer. So far, so good.

I again employed the extra bowl to weigh the cream mixture for the filling and portioned it out for the two sponges. This is where things didn't exactly work the way I'd planned. As I unrolled the first sponge it stuck badly to the towel, breaking apart in one area. I didn't panic, thinking there's a reason they call these recipes challenges. Then I dumped on half of the cream as I realized, could it be, that my sponge had shrunk?!? There was such a thick layer of cream that as I rolled it, cream came gushing out the seam and through the little area that had broken. I wiped off the extra cream and moved on, using much less for the second roll, which didn't stick or break! Wrapped in plastic, they went off to the fridge as I contemplated the mounting pile of dirty dishes.

The hardest part was over. Now came the slicing, arranging the slices in the bottom of a big glass bowl, freezing, spreading the vanilla ice cream over the slices, freezing, pouring in the hot fudge, freezing, adding the chocolate ganache ice cream, freezing. Then the waiting.

Unless we wanted bombe for a midnight snack, this had to wait another night to be eaten.

We had this for dinner the next evening. As I have been working tons and am sick to boot, ice cream sounded soothing for my stomach. We each had two small slices, and found it delicious. That surprised me because neither of us like whipped cream. Freezing it made the texture completely different and less heavy than normal. The ultimate measure of success was when M. vetoed taking the leftovers to work.

Thanks, Sunita, for such a fun and delicious recipe!

The Swiss rolls (recipe by Sunita of Sunita's World - Life and Food)

Ingredients:
6 medium sized eggs
1 C / 225 grams caster sugar /8 oz + extra for rolling
6 TBS. / 45 grams/ a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 TBS. /40 gram / a pinch under 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 TBS. /30 ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling:
2 C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about 1/2 cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 TBS. / 70 grams / 2.5oz of caster sugar

Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans (11 inches by 9 inches) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

3. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.

4. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.

5. Place a pan in the center of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the center is springy to the touch.

6. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.

7. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.

8. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.

9. Repeat the same for the next cake as well.

10. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processor till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream.

11. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick.

12. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.

13. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of 1/2 an inch should be fine).

14. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream (adapted from Dorie Greenspan)
6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar

Put the chocolate in a 2-quart liquid measuring cup or a large heatproof bowl. Bring 3/4 of the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit a minute, then, using a rubber spatula, and starting in the center of the mixture, slowly stir the cream into the chocolate in ever-widening concentric circles. When the ganache is smooth, set it aside.

Bring the milk and the remaining 3/4 cream to a boil in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle, Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon: if you run your finger down the bowl of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer (this took about 8-10 minutes on my stove.) Immediately remove the pan from the heat and slowly and gently stir the custard into the ganache. Refrigerate until cold, then churn in ice cream maker.

Vanilla Ice Cream (adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 moist, plump vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

Bring milk and cream to a boil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. If you are using a vanilla bean, put the seeds and pod into the pan, cover and set aside for 30 minutes, then bring the milk and cream back to a boil before continuing. If you are using vanilla extract, wait until later to add it.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon; if you run your finger down the bowl of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track. The custard should reach at least 170°F, but no more than 180°F, on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and strain the custard into a 2-quart measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. Discard the vanilla pod or if you are using vanilla extract, stir it in now.

Refrigerate the custard until chilled then churn it in an ice cream maker.

Rich Hot Fudge Sauce
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 sticks butter, cut into bits
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
2/3 c heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, then stir in the cocoa powder, butter, sugars and the cream (I usually mix the sugars and the cocoa together in a bowl with a fork, bypassing the sifting, and let the sugars melt in before adding the cream). Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring, and simmer it until it is smooth and the sugar is dissolved (it should be glossy). Pour it into a 2 cup measuring cup or microwave safe decorative pitcher (I use either a small glass milk bottle or porcelain pitcher.) To reheat, microwave for about 15 seconds, swirl it around and repeat until it is quite warm but not hot.

Assembling the cake:

1. Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices (approximately 2 cms each).

2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.

3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

4. Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm (at least 1 hour)

5. Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm. (at least an hour)

6. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set.

7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream Pie

The amazing Spike of Spike Bakes chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie (she has the recipe for you here). In continuing the trend of insanity that I was struck with for last week's bread pudding (for which I made brioche), I made Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream instead of buying ice cream. It's the very best chocolate ice cream, period. If I brought some inferior store-bought chocolate ice cream into this house, M. would go on strike and I'd have to carry the garbage out myself. No siree. Not on my watch.

I came *this close* (gesturing, fingers almost together) to adding bananas. I bought them. I thought about them. I monitored their ripeness with the pie in mind.

Then, I read the part of the recipe where Dorie instructs us to puree the bananas in the food processor before adding the chocolate ice cream. I heard brakes screeching, train whistles, sirens and all manner of DANGER! STOP! DON'T DO IT! warnings. I put down the bananas, took a deep breath, and went on without them. Paired with Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream, this pie didn't need bananas competing with its sublime flavor.

This pie has an interesting crust that was fun to make. You saute coconut in melted butter until browned and then add crushed shortbread cookies. It made a delicious pie crust. I pressed it in a buttered pie plate and froze it while we went to San Francisco for a fun midweek play day.

When we came home, relaxed but exhausted, I put the ice cream in the crust while M. jumped on a conference call. And then we each had a slice for dinner. I quizzed M. relentlessly: Do you think it would have been good with the pureed bananas (wish I had a photo of the "Are you kidding me" look he gave me). Do you think the chocolate ice cream dominates the crust ("Isn't that the point of a filling?"). What do you think of it with the pecans? ("Really good.") How could it be better? ("It can't. It's perfect.")

With that, I sat back and savored every bite, in complete agreement with his assessment. He is a great, appreciative audience for my baking, but he's also a very thoughtful and helpful taster.

I hope you have someone special to share this with, someone who appreciates everything you do but gives you feedback in a positive, supportive way. That, my friends, is even sweeter than pie.

TWD - Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

When this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was announced not quite three weeks ago, I could hardly imagine wanting ice cream. It was still cool (for us) at night with below average highs (for us) during the day. Rainy days brought hope for the end of our three year drought, but made me crave hot tea more than ice cream. Fast forward to this past weekend...highs in the mid-70s made ice cream sound appealing again.

Becky of Project Domestication must have had the inside scoop (no pun intended!) on the weather because she had the foresight to select this one. I've loved both of Dorie's ice creams that I've made (incredible vanilla here and amazing chocolate here) but I still had mixed feelings about this recipe. I made the caramel ice cream from Ad Hoc at Home with Nancy and a few other Twitter buddies and it was the Best. Ice. Cream. Ever. I can't believe I didn't blog about it but I'll make it for you soon. Promise.

Keller's recipe used an interesting technique for melting the sugar and caramelizing it, but Dorie's is the more common sugar + water + saucepan + heat = caramel. It was uneventful. (For those of you who are new at making caramel, check out this post for detailed step-by-step instructions.)

This recipe made delicious ice cream, but alas it didn't unthrone the caramel ice cream from Ad Hoc at Home. I think it needed some hot fudge, but I also enjoyed it with chopped pecans (though macadamias or - gasp - salted Marcona almonds would also be great).

If you'd like the recipe, Becky has it for you here. And don't fear caramel...with a little practice you can master it and make this wonderful flavor your own.

Maple Walnut Ice Cream (with bonus scrambled eggs!)

During Ramadan, I got the wild idea that I would like to make ice cream for our entire office. All 60 of them. I have the kind of ice cream maker that you freeze the core, which means I had to make batches of the flavors I chose over several days. I made Dorie's vanilla ice cream (the very best vanilla ice cream), and her chocolate ganache ice cream (my favorite chocolate ice cream). And this recipe from The Perfect Scoop jumped out at me, mostly because I love maple and walnuts are good for you, so this is practically health food!

The recipe has you start out by making the wet walnuts, which are walnuts toasted in the oven and then boiled in maple syrup. Then you build the custard. And that is where my little world fell apart. The recipe calls for heating the custard over medium heat until it thickens. Medium heat on my cooktop is pretty hot, and against my better judgment, I didn't reduce the heat and the custard went from thickened to scrambled eggs in the amount of time it took me to reach for the strainer. I panicked and furiously shook and stirred the congealed mass in the strainer until enough came through the strainer to stabilize and thicken the cream and maple syrup mixture.

It froze up nicely, softer than some other ice creams I've made recently, probably due to the high maple syrup content. Still, the maple flavor couldn't compete with the walnut flavor, which dominated in a not so pleasant way. I like my maple walnut a little more maple-y, so if I make this one again, I'll cut back on the walnuts.

Hitting the Sauce

Cathy, this one's for you.

OK, let's get started. Start with a cup of sugar (or two cups or 3/4 of a cup, or ten cups). Totally up to you how much you want to make. Smaller quantities burn easily, so don't take it below 1/2 cup of sugar.

This is your tool of choice

Heat the cup of sugar in a medium saucepan (I used a small one, here, but as you will see later, that makes it a little exciting). If you're going with ten cups, size up on the pan. Before you begin, have an equal amount of heavy cream near the stove.

Melting oh-so-slightly around the edges

Can you tell what I'm making?

Use medium-low heat at first, and as the sugar starts melting around the edges, stir it up. You don't need to stir constantly at first, but definitely don't leave the kitchen. After all, you're cooking sugar. It demands respect.

The sugar will get chunky, then melt into a light caramel chunky liquid. Oops, I said "caramel," ruining the surprise.

Stir more frequently as the melting is progressing (which will happen quickly depending on how hot your stove is).

The chunks will melt away. Keep stirring, and wait until the sugar gets deep brown.

It may foam on the surface, but use your stirring to peek into the caramel to determine its color.

Once it's deep brown, remove the pan from the heat and CAREFULLY pour in the whipping cream.

The mixture will fiercely bubble up and may seize.

This boiled up dangerously close to the top of the (too small) pan, so I put the camera down to make sure I didn't need to grab the fire extinguisher.

No worries! Return it to the heat, and stir (with your fork or with a heat proof spatula) until the caramel is completely smooth.

Pour into a heatproof container (like a measuring cup or this milk bottle). Cool on the counter for a bit before refrigerating.

That's it, you've made caramel! It's an aggressive, bitter caramel, so if you like a mellower caramel, don't take the sugar to the edge of burning like I do. When you're trying it for the first time, don't worry if you don't let it get brown enough. With time, your sugar confidence will grow and you'll learn how to take it to the edge to get that wonderful bitter flavor. This is an easy recipe, and doesn't require brushing the sides of the pan with water as sugar crystals don't form. The possibilities are endless, but we love it on vanilla ice cream. It's equally good served with cheesecake, profiteroles, or if put in a squeeze bottle, you can use it to decorate dessert plates (not that I do that).

And clean up? A breeze. Let your screaming hot pan cool off, then let it sit with water in it for a bit. The caramel melts away and the pan is easily cleaned with no sticky mess.

Dorie's Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

This week, my fellow Tuesdays with Dorie bakers are making the Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, selected by Melissa at Life in a Peanut Shell. She makes the most amazing creations! I tried to get these done before taking a blogging break for Ramadan, but the days and hours evaporated. I do plan to make these and will post about them after Ramadan is over.

All is not lost because one thing I did fit is was Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream. I can truly say (and report from others) that this was the most chocolaty ice cream I have ever had. It starts out with making the eponymous ganache, a mixture of cream and chocolate (I used Valrhona Guanaja 70%). Then you make the custard, fold it all together, and chill it in the refrigerator until it's cool enough to churn in your ice cream maker. Since it's practically solid after chilling in the fridge, it doesn't take a long time to turn it into ice cream.

Make sure you leave a little in the bowl for sampling!

If you love chocolate, you need to make this. It's easy, incredibly delicious, and since it's so rich, a little goes a long way. Because of its high chocolate content, it needs to sit out on the counter to soften up before serving. Although it's tempting to sneak a taste, the flavor will be better if it isn't frozen solid. I mostly served mine unadorned, because topping it with hot fudge was, yes, way over the top.

*******PLEASE NOTE: Lethally Delicious is on hiatus for the month of Ramadan. I won't be actively blogging, but if you leave a comment, I will visit you. I'll return around Sept. 22nd, refreshed after the blessed month of fasting and prayer. Peace.

TWD - Caramel Swirl and Coconut Macadamia Ice Creams

Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, vanilla ice cream. When the recipes were announced, I thought the bookends of the month, the first and last recipes, were a natural together. I planned to make the Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies and serve them with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Then peer pressure took over.

I started thinking, what will my fellow TWD-ers do with this recipe? It's practically a blank canvas, and Dorie's playing around suggestions encourage us to take off in many directions, including mix ins and swirl ins. I could have done one of those, but I had to do something different so that maybe you would stop here and go "Wow! Look what Leslie did with this! I never thought of making it with sriracha."

OK, maybe not that different. So I decided to make my caramel sauce (recipe to come), which is ridiculously easy, and swirl it in after the ice cream chilled some.

I made this ice cream on the same day I made the brownies. The high that day was 102, we don't have air conditioning, and I appreciated this one didn't require turning the oven on.

Until I decided toasted macadamias and toasted coconut would be perfect compliments to the rich vanilla base. The oven went back on.

The custard base was super simple. The star players were heavy cream and whole milk with a vanilla bean (its vanilla caviar, as Gail Gand would say, stripped out and added to the mixture). Egg yolks added richness and stabilized the mixture; the custard was cooked until it thickened slightly. Once cooled, the custard is churned in an ice cream maker.

As I poured the churned mixture, still soft and bursting with flecks of vanilla, into two separate containers, I put aside the dasher to taste once the ice cream was safely in the freezer.

Oh. My. I wanted to climb in the freezer and be with it, it was that good. Better, yes indeed, than the Bouchon vanilla ice cream I made a few years ago. So good, I didn't want to serve it with the brownies. Or add anything that would take away from its pure vanilla flavor. But I did.

The caramel was swirled in after the ice cream froze for a half hour. I may have been a little heavy handed with the caramel, but I knew the vanilla base could stand up to the aggressive bite of the bitter caramel sauce.

Then I chopped the toasted macadamias and added them and the toasted coconut to the other half of the base. Mix lightly and back in the freezer for both flavors.

Then wait. Waiting is hard.

Sneak a bite...

After tasting the caramel swirl, I knew the coconut macadamia could never live up to it. The caramel was rich and almost bitter from being taken practically to the edge of burning before the cream was added. No namby pamby sweet caramel for me. It lends a complexity that the vanilla plays up without competing with it. This ice cream is some of the best I have ever eaten.

Sneak a bite of the other flavor...

Impossible. The saltiness of the macadamias (which I accidentally left in the oven a bit too long, until they were brown) and the sweet toasted coconut with the rich vanilla backdrop made a flavor as subtle and complex as the caramel was in-your-face.

Not to overstate it, but this recipe blew me away. As written, it's the very best vanilla ice cream you could ever hope to eat or make. But when you let your imagination carry you away, it's transformed from the star to a supporting role. Your flavors can shine because the foundation is solid.

I never thought I could make great ice cream, but Dorie has taught me I can make a lot of great things. All it takes is the right teacher, and letting your mind wander until you find the flavors that speak to you.

If you'd like the recipe, check out Lynne's blog. Or better yet, buy the book. We're cooking from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It's filled with amazing, fun and even some challenging recipes that will increase your baking repertoire.

Blondie Hot Fudge Sundaes...Blame Pamela

When I saw Pamela at Cookies with Boys had made these blondies, and they were so good she was almost speechless, it got my attention. When she said she would make them with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge the next time, I knew how I was spending my evening.

The recipe for the blondies came from Bon Appetit, and although it was straightforward, I had to mix it up a little bit. I decided to make them with browned butter instead of just plain melted butter, thinking the browned butter and brown sugar would be reminiscent of these cookies.

Don't bother. The brown butter flavor was lost in these since butter was not a predominant ingredient. These were so good and so easy to make! I love the sweet and salty flavor profile and have loved peanuts with ice cream since I was a kid. I will definitely play around with them more next time, but not with browned butter.

Next, I attacked the ice cream part of Pamela's vision. Dorie Greenspan's vanilla ice cream is my go-to recipe for vanilla ice cream. I've made it so many times, and made so many flavor variations (check back next week for some of them), that I almost know the recipe by heart. It has the most intense vanilla flavor in the very best vanilla base. This time, I didn't have a vanilla bean so I used some vanilla bean paste. While the cream was steeping, I tackled the hot fudge.

I have used the same hot fudge recipe for the last 18 years, since I was a toddler thirty-something. I cut it out of Gourmet and it is the very best hot fudge recipe I have ever tried. That statement may be misleading since I stopped trying new hot fudge recipes after I found it! It's unctuously smooth and has a great mouth feel and huge punch of chocolate. I used Valrhona chocolate and cocoa, but that's an indulgence that childless people like me can afford. We don't have braces and college educations to worry about, so the disposable income goes for chocolate.

Rich Hot Fudge Sauce

Printable Recipe

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 sticks/153 grams butter, cut into bits (I do chunks, but I'm lazy)
1/2 c/47 grams unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 c/100 grams sugar
1/2 c/120 grams packed dark brown sugar
2/3 c/150 grams heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, then stir in the cocoa powder, butter, sugars and the cream (I usually mix the sugars and the cocoa together in a bowl with a fork, bypassing the sifting, and let the sugars melt in before adding the cream). Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring, and simmer it until it is smooth and the sugar is dissolved (it should be glossy). Pour it into a 2 cup measuring cup or microwave safe decorative pitcher (I use either a small glass milk bottle or porcelain pitcher.) To reheat, microwave for about 15 seconds, swirl it around and repeat until it is quite warm but not hot.

Still grainy

It's almost a ganache, so it's pretty firm when cold, so you can scoop it out and roll the balls in cocoa and pretend they're truffles. They're not firm for very long so eat up.

Once all of the components were made, it was time to sample the winning combination Pamela envisioned. I cut the blondies in small squares, topped then with smallish scoops of vanilla ice cream and poured on a little hot fudge.

This combination will blow your mind. It is so perfect with the creamy, chewy, salty and sweet flavors. I took the entire operation to work (these were dangerous to have in the house!) and they were a big hit at work too. Thanks, Pamela, for bringing these blondies to my attention. If you become as addicted to these as we did, blame Pamela.