Chocolate Ice Cream

Classes started last week, and I got really busy, really fast. My blog took the hit and the brunt of the neglect. I suppose it just goes to show how important time management skills are. Clearly, I am still learning. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post two new recipes a week from here on out!!

Since getting an ice cream maker for my birthday, I’ve been determined to create something as delicious as the store bought stuff. After one attempt (and fail, see “disasters”) I wasn’t shaken. I tried once more thinking straight up vanilla would be the easiest to recreate, only to be foiled once more by the demon that is science. I made myself a promise. “If I fail once more, I will give up on this and go buy some Edy’s.” Lucky for me, I got to save five dollars.

Maybe it was the fact that it was chocolate, maybe it was that there was agave nectar in the recipe instead of sugar, or perhaps the fact that I chilled the mixture before freezing it in my ice cream maker (a crucial step which I seemed to be forgetting before); in any case, I created something that would make David Lebovitz proud, and I hope it does seeing as it’s his recipe. This renewed my hope in frozen confections and my ability to create them. And it also cooled me off; today’s heat index was 101F. Hatchi-Matchi.

So here it is, the most chocolate-y creamy, delicious thing I have ever created, and it will keep in your freezer (although it’s so good, there might not be enough to make it to that weekend dinner BBQ).

Chocolate Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz)

10 Tbsp Agave Nectar
2oz unsweetened chocolate, cut into very thin shavings
3 cups Half and Half
1/3 cup good quality cocoa powder
5 egg yolks
Pinch of salt

In a small saucepan melt the chocolate into the agave nectar on the lowest heat possible. Stir constantly until the chocolate in completely melted. Once melted, pour the chocolate-agave mixture into a large bowl, preferably metal. In a medium sauce pan, heat 1 ½ cups of the half and half and whisk in the 1/3 cup cocoa powder. Heat until the mixture just begins to simmer. Simmer for about 30 seconds and make sure there are no lumps. Add this mixture to the chocolate-agave mixture in the large bowl.

Using the same medium saucepan, heat the remaining 1 ½ cups of half and half with a pinch of salt. Once the mixture begins to steam, add a small amount to the bowl of egg yolks. Quickly whisk, to temper the yolks, and then add them back into the saucepan. (This is crucial. If your yolks curdle, your custard won't turn out and you will have scrambled egg ice cream. Gross.) Stir the mixture constantly until it gets steamy and almost begins to simmer. It should thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour the mixture through a wire sieve into the chocolate-agave-cocoa mixture in the large bowl, and stir. (Optional: Blend this mixture until completely smooth. I didn’t because I like gritty bits of chocolate in my ice cream, but if you prefer smooth, then blend.)

Chill the mixture for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight (This is where the heat conductivity of a metal bowl comes in handy. Metal gets cooler faster). Once chilled, freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Makes about 1 quart.

Peach and Blackberry Galette

I know I do a lot of desserts on this site, but that’s mostly because I forget to take pictures of the food I make on a daily basis. And who likes reading recipes without pictures?? I refuse to buy a cookbook if it doesn’t have a picture every five pages at least. So again, I present to you, a dessert. And I’ve decided to dedicate this dessert to Scotty, because of the awful day when he spilled water on his computer. This will perk you right up, no matter what (especially with a little ice cream).

It’s called a galette, although to my roommates and friends I just call it a pie, it’s easier to explain. Now I know, you’re thinking, “Galette?! He’s in college! There’s no way high quality French desserts are coming out of that kitchen.” Ah my friend, your skepticism only invigorates me to prove you wrong. And aside from my less than par dough pinching skills, I believe I have (the sauce leaked and some burned, oops). This is my first venture into “pie-making” and making my own dough from scratch. I suppose the term du-jour would be Pâte Brisée, my thanks to Martha Stewart. Sure, I’ve made Christmas cookies with my Mom and baked cakes and whatnot, but dough and batter are worlds apart (I’ll even, one day, let you into my bread making experiment. It will be filed under the “disasters” category).

So here it is, my “pick-me-up” dessert that takes more prep than work, and provides you with that satisfying, refreshing sentiment that just makes you think of good times and good company. Enjoy!

Pâte Brisée (Adapted from Martha Stewart, discovered on smittenkitchen.com)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar and salt, pulsing to combine. Add in the butter pieces, and pulse until the mixture resembles small crumbs with some larger pieces remaining. About 10-15 seconds; do not overmix. Slowly and with the machine running, add in the water through the spout on your processor until the mixture just comes together. Do not add too much; the amount will be dependent on the humidity of where you are working. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, and divide in half. Place each half on plastic wrap, forming into small discs. Wrap in the plastic and refrigerate at least one hour, but preferably overnight. The mixture can be frozen for up to a month in advance.

Peach and Blackberry Galette (Adapted from smittenkitchen.com)

½ the Pâte Brisée recipe
3 medium peaches, pitted and cut into 16(ish) pieces each
½ pint of Blackberries
¼ cup white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 egg, beaten well
Raw or coarse sugar crystals

Roll out one disk of dough on a well floured sheet of parchment paper into a 12” round disk of even thickness, rotating occasionally to prevent sticking. Slide a rimless baking sheet under (or the backside of a rimmed one) and refrigerate for about an hour, until firm.

In a large bowl, mix the sugar, cornstarch, blackberries and peaches. Stir to coat, and let sit for about 30 minutes or until the juices come out of the fruit. Once this is done, preheat your oven to 375o.

Take your dough from the refrigerator, and place the fruit mixture in the center of the disk you made, leaving about 3” on all sides. Working quickly, pinch up the edges into vertical crimps taking care to seal everything so juice won’t run out during cooking. Brush the now upturned side with the egg, and sprinkle with the raw sugar crystals. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the juices are bubbly. Take out and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Serves 4 – 6. Enjoy!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

So I now take you down a path I’m not used to taking, at least in regard to food: failure. My birthday was a few days ago and I got my first ice cream maker from my brother. In all my excitement I decided to try a recipe in my foolproof Rocco DiSpirito cookbook, Rocco gets Real. Never before have I been failed by Rocco, and I thought that I would be creating delicious Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt; unfortunately it came out along the lines of frozen Gak (you know, the stuff from Nickelodeon in the 90’s?). A combination of Greek yogurt, mint extract, milk, sugar, and chocolate chunks sounds like it would end well, however somehow it just turned into really cold, icy, green yogurt. Fail.

I’ve decided to post the recipe here for those of you who would like to try. I wish you all the luck in the world with this, and hope you get a much more edible result.

Mint Chocolate Chip Fro-Yo (adapted from Rocco Gets Real, Rocco DiSpirito)
1 ¾ cup skim milk
1 cup white sugar
17.6 oz Greek Yogurt (Fage)
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
¼ cup 99% cocoa chocolate bar, finely chopped
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
Green food coloring

In a large mixing bowl, mix ½ cup of the milk with the powdered gelatin. In a small saucepan, heat the remaining 1 ¼ cups milk with the sugar over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. When the mixture is boiling, pour into the bowl with the gelatin mixture, and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Stir yogurt into gelatin mixture. Whisk in peppermint extract and enough food color to reach desired color. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Toward the end of freezing time, add the chocolate. Serve immediately, or freeze until desired consistency.

Cranberry Orange Squares

In my latest perusal of food blogs, I discovered fruit bars that slightly resembled coffee cake. You have no idea how excited I was. I’ve never really made anything that involved a “crumble” before, and was excited to try something new - little did I know that I would be spending 30 minutes mashing cold sticks of butter into flour and sugar with a fork. My wrists have yet to forgive me…perhaps I should lay off the typing for a bit.

I ran into a slight problem when I got back from the store. In my infinite wisdom (and 1.5 hours of sleep), I returned from the store with dried fruits instead of fresh...and cranberries instead of blueberries. Fail. So I tried to make the best of it by reconstituting the dried fruits in hot water for about an hour, and giving up the butter-mashing when my hand went numb. I’m all about compromise. I started thinking about what lemon and cranberry would taste like together. What I came up with was something awfully bitter, and terrible. Oranges always make life better, so we go with oranges!! After all, orange-cranberry is something relatively normal.

Lucky for me, my improvisational skills are better than I thought.

Cranberry-Orange Crumble Squares (Adapted from AllRecipes.com, discovered on SmittenKitchen.com)

1 cup white sugar

3 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 sticks of unsalted butter, cold

1 egg

½ cup white sugar

Zest and juice of 1 orange

4 teaspoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups of dried Cranberries, reconstituted

Preheat oven to 375^oF. Grease a 9”x13” pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 cup of the white sugar, and the baking powder. Mix in the salt and orange zest. Using a fork or a pastry cutter, blend in the butter and the egg until a crumbly mixture is formed. In a medium sized bowl, combine the orange juice, cornstarch, and the other ½ cup of white sugar. Gently mix in the reconstituted cranberries. In the pan, pat down half of the crumble mixture in an even layer. Spoon the fruit mixture over the layer of crust, covering completely. Place the rest of the crumble on the top of the fruit layer covering completely. Bake for 45 minutes in the middle of the oven until golden brown (it may take another 10 minutes after the initial 45). Let cool completely and cut into squares. Makes about 48 1” squares.