Cherry Berry Ice Cream

I am definitely on a homemade ice cream kick. After realizing how amazing the Strawberry Vanilla Bean ice cream was, I just couldn't wait to try another berry flavor. Since last summer, I've had an array of fruit in my freezer...cherries and blackberries from our aunt's farm in southern IL plus blueberries and peaches from Michigan. I decided that in order to jump-start the summer weather, I'd make a variation of the delicious dessert and go with a Cherry Berry Ice Cream.

For this recipe, I mixed strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and blackberries. It made the ice cream bright, fresh, and wonderfully fruity. Plus it's a really pretty pinky-purple color. I just love it!



Cherry Berry Ice Cream

1 1/2 lbs. fresh or frozen berries (I used cherries, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries)
1 cup sugar (plus more depending on tartness)
2 tbsps. vodka (optional)
1 1/2 C. sour cream
1 1/2 C. heavy cream
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:
Combine the berries in a medium bowl with the sugar and vodka. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a blender or food processor and add the sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice. Pulse briefly until almost smooth but still slightly chunky. Taste the mixture (this is essentially what your ice cream will taste like - yum! Check the sugar level. If it still seems tart, add a little more until it has the perfect amount of sweetness.)

Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Coffee Heath Ice Cream

I am officially obsessed with making my own ice cream. I don't know how I didn't realize the awesome-ness and utter fulfillment of it before! Now that I'm feeling much more confident in my ice cream maker (and myself!) I've been thinking about what flavors to make next.

One of the best Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors is their Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. This is not my opionion, it's a fact- this stuff is incredible! So, in an effort to make some at home, I found a recipe by the renouned ice creamer David Lebovitz. The base recipe is his Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream and then I just mixed in some crushed Heath Bars....it's so simple that it's stupid, but if you try this, you won't be able to deny it's magnificents. Even my coffee hating husband agrees that this ice cream is pretty great!

One note: the recipe calls for VERY STONG coffee...take this advice. The other ingredients really mellow it out so if you want your ice cream to actually taste like a delicious frozen coffee dessert, make sure your base coffee is really strong.



Coffee Heath Ice Cream

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 C. VERY strong coffee
2/3 C. whole milk
pinch of coffee or espresso grounds (optional)
Heath bar pieces (10-15 mini's, roughly chopped), plus more for garnish

In a bowl, whisk the sweetened condensed milk, coffee, whole milk, and coffee grounds together. Taste it! (This is ultimately what your ice cream will taste like...if you need a stronger coffee flavor, add a bit more coffee grounds). Freeze according to your ice cream maker directions.

Once finished, transfer your soft ice cream to a storage container. Gently mix in the Heath pieces. Freeze until firm. Sprinkle your bowl of deliciousness with even more Heath pieces. Thank me later :)

Adapted slightly from David Lebovitz

Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I tried a new flavor of ice cream and this is one of the best flavors I have made. This recipe is great because if you are like us and consider peanut butter a pantry staple, chances are you have everything you need to make it on hand. The only thing we needed to buy were the Reese’s cups. (I try not to keep these in the house because somehow they dissapear from the pantry and reappear on my hips...it's the weirdest thing...)

It seems a fact of nature that chocolate and peanut butter are a perfect pair, and this ice cream was certainly evidence of that. I think the peanut butter base would also be fantastic with a fudge ribbon through it ...mmmm....alright - let's get to eating!

Double Peanut Butter Ice Cream

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

2 2/3 cups half-and-half

Pinch of coarse salt
Dash of vanilla extract

1 heaping cup mini Reese’s cups, wrappers removed, frozen and chopped

Combine all of the ingredients (minus the candy) in a blender or food processor; and puree until completely smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. When the mixture is chilled through, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. To mix in the Reese’s, transfer the ice cream to a storage container and gently fold in the peanut butter cup pieces until evenly distributed.

Adapted slightly from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz