It’s not hard to make an ice cream that tastes good. Honestly if you’re making a somewhat standard flavor it’s probably harder to make something that doesn’t taste good. After all, it’s cream, milk, vanilla and sugar. What sets ice creams apart, in my mind, is consistency. Recently a few of my favorite ice cream flavors haven't used eggs. They’ve stayed soft and easy to scoop without getting icy, and the flavor is creamy, smooth and delicious.

Another plus is that these recipes don’t require any heating of the milk and cream, incorporating the eggs, straining, ice baths, etc. Any time I can cut these things out I am all for it.

Since I was already throwing brownies into this base and I wanted the fudge taste as well (without having to buy fudge pieces), I just drizzled some hot fudge between layers of the ice cream. And while I was at it, I thought why not add in some salted caramel? Good decisions all around.

It helped that the good folks at Smuckers were nice enough to send me over some items from their Simple Delights line of ice cream toppings. I’ve been trying them out on everything I can, and I haven’t hit one I don’t like. I’ll be having a giveaway for readers in the next week to give you the chance to win some yourself! More details to come on that soon.

Back to this ice cream: perfect chocolate base + brownies + gooey fudge and salted caramel swirls. Be still my heart. I loved every bite, and so did everyone else who tried it. Once you find a good base you can change it up with mix-ins however you’d like. I've also crumbled up the chocolate pudding cookies and thrown them into this mixture instead of the brownies. You can't go wrong.

Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream with a Salted Caramel Swirl

Recipe adapted from Cravings of a Lunatic 

Ingredients

• 1 cup good quality cocoa powder
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• Pinch of vanilla salt (regular salt is fine to use)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups brownie pieces
• 1/4 cup hot fudge (I used Smuckers Hot Fudge)
• 1/4 cup caramel (I use Smucker's Salted Caramel)

 

Directions:

Instructions

1. In a stand mixer combine cocoa powder, both sugars, salt and whole milk. Mix until the sugars dissolve.
2. Add heavy cream and vanilla and mix until fluffy, should be the consistency of pudding. Cover and stick in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. You can even leave it overnight, it helps the flavour to let it age a bit.
3. Remove from fridge and transfer the liquid to a FROZEN ice cream maker bowl. Place bowl on your ice cream machine and turn on. Churn according to manufacturer's instructions.
4. Once ice cream base is complete (about 20 minutes for my ice cream maker), fold in three cups of crumbled brownie pieces. 
5. Spread a layer of the chocolate and brownie base into the bottom of a freezer safe container (about ¼ of total batch). Use a spoon to swirl in ½ of the warm caramel. 
6. Add another layer of the base on top and drizzle/swirl in ½ of the hot fudge. Repeat with another layer of the base and remaining caramel followed by the rest of the ice cream and hot fudge. 
7. Place in freezer for 6 hours, or until ice cream has firmed. It will be best after 12+ hours of freezer time. 

I've been on an ice cream binge recently. It is National Ice Cream Month, after all. I have seven more days before I can no longer justify my consumption based on the need to celebrate such a worthy occasion. The other day, my mom asked if I was planning on making ice cream during our family beach trip at the beginning of August. Since my ice cream maker is just an attachment to my stand mixer, I informed her that sadly lugging all of it down to South Carolina was not an option.

That was 45 minutes before the ice cream gods presented me with a more portable Cuisinart ice cream/sorbet maker for only $21 on Gilt. How could I not? So, now I own two ice cream makers, which means this binge isn't going to die down any time soon.

I won’t run through my perceived benefits of having two ice cream makers (trust me, I've thought of plenty) because I realize for any normal person one should do it. That said, if you don’t even have one, find a deal like that and buy it. We all waste $21 on things a lot less useful than an ice cream maker....and I also feel bad for posting so many recipes that are useless to anyone who doesn’t have one.

This recipe, in particular, is one you need in your life. My favorite flavor of all time is Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, which sadly they discontinued a few years back. I don't understand why on earth they did this because it was the best flavor ever, but no one consults with me on these decisions. Alas, I took matters into my own hands, and I now have this incredible mock version. The base is a creamy, flavorful cinnamon that’s filled with chocolate chips and chunks of the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies I posted last week. It will leave you speechless. It will also make you question why you’ve never considered cinnamon ice cream one of your favorite flavors.

The cookies don’t harden inside the ice cream. They taste more like little chunks of cookie dough. The cinnamon base on its own was already a knockout, so with the addition of these cookies (which are my new favorites) and chocolate chips it’s a whole new level of good. If you want to use a different oatmeal cookie recipe you're more than welcome to, but no raisins!!

Cinnamon Ice Cream
Base recipe adapted from Susi's Kochen

Ingredients:

Base
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
1/3 cup (70 g) packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add-ins
3 cups Best Ever Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, crumbled into medium and small sized chunks*
1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Directions
To make the ice cream, warm the milk, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk the cream, brown sugar, and cinnamon together into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Mix in the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (3+ hours or overnight). Once chilled, pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Three minutes before mixture is finished, add in chocolate chips and 2 cups of the cookie pieces.

Spread finished ice cream into a freezer safe container, tossing in pieces from the remaining 1 cup of cookie crumbs as you go. Cover, and place in the freezer until firm.

*Think about it like you would cookie dough pieces in cookie dough ice cream. It's always disappointing when you eat it and you don't have any cookie dough in your spoonful. Leave enough quarter-sized chunks that you will get bites of cookie, but don't have them so big that a spoonful would have only cookie.

For all of you ice cream lovers who haven't ventured into the world of making your own ice cream, now is the time. Honestly, this ice cream alone makes investing in an ice cream maker completely worth it. Trust me. It is some of the best ice cream I've ever eaten, and that's coming from someone who typically doesn't even like strawberry ice cream.

My apologies for not posting it while we were still in the peak of strawberry season, but per usual I kept eating the whole batch before taking pictures (I had some help from people equally obsessed with this ice cream). This is a frequent occurrence. One of these days I'll learn to practice some restraint, but that day is not today.

It's hard for me to pick what I love about the recipe best. It could be that it's one of the easiest ice creams I've made. Unlike most other ice creams I make, this one is egg-free and doesn't require using a stove. It could also be that all of my favorite flavors involve some sort of alternating layering of toppings (examples here and here), and this recipe is no exception. It's the key to getting swirls of toppings in every scoop. Or maybe it's that it has cream cheese, and I've met very few cream cheese recipes I didn't like. Too many good things to choose just one.

The base is smooth, creamy and rich. Usually I'm hesitant to use fruit in ice cream because it has a tendency to get icy, but that's not the case with this recipe. Every single bite is as good as the last...and when you do get to that last bite, I guarantee you will want more. You will be sad that you finished your bowl, and you will sneak over to the freezer and get another scoop. Diets be damned. 

Roasted Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Recipe adapted from Baked by Rachel

Ingredients:

1C whole milk
1C heavy cream
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4C granulated sugar, divided
2C strawberries
2/3 C graham cracker crumbs, roughly 6 sheets

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, blend cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Slowly add the cream and milk, making sure that the liquid is fully incorporated roughly every 1/4 cup or so. If you pour all of the liquid in at once, you will likely end up sloshing milk and cream everywhere, so be sure to go a little at a time. Once all ingredients are combined, use a spatula to transfer the mixture to a clean bowl. Cover and chill the mixture overnight.  

While the base is chilling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Hull and slice strawberries, tossing with remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Roast on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Transfer berries and sugary liquid from the parchment sheet to a clean bowl, cover and chill.

Churn liquid according to manufacturer's directions. In the last 5 minutes, drop strawberries and liquid into the base a small spoonful at a time.

Sprinkle an even layer of graham cracker crumbs on the bottom of a freezer safe container. Carefully spread a layer of ice cream on top of the crumbs. Alternate layers of ice cream and graham cracker crumbs until container is full. Freeze until firm.

The other day I went strawberry picking for the first time in years. I purchased my carton and was determined to get as many strawberries as possible. They were everywhere -- ripe, juicy, perfect strawberries. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I moseyed along the fields adding and adding to my box until it was completely full of the most beautiful strawberries you've ever seen.

I ended up with 12lbs. I realized shortly after leaving that piling fresh strawberries on top of one another meant the bottom ones ended up bruised (rookie mistake).

I froze some for smoothies, used some for ice cream, made cupcakes and muffins, and then decided the rest needed to go into making strawberry margaritas.

I was at dinner a month or so ago and somehow the waitress and I got to talking about soaking strawberries in tequila. I'm a fan of all fruit/alcohol combinations, so this idea was right up my alley. If you soak them in tequila for long enough, you can strain the strawberries and have delicious homemade strawberry tequila. If you really love tequila I guess you could also eat the soaked berries plain, but I wasn't feeling up for that. I decided that I would use my fresh, bursting with flavor strawberries to make strawberry margaritas. I made a lot more strawberry tequila than I've posted in the recipe, but I had 12lbs of strawberries and 1.75 liters of tequila, so I saw no reason not to go all out. I froze the rest of the strawberry mixture that I didn't use for future margaritas.

I wanted the flavors to really blend together, but if you don't want to soak the strawberries, just skip that step and use fresh strawberries with tequila. That said, it's VERY easy to hull strawberries, pour tequila over them in the morning and leave them soaking all day to use that night. You can do it more in advance if you'd like.

Point is: you need to be making these margaritas. Channel your inner mixologist and ditch the pre-made margarita mix. It's full of sugar and not nearly as good as these. Feel free to adjust the recipe proportions to your liking. Basically anything with this strawberry tequila is going to be amazing.

Enjoy!

Fresh Strawberry Margaritas

1 1/2 cup silver tequila
1 pint strawberries, hulled
4-6 limes, juiced (about 1/2 cup)
4 oz Triple Sec
4 oz simple syrup

Hull strawberries and place in pitcher. Pour 1/2 cups tequila into pitcher. Allow strawberries to soak in the tequila for 3+ hours.

When you're ready to make the drinks, pour the strawberry-tequila mixture into a blender and pulse until strawberries have blended into the mixture, but some strawberry pieces remain. If you completely pulverize the strawberries you lose the pieces of good tequila soaked strawberries that you so patiently waited for.  Alternately, you can muddle the strawberries into the tequila in the pitcher if you do not have a blender.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. To serve, add servings into cocktail shaker with ice, give it a good shake and pour into salt-rimmed glasses.