Toasted Hobnob Ice Cream Sandwiches

What a surreal weekend.

Bryan and I had basically just stepped off the plane, back from a trip to Japan, when we started hearing about the crazy, unprecedented "monster" storm that was headed our way. We were advised to stock up on food, water, batteries, and first aid kits. People had learned (the hard way) during Hurricane Irene that it was possible to be out of power for days on end.

My refrigerator was empty, having been completely cleaned out in anticipation of my trip to Japan.

Bleary-eyed and jet-lagged, I jostled with the insane crowds at Trader Joe's on Sunday to pick at whatever was left in the store. For some odd reason, Bryan had to wait in almost equally long lines at Microcenter. Were people stocking up on computer games? Hard drives and motherboards?? OK, maybe flashlights and batteries. 

Monday we hunkered down and stayed at home, bracing ourselves for the rain and heavy winds that would come. We spent the day on our computers, working. As the storm built in intensity, we stared out the window, in awe (and nervousness!), as we watched large trees sway around in the strong gusts of wind.

We ate simply. Pasta Carbonara for lunch and Baja style fish tacos for dinner.

As the winds began dying down around 9PM, we tore our eyes away from the Weather Channel to enjoy a nice, relaxing dessert.

A sigh of relief. No loss of power. No floods in the basement.

To celebrate, we munched on homemade Hobnob ice cream sandwiches.

For those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile, you may know that Grape Nut Ice Cream is one of my all time favorite flavors. It's virtually the only flavor I ever get at Toscanini's, and it was one of the few recipes I chose to feature in my final winning post for Project Food Blog.

I'm also a huge fan of Hobnobs, that British, oat-based biscuit that's oddly really, really addictive (yes, I even tried making my own once).

When Bryan brought me back tons of Hobnobs from a recent trip to Europe (so many that they started going stale), I decided that making ice cream was the perfect way to use up a chunk of my stash.

First step: Toast the Hobnobs
I learned this by accident, but toasted Hobnobs taste incredible, much better than normal untoasted Hobnobs. The slight caramelization of the sugars during the browning process gives the cookies a deeper, richer flavor, not to mention an incredible aroma while baking. Even though I was originally just trying to revive stale Hobnobs, they tasted so good I decided that I would always toast my Hobnobs from now on.

Crush up the Hobnobs and add them to your ice cream base right after taking it out of the machine. I would recommend completely pulverizing at least half of the Hobnob batch, and then crushing the other half into slightly larger chunks. There are many ways of doing this. I would recommend putting the cookies in a plastic Ziploc bag and just crushing the cookies with your hands.

Once well mixed, freeze for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.

Serve as a normal ice cream or make Hobnob ice cream sandwiches!

Hobnob Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half
¾ cups sugar
4 egg yolks
¼ to ½ cups crushed Hobnobs (divided between finely crushed and coarsely crushed)
Additional Hobnob cookies for making sandwiches (optional)

Day 1
Heat the half & half, heavy cream, and sugar in a pot on medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot cream mixture while continually stirring.

Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon (~8-10 minutes). Optionally filter the cooked liquid and allow to cool overnight in the refrigerator.

Day 2
Toast Hobnobs in the toasted oven until lightly browned, around 4 minutes. Once cookies are cool, crush half of the cookies in a plastic bag until finely crushed. Break up slightly larger chunks by hand. Set aside.

Pour the cream mixture into the ice cream maker and make ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is "done," pour toasted Hobnobs into the mixture and stir by hand until incorporated. Freeze finished product for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.

Optionally make sandwiches by putting a scope of ice cream between two Hobnob cookies.

Note: you can store the sandwiches by wrapping them individually in plastic wrap.

Enjoy!

Jeni's Inspired Vanilla Ice Cream

I love ice cream.

It's one of my all time favorite foods and something I could eat at every meal (if only it were as healthy as kale or broccoli). Yes, I know it's all my dad's fault, but that doesn't make me crave it any less.

And I'm from Ohio. And my name's Jennifer.

It's no surprise that when I found out about Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream from Ohio (of all places!) whose immense popularity seemed to be sweeping the press and blogosphere by waves, I decided I absolutely had to try it (I mean, seriously, how often does my beloved home state get this kind of praise from the food community?).

But then, it's not like I can ask my mom to bring me ice cream from Ohio when she visits. And I usually only go back to Ohio during the holidays, so it means waiting months before trying it. That is, until Formaggio Kitchen started carrying it in their stores.

You can guess what I did next.

At $12 a pint, Jeni's ice cream is probably the most expensive ice cream I've ever seen. Part of the high cost comes from the fact that she sources all of her cream from grass-fed cows in Snowville Creamery, a local milk producer in Ohio.

Jeni's ice cream is unusual in that she does not use any eggs. She believes in truly highlighting the flavors of the ice cream ingredients, and eggs can sometimes detract from that.

In order to get a smooth creamy texture, she uses several tricks. First, to avoid any ice crystals, she painstakingly removes some water from the ice cream "batter" by boiling the cream/milk mixture. She also adds starch for two reasons: 1) as a desiccant to remove additional residual moisture; and 2) as a thickener to make the ice cream more creamy.

She then uses a bit of cream cheese to round out the ice cream, making it more scoopable.

We picked up Wildberry Lavendar and The Buckeye State. 

For those of you who are not local to Ohio, the buckeye tree is the Ohio state tree. It produces a nut that looks very much like a chestnut. Buckeyes are also local chocolate-peanut butter candies made to resemble the buckeye nut. Jeni paid homage to Ohio by creating this ice cream filled with pulverized buckeyes.

Initial Thoughts?
I so wanted to love this ice cream. But alas, Bryan and I both found the ice cream to be just a bit chalky and not as lusciously creamy as we had expected. "The Buckeye State" was the chalkier one, possibly made that way by the peanut butter inside?

Bryan didn't really like the texture. And I agreed that I preferred the creamy texture of egg-based ice creams.  Nevertheless, the flavors, especially the Wildberry Lavendar, were clean and pronounced, shining through with no competition from egg yolks or other strong flavors.

Despite my first experience with the ice cream, I was still intrigued at the idea of egg-less ice creams that would be smooth and creamy. Furthermore, since eggs are such a pain to deal with at home, I really was drawn to the idea of trying to make ice cream using her method.

So I finally did.
About a week ago, I noticed that my quarts of cream in the refrigerator were imminently about to expire. In order to avoid throwing them all out, I decided to make ice cream, immediately. Typically, I  make a rich, custard-style ice cream with many, many egg yolks.

Alas, I had virtually run out of eggs. Intrigued by Jeni's ice cream process, I found a recipe online for Jeni's version of a simple egg-less vanilla ice cream.  Thrilled that I actually had both corn starch and cream cheese at home (I virtually never have a stocked kitchen), I decided to forge ahead and see how a homemade version of Jeni's would taste like.

I must confess, I could not completely follow the recipe because of a lack of certain ingredients in my house (it was late at night too, so no chance to stopping by a grocery store). Most notably, I did not have simple white sugar and corn syrup. I took the plunge and substituted agave syrup. I've read elsewhere that Jeni specifically cautions against using other types of sugar (aside from what she recommends in the recipe), so I've put her original recipe below with notes about my modifications.

Despite all my crazy modifications, I still really enjoyed the final product! Sure, the texture was a not as creamy as I would have hoped, but how could I expect that given the changes I made? I'm pretty certain that my changes upset the delicate balance of water to other ingredients. In other words - my version had too much water, thus affecting the way the entire batch froze.

What about the Eggless Vanilla?
It tasted fantastic. I loved the clean, unadulterated fresh cream flavors of this ice cream. The vanilla really shown through, fragrant and sweet. I would totally consider using this method to make ice cream again. I'm pretty certain that if I cut down on the water content and used the right sugars (ahem - in other words, followed her tried and true recipe), it would turn out just right.

At least, what I've done is shown that even if you mess with several elements of the ice cream making process, the final product will still taste pretty darn good. Seriously, you really can't go too wrong with heavy cream and fresh vanilla beans.

Enjoy!

Jen's homemade version using Jeni's recipe

Simple Vanilla Eggless Ice Cream
[source: Food & Wine Magazine: Originally from the book Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home]

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

In an small bowl, add cornstarch to a small amount (about 2 tablespoons) of milk and dissolve completely. Set aside. In another large bowl, whisk room temperature (important! Not straight out of the refrigerator!) cream cheese until smooth. Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat milk, heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla beans for about 5 minutes until the cream mixture is well infused with vanilla flavor. Remove from heat and slowly add corn starch/half & half mixture, stirring until everything is well incorporated. Return to heat and boil for 1-2 minutes until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.

Slowly add the hot cream mixture to the whisked cream cheese and stir well until mixed. Cool in an ice bath (at least 20 minutes) until cold.

Make in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Store the ice cream in airtight conditions and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.


My Modifications & Notes
As I said, I was desperately trying to use up my cream, so in my haste I reverted to familiar ratios from the recipe I usually use, not fulling appreciating how the difference in water content could really affect the creaminess of the egg-less ice cream. To make matters worst, I had just enough corn starch, but not the extra amount I probably needed to make up for the extra liquid I was adding.

My Measurements
2 cups half & half + 2 cups heavy cream [admittedly too much liquid?]
1/2 cup agave syrup instead of sugar [yikes, even MORE liquid!]
2 vanilla beans [at least I'm upping the vanilla flavor, yikes!]

I basically followed the instructions from the recipe except that I cooled my ice cream base in the refrigerator overnight since I did not have time to make ice cream right away.

64 Pints of Ice Cream Delivered

It was around 9AM when the doorbell rang.

I wasn't surprised. After all, I had been expecting a delivery. 2nd St. Creamery had contacted me a couple weeks before asking me if I wanted to sample some of their premium ice cream. They were about to enter the Boston market, and wanted to give me a chance to taste it.

How could I say no? Ice cream is one of my all-time favorite foods, and I'm always on the lookout for new premium ice cream.

They said they would send me 8 pints so that I could hold a small party and share it with friends, family, or coworkers. I had given myself about 15 minutes in the morning to put the ice cream away before heading out for a work meeting in the morning.

I opened the door.

There stood the delivery man, holding a box about the size of a small freezer.

"I got one more in the truck for you!" he chirped as he ran back towards the truck.

I stood at the door, stunned.

He soon drove away, leaving me with two huge boxes at the base of the staircase leading up to the kitchen.

They were so heavy, I could not lift them by myself. I pushed them up the staircase to the living room area where I opened them up.

Why would 8 pints require such ridiculous packaging?

Whaaaaaaattt??!!

They had accidentally shipped me eight 8-pint packs.

Yes indeed. I had SIXTY-FOUR pints of ice cream and just a normal-sized refrigerator at home.

What's a girl to do?

At this point I knew I was going to be late for my work meeting. There was no way I could put all these away in 5-10 minutes.

Seriously, how does one deal with 64 pints of ice cream?

I emailed the person at work and asked for a reschedule, which he kindly obliged.

Meanwhile, I tried pushing the boxes up to the level of the kitchen. I eventually was able to get some of the ice cream pints into the freezer. I left the rest in the styrofoam box (filled with dry ice) knowing the ice cream would last at least one day.

Later on that evening, after desperately calling a few friends and giving away about 15 pints of ice cream, I managed to squeeze the remaining 50 or so into my freezer.

Yes, I had to throw away a bunch of old stuff and move other stuff into the refrigerator, but I somehow managed to get it done.

A couple weeks later, as promised, I had a party at my house for about 30+ people who all sampled the three flavors that were sent to me.

Guests munched on ice cream while I asked them their opinions about the three flavors.
Tons of Brownie 
This first flavor is a simple vanilla based ice cream with "tons of brownies" mixed in. Those that liked it enjoyed the generous chunks of brownies that were relatively evenly spread throughout. Out of the three flavors, however, this one was the least popular. More than one person thought the brownies did not give the overall ice cream enough of a deep chocolate-y flavor. Several people found the ice cream too sweet.

Personally, I also found the overload of brownies a bit too sweet for me. The brownies did not necessarily contribute much of a deep, quality chocolate flavor to the ice cream. Instead, it mostly added unnecessary sweetness.
Copper Kettle Caramel
This second ice cream was pretty popular with the guests. More than one person liked the surprisingly "pop" of caramel flavor you get when you bite into the chocolate covered caramel pieces. People liked the rich, creamy texture of the ice cream overall.  Some guests also found this ice cream to be overall a bit too sweet.

Personally, I had expected to like the Copper Kettle Caramel the best out of the three because I'm a huge caramel/burnt sugar fan and typically love anything made with those ingredients. Surprisingly, although I thought it was reasonably tasty, I also found this flavor to be a bit overwhelming. I think the generous amounts of chocolate covered caramels inside the ice cream was too much, causing a sort of in-your-face saturated sweet experience that didn't quite suit my preferences. 

I may be in the minority here since I am quite sensitive to desserts that are very sweet. The types of people who love desserts that are full of sweet and gooey chocolate-y and caramel-y chunks of stuff may really enjoy this (and there were definitely guests who picked this as their favorite).

Black Hills Strawberry Rhubarb
The Black Hills Strawberry Rhubarb was a clear winner out of the three that we sampled. It was by far the most popular ice cream served that night. The strawberry ice cream had an authentic and solid strawberry flavor. The small pieces of pie crust mixed throughout the ice cream added a complex, cookie-like texture that I liked. It also tempered the sweetness of the ice cream. There were frozen bits of jam spread throughout the ice cream - something I was not a huge fan of because, again, it made the ice cream a bit too sweet. Interestingly, no one could actually taste any rhubarb flavor in this ice cream (though, to be fair, most people admitted to not knowing exactly what rhubarb tastes like).

At the end of the night, I gave each guest a pint to take home. Almost everyone requested the Strawberry Rhubarb, and I actually ran out of that one before all the guests had left.

A funny comment became, "if you want the Strawberry Rhubarb, you should leave the party NOW before it runs out."

General Thoughts
Second Street Creamery is making some unique flavors of ice cream, many of which have cute, personal stories attached to them.

The ice cream is reasonably dense and quite creamy. It is definitely better than your average supermarket ice cream (e.g., Hood, Breyers, Dreyers, Edy's, etc), although it do es not quite reach the level of the highest level premium ice creams, such as Haagan Daaz, Ben & Jerry's, and any of the local artisanal brands.

 In general, the flavors are good, but not as refined and subtle as the best premium ice creams I've had. They seem to achieve "bang" from intense, bold flavors such as the chocolate covered caramel pieces, large chunks of brownies, or a mish-mash of strawberry jam, frozen strawberries, and pie crust.

The biggest consistent feedback is that the ice cream is a bit too sweet, at least for the Asian palate. At the same time, most of those same people told me they thought the strawberry rhubarb ice cream was very good - the least sweet of the bunch.

Would I buy this in a supermarket? Depends on the cost. I think if they price this somewhere in between the super premium ice creams and the more "ordinary" supermarket ice creams, they will do quite well. However, if given the choice between 2nd Street Creamery ice cream and Haagan Daaz or Ben & Jerry's, I might still pick one of those brands. Of course, these days I usually make my own or get them from my favorite ice cream place.

In any event, it's still a perfectly fine ice cream. As I said, my guests absolutely loved the strawberry rhubarb ice cream, and several really liked the other two flavors as well. If you have a sweet tooth, you may not think these ice cream flavors are too sweet at all. You may, in fact, think they are perfect.

Epilogue
I'm so relieved. I now only have 10 pints left in the freezer. I'm thrilled to get my freezer space back.

Thanks to all my guests for happily eating the ice cream and each taking home a pint to enjoy! You've all helped me immensely!

Scenes from the Ice Cream Party


Disclaimer - I received the 64 pints of ice cream for free from 2nd Street Creamery. All the opinions are my own.

Gelato in Rome

Gelateria San Crispino

This is the sixth post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome, Etabli, Il Convivio,Ciuri Ciuri Pasticceria Gelateria Siciliana, and Sant'Eustachio Il Caffe

Gelato.

The word is almost synonymous with Italy. Virtually every person who gave me advice about Italy told me to definitely eat lots of gelato. Seems like it wasn't unusual for my traveling friends to get multiple scoops of gelato a day while in Italy!

Italians are obsessed with their gelato. Italy is the only country in the world where the market share for handmade gelato outnumbers that of industrial gelato. This is why gelato is so good in Italy. Virtually every shop you see is handmaking their own artisanal version of the stuff.

For some reason, many of the best gelato shops seem to be concentrated around the Pantheon, which is great for tourists since the Pantheon itself is definitely a must-visit, and is conveniently located near many other sites.

Alas since I only had a weekend in Rome (and I was already eating so much other stuff), I only managed to fit in three gelato places. Yes, I know, weak right? Most people are eating 2-3 gelatos a day!

So, even though it's nowhere near a comprehensive review of the best gelato places, I did manage to hit at least one supposed "must-try" as well as a couple other fun ones.

Tres Scalini is a gelato shop in Piazza Navona that boasts being the inventor of the luscious chocolate dessert, tartufo, a ball of rich, dark chocolate gelato accompanied with dark chocolate pieces and a cherry in the center. The shopkeeper gave me a sample of the dark chocolate gelato to try, which was mind-blowingly good. It was intensely dark, rich, and easily the best chocolate gelato I'd ever had.

Alas we stopped by here right after a crazy huge meal, so I did not think I could fit an entire tartufo in my stomach (yes, I know, weak!). Instead, I ordered a scoop of their yogurt flavored gelato, (seemingly much lighter) which was quite good, though it was nothing compared to the dark chocolate tartufo gelato.

Definitely order the tartufo if you come here here (or at least the deep chocolate gelato that they use to make it!).

Piazza Navona has several gelato shops, and we tried the one right next door to Tres Scalini our first full day in Rome. Unfortunately I did not write down the name of the place (does anyone know?), but I believe it was to the left of Tres Scalini in Piazza Navona.

Anyway, the owner at this place was passionate about his gelato, telling customers (in English) that he used the finest ingredients and you wouldn't find a better gelato around.

I do agree that I liked the texture of the gelato here better than the yogurt gelato at Tres Scalini, which I found just a tad chalky for some odd reason.

If you want to save money, order the gelato at the counter and just walk around the square with it. It will cost you about 2.5 Euros for that. Getting the same product via table service at one of outside seats will cost you about double (although then you have guaranteed seating in Piazza Navona, which is also pretty valuable - so perhaps it's a toss up?)

In any event, definitely spend at least a little time in Piazza Navona to people-watch while feasting on dessert.

If you just do a tiny bit of research, you will soon see Il Gelato di San Crispino pops up over and over again as people's favorite gelateria in Rome. They use high quality ingredients, make the gelato in small batches, and serve up intensely authentic flavors.

They are sort of food Nazis, only offering gelato in cups (I guess cones interfere with the enjoyment of the pure gelato?), and refusing to mix certain flavors if they think the flavors don't go well together. Unlike the friendly shopkeepers in Piazza Navona who happily handed out samples and spoke to customers about their gelato, the sole shopkeeper at San Crispino was reserved and mute, silently handing me my cup of gelato before shutting down the store.

It's quite expensive too. My tiny, tiny little micro cup of gelato (about 1/4 the size of the "smalls" at other places) cost me a pretty three Euros.

Although I only tried one flavor, I agreed that it was the best of the bunch. The flavor is clean, pure, and very real.

We stopped by here just shy of midnight on our walk back (in the rain!) from the Trastevere area. I was lucky to catch the gelateria before it closed.

I would definitely come back again to try more flavors, as I've heard their fruit-flavored gelato are absolutely fantastic. Just keep in mind you are paying for quality, not quantity here.

Bottom line - you won't get better gelato anywhere else in the world, so definitely, definitely try as many as you can while you're in Rome. You probably can't go too wrong no matter where you go, but I think it's worth at least doing some research and trying a few really good places.

Scoops Westside

This is part 2 of the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series. The other posts in this series include Peking Restaurant and Sushi Zo. 

On the west side of Los Angeles, not too far from the glitzy restaurants that Hollywood stars frequent, sits a tiny little ice cream shop that serves up some really unique flavors.

You know me and ice cream. It's something my body has been accustomed to having ever since I was about two years old. I'm a sucker for creative ice cream flavors, and I seek out cool places that aren't afraid to be creative.

What's even cooler about this place? It's run by a fellow food blogger - a person who decided to give up his day job as a commercial bank analyst to pursue his passion for all things food.


Meet Matthew Kang. Matthew write the LA-based food blog Mattatouille. I first met Matthew at the Community Dinner at the first ever Foodbuzz Festival in 2009. Matthew took a huge leap at the end of 2010 by quitting his day job to focus full time on opening up his own ice cream shop. Scoops Westside just passed its 1-year birthday a few months ago, which is a testament to all the hard work Matthew has put in this past year!

When Bryan and I arrived, we had a really hard time trying to decide what to order. As a huge, huge fan of grape nut ice cream in Boston, I knew I had to try the famous "brown bread" ice cream. The original brown bread ice cream is made from grape nuts and is probably similar to the ones I've had out east. The version at Scoops Westside, called brown brown bread ice cream, takes grape nuts, coats them in brown (?) sugar, and the mixes them with dulce de leche ice cream. What results is a sweeter, more intense, rich, and caramel-y ice cream chock full of grape nuts.

It was fantastic, though potent! I can see it getting too sweet for me if I eat too much, but the mixture of flavors works quite well.

Bryan got the pistachio honey, which was quite nice with a strong pistachio flavor.

They have so many other types of interesting flavors. The lavender honey ice cream had a lovely floral fragrance that I loved. It was probably one of my favorites.

I tried their nondairy strawberry lychee and blueberry lavender "ice creams" (I think they are made with soy), which were light and refreshing, but really not at all a replacement for ice cream. Think of it as something completely different, like sorbet or sherbet.

Matthew is a coffee aficionado, and also offers "pour over" coffee from Intelligentsia (as well as other hand-picked artisanal brands, like the Colombian one shown above). I must say Matthew has great taste in coffee (and he's highly skilled in making that perfect pour), because I absolutely loved the flavors of the coffee.

I almost feel like I'm back in the chemistry lab (my former life!) playing around with flasks.

In my haste, I almost missed Joshua Lurie from Food GPS, another LA-based food blogger who hang out here a lot (see top picture). We chatted a ton about the LA food scene, and they gave me some great recommendations for places to visit near the SLS Hotel (Jose Andres' Samm inside Bazaar), which is where I was dining later on that night.

I love the variety of flavors at Scoops, and they change constantly. You can always follow their twitter feed to find out the daily specials. Some more interesting ones that have jumped out at me include unfiltered sake toffee, cheddar Irish Cream, Coconut Wasabi, Maple Black Truffle, Yuzu Basil, Pandan Cheesecake, and Lemon Jalapeno. If I lived nearby, I swear I would stop by every so often just to try some of these crazy flavors!!

In terms of texture, the ice cream is lighter than the heavy cream stuff we have here in the East Coast. Maybe they are more health conscious out there? At the end of the day, I guess I'm a super premium ice cream girl at heart, so I still prefer the thick, almost "doughy" ice creams we have out East. Nevertheless, this ice cream is still fantastic, and kudos to Scoops for offering such creative flavors.

Definitely check it out!

Scoops Westside
3400 Overland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Grape Nut Ice Cream

Grape Nut Ice Cream from Toscanini's

This recipe was originally part of my final, winning Round 10 post for Project Food Blog. I have decided to split it out so it's easier to find! This is my favorite ice cream, and thus I look it up a lot!

Toscanini’s is my all time favorite ice cream place in Boston. We used to have one on my college campus and I used to go there all the time (hello “freshman 15!”). Not only is the texture of Toscanini’s premium ice cream uniquely thick and doughy, the flavors at Toscanini’s are constantly changing and are always really, really interesting.

My all time favorite ice cream flavor is Grape Nut Ice Cream. I know it sounds weird, but the Grape Nuts soften considerably once they're mixed into the ice cream, and they give a wonderfully malty flavor to the ice cream.

I've developed my own version of Grape Nut Ice Cream, which I love making at home in the summertime, or the wintertime, or . . well, anytime, for that matter.

Grape Nut Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups half and half

¾ cups sugar

4 egg yolks

¼ to ½ cups Grape Nuts Cereal

Day 1

Heat the half & half, heavy cream, and sugar in a pot on medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot cream mixture while continually stirring.

Heat the half & half, heavy cream, and sugar in a pot on medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot cream mixture while continually stirring.

Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon (~8-10 minutes). Optionally filter the cooked liquid and allow to cool overnight in the refrigerator.

Day 2

Pour the cream mixture into the ice cream maker and make ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is "done," pour Grape Nuts into the mixture and stir by hand until incorporated. Freeze finished product for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.

Jen's Notes
I tend to really really like Grape Nuts, and thus I pour tons of it in there (way more than the original Tosci's version).. This is really a matter of preference. My version is usually teeming with Grape Nuts, to the point where I wonder whether I'm actually eating ice cream with Grape Nuts or Grape Nuts with a bit of ice cream!

This ice cream taste better after sitting in the freezer for some time. The Grape Nuts soften a bit, and the ice cream freezes to become really hard and dense, like premium ice cream.

Avocado Ice Cream

I have recently rediscovered my love for avocados. This jewel of a fruit (yes, it's a fruit!) is loaded with vitamins, cancer-fighting compounds, and cholesterol-lowering fat. Most importantly, it tastes soooo goood and it's super versatile. Of course, it's all over South American cuisine, since it did originate from Mexico. But you can also enjoy it in sushi, with soy sauce, or even in a milkshake!

Did you know that an avocado has more potassium than a medium-sized banana? Or that in controlled experiments, people with high triglyceride or cholesterol levels put on an avocado-enriched diet saw a 22% reduction in their LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol), a 22% reduction in their triglyceride levels, and an 11% increase in their HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol)?

Furthermore, studies seem to indicate that avocado extract, when put in the presence of prostate cancer cells, caused cell-cycle arrest in the cancer cells, essentially reducing their ability to proliferate.

Finally, avocados even help your body absorb other fat-soluble nutrients better. In fact, a study at the Ohio State University demonstrated that adding avocados to your salad greatly increased your absorption of caretenoids (linked to lower instances of cancer) from other vegetables in the salad.

If the fat in avocados are so good for you, why not replace bad fat in recipes with avocado fat?

That's exactly what this (relatively) healthy yet delectably rich ice cream recipe does.

About 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat, most of which is monounsaturated fat. As I mentioned earlier, this "good fat" lowers total cholesterol (17%) in people who have high cholesterol. The beauty of this recipe is that, it hardly uses any cream. A large chunk of the fat is good fat.

Maybe the idea of having avocados as a dessert sounds a bit strange to you. I would recommend giving it a try. It's surprisingly smooth, creamy, and really really good.

Avocado Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

3 avocados (preferably Hass)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 T freshly squeezed lime juice
Big pinch of salt

Cut open the avocados, remove the pits, and scoop out the flesh. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Freeze in your favorite ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

If you like softer ice cream, you can serve this right away. Otherwise, I would recommend putting it in the freezer and letting it harden (for at least 2 hours) before serving.

Olive Oil Ice Cream

To a non-Italian like me, this ice cream flavor initially sounded really strange. I mean, olive oil is almost never served in a sweet capacity, right? We enjoy it dipped in bread, drizzled over fresh mozarella, or poured over a savory soup. But then this past year, I started hearing about other ways in which olive oil could be used in a  sweet dessert.

First, there was the olive oil cake I had in Napa Valley at the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef's Competition Welcome Reception. Then I started seeing tweets from a certain food blogger who was basically obsessing over olive oil ice cream she had just enjoyed at Momofuku. She then somehow managed to procure a few pints (a secret supply that they keep in the back) from my favorite ice cream place in the world. A week later, after getting this exciting message on twitter, I walked, no I ran, down the street to pick up my own secret pint that was hidden in the back for me.

Though at first it took a little getting used to, the ice cream definitely grew on me. By the third night, I was craving the stuff, and would anticipate my bowl of olive oil ice cream every night.

So of course when I ran out, what did I do? I learned how to make it, of course. The recipe is surprisingly simple, and after doing just a tiny bit of research, I realized that this stuff is actually quite common in Italy. The quality of the olive oil matters a lot, so try to get the fruitiest, most floral olive oil you can find.


Heavy cream is not cheap, and I think most people would agree that making ice cream at home is actually not economical. It probably costs just as much as buying a tub in the supermarket.

The cheapest place I've found selling heavy cream, by far, is Costco. You can get a quart for less than $3, which is about half the cost of most places. Half and Half at Costco is really cheap too. As a result, I have optimized most of my ice cream recipes according to ingredients I can easily and inexpensively obtain at Costco.

Definitely don't skimp on the quality of the olive oil, as this recipe is so simple that the quality of every single ingredient matters a lot. This recipe also makes an ice cream that is not super sweet. If you like sweeter ice creams, I would recommend adding more sugar than what I have added. Personally, I think an olive oil ice cream should not be too sweet. Some recipes even recommend pairing the ice cream with a dash of sea salt on top.


Olive Oil Ice Cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
4 egg yolks, beaten
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Dissolve sugar, heavy cream, and half and half in a pot over medium heat and stir until the sugar has melted. While stirring the heated mixture with a whisk, add in the beaten egg yolks in a slow but steady stream. Continue stirring until all the egg yolk is incorporated. Continue heating and stirring over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon (~8-10 minutes). Optionally filter the mixture through a sieve to remove any small egg yolk solids. Add the olive oil and stir to combine. You can put the mixture into an ice bath and stir (like I did) to cool it more quickly before putting it in the refrigerator. Cool the mixture overnight.

The next day, you may notice that the cream mixture may have separated from the oil mixture. Stir to re-mix the two different phases and pour into an ice cream maker. Make ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. I personally use a Lello Gelato Pro, which I love because it has its own condenser, which means you can make ice cream anytime of the day on a whim. I've had the unit for years and have never had a problem with it. It is very reliable.

Most ice creams that I make need to be put into the freezer for a few hours before they can be served. This ice cream is so thick, rich, and creamy, you can serve it right out of the ice cream maker!

Enjoy!


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