Nutella Ice Cream with a Fluff Ribbon

My friend Ann loves Nutella more than almost anything else.  She says Nutella is the Swedish person's peanut butter (they eat it on everything) so when I was thinking of what kind of ice cream to make for our birthday girl's dinner, it didn't take me too long to decide.  Nutella ice cream with a little something extra - a fluff ribbon in the middle!

Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Nutella (or another chocolate-hazelnut spread)
7 ounces Fluff (Marshmallow fluff)

Directions
In a saucepan, combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat.  Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow (about 4 minutes).

Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture, and stir.  Add this mixture back into the saucepan.  Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7-10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer.  Stir in vanilla and Nutella until it dissolves.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight (cool completely) before pouring into an ice cream maker.  Follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze.

Once frozen, transfer half of the ice cream mixture into a Tupperware container and smooth out.  Then spread 5-7 ounces of marshmallow fluff on top of that, then spread the remaining ice cream on top.  Freeze container for 5-10 hours, then serve with an ice cream scoop (reaching all the way through the ice cream so each scoop has a ribbon of fluff through it!

Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream - the BEST ever!

I love Key Lime Pie.  When I found out there was going to be an ice cream competition (The Takedowns) in Somerville, I knew key lime was one of the flavors I was going to try out for the contest.  If you recall, I participated in a meatball takedown a few months ago.  Read about the Ice Cream Takedown here - FUN day!

Now on to the ice cream I made.  :)  I was planning on trying out four flavors and picking the best to make in bulk for the contest, but once I made this key lime I stopped the trial.  This was the obvious winner.  This ice cream insanely creamy and smooth and has the perfect limey zing to it.  First you get the cream, then you get the zing.  Find an excuse to make this before the summer is over.  It's worth buying an ice cream maker to do it.  :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup granular sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 Tablespoons lime zest
1/3 cup lime juice
3 drops green food coloring (optional)
Graham cracker crumbs

Directions

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Whisk in half & half and heavy cream.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for approximately 10 minutes, or until mixture starts to thicken.  Remove from heat.

Whisk 2 egg yolks in a small bowl until slightly thickened.  Gradually whisk in about 1 cup of cream mixture until combined.  Add yolk mixture back to cream mixture, whisking the entire time.  Add vanilla and stir to combine.

Pour cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer, into a medium bowl (discard the remains).  Let mixture cool for about 1 hour, then place Saran Wrap directly over cream mixture.  Refrigerate until completely cool, 5-24 hours.

Remove cream mixture from the refrigerator and pour into your ice cream maker and freeze to manufacturer's instructions.  Combine lime juice, zest, and food coloring in a small bowl.  Once half-way done, slowly pour lime in and finish freezing.  

Once finished, transfer ice cream to a Tupperware container and store in the freezer until ready to serve.  When you're ready to eat, let ice cream sit out for 15-20 minutes to soften.  Serve with graham cracker crumbs, and prepare for the ooo's and ahh's!  Want proof of it's superiority?  This puppy won 3rd place at the contest.  Yep - it's an award winning recipe!

Hope you enjoy!  Not feeling key lime?  Check out some of my other ice cream recipes!

Chocolate Ice Cream with Tiny Chocolate Flakes

Blackberry Honey Fro Yo

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Strawberry Banana Fro Yo

Kimball Farms - Mini-Golf, Ice Cream & Air Hockey, Oh My!!

In the last month, we've made two trips to Kimball Farms.  Our next door neighbors first told us about this magical place a few months ago, and we couldn't wait to go.  What is Kimball Farms, you might ask?  It's acres of fun...that's what it is!  We went to their Westford location (about 50 minutes outside of Boston), which has 2 mini-golf courses, bumper boats, an arcade, petting zoo, batting cages, a par 3 course (they call it "pitch and putt"), a "grill", and massive amounts of homemade ice cream!

The first time we went to Kimball Farms was with our friends Dave and Kirstin.  Their website said everything was open until 10pm, so we decided we had plenty of time to eat dinner at their house before heading to Westford.  When we got there, we saw a sign saying ice cream actually closed at 8:30 that night, so we decided to do that first.  The ice cream servings are HUGE and delicious!  This is a small serving...needless to say, I wasn't able to finish it (but came close!!!).  :)

After eating ice cream, we made our way to the mini-golf counter.  We were met by a few teens who told us they'd stopped letting people play for the evening.  When I asked why, the girl said "We're already not going to leave on time tonight...there are a lot of people playing, so no one else can play."  Since their website didn't say anything about a "last round", and it was just before 9pm (plenty of time for four 30 year olds to play a round of mini-golf), I asked if she'd make an exception and let us play.  We certainly wouldn't be the ones holding things up (can't you tell we're fantastic mini-golfers?).  She just said "No.  We're already going to have to stay late tonight."

Ugh.  I wasn't happy (since we'd driven almost an hour to play mini-golf), but we decided to make the best of it and head to the arcade.  They've got a great arcade with all the classic games we were looking for.  After some ski ball, we decided to pay some two-on-two air hockey.  Everyone left happy, as Trav and Dave won one game, and Kirstin and I won another.  :)

This past Friday, Travis and I went back to Kimball Farms to continue our mini-golf saga, and left REALLY early to make sure we'd have plenty of time.  We had dinner by the farm animals (burgers, fries, and watermelon...perfect for a summer night) and had a great time watching the goats.  Most goats I've seen aren't too keen on being petted all the time - they usually suffer through the petting with the hopes of a "french fry thank you", but these goats LOVED being petted!  Every time someone walked up to the fence, the goats came running and would put their heads up to the fence to graciously accept the happy rubs.  It was very cute.  We even watched one dad pick his kids up by the ankles and dangle them headfirst over the fence so they could pet the goats' heads.  So funny.

After dinner we DID get to play mini-golf, and it was great.  The holes are interesting and well kept, and there are lots of fun things to look at as you go!  I won't tell you who won (since it wasn't me), but we had a fantastic time!

I managed to hit my ball off a rock, over the walkway, and into the woods. Maybe this is why I didn't win. At least it found a friend!

We'll be back soon for more fun.  Kimball Farms was quite a fantastic surprise...I just wish they'd update their hourly information online to reflect what actually occurs.  :)

Strawberry Banana Frozen Yogurt

If you can't tell, I've been on an ice cream kick lately.  Last week I was trying to use my bananas as quickly as possible, so I decided to try another variation of the Blackberry-Honey Frozen Yogurt - this time using Bananas and Strawberry Chobani - classic.

The best part about this (besides its thick and creamy texture) is that it only has three ingredients.  No need to keep lots of items on hand to whip this up!

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed
3 6oz Strawberry Chobani yogurts
14oz Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Directions

Peel and smash bananas.

In a medium bowl, combine smashed bananas, Chobani, and Eagle Brand milk.  Stir until mixture is smooth, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  The cold mixture will freeze better in your ice cream maker.

Once the mixture has chilled, pour into your ice cream maker and let it spin for 45 minutes to 1 hour according to the manufacturer's instructions.

So simple!  Check out some of my other ice cream recipes!

Bananas Foster Ice Cream
Chocolate Ice Cream
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
Blackberry Honey Frozen Yogurt

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

This weekend I realized I have an entire bunch of bananas that was so ripe it wasn't going to make it another day.  With Nemo, the blizzard that hit Boston this weekend, bearing down on us, I knew I wouldn't be able to go buy the necessary ingredients to make banana bread, so I put my thinking cap on.  As I looked around the kitchen, I remembered I'd bought some caramel to top the snow cream I was going to make, and knew exactly what to do.  Bananas Foster Ice Cream.

My little experiment was a smashing success...and now you've got another use for your "on the way out" bananas!

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup caramel
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Peel and smash bananas - the more "smushed" they are, the better!

In a medium bowl, combine heavy cream, skim milk, caramel, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir until smooth, then add smashed bananas.

Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  The cold mixture will freeze better in your ice cream maker.

Once the mixture has chilled, pour into your ice cream maker and let it spin for 45 minutes to 1 hour according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Doesn't that look amazing?  If you can keep yourself from eating it all immediately, transfer into a Tupperware container and freeze until you're ready to enjoy!

Enjoy!

Blackberry Honey Frozen Yogurt

After last week's ice cream maker success (see the recipe for Chocolate Ice Cream), we decided to give it another shot.  I'd seen a recipe for Blackberry Frozen Yogurt this week that I wanted to try a variation of.  Blackberries are great, but I decided to add a honey twist to it.  This frozen yogurt is sweet, smooth and tangy...and only has 3 ingredients.

Ingredients
3 cups blackberries
1 14 ounce Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 6 ounce Chobani Greek Yogurts (honey flavor)
1 Tablespoon honey (optional)

Directions

Wash the three cups of blackberries.  Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Strain blackberries with a fine strainer to remove all seeds.  Spoon a cup or so into strainer at a time and press liquid through with a spoon into a separate bowl.

Pour smooth blackberry puree into a large bowl.  Throw seeds away.

Mix in Sweetened Condensed Milk and then Honey Greek Yogurt.  Stir til smooth.  If you wish to add the additional tablespoon of honey, do so now.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.  The cold ice cream mixture will freeze better in the ice cream maker.

After mixture has chilled for about an hour, pour into your ice cream maker and let spin for 45 minutes according to manufacture's instructions.

At this point you can either eat it right away or put it in the freezer to harden a little more.  Since it was mid-afternoon, we chose the freezer so we could save the treat for dessert.

Enjoy with a few leftover blackberries!