My Obsession Right Now: Ice Cream

Months before I even made my Christmas list for this past season, my mother had bought and stored away the KitchenAid mixer ice cream attachment. Of course, since I got it back home, I've already used it three times - with some success and a little failure.

The first ice cream we made was a soft vanilla bourbon. It. Was. Heavenly. Honestly, that is the only way to describe the incredible rich flavor and smooth texture. After one bite, I was pretty sure that I had bought my last quart of store ice cream. The bourbon wasn't too great for the freezing aspect, and the ice cream never really got hard. This was fine, as long as we ate it fast. And trust me, we did. I utilized another Christmas gift, Joy the Baker's cookbook: Homemade Decadence for the basic recipe, but tweaked it slightly (like adding more bourbon...).

My second attempt was not as successful. I wanted to try a frozen yogurt, but only had plain Greek yogurt in the fridge. I wanted to add some chocolate, but I didn't have any cocoa powder. So it came down to a little experimentation. I melted some semi-sweet chips in the microwave and mixed them into the cold yogurt. This didn't totally work, as the chips immediately began to solidify, and we got an interesting crunch. We also didn't use enough sugar, and so the sour yogurt flavor was overpowering. I'd love to try a frozen yogurt again, however, and try to make it better.

The third ice cream, we went back to the basics. This time, we used Joy's vanilla recipe again, but left out the bourbon completely. In addition, I made some eggless cookie dough which we rolled into tiny balls and froze. Once the mixer was done whipping up the custard, I folded the cookie dough bits into the soft ice cream. This one was definitely a success, although  both flavors are so rich, that it's hard to tell when you're eating the cookie dough versus the ice cream!

I can't wait to make some more. I have Joy's whole ice cream chapter to cook through, and then of course I'll make a few of my own. Salted caramel with peanut brittle? Chocolate with toffee chips? Oh man, I am getting ahead of myself here.