Summer Ice Cream Treats - Picture 4

Summer Ice Cream - Picture 4
Another photograph of some French ice cream. This time it's not an ice cream cone but a delicious chocolate ice cream sundae. It was so sunny and warm on the day this photograph was taken that the ice cream was melting really quickly right before our eyes so we had to be quick!



If you like chocolate ice cream and want to try making your own, here is a quick and easy chocolate ice cream recipe that I came up with - no eggs, no cream, no custard base. Just use full fat milk, condensed milk and cocoa powder. It's a whizz!

Looking for more homemade ice cream ideas? Here are lots more ice cream recipes

Ice Cream Recipes Facebook Fans

My ice cream recipes Facebook page has only been going a short time but is proving a fascinating and rewarding experience. How could that be? Well I wasn't sure at first what the worth would be in writing about ice cream recipes on a Facebook page but it is now clear, even after only a short time, that people of all ages and from all over the world are keen to learn more about how to make ice cream.

There has been a wide variety of ice cream making questions posted to date and I try my best to answer as many as I can. Here are some of the things I've been asked about ....

gelato recipes

orange ice cream recipe

real vanilla ice cream recipe

cola ice cream recipe

ice cream recipes without corn, milk and eggs

vegan ice cream recipes

Interestingly enough, when I do post answers to questions, people often post back and say 'thank you'. What a nice bunch the Facebook ice cream fans are!

Contributing Ice Cream Ideas

I have been writing my ice cream blog for 4 years now and have only opened posts to comments by third parties on 2 occasions. That may surprise some people but the truth is that when you write a blog, you have to decide what it's purpose is.

Some people write blogs with the idea of inviting feedback and then exchanging comments and ideas as a follow-on.

For me, however, I decided that my blog should be a diary of ice cream thoughts and 'ponderings' written as and when they entered my mind, often taking novel and sometimes unusual subjects and making ice cream 'connections'. For that reason, inviting comments from readers has never been relevant. There is also the fact that blogs open to comments can be abused by spammers wanting to promote links to unrelated or inappropriate material and, much as I could ensure that any comments posted would have to be moderated by me, I simply don't have the time to do that ... particularly since my ice cream recipes website gets over 2 million visits a year and many of those visitors read this blog!

So why tell you this now? Well, as some of you may already know, I now have a Facebook Ice Cream Recipes page which anyone can view and which, if you are a Facebook member, you can leave comments on. I hope therefore, between my ice cream blog and my ice cream recipes Facebook page to satisfy everyone interested in the subject of ice cream, whether you just want to read or whether you want to contribute comments - just make them appropriate please!

Ice Cream Recipes on Facebook

If you love ice cream and are a member of Facebook then this is for you ....
I now have a Facebook Ice Cream Recipes page to compliment this ice cream blog.

Please check it out and I hope you'll tick the 'Like It' button!
The more the merrier please :)

If your passion for ice cream is a great as mine then there should be a 'meeting of minds' here and I look forward to reading your questions or comments on this new and exciting ice cream Facebook page. Ice cream is a passion to be shared with the world!

2011 - A Great Year For Ice Cream

Another New Year comes around and what, I wonder, will it hold for the fortunes of ice cream?

Every year the commercial ice cream makers seem to come up with new ice cream ideas, novel ice cream flavors or new ways in which to present them.

For my part, I always try to conjur up some new ice cream recipes. I remember well when I got my hands on some strasberries .... no I haven't mispelled strawberries! I made some strasberry ice cream and published the first ever strasberry ice cream recipe on the web. Not only was I proud of that fact but the ice cream was simply glorious! The only problem is that it's incredibly difficult to get hold of fresh strasberries where I live .... but then that perhaps makes the ice cream all the more special because I know I can't make it all year round.

This year I have a completely different and new idea in mind. No clues as to what that might be .... all I suggest is you watch this space for some exciting new ice cream recipe ideas.

Homemade ice cream - there's nothing to beat it!

Thoughts Of Halloween & Ice Cream

October is here, there's a chill in the air and Halloween is not far away!

What are you planning for this Halloween? A party at home or will you be invited out to someone else's party? Well, whether at home or away, ice cream may well be on the menu! Check out my ideas for Halloween ice cream well in advance so that if you want to make some homemade ice cream for the occasion, you are ready.

The fun of ice cream is something that never fades and whenever there is a celebration, ice cream usually makes an appearance. Halloween is no exception - read my ice cream blog post entitled Hello Halloween With Fun Of Ice Cream

NOTE: On the subject of fun, here is an extract from a wonderful post I read recently called 'Saving Fun' ...
"But if we lose fun we will have lost far more than just a word, we will have lost our capacity for spontaneous pleasure, our lightness of spirit. We will also have lost our trust in the basic goodness of life."
Reproduced by kind permission of Letters From London

Sauce Too Hot For Ice Cream!

Today we spent a wonderful couple of hours in the company of friends. We sat in the summer sunshine outside enjoying what is always great and entertaining conversation but to add to the delight, we were brought an array of 'nibbles' which included some super cheeses, oatcakes, a bowl of homemade Russian salad and a large dish of tortilla chips. We were told that we had to try some of the homemade dips with the tortilla chips. On the table were two bowls of the most colourful dips you have ever seen in your life! Here they are:

One was a hot, sweet chili dip and the other ... well, he didn't give it a name. We were challenged to guess what it was. I tasted it carefully ... there was fruit in there somewhere along with a strong taste of mint and, yes, definitely some mustard though not a strong one. Our friends smiled and then revealed that the fruit was mango and the mustard Dijon. Alongside these and the mint was a little cumin, hence the fabulous colour which complimented the colour of the mangoes. It was delicious - mild yet spicy, minty and fruity!

Britain's First National Ice Cream Week

Celebrating ice cream is done by many people every day all over the world - just eating an ice cream cone whilst walking in the park is a great example. Recognising the importance of ice cream is, I believe, very important; after all, it's a part of our cultural heritage and for many people is a great 'escapist' food - I've yet to see anyone with an ice cream cone that doesn't smile at some point in the experience!

Imagine a world without ice cream? No thanks, that would be incredibly dull!

Q: So how do we recognise the importance of ice cream?
Q: How do we say: "Thank you ice cream for making life that little bit extra special" ?
A: We have special ice cream days!

In the USA of course there's been a tradition of National Ice Cream Month (July) and National Ice Cream Day (3rd Sunday in July) since Ronald Reagan was in office - back in 1984 he proclaimed National Ice Cream Month an official, annual celebration. Nice one Mr. President! But what about other countries?

Well, although it's not been endorsed (as yet!) by the British Government or HM The Queen, 2009 sees a "National Ice Cream Week" for the first time in Britain. Admittedly, it's the brainchild of a British ice cream manufacturer who undoubtedly is looking to see their sales increase, but hopefully during the week of 1 June people all over Britain will enter the spirit of the idea and enjoy some of the fun that ice cream offers. I shall watch with interest how the British react to this new idea. Hopefully, they will embrace it and demand that we celebrate with an even more special week in the summer of 2010.

As one of my favorite singers James Taylor occasionally sings:

"If you're down and troubled and you need a helpin' hand .... and nothing is going right ...."

My advice? Go get some ice cream!
Moreover, make your own ice cream if you can, it's not that difficult. Here are some of my easy ice cream recipes.