Rocky Road Ice Cream

When it comes to popular ice cream flavors, particularly in the USA, then Rocky Road has to be on the list. Perhaps because it's chocolatey or perhaps because it's chunky or perhaps because it's chewy, I don't know exactly what makes it so special and popular but it's a great fun ice cream for adults and children alike. 

Homemade rocky road ice cream ready to eat!

I think rocky road ice cream one of the best homemade flavors you could choose for parties and family get-togethers; also makes a great choice for Halloween ice cream too.

I made some homemade Rocky Road ice cream in the summer (photo above) and my family loved it! If you'd like to make your own, here are the ingredients to put on your shopping list ....

To make the chocolate custard
1/2 pint (250ml) full cream milk
3 oz (75g) milk chocolate
3 egg yolks
3 oz (75g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 pint (250ml) whipping cream (to fold into the cold chocolate custard)

Ingredients to add towards end of ice cream cyle
2 oz (50g) dark chocolate
2 oz (50g) glace cherries
2 oz (50g) almonds
2 oz (50g) small marshmallows

With your shopping done and your ice cream maker at the ready you'll need to know how to make your rocky road ice cream. Just click here to view full step-by-step instructions and photos. Enjoy!

Sundae For Halloween

A special chocolate ice cream sundae just for today. It doesn't matter if you celebrate Halloween or not .... you don't really need an excuse for a treat, do you? Go on and spoil yourself!

Did you know that chocolate has been scientifically proven to be good for you? Earlier this year I read a fascinating BBC article about how chocolate can actually help you slim. Now there's a thought.

Halloween Ice Cream Sandwich

Halloween is always a great excuse for a family get together or night out with friends and it's especially fun for children. Halloween is therefore one of my 'ice cream special days' and it's for such days that I am always keen to try and come up with new, ice cream related ideas.

One such idea came to me a while ago ... a spooky Halloween ice cream sandwich! I was discussing this with some friends recently who run a super little coffee shop close to Hadrian's Wall and, as they specialise in baking unusual homemade cakes and cookies including some fabulous chocolate cookies with spider's web icing, I suggested they try making up an ice cream sandwich using these with mint choc chip ice cream sandwiched between them. Guess what? They did it and yesterday I filmed it in their coffee shop. Here it is, freshly made ... complete with plastic, non-edible spiders! Notice the super, orange Halloween decorations behind - nice touch Emma :-)

Read more about ice cream sandwiches

Read more about the tradition of Halloween

Celebrate Halloween With Pumpkin Ice Cream

Well, Halloween is just around the corner. There's lots to prepare and look forward to so I'll make this blog post short!

Having got the costumes, pumpkins etc ready, you might want to treat everyone to something a little special .... pumpkin ice cream. This recipe also has maple syrup in it which gives it extra sweetness and texture. A little ground nutmeg also adds to the spice.

If you are in a hurry and forget about a dessert until almost the last minute, don't worry - there is always the option of trying one of these easy ice cream recipes.

Whatever you do this Halloween, have FUN!

Halloween Hot Chocolate

Here's a little gem of a recipe for a hot, sweet treat on Halloween.

I came across it in an English coffee shop. I was just waiting for my delicious take-away latte when a poster on the wall caught my eye. It was an advert for one of the cafe's 'specials' - an offer just for Halloween ......

A bat-shaped cookie with a glass of hot chocolate - GREEN hot chocolate!

I had to ask what this green hot chocolate idea was all about. The girl behind the counter (Emma) explained with a smile that it was her own recipe - she loves Halloween and wanted to come up with something that would be fun. I instantly related to that idea and explained how I developed my Gothic ice cream recipe for the very same reason.

Q: So what is Emma's special recipe?
A: She uses white chocolate and then blends in a green, mint flavoring (the type used in specialty coffees).

Emma kindly emailed me a photograph, published herewith by kind permission.

A ghoulish green hot chocolate - that's what I call a 'hot' idea for a Halloween treat!

* * * * *

Looking for Halloween food ideas?
See previous Halloween posts from my ice cream blog

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

Hello Halloween With A Fun Ice Cream!

Having read the title of this post you might be given to thinking that I have started writing poetry! No, give me a scoop in preference to a pen any day! It's just that Halloween is all about fun for children and I'm a great believer in "The Fun Of Ice Cream". Put the two things together and you can enjoy a fabulously, fun Halloween with ice cream as part of it.

My ice cream recipe idea for this Halloween?
Licorice toffee ice cream.

It's a creamy, sweet and sticky ice cream with a gloriously, ghoulish grey color - what I call "Gothic ice cream". I was thrilled when I first had the idea to make this ice cream because I wasn't quite sure what the color and consistency would be. Would it be too black? Would it be too sticky? Not a bit .... it worked out superbly.

Here is my Gothic ice cream recipe if you would like to try it.

Go Political This Halloween - Costume Mask Fun!

The mask is a good old-fashioned staple when it comes to costumes and Halloween is no exception. Your kids might want to wear a Batman or Robin costume which come complete with their own mask or they might wear a homemade costume and just buy a black or silver mask separately to complete the effect.

There is a new and growing trend however .... costume masks based on whoever is in the media spotlight at the time. This year of course it's none other than the Presidential candidates themselves! According to what I've read, the biggest fashion in costume masks this Halloween is to have either a Barack Obama mask or a John McCain mask.

I can imagine a lot of students having fun with these this Halloween .... but also a few parents. There are going to be some great Halloween photos taken this year!

Personally, I will won't be donning a mask or costume - it's enough to concentrate on the food, especially the ice cream. Well, someone has to do it!

Happy Halloween!

Dorothy & Peter Pan on Halloween

I've already written about Halloween ice cream and if you follow the link you'll get some great ideas for how to give your family and friends a really appropriate dessert!

Many people have already made their costume preparations for Halloween - especially for the kids, but if you haven't and you are beginning to panic a little, don't worry because there's lots of ideas out there and, hopefully, still enough time to place an order online and get your costume delivered before the big day itself.

Of all the great halloween costume ideas for children these are my favorites ....

Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) costume (photo) - 5 star rating
Oh and don't forget the special red shoes!

Batman costume

Robin costume (really cute for toddlers)

Peter Pan costume

Spider-Man costume

Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Ice Cream

Summer's over, the children are back at school and autumn has arrived. October can be a wonderfully atmospheric month - golden leaves on the trees, a nip in the air with a hint of winter to come, darkness falling earlier and before you know it Halloween is just around the corner.

For many children Halloween is a day of fun and excitement and if you are involved in organising anything for Halloween you will know only too well that it can take a lot of time and effort to plan your Halloween party just right.

You might be looking for ideas for childrens' Halloween costumes for example or for food recipes to celebrate Halloween. Pumpkin dishes of course are usually on the menu - but how about some Halloween ice cream? If you have an ice cream maker it's not difficult to produce a batch of tasty, unusual ice cream for a Halloween celebration. Here's my idea for a Halloween ice cream recipe: Pumpkin and Maple Ice Cream. Made with heavy cream, egg yolks, caster sugar, cooked, cooled & mashed pumpkin, maple syrup and a touch of ground nutmeg, it's simply delicious!

But what if you don't like pumpkin? OK, then just go for a quick and easy ice cream recipe such as this vanilla ice cream.

Did you know that the pumpkin isn't a vegetable?
Do you know why the pumpkin is associated with Halloween?
Do you know what the Pumpkinfest is?

Find out the answers on this Halloween blog post.

Halloween - Halloween Ice Cream Recipe

Halloween provides a great excuse for family and friends to get together, eat together and have fun, especially the children. Many people eat a traditional pumpkin pie on Halloween and that's fine but how about a special Halloween Ice Cream? If you use pumpkin in any of your cooking, just save some (about 12oz or 300g), cook it and use it (mashed) along with some maple syrup in this great Halloween Ice Cream recipe.

There seems to be an automatic association of pumpkin with Halloween but do you know why that is? I didn't until recently. Apparently, the tradition of hollowing out a pumpkin as a lantern at Halloween is an old Celtic custom, brought to the USA by Irish immigrants and 31 October is the New Year of the traditional Celtic calendar.

Also what do you and your children actually know about the pumpkin itself? I had always thought of pumpkin as a vegetable but I was wrong! Its botanical classification is actually that of a fruit; maybe that's why it works so well as a dessert when you come to think of it. Pumpkin is also the state fruit of New Hampshire and in Keene New Hampshire there's a Pumpkinfest every October - this year it's October 20. To read more visit the Pumpkinfest link (Wikipedia).