Leap Into Spring With Delicious Mint Ice Cream!

For those of us who live in the western hemisphere, it's the time of year when we get to spend more time outdoors. It could be as simple as a local walk, or more adventurous such as visit to a tourist attraction or even going away on vacation. In all those scenarios, eating ice cream becomes an option and a pleasurable one at that!

I've just been for a walk in the Spring sunshine around a lake not far from my home. No sooner had I parked my car than I spotted the small ice cream counter at the boathouse cafe with a queue forming! The walk could wait a few more minutes I thought :)

So I waited patiently for my turn and without hesitation chose a mint choc chip ice cream cone. Just one scoop, no sauce, no chocolate flake. At the start of the ice cream eating season you have to build up to such things! It was delicious and not too much of an indulgence to put me off my walk. So I was able to feel indulgent without any guilt! I love this ice cream flavour and, indeed, have my own recipe for homemade mint choc chip ice cream.

This is a great ice cream to serve at home for family or friends. One of my favourite ways of serving it is with fresh fruit and a sprig of fresh mint from my garden, all set in a chocolate waffle basket.

It makes for an interesting and colourful dessert whilst not being too heavy such as a pudding might be. So it's ideal for completing just about any menu.

Note: I chose the sprig of fresh mint because it is a timeless and wonderfully versatile herb. I was reading about it just recently and its history in culinary dishes goes way back. It was popular in medieval times as a salad ingredient along with purslane and even flowers like the primrose. So if you fancy a salad with a difference check out this page about medieval salad dishes from the 12th century. Having a cup of fresh mint tea is another option of course. I love to pick fresh mint from my garden, drop it in a cup and just add boiled water. Letting it steep for 5 minutes produces such a refreshing drink. I love it!

So whether it's ice cream, a salad or a hot drink, fresh mint can be on the menu in your home in many different ways!

Creamy Creme Brulee - A Fab Ice Cream Treat

Some of the world's best desserts and indeed best ice cream comes from France. It's the country where custard was created and where Thomas Jefferson found culinary inspiration during his time there as US Minister. So much so that he brought back with him ideas about ice cream making and wrote down what is believed to be the first, definitive ice cream recipe in the USA.

During my travels to France I have come across many fabulous 'artisan' ice creams. In France a master ice cream maker is called an artisan glacier - a much respected title and when you see and taste their ice cream it's not surprising why!

It's not just the taste and texture of French ice cream that's great, it's how it looks. The French love to present their food in colorful and stylish ways and ice cream is no exception to that general rule. Here is a creme brulee ice cream I came across in a French ice cream parlor, presented with nothing less than a full creme brulee dessert on top!

I developed my own creme brulee ice cream recipe and I have to say it is truly one of my favorites. Creamy and rich with a succulent vanilla taste it's fab on its own or served with a hot dessert such as crumble or sweet apple pie. On the subject of what you can serve your ice cream with, that's another thing the French are great at conjuring up .... a hot crepe or waffle is simply sumptuous smothered in ice cream and chantilly (not forgetting the chocolate sauce!).

Check out my creme brulee ice cream recipe along with a slide show of me making the ice cream. Have fun and enjoy!

Pistachio To Pecan - Just Nuts About Ice Cream!

Pistachio ice cream is a great favorite in my family. The color, taste and texture is unique. Whenever we get to visit an ice cream parlor we tend to check out their pistachio ice cream and you can usually tell just by the look of it if it's going to be any good. The one in the photograph above (matched with a scoop of caramel ice cream) was every bit as good as it looked!

In addition to pistachios, there are plenty of other nuts that work well in ice cream recipes. Pecan nuts, hazlenuts, macademia nuts and walnuts are good examples. This pecan ice cream smothered in caramel sauce is another example of how great ice cream can look.

Here is one of my own favorite nut ice cream recipes - butter pecan ice cream. Read more about ice cream and nuts.

Ice Cream Cone For Jefferson & 4th July

Yes one of the biggest ice cream days of the year has finally arrived - 4th July.

It seems more people make ice cream for 4th July celebrations than for any other time of year. Don't believe me? Check it out on this  culinary blog post entitled 'Ice Cream For Jefferson & 4th July'. If you follow the link it will also provide you with a FABULOUS Rocky Road ice cream recipe - I know it's good because it's one of my own!

If you don't feel like making ice cream today, that's OK .... just don't deny yourself of the pleasure of eating some though! Just go out, find a great ice cream parlor and grab a delicious ice cream cone like the one pictured here (chocolate and mint choc chip ice cream). Delicious!.

Happy 4th July! 

Celebrating Chilli - Chilli Festivals To Chilli Ice Cream

Chilli - a food that is subject to much debate. People either love it or loathe it. If you are a chilli lover then you probably are already aware of how chilli has become big business.

One of the biggest developments in food promotion in recent years has been the emergence of food festivals - chilli festivals incluided! Here is an example I just read about - a Chilli Festival taking place on 6 & 7 May at a fabulous stately home in the English countryside. They say there will be all manner of chilli food available to taste and purchase, possibly including chilli ice cream!

Now there's a thought ... I have yet to make an ice cream with chilli as an ingredient but it certainly seems popular with plenty of other websites offering chilli ice cream recipes. Here are two I found:
Thai Chilli Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe
Chilli Ice Cream Recipe (with honey)

How good these recipes are I can't say as I haven't tried them. That's for you to judge :)

Low Carb Ice Cream

Low carb ice cream is something I had thought about making before but somehow never got around to. This last week, however, things changed. A family member was recently put on a low carb diet for medical reasons so suddenly the carbohydrate level of food and drink came under close scrutiny.

Where does ice cream come into this? First of all, let's take sugar. Given that sugar is a carbohydrate and that most good, palatable ice cream has a good chunk of sugar in it, then this diet simply rules out ice cream from the menu. Think about it .... a good, creamy custard base ice cream needs lots of sugar to mix with the eggs in making the custard; a good sorbet needs a syrup base which, again, requires a lot of sugar.

Now let's take milk. You might not think it but milk has plenty of carbohydrate. A cup of full cream milk has about 11g carbohydrate, a cup of light (single) cream about 7g and a cup of heavy (double) cream about 6g (it can vary from brand to brand). Most ice cream recipes need more than a cup of milk so, added to the carbs in the sugar of the ice cream mixture, this all makes for an unacceptable level of carbohydrate for a dessert when on a special, low carb diet.
Nevertheless, I was determined to make some homemade low carb ice cream. I read lots on the web, studied notes and lists from the dietician and then simply looked at how I could replace my usual ice cream ingredients 'like for like'. I studied one or two of my vanilla ice cream recipes and then concluded what to do.

Here's what I did ....

I made a custard base using unsweetened soya milk, egg yolks and artificial sweetener (granular form). It didn't taste anything like custard made with full cream milk and natural sugar of course BUT it still produced a nice, creamy consistency that I felt would work well in an ice cream mixture. When thoroughly chilled, I added 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and some heavy cream. I studied the labels carefully on all the ingredients and noted the carb level in ratio to the amount of each ingredient used. The total carbs for the whole mixture came to 32g so, logically, if I split the ice cream into 8 portions, 1 portion would have just 4g carbs. I put the mixture into my ice cream maker and waited .... 20 minutes later (5 minutes earlier than usual), my low carb vanilla ice cream ready to serve. According to my family who tried it, was 'quite acceptable'. Here it is, served with some sugar free (low carb) jelly.

More of my low carb vanilla ice cream photos

White Chocolate & Banana Ice Cream

Here is a photo and a video clip from when I made my last batch of homemade ice cream - white chocolate and banana ice cream.

It's a perfect ice cream to serve at Christmas because it holds an appeal for most people. How do I know this? Well, I asked the question on my ice cream recipes Facebook page and out of several ice creams, this one was voted number 1. Wonderful to be able to find these things out!

Enjoy the video clip - my ice cream maker is now 10 years old and still going strong :)

4th July Ice Cream

4th July .... everyone seems busy finalising their plans for the holiday. Some will be at the beach, others at home or visiting friends and family. I was just reading about 4th July celebrations in New York - from fireworks with music to hot dog eating contests, it's amazing!

So how will you celebrate this special day? Whatever your plans, food will play a part - and that usually involves just a little bit of indulgence ... a sumptuous bbq perhaps or a formal meal featuring a special recipe or it could even be something much simpler like a bowl of fresh homemade ice cream. After all, food doesn't have to be complex to be special!

If you look in your favorite magazine or daily newspaper this week you'll no doubt come across lots of food ideas for 4th July. The same applies to the Internet ... there seem to be 4th July recipes everywhere and ice cream is no exception. The attempts to conjur up something red, white and blue with ice cream are mind boggling!

Here are a couple of 'patriotic' recipes I found on the Internet earlier that use a combination of ice cream, strawberries and blueberries ....

Recipe for red white and blue ice cream sandwiches
Recipe for 'Ice Cream Tunnel Cake'

I haven't tried either of these (yet) but if you want a red white and blue dessert theme, they may provide you with some inspiration.

For my part, I prefer to stick with the theme of 'Independence' when it comes to food this holiday. How? By serving something quite 'independent' of all other influences and trends - real vanilla ice cream. Definitive independent thinking is after all one of the joys of living in a democracy and if that's not worth celebrating on 4th July, nothing is!

Another reason for celebrating this 4th July of course is if it happens to be your birthday ... as is the case with ex-tennis pros Pam Shriver (USA) and Henri Leconte (France). Sharing their good company is my cousin Barbara who lives in the beautiful English county of Devon where they produce some of the world's best dairy cream. "Happy Birthday Bar!".

Happy 4th July everyone :)

Toffee Ice Cream - A Treat For Halloween

Here is a recipe for toffee ice cream. It takes longer to make than the average homemade ice cream because you have to make your own toffee by boiling a can of condensed milk BUT it is well worth the effort!

Whenever I have made toffee ice cream or indeed whenever I have been out walking with friends or family and called at an ice cream kiosk, no-one has ever said they don't like toffee ice cream. It seems to have a universal appeal.

Although I enjoy making my own toffee ice cream, I must admit to occasionally enjoying commercially made toffee ice cream. I don't mean the stuff you get from supermarkets, oh no .... I mean the kind of ice cream that you might find produced by a local dairy farm.

Where I live we are fortunate to have a number of dairy farms who produce superb ice cream. Here is a photograph of me having just purchased just such a toffee ice cream in a cone whilst on a walk with my family earlier this year. Notice the wonderful texture and marbling effect .... delicious!

Read more about ice cream recipes ahead of Halloween.

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

Easter Ice Cream - With Chocolate, Nuts & Honey

Every Easter I'm aware that many of my readers will be thinking of doing some home entertaining or, at the least, a little home cooking. So Easter recipes are high on the agenda for Internet searches around this time of year - and I don't want to disappoint anyone who is looking for ideas!

Last Easter I suggested a rich white chocolate ice cream recipe. Great for using up any white chocolate easter eggs you might have left over. The same applies to milk chocolate too - here is my chocolate ice cream recipe using real milk chocolate. So if your family gets a lot of chocolate this Easter, remember they don't have to eat it all at once - make some ice cream with it or, indeed, keep some of the chocolate until after the holidays and then make ice cream with it. After all, the 'best before' date on chocolate is usually pretty good. In fact I met a chocolatier a couple of years ago who told me that, generally speaking, chocolate can be good for up to as long as a year after it's been made. Even so, you should always check the manufacturer's date on the packaging.

However, I digress .... back to Easter ice cream!

This Easter I'm going to suggest 2 ice cream recipes:

Something 'nutty' - my crunchy pecan & maple syrup ice cream recipe. The reason? It has proven to be one of the most popular with people I know which makes it a pretty good bet for when you have visitors over the holidays.

Something 'sweet' - my honey ice cream recipe. The reason? Most people like honey. It also gives a great texture to the ice cream and, funnily enough, is an ice cream flavor that many people have yet to try. So the reaction to be offered it is usually one of surprise and interest.

Honey is always great to have in your kitchen at Easter anyway - it's delicious served on hot cross buns or scones!

Indeed, if you serve honey in any shape or form over Easter, you might like to share with your guests a few, fascinating facts about the wonderful honey bee. The link I've given is to a great BBC web page - nothing too scientfic or overbearing, just some great information.

Happy Easter ice cream making!

Baobab Ice Cream Anyone?

One of the reasons that ice cream is such a delicious food is that it can be made with so many different ingredients - from all kinds of fruit to chocolate, wine, tea, coffee and lots more. The biggest category of ingredients has to be that of fruit. Standard popular fruits such as the strawberry are great for making ice cream that's deliciously creamy; the more citrus fruits lend themselves better to making ideal, refreshing sorbets.

I'm always on the look-out for unusual fruits to try in ice cream. Last year I made strasberry ice cream, publishing the first Internet ice cream recipe ever for that fruit - not often you get to achieve a 'world first'! It was such a strong tasting, aromatic ice cream that I can't wait to get my hands on some more strasberries this year when they are in season.

My mother recently sent me a newspaper cutting about .... the Baobab. I had never heard of the word before and yet it sounds like an astonishingly unusual and also beneficial fruit. Here's what the article claims about the Baobab tree:

• it sometimes referred to as 'the upside-down tree' because of its root-like branches
• it can live for up to 500 years with some living as long as 2,000 years
• it has been known to grow up to a height of as much as 98 feet
• hollowed out baobab trees in Africa are sometimes used as shops and barns
• the baobab fruit looks like a coconut on the outside
• its white pulp is powdery with a cheese-like texture
• the pulp tastes slightly sour
• it is high in iron, potassium and anti-oxidants
• it is native to Africa
• it has been revered in Africa for thousands of years
• only specially trained people are allowed to climb the baobab tree to collect its fruit
• in some parts of East Africa it is sold as a type of sweet with a red, sugar coating

The nutritious properties of the baobab's pulp apparently make it ideal as an ingredient for cereal bars and smoothies and it is now being imported into the EU for the very first time for that purpose.

So we have a new fruit to experiment with - and enjoy. I have yet to see any baobab fruit pulp in my local supermarket but I will keep looking as I would love to try some in an ice cream recipe. As and when I do you'll hear about it on this blog .... so watch this space!

Festive Spicy Ice Cream

During the Christmas holidays many of us meet up with friends and family that we don't see very often throughout the rest of the year. So I think it's a great time to give people a treat. Cooking at home for people is a real pleasure - sure it's hard work too but it's like anything, the more positive the energy you put into it, the better the result. With food of any kind this makes the best possible recipe!

So how about making some spicy ice cream for your guests? Most are not likely to have tried this before but, given that it's Christmas, they're probably in party mood and would really relish trying something a little different - especially if the host has gone to the trouble of making a homemade treat.

My idea? Honey with Cinammon and Cloves Ice Cream. Great, simple ingredients - honey, milk, sugar, eggs and cream with the added spice of cloves and cinammon. It's not the quickest ice cream recipe because you need to allow the spices to infuse in the milk (at least an hour or even overnight if you have time) but it's the richness of the spices that makes this ice cream special. It's probably only at Christmas, or at least in winter time, that you'll think of making and eating such an ice cream in fact ... but that's what makes ice cream such a fantastic food - you can vary the ingredients according to the seasons.

Follow the link above to find the full recipe instructions.

I hope you enjoy this festive, spicy ice!

Green Tea Ice Cream

Green tea ice cream is not the first ice cream flavor that comes to mind but it's one of the more unusual ice cream recipes. It's also surprisingly popular and my green tea ice cream recipe is amongst the top 10 ice cream recipes viewed on my website.

Admittedly it's a rich recipe using cream and eggs but if you're looking for an indulgence to share with family and friends that's just that little bit different, it's certainly worth considering and that's probably the reason it's so popular.

The other reason for its popularity is possibly because more people are becoming aware of green tea's reported health giving properties. For example, green tea is totally unfermented - in fact it's steamed which gives it up to 60 per cent more polyphenols than most other teas. This is one reason why there's also a growing demand for green tea extract as a health supplement.

Green tea is a fascinating subject and if you'd like to read more I have a dedicated green tea web page.

Did you know that movie superstar and marshall arts expert Jackie Chan has put his name to a selection of green teas? I was surprised to learn this because he doesn't exactly need the advertising revenue! However, having read about Jackie Chan's life, career and wonderful charitable endeavours, it's clear he's a man with strong convictions. These include taking a pride in yourself, your health and the world around you. I remember once watching the outtakes from one of his earlier movies called 'Mr. Nice Guy' and after a street scene shot had been completed, Jackie was seen to bend down and start picking up litter from the gutter only to go and put it all in a street litter bin and then calmly walk off with no fuss back to continue filming.

Having just read about Jackie Chan's Tea I'm keen to try some out myself. If you want to do the same, it is now available online - in the green tea products section of the Ice Cream Recipes Online Store (in association with Amazon).

Food & Health - Chocolate to Green Tea

When I work through a new ice cream recipe I'm always interested to look beyond the end result of the homemade ice cream itself and read up on the properties of the ingredients. For example, when I made a honey ice cream I read about the history of honey and was fascintate to read about its health properties.

The same applied when I made chocolate ice cream and green tea ice cream. I read that chocolate is a great mood enhancer because it contains phenylethylamine; indeed two of the oldest women that ever lived (ages 119 and 122) admitted to being big eaters of chocolate all their lives. Could there be something in chocolate that benefits women's health? There's a lot of scientific research being done into chocolate and many other everyday foods; unravelling their mysteries will take time but may eventually be worth it.

Until then, perhaps women who like chocolate (like me!) will continue to seek more conventional women's health products to help cope with the stresses of modern living - from vitamins to detox remedies and more. Then there's your children's health to think about - vitamins for kids are well worth reading up on in order to ensure they get a good balanced diet - with a little chocolate thrown in for good measure of course!