So if you read this regularly you know that for dessert I generally eat a small amount of ice cream later in the evening in one of my little mugs. Magic in a mug. My little baby magic mugs (given to Greg when he was a baby) are pictured today. Time to share. Now it can’t be any old ice cream. I need mix-ins… brownie bits, cake scraps, chips, jimmies, m & m’s, chocolate flakes… something has to be in there with the ice cream (and the more the better!) I was thinking about a flavor to go with my devils food cake and thought Oreo chocolate drizzle would be decadent and delicious (it was). But I also wanted something for my non-chocolate loving friends (Jason!) as well. So I made a big batch of vanilla ice cream
(which is really truly the perfect accompaniment to the devils cake) and converted some into Oreo chocolate drizzle and some into a white chocolate graham cracker flavor. Heaven to me. Seriously heaven. Both. Be as creative as you like (you can even buy vanilla ice cream and add the mix ins – doesn’t have to be home-made.) Normally I might not use a vanilla base to make the Oreo – I might use a base with out vanilla (a sweet cream) – but hey – it worked. The vanilla was beautiful with the grahams and white chocolate. Mmm…mmm…mm! The recipe below is for vanilla with directions following for these particular mix ins. Have fun!
vanilla ice cream:
6 large egg yolks (save your whites for meringues or a panna cotta)
1/2 cup sugar (skant)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and seeds scraped (look to bottom of fruit soup recipe to see a visual)
mix ins–
Oreo cookies coarsely smashed
semisweet chocolate (melted and cooled a bit)
graham crackers coarsely smooshed
white chocolate (melted and cooled a bit)
Prepare an ice bath – a big bowl with ice and water. In it, place another container or bowl with a strainer. This is where the vanilla ice cream base will land once cooked.
In a medium heavy weight saucepan mix the cream, milk, half of the sugar and the vanilla seeds and the scraped pod. Bring until almost a simmer…but do not boil.
In medium sized bowl, place the egg yolks, the other half of sugar, and salt and whisk well.
Slowly very slowly ladle the hot liquid into the eggs and whisk well after each addition. Keep adding the hot liquid until you’ve added it all to the eggs (again slowly so as not to cook the eggs).
Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and cook, over medium low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it thickens slightly (reaches 175 degrees) and lightly coats the back of the spoon. Watch this and constantly stir with your spoon so that you do not scramble the eggs.
As soon as thickened, immediately remove from heat strain the mixture into the prepared bowl. Make sure you use your wooden spoon to squish and smoosh all the vanilla through the strainer and also all the goodness from the pod. Let mixture cool in ice bath until it reaches room temp, then place in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).
The next day (or 4 hours later), make sure your chocolate is melted and cooled and your Oreos or grahams are crunched. Or…just leave as plain vanilla. Churn the ice cream and when done in the ice cream maker, add your Oreos or grahams to the machine to incorporate thoroughly.
As you spoon the ice cream into the freezer container – drizzle the ice cream with the melted chocolate, layer by layer. The drizzle will harden immediately. Try to wiggle your spoon around to make some small drizzles and also you can make bigger ones so that you get some big bites of chocolate later. Work fast because the ice cream melts. When you have enough (to your taste) – just cover with plastic and the lid and pop in the freezer.
Place the ice cream in the freezer and oh, although soft, this is delicious the same day (A few hours later). The ice cream will be hard the following day and thereafter so let sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to soften before you serve or on the counter for about 1o.
Find a little mug (or a big bowl!) and enjoy 🙂
Enjoy!
