chocolate ice cream milkshake

So Greg had his appendix taken out!  He didn’t eat 2 days prior to the surgery and the day after.  Already lean, I was willing to make anything for him.  Chocolate ice cream milkshake was what he wanted so off I went to find a good recipe.  This was delicious.  I actually haven’t made a milk shake before – so I have nothing to compare it to – save for the milkshakes at the diner – and they are good, but not too chocolatey.  Greg loved, Chris and Andy did too.  Chocolatey and “real” tasting were the comments.  I should mention that Greg specifically asked for premium ice cream — Greater’s Ice Cream actually.  So I put chocolate chocolate chip in and it created little specs of blended chocolate which also added to the quality of the shake.  It is not necessary – but do know that your shake will only be as good as the ice cream you put in!

chocolate ice cream milk shake (slightly adapted from food.com)

4 cups milk, cold (I used low fat milk, although full fat would have been better I bet!)
4 cups chocolate ice cream (premium if you can, choc choc chip also good as mentioned above)
1.5 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons hot chocolate powder
1 cup chocolate syrup, divided (optional – and home made sauce would have been better, but I didn’t have time)

Blend milk, ice cream, chocolate powder, sugar, salt, cocoa powder in a blender.  Process until smooth.

Pour a little chocolate syrup into the bottom and sides of each glass.

Divide mixture among glasses.cover bottom and drizzling syrup in a spiral pattern inside of each glass.

Pour ice cream mixture into each glass

Swirl some chocolate syrup over each serving and serve cold.

Enjoy –

hot chocolate #2

Lisi's Kitchen

Ok, this is hot chocolate number 2.  Sylvie’s favorite – rich, thick, chocolaty goodness!  As you know we had a hot chocolate tasting and this one was also delicious.  What else can I say?   Enjoy –

italian hot chocolate:

5 tablespoons dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces dark chocolate (at least 70%), finely chopped
2 cups milk

In a saucepan, combine the cocoa powder, sugar, and milk.  Mix and heat to a low boil.

Slowly ladle the hot milk mixture into the chopped chocolate and stir as you go.  Continue until all is combined.

Enjoy –

hot chocolate #1

We were lucky enough to go to Paris and to Angelina’s Cafe this summer.  We arrived at the hotel, decided to grab a quick snack and ended up at Angelina’s day one.  Well…four hot chocolates later (we shared four for 5 of us) we were very satisfied, full, and buzzing. Each day we visited many bakeries and chocolate shops – but after each macaron, fruit tart, beignet or pain au chocolate, the kids insisted that their favorite treat was Angelina’s.  So…we went back and again, enjoyed ourselves immensely – and again, felt full of chocolate goodness.  When we came home, Rob researched Angelina’s hot chocolate recipes and we decided to have a tasting.  I made 3 different hot chocolates – choosing what I thought would be the best of what he gathered.  Well – #1 is the hot chocolate recipe below.  I think we liked it most as it was full of rich flavor – not watery yet not overwhelmingly thick.  #2 I will post later – and that one was thick!  Thick and rich and like eating liquid chocolate.  It was a little much for us as a drink (except for Sylvie who loved this most) – but I think as a dessert – or in a small cup, it would be great.  The 3rd one was awful and watery – not worthy of discussion.  I will try more as time goes on, but for now – try this — soon the kids will be in the snow and you can be ready.

Enjoy –

3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon confectioners sugar
4 oz bittersweet chocolate 72% – chopped (we all felt that the chocolate could have been semi sweet or a little less bitter than 72 percent.  Maybe 70 percent.  But up to you and your families taste.)
freshly whipped cream

Chop the chocolate.

Combine and heat the milk, heavy cream and sugar.  Heat over medium high heat until it bubbles around the edges.  Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate.  Let sit for 30 seconds, then stir until melted.

Serve with cool whipped cream.  You can make a sweeter whipped cream if you keep your chocolate very bitter.  Or you can omit sugar in the whipped cream if your hot chocolate is sweet enough.

Enjoy!

delicious iced coffee

Refreshing and full of flavor this iced coffee is GREAT.  Really and truly tasty.  Every winter I think I’ll never need to switch to iced coffee again, and then suddenly the heat is upon us and it’s all I want first thing in the AM.  The way I made iced coffee was good, but it was a pain in the a__  to make each and every day.  So when my friend Melissa told me about a new recipe she found, I was eager and ready to try.  She loved it.  Jason loved it (her husband) and I loved it too!  I made mine with hazelnut and vanilla flavors – and Melissa, she made a strong blend (she’s a real true coffee lover) …but we are both very happy with the results.  Melissa found the recipe from the blog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  I simply followed Ree’s directions which were easy, and her write up humorous and fun.  I guess my only addition is to froth my milk.  I froth it in my Nespresso (the cold froth setting BTW) and then pour that on top.  It looks so pretty and I look forward to it with my Healthy 5 Grain Cereal Bowl – and wow – you’d think each day was a birthday treat – but it isn’t…it is just my breakfast!  Enjoy-

delicious iced coffee

Here is the link to the recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/perfect-iced-coffee/

Not much to add to her directions – but I will let you know that the cheese cloth can be a little tricky.  I happen to have a really really fine sieve, and I bought a course grind so that helped…but just take your time.  You can also split the recipe in half to make it a bit more manageable.  I did the second time around and easier for me to handle.

OK, more recipes coming soon…just haven’t had the time to write them up lately!!

chocolate malted sauce & milkshake

This chocolate sauce is DEE-licious.  So so good.  So easy to make.  Milk chocolate and Ovaltine make this special and different from your regular hot fudge sauce.  It is not too thick and no – not too sweet despite the fact that it is milk chocolate.  I promise. Try it next time you are serving ice cream, pound cakes or profiteroles.  Yum!

I haven’t yet made the very easy looking malted milk-chocolate milk shake, but the author’s of Baked provide a great looking and easy recipe that I will post at the bottom of this one.

chocolate malted sauce (from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)

2/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup chocolate malt Ovaltine
1/4 firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 oz. good quality milk chocolate (coarsely chopped)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large saucepan mix together the cream, corn syrup, Ovaltine, brown sugar, salt and 4 oz. of the chopped milk chocolate (reserve 2 oz.).  Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat and stir until smooth and the chocolate melts.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and stirring slowly, cook the mixture for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and the remaining 2 oz. of chocolate.  Let the sauce cool for at least 5 minutes before you serve.

Store leftovers in the fridge (once cool) – the sauce will keep for about 5 days.  Reheat in micro or over low heat on the stove.

malted milk shake:

Blend together 2 large scoops of ice cream with 2 tablespoons malted milk chocolate sauce (from above)  and 1/2 cup milk until smooth.  Pour into a chilled glass and drizzle one more tablespoon of sauce on top.  Enjoy-