...Four Yule Ice Creams...
If you've been following the blog, you know that I recently purchased a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Besides moving Up North from Down South, I've got to say that this is one of the highlights of the year! Although I've enjoyed making bread and cookie dough in the blue-green magic machine, the real highlight so far has been making my own delicious ice cream. So, being a bit of a Christmas nut (I'm thinking you must have figured that out by now), I decided to try some festive flavours. Not surprisingly, the results have been quite delectable.
For inspiration I thought of the tastes that most scream "Christmas" to me (who screams? ice cream?). I'm certain that nobody will be surprised by my choices, they are (clockwise from the top): Baileys, After Eight, Gingersnap and Eggnog.
A frosty scene in front of an even frostier one! It's nice to know that even if I run out of freezer space, I can always store the excess ice cream outside...it's been pretty cold out lately!
The photo shoot was done at around 4:00pm and you can see that it is getting dark quite early. The sun sets at around 4:20 at this time of year, and we haven't even seen the longest day yet! I imagine that we'll soon see the sun take its bow before 4pm. Happily, it won't be long before the days start getting longer again. Either way, the sun doesn't affect how much ice cream I can make! Here are the details on the rich and fantastic flavours...
Baileys Ice Cream
I simply had to do Baileys; in The South I would gleefully anticipate the Haagen Daas version that is only available during the holidays. The recipe is the only one that I didn't find in David Lebovitz's lovely ice cream cookbook; I found it on Nigella Lawson's site, and it is absolutely divine! I followed the recipe exactly and was very happy with the ice cream. As you can see, this one is going fast at our house (a close second to the chocolate peanut butter I've made twice now). Like Nigella says, you don't need to add any more Baileys than what it called for, this one is saucy enough! Also you'll want to stick to the recipe because alcohol affects the consistency of the ice cream. A bit of booze makes a more easily scoop-able dessert, which means you don't have to let it sit for a few minutes before serving, you can eat it immediately!
Eggnog Ice Cream
Speaking of spirits, the next recipe has two different kinds in its repertoire, so if you need to stock up your liquour cabinet, you can use it as an excuse...unless you already have dark rum and brandy in your home bar.
Like I said, the all of the other three ice creams come from a wonderful cookbook called The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. I would fully recommend this book to anyone, especially the ice cream beginner; it is incredibly complete and has both traditional and innovative flavours. Really, though, if you want to make Eggnog Ice Cream, you can use any vanilla custard ice cream recipe that you have and add dark rum and brandy, and maybe an extra egg yolk or two. I think that Eggnog in ice cream form is even better than in liquid form, and it'll go great with pumpkin or apple pie.
Gingersnap Ice Cream
Being a bit nutty for Noel, I generally do quite a bit of baking at this time of year, so I figured that it would be silly not to incorporate Christmas baking into an ice cream. Sugar cookies are popular during the holidays, but you also see them at other occasions such as Valentine's Day or Hallowe'en so they're not quintessential. Shortbread is good, but I find it kind of bland. In terms of Christmas cookies, it is the spicy gingersnap that takes the cake.
The ice cream flavour is a combination of ginger ice cream and speculoos, which is a European version of the gingersnap. Lebovitz explains it a bit during a vent session about Parisian Monoprix in a post on his blog. Anyway, the ice cream is made with real ginger and then once its churned the broken cookies are mixed in. Over time the cookies soften and melt in your mouth.
After Eight Ice Cream
One of the things I like most about Lebovitz's book is that he uses natural ingredients. The combination of mint and fudge sauce is most delicious because the recipe uses real mint leaves steeped in the cream. It is the tastiest I have ever had, much MUCH more interesting on the palate than the artificial stuff. I'm also happy to be able to share the recipe with you because Lebovitz has on his blog. Well, actually he shared the recipe for Mint Chip, not Mint Chocolate Ripple, but I'm sure you can figure something out. Just make sure you use real mint! My problem was that I couldn't get enough fresh mint, so I added a few dallops of peppermint extract (in hindsight I should have used peppermint schnapps). I was scared that the natural mint flavours would be overpowered by the fake stuff but they were still very much there.
So there you have it, if you've got an ice cream maker, get it out and start churning! If not, ask for one for Christmas. You'll never buy ice cream from the store again!
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