Red Velvet Ice Cream

I'm seeing RED!

In a good way, of course! :)

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I don't really care much for Valentine's Day. But I do love the food surrounding it. Who wouldn't? I've been seeing so many gorgeous treats on all the blogs I visit and have bookmarked quite a few of them!

Back to our Red Velvet Adventures. Someone asked me this - and so, I must answer - I honestly cannot decide which of the Red Velvet treats is my favorite. They all taste SO good. I guess if I was FORCED to pick a favorite, I would have to say it is a two way tie between this soft-serve ice cream and the whoopie pies! :) But, I hate to discrimate! So I guess I would prefer to stop at 'I love Red Velvet anything'.

Anyhoo, I made this recipe for Red Velvet Ice Cream by modifying my Rocky Road Ice cream base, and it turned out just great. Creamy, velvety smooth ice cream with slightly more than a hint of chocolate. It's just yummy!

The cheesecake sauce was added on a whim. I didn't have a recipe. I just winged it, and it worked out great! The tang from the cream cheese worked perfectly with the sweet ice cream. Hey! What am I doing? Do I really have to convince you that 'Red Velvet + Cream Cheese = Best thing in the world'?! (Look at this guy's face! It says it all, doesn't it?)

Red Velvet Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 can condensed milk
1/8 cup cocoa powder
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup full-fat milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Red food coloring (desired amount)

Method
1. In a large saucepan, combine the condensed milk and cocoa powder and stir well to combine.
2. Cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
3. Take it off the heat, and stir in the cream, milk, vanilla, food coloring and vinegar, and mix well.
4. When the mixture has cooled, refrigerate for at least 4 hours until chilled.
5. Freeze in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's direction.
6. When the ice cream has reached the soft-serve stage, stop the machine, and stir in any add-ins you might want to use.
7. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

To make the cheesecake sauce, whisk 8oz of cream cheese till smooth and creamy. Slowly add enough half-and-half until you get the consistency you want. Add a splash of vanilla and enough powdered sugar to sweeten. I wish I had measured out the ingredients, but it's pretty  hard to mess up. Just go slow while adding the half-and-half so you don't end up adding too much.

We made sundaes using Red Velvet Madeleine crumbs, Red Velvet ice cream and the cream cheese sauce, and it was bliss in a bowl... Really, really delicious! I hope you try this recipe!

In case you've missed the other posts, here is a round up of all the Red Velvet recipes on The Harried Cook. Click on the pictures to go to the recipe post.

               Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Pancakes         Red Velvet Brownie Bites

                               Red Velvet Whoopie Pies                     Red Velvet Madeleines

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I hope you have enjoyed this Red Velvet adventure as much as I have! 

Have a wonderful week! Take an extra effort this week (and through the year!!!) to let your loved ones know how much they mean to you! 

Rocky Road Ice Cream (Eggless)

I love my ice cream maker, and I've been wanting to make ice cream for such  a long time now. My last flavor, the Loaded Caramel Ice Cream was such a big hit. Unfortunately, for some reason, my favorite brand of whipping cream was off the shelves for over a month! Imagine my disappointment. When it finally came back, I decided to try something new, and this was the first thing I made. It was really yummy!

When it comes to ice cream flavors, my husband and I are very different. My favorite flavors are dark chocolate and caramel, and his favorite flavor is vanilla. Every time I ask him, "What flavor do you think I should make?", he almost always responds "Vanilla!" So strange because he loves dark chocolate, and dark chocolate cake. But when it comes to ice cream, it just cannot be dark! It was obviously time for a compromise. Light chocolate ice cream it would have to be.

I used a lot more walnuts than needed, but I guess that's just the way we like it. My husband and I love walnuts! You could reduce the amount of walnuts in the recipe. 

Rocky Road Ice Cream
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 (400g) can condensed milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup drinking chocolate/powdered hot chocolate mix
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup full-fat, milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 - 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used only 1/4 cup)

Method
1. Combine the condensed milk, cocoa powder and drinking chocolate and stir well to combine.
2. Cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
3. Take it off the heat, and stir in the cream and milk and mix well.
4. When the mixture has cooled, refrigerate for at least 4 hours until chilled.
5. Freeze in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's direction.
6. When the ice cream has reached the soft-serve stage, stop the machine, and stir in the walnuts, marshmallows and chocolate chips.
7. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

To make this ice cream without an ice cream maker, you can read David Lebovitz's instructions here.

I love how easy this was to make. There is no custard to be made, and the actual cooking time was just 5 minutes. And the fact that it is eggless makes it less rich, and with all those walnuts and chocolate chips, it might have been too rich to have an egg-based custard. The flavor of the toasted walnuts was brilliant with the chocolate, and of course the marshmallows and chocolate chips make this ice cream really rocky, and really delicious!

On a personal note, the hunt continues. We have one month to finalize a place to live, and I am praying and looking harder than ever. We came to close to settling on one place, but I am glad we didn't because we were not completely satisfied. No point in settling for less than what you want, right? So we're waiting and trusting God to take us to the right place.

Thanks again to all those who emailed me and left comments with your wishes, prayers and good thoughts! I am grateful to be part of such a wonderful community!

Loaded Caramel Ice Cream

I have these friends (you know who you are!). They enjoy food, and I enjoy cooking for them. It's a WIN-WIN situation. And because I always care too much about what other people think about my food, they always have a laugh at my expense by saying that whatever I have made is 'the best in the world'.

I make fudge? It's the best fudge in the world. I make pasta? It's the best pasta in the world. I roast a chicken? It's the best roast chicken in the world. I make cupcakes? Yes. You guessed it. They're the best cupcakes in world! I know better than to take their word for it being the best in the world, but they usually eat up all the food, and so I know it was tasty. But with this ice cream, if they tell me it's the best caramel ice cream in the world, I might actually believe them a little bit. I don't know if it's the best, but it would come pretty darn close! Too bad there's none left over for them to 'certify'! :D

Ever since I bought my Cuisinart Ice Cream & Sorbet maker about 6 years ago, I have experimented with several ice cream flavors. Some more successful than others. My favorite flavors have been Vanilla bean, Mocha, Triple Chocolate and my version of Cherry Garcia. And now, I am so excited by how successful this recipe has been. I call this flavor Loaded Caramel Ice Cream. It is a caramel ice cream with a peanut butter-caramel ribbon and fudgy brownie chunks. Would you like me to go on?

Before I do, I have one request. Please make this ice cream. It is so good! In fact, if you want to continue reading, you must decide to make this ice cream. If you don't have an ice cream maker, there are still ways to make this. Read this article. It will help. But you MUST make this ice cream.

Okay. You are still reading this, and so I assume you have decided to make this ice cream. Good choice! You are a smart cookie!

For the Caramel Ice Cream base, I used David Lebovitz's Salted Butter Caramel Ice cream, but I made a few changes. Mainly, I reduced the sugar because I was afraid the ice cream was going to turn out too sweet, in spite of the caramelization. And besides, I was going to add that ribbon. So it made sense.

The ribbon I made by modifying my Hot Fudge Sauce recipe, which I will share with you soon. The brownie was from a leftover fudge brownie I baked (not the Bacon brownie, though bacon and caramel sound like a match made in heaven!). I reserved one brownie from a batch I made a few days ago for something just as momentous as this ice cream.

Don't get put off by how long the recipe is. If you read through, you will see that it is a fairly simple recipe.

Caramel Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 tbsp salted butter
Scant 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
500ml whole milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method
1. In a wide, heavy-based pan, spread the sugar out in an even layer & put it over a medium flame. Wait till the the edges start to melt. Then slowly start stirring the sugar with a spatula, starting from the outside and working your way slowly to the center. Stir only gently. Once the sugar has turned into one big puddle, stop stirring and keep a very careful eye on it. You want it to go a deep golden brown, not a dark brown. Then it's gone too far. For a more detailed explanation on caramelizing sugar, David Lebovitz has yet another excellent article.
2. Once the sugar is caramelized, take it off the heat and immediately add the butter & the salt and stir quickly until dissolved.
3. Stir in the cream and bring the mixture back onto the stove. David warns us here that the sugar might seize up, but I didn't have any trouble with that.
4. Add half the milk and stir well.
5. In a medium dish, lightly beat the egg yolks. Pouring very slowly and whisking the eggs at the same time, add about 2 cups of the the hot mixture, half a cup a time.
6. Pour the egg mixture back into the pan and continue cooking on medium heat until the mixture thickens. You want a slightly thick custard mixture.
7. Take it off the heat, and stir in the remaining milk & vanilla. Allow the mixture to cool, and then refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight. During this time, you could also cut your brownie into bite sized pieces and freeze them. Frozen brownie bits are easier to stir in than soft ones. Unless you want brownie crumb ice cream. I learned this the hard way.
8. Freeze in your machine, as per the manufacturer's instructions. While your ice cream is freezing, take the caramel sauce out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. If it is still very thick when your ice cream is ready, microwave it for a few seconds, till it reaches room temperature. Don't let it get warm.
9. Once the ice cream is set, transfer 1/3 of the ice cream to a large bowl. Drizzle over about 1/4 cup of the caramel sauce, and sprinkle a few frozen brownie bits. Add another 1/3 of the ice cream and drizzle with another 1/4 cup of the sauce, and a few more brownie bits. Top with the remaining third of the ice cream. Add some more sauce & brownie bits. Run a butter knife in slow, random swirling motions through the bowl for about 10 seconds or less.
10. Transfer to an air-tight box and store in the deepest part of your freezer for at least a couple of hours before serving.

Peanut Butter-Caramel Ribbon
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
2 generous tbsps liquid glucose
3 tbsp salted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Method
1. Caramelize the sugar & liquid glucose just like you did in the ice cream recipe. Follow the exact same rules.
2. When you reach the desired stage of caramelization, take the caramel off the heat, and quickly stir in the
butter and salt.
3. Stir in the cream and bring back onto the heat and cook for a further one minute.
4. Take it off the heat, and let it sit for about 2 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter and mix until it is completely incorporated.
5. Refrigerate till needed. If you are using it immediately in this ice cream recipe, make sure it has completely cooled to room temperature before using.

I hope you try this ice cream flavor. I loved it and I know you will too! I ate it with more caramel sauce, and a generous sprinkle of crushed, salted peanuts, and every time I got a bite of brownie, the ice cream tasted a little bit like a Snickers bar. And if you know me, you know I love me my Snickers!

My only 'complaint', if you can call it that, is that this ice cream is really soft. I guess you could call it extra soft-serve ice cream. The weather here being as hot as it is, didn't help either. And so, getting a picture of this ice cream was a nightmare! Hence, the runny ice cream in some of the pictures. But, take my word for it. Less than 12 hours after it came out of the ice cream maker, and it's all gone. It was darn good ice cream.

P.S. - On a completely unrelated note, thanks to my new hobby - blogging, I had the chance to meet a group of food lovers in my city. Together we shared a lovely meal at a restaurant the group was invited to review. In my next post, I will share with you a little about Chennai Food Guide, and about my meal at the Italian restaurant, Tuscana on Chamiers.

Oh, and I am also elated to report that I got my first bunch of foodie blogger awards! So exciting! I cannot wait to share them with you & to pass them on! I would have done it in this post, but I though this one was long enough already.

Technorati Tags: Ice, Cream, Caramel, Salted, Ribbon, Brownie, Recipe