ice cream

Caramel-Pecan Chocolate Ripple Ice Cream (Dairy Free)

By in Cool, GF Sweets, Sweets 10 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

caramel pecan chocolate ice cream

A couple weeks ago I celebrated my birthday. My hubby and mom cooked up a steak dinner with all the trimmings and I took care of dessert. My parents are gluten and dairy free so I knew I wanted to make cake and ice cream that they could enjoy along with us. I love dreaming up new ice cream flavours, and making goodies that everyone can enjoy just makes me happy, so it was perfectly suitable for me to make my own birthday cake and ice cream. Plus, they can be made ahead so there was no real work to be done the day of.

I knew I wanted to make a simple chocolate cake. I had found a great looking gluten-free cake that I wanted to try for my mom and dad so it seemed like the perfect time. Since I was going with a simple cake I wanted to make an ice cream that would steal the show, and did it ever!

caramel pecan chocolate ice cream

Instead of making a custard based ice cream and simply swapping out the milk and cream for coconut milk, like I usually do, I decided to just do coconut milk – no eggs – since it’s so creamy on it’s own. You honestly could not tell that this wasn’t a custard based ice cream, which means my dairy-free ice creams just got that much easier. Of course I had to go and complicate things by adding caramelized sugar. But really, who’s going to complain about that?

I got my inspiration from Turtle’s chocolates and made a caramel ice cream with tons of toasted pecans and a swirling of chocolate sauce. Yes, it does taste just as good as it sounds.

Why are you still sitting here? Get on this!

caramel pecan chocolate ice cream

Caramel-Pecan Chocolate Ripple Ice Cream

Caramel Ice Cream
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cans coconut milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place sugar in saucepan set over medium heat. As it begins to melt, gently push the melted sugar into the center to help the process along. Allow to cook until a deep amber colour (if you’re unsure you can test a small spoonful on a white plate to check the colour). Keep a close watch because it can burn quickly. Once desired colour is reached, remove from heat and stir in one can of coconut milk, along with salt. Set over low heat and cook until any hardened sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in remaining can of coconut milk, along with vanilla. Allow to cool, then refriderage for 8 hours, or until thoroughly chilled.

To Assemble

If using the recipe for chocolate sauce that is linked to, substitute evaporated milk with coconut milk to make it dairy free. Also feel free to substitute dark chocolate for the semi-sweet.

  • 1 recipe caramel ice cream (above)
  • 1.5 cups toasted pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chocolate sauce, chilled

Freeze ice cream according to manufacturers instructions. Once ice cream has reached desired consistency, add pecans. Churn until evenly mixed. Spoon ice cream into a storage container, alternating with spoonfuls of chocolate sauce. Place in the freezer for several hours to firm up.

Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

By in Cool, Creamy, Sweets 12 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream

I know some people say ice cream is only for summer, I am not one of those people. I will take it any time, any place. In fact, I churned this up on a -30ºC day when I didn’t dare step outside for fear of freezing my toes off. Of course the thought of stirring it into a cup of coffee helped me press on through the chills.

Let me tell you, this is absolutely delicious stirred into a cup of joe. It turns it into a cool and creamy Hazelnut Mocha. Of if you want it warm, simply pop it in the microwave or warm it on the stove top. It is divine.

This ice cream is composed of so many yummy things. Milk chocolate. Hazelnuts. The usual suspects like cream and sugar. But it’s not a chunky ice cream like you might expect. The hazelnuts are finely chopped and then steeped in the cream to infuse it with all their hazelnut-y flavour, then they’re strained out, so the end result is smooth and creamy.

For a dairy-free version simply substitute the cream and milk with coconut milk, although be forewarned it will impart a coconut-y flavour (shocker!).

Make this now and enjoy it as a delectable sundae with chocolate sauce and roasted hazelnuts, stir it into coffee for a  comforting splurge of a drink, or enjoy it straight up, in a cone or a bowl. Any way you scoop it, it is delish and not to be missed!

Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

To make dairy-free, substitute 3 cups (2 cans) coconut milk for the milk and cream. 

  • 1.5 cups hazelnuts
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cups heavy creamy
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 4 oz (115g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spread hazelnuts evenly on a baking sheet. Bake at 350ºF oven for 10 minutes, or until they release a nutty aroma. Allow to cool completely. Once cool, use a clean kitchen towel to rub off as much of the papery skin as possible. Pour the hazelnuts into a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and process until finely chopped.

Put milk, 1 cup cream, sugar, and salt  into a medium saucepan. Heat through just until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in hazelnuts. Cover and let steep for 1 hour.

Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a small saucepan, heat until it just begins to boil. Put chocolate into a large bowl and pour the hot cream over top. Stir until chocolate is melted.  Set aside.

Line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth and set it over a medium-sized bowl. Pour hazelnut mixture over the cheesecloth. Once all of the milk has been poured though, gather the cheesecloth, twisting the top, and squeeze the hazelnuts to release all of their flavour. Discard the hazelnuts. Pour the hazelnut infused milk back into the saucepan and heat until steaming.

In a medium-sized bowl (I re-use the one that the hazelnut milk was strained into) whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm hazelnut infused milk into the eggs, whisking constantly, until smooth. Pour mixture back into the saucepan. Set over medium heat, cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of the spatula (you should be able to draw a visible line with your finger). Remove from heat.

Set a fine mesh sieve over the chocolate-cream mixture and pour the hazelnut milk over, to ensure a smooth end result. Stir to combine. Allow to cool, stirring often. Once cooled, stir in the vanilla extract. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Makes approximately: 1 quart

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop.

Tip Tuesday: How to Make any Ice Cream Recipe Dairy-Free

By in Cool, How-to's 6 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

ice creamsThis past weekend we celebrated one of my brother’s birthdays and I was in charge of making the ice cream. A lot of my family members are sensitive to milk so I wanted to experiment with a dairy-free version that everyone could enjoy. I’ve researched a lot online about dairy-free ice creams but have never found anything I felt really confident about, that even dairy-lovers would eat happily.

Finally I came across a recipe that was basically the same as my beloved vanilla ice cream but simply subbed coconut milk for the milk and cream. It made sense. Coconut milk is so thick and creamy, and made with a custard base, seemed to guarantee it creaminess. So, I whipped up a batch of Black Forest Ice Cream (thanks to freezing a couple batches of candied cherries this summer) and Classic Vanilla. I can’t believe it was so easy all along. It worked great.

People were so surprised when they found out the ice cream was dairy-free. Especially the chocolate, because you couldn’t taste the coconut milk at all. You could taste it slightly in the vanilla, but coconut and vanilla are definitely a yummy paring so there were no complaints. The consistency is slightly different than if you made it with full-fat milk and cream but it is still very creamy and far from being icy.

I’ll no longer be searching for specific dairy-free ice cream recipes and will instead just use my favourites and switch out the dairy with canned coconut milk. I found that two cans of regular sized coconut milk came to 3 cups, which was the perfect amount for both of the recipes above.

If you’ve got a dairy-free loved one in your life I encourage you to give this substitution a try. Nobody should have to miss out on the deliciousness of ice cream. And if you try it, let me know how it turns out for you!

*As far as I know, this won’t work as a substitute for recipes that call for sweetened condensed milk (like this no-churn ice cream) or recipes that call for cream that is whipped before folding in (such as with this semifreddo).

(Sweet Cherries!) Black Forest Ice Cream

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black forest ice cream

This post is part of a July series on sweet cherries. To see the other posts head here.

This post is a week late but I promise you it’s worth the delay. They always say to save the best for last and I think I may have succeeded with this one.

This ice cream starts with a rich chocolate ice cream which gets a good dousing of melted chocolate mixed in, creating chocolate shards reminiscent of the outside of a Black Forest Cake. All that chocolately goodness gets layered with candied cherries, to create a black forest lovers dream.

I’ve tried incorporating fresh cherries into my ice cream before. The problem is that when you put uncooked cherries into frozen things, they freeze solid and you get an unwelcome frozen chunk of cherry, that is basically un-chewable, in the middle of your ice cream. That’s why, for this recipe, I decided to candy them, this way they remain soft and chewy, even after freezing.

If you love chocolate and cherries together you must give this recipe a go before cherry season is over!

Black Forest Ice Cream

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, no fear, David Lebovitz has a great tutorial on making it by hand.

Chocolate Ice Cream
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 5 oz. semi-sweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 cup cream and the cocoa powder over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it comes to a boil. Lower heat and let it boil gently for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in remaining 1 cup of cream. Pour mixture into a large bowl, set a fine mesh sieve over top.

In the same saucepan, combine milk, sugar and salt. Heat the mixture just until steaming. In a medium-sized bowl whisk the eggs together. In a small stream, pour warm milk into eggs, whisking constantly. Once combined together pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a spoon or spatula (you should be able to draw a visible line with your finger). Remove from heat and pour through the sieve into the chocolate mixture. Add vanilla and stir everything to combine. Allow to cool completely (this is best done over an ice bath, if possible). Once cool, refrigerate, covered, for at least 8 hours (or overnight).

Make sure all components of the ice cream are ready and then freeze the prepared custard in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Chocolate Shards
  • 5 oz. semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Pour slowly, in batches, into the freshly churned ice cream, stirring to break it up into shards as it freezes.

Candied Cherries
  • 1 pound sweet cherries, halved and pitted
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 drop pure almond extract

To make candied cherries: Place cherries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat and boil gently for 25 minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid is a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Allow cherries to cool in syrup. Remove to a storage container and refrigerate until read to use. (This can be kept up to 2 weeks in the fridge.)

To add to ice cream: Drain cherries of their syrup (over a bowl so you can reserve syrup for something else*). Let cherries drain for one hour, to dry. Layer into storage container between scoops of freshly churned ice cream, cover and freeze until ice cream is firm.

* I mixed some of the leftover cherry syrup equally with maple syrup and served it with crepes.

Makes approximately: 1 litre of ice cream.

All recipes adapted from The Perfect Scoop, compilation is my own.

(Classic) Vanilla Ice Cream

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vanilla ice cream

Everyone needs classic recipes in their lives. This vanilla ice cream is definitely a must and worthy of the classic title. As my 16 month old daughter looks at this picture she’s humming “mmmm…. mmmm” with a tiny smile on her face. She knows a good thing when she sees it. My mother in law deemed this one of the best ice creams she’s ever eaten. I agree, it is so much better than anything you will ever get in the freezer section.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, no fear. David Lebovitz (the king of ice cream) has a great tutorial on making it by hand. I’ve done it this way and, while it takes more work, it’s a fun project when you’re in the mood.

I got an ice cream maker for my birthday this year. It’s one of my all time favourite presents. I love ice cream but have always found the store-bought ice creams make me feel a little sick after. Not so with homemade ice cream. I know exactly what’s going in, so there’s no aching teeth or tummy aches.

With the hot weather approaching (or already here) vanilla ice cream is a great thing to have on hand in the freezer. It goes well with virtually every dessert and can cool off your day in an instant. We enjoyed sandwiching ours with ginger crinkle cookies. They were bliss.

Get this classic in your life. It’s more than worth it.

Vanilla Ice Cream

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 2 cups heavy cream, divided
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put milk, sugar, salt, 1 cup cream and vanilla bean (with seeds) into a medium saucepan. Heat through just until steaming. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a medium-sized bowl. Set a fine mesh strainer over top. Set aside.

Fill a large bowl, or your sink, partway with ice water. This will be to cool down the custard quickly once it’s cooked.

To make the custard: Whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour warm milk into the eggs, whisking constantly, until smooth. Pour mixture back into the saucepan. Set over medium heat, cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of the spatula (you should be able to draw a visible line with your finger). Remove from heat and pour through the sieve that you set over the cream. Put the bowl into the ice bath (making sure the ice water only goes partway up the sides of the bowl) and allow to cool, stirring often. Once cooled, stir in the vanilla extract and place the vanilla bean back into the mixture. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Once your ready to make the ice cream, remove the vanilla bean from the custard and freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Makes approximately: 1 quart

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop.

Maple Brown Butter Semifreddo

By in Cool, Fall, Sweets 6 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

maple brown butter semifreddo

I can’t believe I’ve never made brown butter before. I knew it wasn’t difficult to do, this was just the first time a recipe I was making actually called for it. Now that I’ve tried it, I think I just might be addicted.

I’ve heard it a million times, but it really is amazing what happens to butter when you go against your instincts and let the butter bubble and brown into nuttiness. It is a perfect fall flavour.

And, if you haven’t noticed yet I love maple. These two are such a beautiful pairing. The moment I dipped my finger and took my first taste, I fell in love. I waited with eagerness until the kids were in bed before I had my first real, frozen, helping. In one word – bliss.

If you’ve never made a semifreddo before it is basically a really simple version of ice cream. One that doesn’t need an ice cream maker. Yay! They are usually described as a frozen mousse and can be presented in many different forms. This one is scooped into bowls and topped with an optional sprinkling of hazelnuts. If you serve this to guests they will think you slaved away to make the most delicious homemade ice cream. But in fact, it couldn’t be easier.

This also happens to match brilliantly with the apple crisp I posted on monday. I actually made another batch of apple crisp specifically to have with this semifreddo because I knew it would be the perfect complement. Cold and creamy Maple Brown Butter Semifreddo slowly melting over a warm piece of Apple Crisp. Perfection!

Maple Brown Butter Semifreddo

There’s no need to worry about the raw eggs in this recipe. The heat from the maple syrup and brown butter will essentially “cook” the eggs.

  • 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • hazelnuts, to serve (optional)

In a bowl, beat cream to stiff peaks and refrigerate.

In a small saucepan, cook butter over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until the butter is golden brown and the foam has subsided (8-10 minutes). Pour into a small bowl and set aside.

In a (clean) small saucepan, bring maple syrup to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

Place egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat yolks on high until pale yellow (1-2 minutes). With mixer running, add hot maple syrup, then brown butter, in a slow, steady stream. Beat on high until the mixture cools to room temperature (about 5 minutes). Fold in whipped cream.

Transfer mixture to a 5×10 inch loaf pan (or similar sized pan or tupperware), cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm (5 hours).

Best eaten within 1 week.

Adapted from Every Food November 2011.

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