Those of you who are regulars here have recently seen a recipe for an awesome Black Coffee Ice Cream, then a few days later one for sublime Macarons. Well, today you see what glory can be achieved by combining these two into one of the best ice cream sandwiches you'll ever eat. Inspired by Jeni Britton Bauer's example in her terrific cookbook Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home , we've combined her Black Coffee Ice Cream (along with some store bought vanilla and chocolate for a little variety) with some super-sized cinnamon macarons to make a few seriously dangerous sandwiches.
Ice Cream + Frozen Desserts
Black Coffee Ice Cream
One of the more recent additions to my ever-growing pile of cookbooks, is one I "won" at Share Our Strength's Baltimore "Taste of the Nation" when I attended last Fall. The book, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, was one of about a dozen that I won in the silent auction part of the fundraiser. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm a light packer because I required all sorts of extra room in my suitcase to accommodate the book booty for my trip home. I half expected the TSA folks to check my bag for a dismembered body, I mean how else could I explain a weekend bag weighing in at 100+ pounds.
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Hot on the heels of our recent "Pumpkin Spiced Steel Cut Oats" success, I've been thinking of other ways to get pumpkin's goodness on our table without having to resort to making pumkin pie or pumpkin bread. Not that I have anything against either one of these lovely confections, but a few in our clan struggle with the thick, custard texture of the pie, and the rest struggle to get even a whiff of pumpkin bread when we make it.
Why?
Because Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread is one of Muppet's all-time favorite foods, and unless you're standing with her at the stove when the bread emerges, you haven't got a chance. The poor starved thing will either eat it all in one sitting, or more likely squirrel it away like a little rodent hiding nuts for another day. I've tried to nanny-cam her to see where she hides them, but so far no joy.
Passion Fruit – Basil Ice Pops
Ice pops are among the easiest things you can make with your kids, and are a perfect treat to enjoy during these dog days of summer. They are also incredibly versatile, offering those with a creative bent ample opportunity to design a custom pop of just about any flavor combination you can imagine. Muppet and I had fun the other night making these pops with ingredients we had on-hand, but all the while she was dreaming up a kiwi-strawberry combo that we'll be making next.
Chocolate Ice Cream
Those of you who have been hanging around here for a while know I am loathe to call any recipe "the best". There are plenty of great recipes out there, and certainly lots of lousy ones too. Here at Oui, Chef we try to bring you tons of the former and none of the latter, but the best of anything? You've never heard me say that a recipe you find here is the best that you'll find anywhere, and you never will. That's because as much as I love all the dishes we share with you, there is always room for improvement and reinterpretation, and in fact, one of the things I like most about writing this blog is hearing from all of you and learning how you've made our recipes work better for your tastes.
Strawberry Shortcake with Basil Ice Cream
Blood Orange Frozen Yogurt
How many of you have ever made your own ice cream? It's really easy isn't it? I mean, whether you've got a motorized "old-style" bucket ice maker, one of the cool Cuisinarts where you pre-freeze the canister insert, or a full fledged commercial monster with it's own built-in compressor (like me, he says shamefully), making home-made ice cream is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your kitchen.
And your kids….are you kidding me? Want to be their hero…….like, forever?
Make ice cream with them and bask in all the glory that is rightfully yours.
Frozen Rhubarb Mousse with Strawberry Sauce
How many of you would like to treat your Mom to a special little something this Mother’s Day? One that is so pink, and sweet, and light that it’ll tickle her all over. One that is so beautiful to behold that she’ll think you slaved away for hours in your kitchen making it for her, even though it can easily be done in under an hour (hey, play that angle up if you want, your secret’s safe with me). Sound good? Then pull up a chair my friends, because your Mom deserves a little of this goodness.
Green Apple and Basil Sorbet
We made this little treat a few weeks back in an effort to use up some apple purée that I had stored in the freezer. I had bought some raspberry purée some months ago to use in a really delicious strawberry-raspberry jam that we make for holiday gift-baskets. For years, I used fresh raspberries for my jam, but the process of mashing them, and then pressing the purée through a tight sieve to strain out the seeds really put me in a bad way….it just took waaaaaay too long.
Of course, like any good specialty foods shopper, once I found a reliable source for fruit purées, I couldn’t help but order a few more tubs in various flavors. I mean, I was sure to be able to find some creative use for some passion fruit purée, or maybe green apple…. oh yeah, and how about blood orange?
The stuff was like crack to me, I couldn’t stop myself.
Muppet’s Mint-Chip-Brownie Ice Cream
As is clear from the title of this post, our young friend Muppet has been back in the kitchen and busy with me. In fact, the entire idea of this post was hers, and she had her hands in every aspect of the creation of this dish. Those of you that remember Muppet from prior posts ( Killer KA Brownies and M Cookies ) will note that she is staying true to form here, rising above the din of the “Oui, Chef” kitchen to advocate for MORE CHOCOLATE in her diet, thank you very much.
As with all posts in which Muppet plays a starring role, this one too has a little story associated with it. Would you like to hear the story? Or as one of my favorite chefs at LCB used to say before launching into a colorful tale of his early days in the kitchen, “Voulez-vous une petite histoire?”