Endless Ice Cream: Peach Basil Mascarpone

This is one of the first ice creams I dreamed about when I got my ice cream maker this past spring. I’ve been patiently waiting for those perfectly, drippingly ripe peaches that signify that the end of summer is inevitably near.

Well, my wait is over, and this ice cream is every bit as delicious as I imagined. If you have extra peaches, I recommend doubling up the roasted peaches and saving the extra puree to mix with your yogurt, oatmeal, or to toss with fresh raspberries.

Peach Basil Mascarpone Ice Cream

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Endless Ice Cream: Coffee Cookies and Cream

One of my favorite ice cream flavors is mint cookies and cream. Ben & Jerry’s makes a version that’s out of this world. I have no doubt that I will never top their excellent version, so I decided instead to pair cookies with coffee ice cream. This is an addictive (literally) marriage of some of the greatest things in life: coffee, sugar, and sandwich cookies. While I prefer Newman-O’s, Oreos or any other sandwich cookie will work just fine here.

Coffee Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

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Endless Ice Cream: Lemongrass, Coconut and Ginger

Ahh, lemongrass. One of my favorite flavors. Every once in a while they have stacks of fresh lemongrass stalks at the grocery store. I happily buy several stalks of it and use it in soups, sauces, and stir-frys. I recently read that you can turn supermarket stalks of lemongrass into your very own plant, giving a bounty of lemongrass whenever you want it. After tasting this ice cream I think I’ll have to start growing my own- I anticipate making this happening many, many times.

Note: If you’ve never worked with fresh lemongrass before, here’s a quick run-down of what you’ll need to do: Trim the root end from the bottom and the papery end from the top of the stalk. You should be left with a 2″ to 4″ piece. Remove the outer leaves one at a time until the leaves are no longer brownish or papery. The remainder should be about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick. Grab a rolling pin, hammer, or anything heavy and sturdy. Beat the crap out of the pieces of lemongrass. This releases the flavorful oils. Finally, cut the bruised pieces into 1/4″ slices. You’re good to go.

Lemongrass, Coconut & Ginger Ice Cream

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Endless Ice Cream: A Soft Serve Elvis Would Love

The good news is you don’t need an ice cream maker. The other good news is this is a four-ingredient recipe. More good news: it’s fast, easy and super tasty. Well, it’s all good news! Get to making this dreamy dessert now.

You remember how I told you to preserve your browning bananas in the freezer? Well, it’s time to pull them out and put them to good use. Don’t have frozen bananas? It’s okay, just chop up some bananas and throw them in the freezer for a couple of hours. The rest is easy. Add a little cream. Toss in an Elvis-approved duo of flavors: chocolate and peanut butter (purists and Elvis enthusiasts can add a tablespoon of honey and some chopped crispy bacon). You’ll be gorging yourself in no time.

Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Soft Serve

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Endless Ice Cream: Chocolate Sesame

You may have noticed the lack of chocolate in my ice cream recipes. It’s not that I don’t like chocolate. I just forget about it sometimes. I found a few bars of Green & Black’s stashed away in my cupboard, so I figured it was time to break out a chocolate ice cream.  This ice cream is a riff on a recipe I came across in Tea with Bea for a milk chocolate sesame tart topped with cherries. I was intrigued by the though of chocolate and sesame together. This ice cream does not disappoint—it is incredibly rich and chocolatey, the sesame right along side it giving it a depth often lacking in your typical chocolate ice cream. A quick note about the ice cream base: since it is made with buttermilk, the base absolutely must be thoroughly chilled before churning, otherwise the buttermilk will break and separate the custard.

Chocolate Sesame Ice Cream

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Endless Ice Cream: Cherry Whiskey Caramel

When I saw the Father’s Day cake from bakersroyale, I knew I had to make it. Actually, I made two. It was one of those fortuitous days where I had everything on hand for the recipe, plus a little extra. Have you ever eaten something that has left you breathless, wordless? That’s how I felt about this cake.  The combination of flavors was just perfect. So of course I had to convert it to ice cream form: almond flavored ice cream, with a salted caramel swirl and whiskey-soaked cherries. And while the ice cream didn’t leave me quite as stunned as that cake did, it is very, very delicious. The cherries can be made and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead, and the salted caramel sauce can be made up to 2 weeks ahead if you’re not up to tackling everything in one day.

Cherry Whiskey Caramel Ice Cream

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Endless Ice Cream: Apricot Buttermilk

Stone fruit season is starting. My first indicator was the tray of two dozen ripe, juicy apricots at the grocery store for $2. So in the spirit of seasonality, here is my take on apricot ice cream.

Stone fruit is great for ice cream. Their high levels of fruit pectin mean you don’t need to add a thickener like egg yolks or syrup. The only cooking required is the roasting of the apricots. You could also substitute peaches for the apricots if that’s what you have on hand.

Apricot Buttermilk Ice Cream

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