Nutella Cappuccino Ice Cream with Roasted Hazelnuts

I'm pretty sure that this ice cream is served by the bowl-full in heaven.  

No, I'm serious.

On a recent trip to TN, I came across some farm-fresh milk (You know, the non-homogenized kind with the cream on top).  I had never been lucky enough to try milk that fresh, so I bought it and started dreaming of recipes to use it up. 

My first thought - ice cream!

I know we're a little past peak ice cream season, but come on...some things are so amazing that they need to be - no, they MUST be - enjoyed all year long.   Anything less would be tragic.  This particular flavor was inspired by our trip to Italy.  We had the most amazing Nutella Cappuccinos while visiting Rome, in a little cafe near the Coliseum.  It was bliss, and I wanted to try and re-create those unforgettable flavors.  After all, nutella and coffee are a match made in heaven.

The real stars of this ice cream are the roasted hazelnuts.  It just wouldn't be quite as marvelous without them.  I took whole hazelnuts and roasted them to toasty, fragrant perfection, then chopped them up and added them right to the ice cream base as it was being whirled around in the ice cream machine.  A generous portion of nutella is also added during the freezing process, so that you end up with wonderful little nuggets of nutella throughout.

"Nuggets of nutella"...Doesn't that sound just delightful? :)

By the way, the farm fresh milk was the best milk I've ever had in my life, and it made a big difference in this ice cream.  If using farm fresh milk, just use 4 cups of milk, instead of the milk and cream quantities listed below. 

Bon Appetit, my friends!

Nutella Cappucino Ice Cream with Roasted Hazelnuts
Ice cream base adapted from:  Emeril Lagasse's recipe for Coffee Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
6 egg yolks

1/3 cup nutella

1/2 cup whole hazelnuts

Directions:

Combine the cream, milk, sugar, and coffee in a medium, heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat.

 Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Gradually add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, to the hot cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 170 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes.

 Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

While the ice cream base is chilling in the fridge, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Place the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the pre-heated oven.  Roast for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly toasted and fragrant.  Transfer the hazelnuts to a cutting board and chop.  Let cool completely. 

Remove ice cream base from the refrigerator and pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.  About half-way through the freezing process, begin adding the nutella.  Do this by dropping very small bits of nutella into the ice cream as it churns, until it is all gone.  With this method, you will end up with small chunks of nutella throughout the ice cream.  If you see any large chunks of nutella, break them up with a spoon the best you can.  Once all of the nutella is incorporated, add the chopped hazelnuts and continue to freeze until done. 

After the ice cream is made, transfer to an airtight container. Cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve. 

Buttermilk Peach Ice Cream with Cinnamon

Happiness comes in many forms.  Maybe its warm sun on your face and your toes in the sand, or maybe its sharing a laughter-filled conversation with your loved ones.  Maybe its the good news you've been waiting to hear.

It can be found in the smallest, simplest moments...like biting into a fresh peach that's so incredibly juicy that you have to strategically stand over the sink to eat it, while juice unavoidably runs down your arms.  And you know what?  That darn peach is so delicious that it's okay to get a little messy!

After all, it's the little moments that make life so fun.

This Buttermilk Peach Ice Cream certainly put a smile on my family's faces recently.  It's the height of peach season around here, and I couldn't help but want to break out the ice cream maker after buying these peachy beauties.  I started searching for recipe inspiration online, and I stumbled upon a recipe by one of my favorite fellow bloggers, Homesick Texan.

The ingredients intrigued me.   Buttermilk in ice cream?!?  Genius!  It sounded pretty incredible, so I got to work.  I love this recipe for its simplicity.  A lot of ice cream recipes are custard-based, which requires eggs and a lot of extra time standing over the stove.  This version comes together easily and tastes nothing short of heavenly!

The trick is allowing the peaches to macerate for a few hours along with the cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice.  This easy process really concentrates the flavors and takes it up a notch.

Plus, the buttermilk adds a great little twang to the ice cream, which is subtle yet perfect.

Bon Appetit, my friends!  Let's all find happiness in the little moments this summer...They're all around us!

Buttermilk Peach Ice Cream

Adapted from:  Homesick Texan

Ingredients:

2 cups cream
1 cup buttermilk
2 pounds (about 6) whole peaches, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions: 

Toss peeled and sliced peaches with sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Cover, refrigerate and let macerate at least for a couple of hours, preferably overnight or all day.

Puree half of the peaches in a blender, and then mix puree with cream, buttermilk and vanilla.  Next, roughly mash the remaining peaches with a potato masher and then add them to the cream mixture.

Freeze according to your ice-cream maker’s instructions.

 

Notes: 

To peel the peaches, place them into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, and then transfer them to a bowl filled with ice water to halt the cooking. The skin should rub right off after blanching. 

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream = Frozen Happiness

Oh, the joys of a big bowl of homemade ice cream on a hot summer day!  Is it possible to resist such a wonderful treat?  I think not!

Last year, Brad surprised me with a homemade ice cream maker, and I've had so much fun making the smile-inducing wonderfully delicious frozen goodness ever since.  A good recipe for classic vanilla ice cream is something that everyone should have in their ice cream repertoire.  You can add extra deliciousness like fresh peaches, blackberries or strawberries...or just about anything else your little heart desires.  The possibilities are endless. 

I made this particular batch to go atop Bubba's Peach Pie that I recently made.  They were a match made in heaven, of course.  This ice cream was also incredible served on top of a Blackberry Peach Cobbler that will be posted here on the blog soon.

So, go break out the ice cream maker and cool off with a bowl of frozen happiness.  With the first day of summer quickly approaching, there's no better time.  And...there's no better recipe to kick off the season than this one.

Bon Appetit, my friends!  :)

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Adapted from:  Gourmet magazine, September 1998

Ingredients:

2 vanilla beans

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

Directions:

With a knife halve vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape seeds into a large heavy saucepan and stir in pods, cream, milk, and sugar. Bring mixture just to a boil, stirring occasionally, and remove pan from heat. 

In a large bowl lightly beat eggs. Add hot cream mixture to eggs in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170-180°F. (Do not let boil.) Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper, at least 3 hours, or until cold, and up to 1 day. 

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker, in 2 batches if necessary. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.

Dreamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet

***Whew, it's been a scorching summer here in Alabama, with record-breaking temperatures and sunny days.  I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to the cooler days of the fall season - filled with pumpkins, beautiful foliage and dishes made with apples, pears and butternut squash!

Around here, one of the best ways to beat this summer heat is a cold, refreshing bowl of ice cream or sorbet....homemade, of course!  This Dark Chocolate Sorbet is quite simply amazing.  It only has 1 gram of fat per serving, but you wouldn't know it by tasting a bite!  It's decadent but won't make you feel guilty after you down a bowl.

Plus, there are only 5 ingredients...water, sugar, salt, cocoa powder and vanilla extract.  Sorbet doesn't get much better than that, especially if you have an automatic ice cream maker to do most of the work.


If these hot summer days have you hot and sunburned, try a bowl of this sorbet.  It will cool you down and put a smile on your face in no time!


Bon Appetit!***

Dark Chocolate Sorbet
Source:  Cuisinart Recipe Booklet

Ingredients:

3 cups water
1²∕³ cups granulated sugar
pinch salt
1²∕³ cups cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Directions:
Prepare a simple syrup with the water, sugar and salt by combining all three in a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat. Cook mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. 

Gradually add the cocoa powder to the simple syrup by whisking constantly until smooth. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours, or overnight. 

Turn on the Cuisinart® ice cream maker; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. The sorbet will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.
 

Irresistible Fresh Cherry-Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

***I hope that you are all having an absolutely wonderful weekend, and Happy Memorial Day to all my readers here in the USA.  So far, we're having a terrific holiday weekend, because my little sisters came to visit us - Suzanne and Maranne (they're twins!).

They are AWESOME, and we had such a great time.  We spent a lot of time in the kitchen while they were in town, so get ready for some great posts coming up soon...One of which I am super excited about.  Guess what...We filmed the first ever instructional cooking video to be shared here on Sugar & Spice by Celeste!  I think you'll find the video funny and informative, so stay tuned for that.

First up, I'm excited to share with you a recipe we created for Fresh Cherry-Dark Chocolate Ice Cream.  I found a gorgeous bag of red cherries at my local grocer, and I simply could not resist buying them.  I didn't really have a specific plan in mind for them at the time, but I figured I'd come up with something fun.  So when my sisters got the urge to put the ice cream maker to work last night, this is what we came up with.

I've always adored chocolate covered cherries, so the flavor combo was a no-brainer.   Chocolate and cherries go together like rock and roll, shake and bake, salt and pepper...Well, you get the idea!  :)


I think you'll really love this fresh fruit infused ice cream - Especially on a hot summer day!

Bon Appetit!*** 

 

Ingredients: 

2 cups half-and-half

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Seeds from 1 vanilla bean

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 oz. Ghiradelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1  1/2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and chopped into small pieces

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except for the chocolate and cherries, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour mixture into the bowl of your ice cream maker, and freeze according to the unit's instructions.

About 3/4 into the freezing process, add the chocolate and cherry pieces.  Continue to freeze until it has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 the original volume, and has reached a soft serve consistency (It will not freeze hard in the machine).

Next, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

***Brad and my Uncle Hal have created a monster...an ice cream monster!  Brad surprised me with a Cuisinart ice cream maker as part of my Valentine's present this year.  I was so excited, because I've been wanting one for a while.  My Uncle Hal found this particular ice cream maker while we were shopping during their recent visit.

Get this...it makes ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet...all just by flipping a switch.  There's no hand-churning, rock salt or bags of ice required.  This machine makes it so easy, which probably isn't very good for our waistlines!  Thank goodness we've both been working our butts off (literally, I guess!  haha) on the treadmill.  A little ice cream is a good reward for such hard work, right??  That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.  :-)

When I asked Brad what flavor he wanted me to try first, his answer was a resounding Mint Chocolate Chip!  See, that's always been one of his favorites, if not his #1 favorite.  I found a great recipe at allrecipes.com, which I decided to give a shot.  There are a lot of recipes out there that call for real, fresh peppermint leaves.  Because fresh peppermint is in short supply around here, I had to stick with a recipe that included peppermint extract.  I did use dark Ghiradelli chocolate, which was fabulous...we love the hint of dark chocolate.  The results were nothing short of mind-blowingly, decadently delicious.  In fact, I just finished off a few scoops about an hour ago.  

Oh, this could be dangerous...

Bon Appetit!***

Sweet goodness...

Still churning away in the ice cream maker...

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Source:  www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 drops green food coloring (optional)
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the green food coloring.
2. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After about 10 minutes into the freezing, add the chocolate chips. After the ice cream has thickened, about 30 minutes later, spoon into a container, and freeze for 2 hours.

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream + Happy Birthday William!

***I have had such a fabulous, awesome, and fun weekend...I am sad that it's almost over!  On Friday, my Uncle Hal, Aunt Julie and cousin William came into town for William's birthday.  I was so happy that I got to help celebrate his big day and even happier that I got to spend the whole weekend with them!  He turned the big 1-7, and I had just the perfect idea in mind for his cake.  A few weeks earlier, he mentioned that he had seen my cinnamon rolls on this blog, and that he really wanted to try some.  Well, what could be better than a birthday cake made entirely out of cinnamon rolls, then?!?

When I was younger, I remember going to Hal & Julie's house for dinner.  We would eat spaghetti, swim in their awesome jacuzzi and eat Cookies & Cream Ice Cream...

Oh.My.Goodness...

That ice cream... 

 Uncle Hal working his magic...

The whole gang...

I still remember how decadently perfect that ice cream always was.  It was creamy, sweet, and filled with crunchy pieces of Oreo cookies.  I seriously can't think of many things more delicious than homemade ice cream...especially THIS ice cream!  It just doesn't get much better than that, folks.  Those fun dinner nights at my aunt and uncle's house bring back so many happy memories...just like eating this dessert!  In fact, Brad has heard me brag about their Cookies & Cream Ice Cream for years, and he finally got to experience his own little bit of ice cream heaven last night....haha.


The recipe is simple and comes together in about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  I know it's been a little chilly outside, but we couldn't help ourselves this weekend...It was just too much fun.  Here are some more photos for you to drool over...

 

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Source:  cooks.com

Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 (12 oz.) cans evaporated milk
2 c. sugar
15-20 Oreo cookies
Approx. 3 c. milk

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients EXCEPT cookies with hand mixer. Pour into ice cream freezer. Add additional milk if needed to reach the fill mark. Halfway through freezing process add Oreo cookies. Makes 1 gallon.