Mascarpone Vanilla Ice Cream

More adventures in inspired re-purposing, which seems like the appropriate term when reducing waste is really about making the most delicious thing I can. Truthfully, there are some foods that have almost no chance of going to waste in our kitchen. Others must be carefully monitored and kept front and center so they will not stay in there long past their prime, but mascarpone, ricotta, or just plain cream will always be put to good use. And, when I say good use, I mean that I will probably  choose the most appealing option of the moment. Leftover ricotta will become gnocchi or orange ricotta cake. Cream must be whipped and eaten as soon as possible (or maybe, made into creme fraiche). Since I tend toward indulgent recipes for these spare amounts, it is probably good that these things are in our kitchen only occasionally and mascarpone may be the rarest of all. I made some mascarpone butter to put on french toast for brunch and before that I was over, I had a plan to make ice cream with the rest of it. 

It might seem silly that in using up one thing, I need more of other ingredients but this is one reason why I love the challenge of using up what you already have -- it doesn't have to be completely practical or boring. The mascarpone gives this ice cream a subtle, but welcome tang. I think substituting creme fraiche or greek yogurt would do the trick nicely as well. And if you are concerned about what to do with the leftover egg whites, look no further: these cookies are amazing.

Mascarpone Vanilla Ice Cream

Adapted from this recipe. I enjoyed this ice cream on its own, but it goes very well with chocolate, caramel or berry sauce. Makes about 1 quart of ice cream.

2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

1 pinch salt

4 egg yolks

1 cup mascarpone

Bring the milk and sugar to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, whisk in the vanilla bean seeds and salt. Whisk together the eggs and slowly add 1/2-3/4 cup of the hot milk to the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the pot of milk to the stove over medium low heat. Slowly pour in the egg mixture and continue to whisk. Once it is all incorporated, stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until it thickens enough to coat the spatula. Remove from heat, pour through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in the mascarpone and refrigerate until completely chilled. Freeze in your ice cream maker, according to the manufacturers instructions.

Fresh Mint and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

I made you some ice cream. I wish you would join me. Knock on the door, I'll open it and invite you into my apartment. It's not perfectly clean, but we can sit at the kitchen table. I cleared off the debris that sometimes clutters it around the edges. Have a glass of water. Tell me what you've been up to lately. I'll sit down, too, and we can really talk. Maybe we'll eat something first, or maybe we won't be able to wait and I'll get some bowls from the cupboard. It's fresh mint ice cream, flavored with the leaves from the mint plant you saw by the door on your way in. The smooth mint ice cream is punctuated with chunks of bittersweet chocolate. It melts a little as we savor each spoonful.

Ice cream should be shared. Too often, I make a batch and eat most of it myself. Not in one sitting, but certainly without the benefit of a partner in enjoyment. There are few things so satisfying as sharing food with someone who appreciates it just as much as I do. Ray and I eat a few meals together each week but our schedules differ and I find myself sitting alone at the table just as often. There are many times when I enjoy the simplicity of a solitary meal. I also crave connection and conversation that can transpire from casually cooking and eating together. I don't know exactly how to make more food sharing happen. People are busy, I am still navigating the paths of new friendships. I think ice cream might help, though.

I'm serious about inviting you over, but if you can't make it, maybe you can help me out. How do you bring family and friends (or strangers) to your table? How does food help you create connections? 



Fresh Mint and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
I had heard for a while about Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream and her adaptation for making great ice cream at home. I am still kind of attached to using custard based recipes but this no egg ice cream was designed to make ice cream at home that is just as smooth and creamy as the kind you can get at a fancy ice cream shop. The unexpected ingredients works really well to make a perfectly spoonable and delicious ice cream. If you prefer a more assertive mint flavor, you can use peppermint extract. I adapted this recipe from Saveur.

On the subject of ice cream, I also wanted to point you in the direction of Sarah's Vanilla Bean Blog which has an abundance of mouthwatering no churn ice cream recipes. I love that there are so many different ways to make great ice cream and no shortage of recipes to try (aka reasons to make homemade ice cream).

2 cups milk
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1/3 cup fresh peppermint leaves (or 1 teaspoon peppermint extract for a mintier ice cream)

3/4 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Mix 1/4 cup of milk with the cornstarch. In a saucepan, combine the rest of the milk, sugar, cream, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and cook for 4 minutes. Add the milk mixed with cornstarch and return the milk to a boil, cooking for a few minutes until it has thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the cream cheese until incorporated. Add the mint leaves or peppermint extract. Chill the ice cream base until completely cold. 

While the base is chilling, make the chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate and spread it over a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the chocolate cool until solid. You can freeze it which will make it really easy to break into chips and cold when you mix it into the ice cream

Strain out the mint leaves (if using) and mix in your ice cream maker. Stir in the chocolate chunks and freeze completely before serving. Makes about 1 quart.

Rhubarb Ginger Ice Cream

This spring, I have been able to get enough rhubarb. We have had many warm days, but ripe local fruit is still weeks away. Rhubarb, though technically a tart stalk, makes an acceptable substitute while we wait to eat strawberries by the handful. After trying it in crisps, jam, a savory sauce, and a syrup, rhubarb ice cream had to be next.

It starts with a compote: rhubarb, sugar, a little lemon juice, and some crystallized ginger for a different sort of zing. You could stop there and pour the sweetened rhubarb over vanilla ice cream or anything else that strikes your fancy. If you have time and just enough patience you should make the custard, add cream, stir it all together. After it chills, churn it into ice cream. The compote melts into the creamy custard, making a very pale pink ice cream. The sugar mellows the rhubarb's dominant tartness, but the flavor of those green red stalks is still there.

 

These beautiful spring days that feel more like summer don't need much embellishing. They make a page of perfect snapshots in the album of my memory. A picnic blanket in the warm grass, heating coals on the grill as the daylight fades, sharing a meal with friends and perhaps ending it sweetly with homemade ice cream.



Rhubarb Ginger Ice Cream
Feel free to adjust the sweetness of the compote to your taste, but don't let the sugar overwhelm the flavor of the rhubarb which should be a little bit tart. The ginger in this ice cream is there as more of a compliment to the rhubarb and is not very strong, but you could use more if you want a stronger ginger flavor.

2 cups rhubarb, cut into inch long pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream

Combine the rhubarb, lemon juice, and sugar in a pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the rhubarb has broken down into a red sauce, about 15 minutes. It won't be totally smooth but there should not be any large chunks of rhubarb left. Remove from heat and stir in the crystallized ginger. Let the compote cool somewhat while you make the custard.

Before starting the custard, place a fine mesh strainer on top of a quart sized (or larger) bowl. Heat the milk, sugar and salt over medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is very warm. Beat the egg yolks until smooth and slowly pour about a cup of the hot milk into the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Return the rest of the milk to medium low heat and pour the egg/milk mixture into the pot of milk. Stir constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot. After a few minutes the milk will begin to thicken. When it is ready, it will be thick enough to coat the spatula. Remove from heat and pour through the strainer into the bowl. Pour in the cream and stir in the rhubarb compote. Refrigerate until completely chilled, overnight if possible.

Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. Makes about 1 quart of ice cream.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Lately I've seen various blog posts asking what do you like to make in stead of buy? What do you want to create in your kitchen, instead of getting from a box? I could answer this question in lots of ways. I certainly hold my weekly yogurt and yearly salsa making dear. But at the moment I would toss that all aside and say: ice cream!! 

I'm a little biased right now. I recently made the most glorious raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. It is perfectly smooth and creamy, tasting like a summer day with no obligations, no deadlines, nothing to do but stroll through green fields, lie on a beach or get lost in a book. I could wax poetic for pages about this dreamy dessert.

 


It is always so tempting to tell you how quick and easy a recipe is, or how much more economical it is to make something from scratch. But really, are those the only reasons I make food from scratch? Aside from how delicious it is, I revel in the satisfaction of turning disparate ingredients into something new and the connection that I have to my food when I am creating it.

It's true that making ice cream at home takes a little more planning ahead than just grabbing a carton from the freezer case, but I like the mindful dessert aspect of that. If you make it you won't be tempted to buy something that is not nearly as good. Even a custard based ice cream doesn't take much longer to come together than stirring a pasta sauce, it just requires a bit more attention, an overnight (or a few hours) chill, and a bit of churning.

I hope, though, that you'll need no convincing and that the promise of raspberry infused cream studded with shards of bittersweet chocolate is more than enough reason to make this yourself. 



Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
This recipe is based on David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream recipe which I also use here. For the raspberry, I used a half pint jar of raspberry preserves I made. It wasn't as thick as jam, but I think jam would work just fine. Make sure it is seedless, or press the jam through a strainer to remove the seeds.

5 egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 pint (8 ounces/ 1 cup) raspberry jam (seedless or seeds removed) 

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (preferably bittersweet, but it's up to you)

Whisk together the egg yolks in a bowl. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Once the milk is hot and sugar dissolved, lower the heat. Pour some of the heated milk into the eggs and whisk them together. Pour the eggs into the saucepan of milk and cook, still over low heat, stirring with a (heat proof) spatula to scrape the bottom and allow everything to cook evenly. Continue to stir until the custard thickens. When it thickens enough to coat the spatula, it is ready. Pour the custard into a bowl and add the cream and jam. Whisk together until it is smooth. Refrigerate until completely chilled, overnight if possible.

While the custard is chilling, make the chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate and spread it over a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the chocolate cool until solid. You can put it freeze it which will make it really easy to break into chips and cold when you mix it into the ice cream.

When the custard is cold, freeze it in your ice cream maker. Before storing the ice cream in the freezer, stir in the chips. Freeze until ready to serves. Makes about 1 quart.