Salted Caramel Ice Cream

For those of you that have been around for awhile you know that I love ice cream, and need no encouragement to eat it.  For some reason though, I forgot about my ice cream maker. 

I'm going to try to make more ice cream at home this summer.  I had the perfect opportunity the other day, because I had leftover salted caramel and some egg yolks left over from making an angel food cake.

I can't pick a favorite flavor it just wouldn't be fair to the others, but this is at the top of the list for sure!  Salty caramel + cream = heaven.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

I use skim milk in my ice cream which is kind of taboo, but it suits us just fine.  If you want a more creamy, rich ice cream use  whole milk. After the mixture was chilled I notice a skin formed on top.  I just stirred it in and once churned there were no problems.

1/2- 3/4 cup salted caramel

1 cup cream

2 cups skim milk divided

5 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla or half of a vanilla bean cut in half and seeds removed

Get out a bowl that will hold all of the mixture once it is cooked. In that bowl place 1 cup of the milk,and place a mesh strainer on top of the bowl. 

Heat the cream in the microwave until very warm and set aside.  Meanwhile place the salted caramel in a 2 quart sauce pan and slowly heat up until warm, slowly add the cream and whisk in.

In a separate bowl whisk the yolks. Slowly add a small amount of the caramel/cream mixture and whisk constantly until combined.  Then put the yolk mixture back into the saucepan.  Cook the custard using a heatproof utensil stirring constantly and scraping the bottom as you stir until the mixture thickens.  I also use a thermometer, when it reaches 160-170 it is done.

Pour the custard through the strainer into the bowl with the milk.  Add your vanilla and stir.  Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled about eight hours.

Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Enjoy!

Source:Adapted from David Lebovitz

xoxo

Rachel

Chocolate, Caramel Pretzel Sundaes

Sorry that the blogging has been somewhat sparse these past few weeks.  Spring is a very busy time for me at work.  The kids are both in track/running club so that has also taken up some of our time.  Our load will lighten up in the next few weeks.

How do you like to "follow" blogs?  My favorite way is to be a "follower".  But, I know that isn't for everyone, so we have a subscribe link now.  Just type your e-mail in and you will receive the latest posts via e-mail.  Otherwise Young Adventures has a facebook page.  We would love it if you liked us!

Now for the good stuff.  My Mister loves pretzels covered with chocolate and caramel.  I had some leftover salted caramel from the salted caramel brownies that I made last week, and I wanted to use it up.  I also had chocolate ice cream and pretzels.  So I came up with this sundae.  Brian is quite particular about his desserts, but when I heard unusual sounds coming from his direction, I knew he liked it.  If you are the type of person that likes sweet/salty combinations then this is right up your alley.  These were so easy to make, and will be the perfect summer treat!

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Sundaes

I'm giving you general guidelines here and not exact measurements.  Feel free to experiment.

Your favorite chocolate ice cream

Caramel sauce

Crushed pretzels ( I used the short small rods)

In a sundae glass place a scoop of ice cream.  Drizzle on some caramel sauce and sprinkle with crushed pretzels.  Continue these layers until your glass is full.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Weekend Plans:

 We are going to "fondue" with the kids and watch Nanny McPhee 2.

Dinner at Bar La Grassa.  This is our second time there.  Recently the chef received the James Beard award for Best Chef in our region.

Katie Missions trip training.

A somewhat quite weekend.

How about all of you?  What are you up to this weekend?  

Have a great one!

xoxo

Rachel

Affogato {Ice Cream/ Coffee Sundaes}

Happy Monday lovelies!

Now, this is not your Monday morning coffee.  But if you make it that, I promise not to tell. Shhh...

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I fell in love with affogato a few years ago.

Affogato in Italian means "drowned".  It is usually a dessert or beverage that has ice cream or gelato "drowned" in espresso and sometimes will include a bit of liquor.

This is the kind of dessert that has that "wow" factor but couldn't be simpler to make.  It's perfect when you don't have a lot of time to make dessert or you don't won't to heat up your kitchen.

Here's my version.  If you like coffee and chocolate, this will be right up your alley.

Affogato

serves 4

chocolate ice cream

8 tablespoons freshly brewed hot coffee

Chocolate-covered espresso beans (roughly chopped)

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon of Kahlua liqueur

1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

Place two scoops of chocolate ice cream in each of 4 bowls.  Meanwhile quickly whip cream with liqueur and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.  Pour 2 tablespoons of hot coffee over each serving.  Dollop some whipped cream on each serving and sprinkle on a bit of the chocolate-covered espresso beans.  Serve right away.

Enjoy!

Source: Young Adventures

xoxo

Rach


P.S.
Thank you so much for all of your encouraging and insightful comments on Friday!  I'm still thinking about what I would like to do.  If I do make any changes it won't be until the summer and I will make sure to keep you up to date.