CHOCOLATE DIPPED ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Come June, my head spins as end-of-the-year school functions approach with rapid fire. And this year, I also find myself in the last week of finishing the manuscript for my book, which feels very much like giving birth to a 3rd child! Life is extremely busy, and can feel like a bit of a whirlwind for someone like me who enjoys being social, but also craves slowness and quiet.

My natural clock keeps telling me it's time for summer vacation - my inner teenager wants to sleep 'til noon, laze around in the sun, read trashy novels, and gobble ice cream sandwiches while belting out, "School's out for summer... School's out forever..."

Have you tried an It's-It? Ice cream, sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies, then dipped in chocolate... that's right. That's the kind of summer treat I'm craving these days. It's-Its were created in San Francisco in the 1920s and you can still find them tucked into ice cream freezers all over the West Coast. When I saw a recipe for homemade It's-Its in Jennie Schacht's charming new book, I knew I had to make them with Lilah and her buddy, Anni.

I hummed Alice Cooper the whole time.

INGREDIENTS - slightly adapted from Jennie Schacht's I Scream Sandwich!
(printable recipe)

Oatmeal Cookies:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour {GF folks: I use Pamela's Bread Mix and Flour Blend}
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• generous pinch of sea salt
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats {GF folks: be sure to buy GF oats}
• optional: 1/2 cup raisins

Chocolate Shell:

• 1/2 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

 Ice Cream: Jennie makes her own, but I was too lazy this week.

• Store-bought vanilla ice cream for filling. For those of your who can't tolerate dairy, try Coconut Bliss... it's really creamy and good. {GF friends: be sure to check the ice cream label to be certain it's gluten-free}

Preheat oven to 350.

First, go ahead and make your cookies. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, or using a medium mixing bowl with a hand-mixer, cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla. Blend until ingredients are integrated.

In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. While the standing mixer is still whirling, slowly add the dry ingredients. Finally, add oats to the batter. Mix until batter is well blended.

Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough onto the lined cookie sheets. Jennie very wisely suggests making 24 tablespoon size cookies. (We went ahead and made 14 bigger cookies - piggies, I know. From here on out, I'll stick to Jennie's reasonable portions!) Give the cookies some room to spread during baking, and use your fingertips to flatten the dough a bit, flatter disk-shaped cookies make for more manageable ice cream sandwiches.

Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes until golden, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through baking to ensure even browning.  Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on their baking sheet, then transfer them to a rack to finish cooling.

Once cookies have cooled completely, scoop (slightly softened) ice cream between two cookies to make a sandwich. Stick the prepared sandwiches in the freezer on a parchment-lined baking sheet to chill thoroughly before dipping them into the chocolate shell.

Making the chocolate shell... Gently melt chocolate with coconut oil in a double boiler, or microwave. Once the chocolate is warm, liquidy, and smooth, stir and you've got your dipping chocolate.

Take each fully-frozen ice cream sandwich, and dip it halfway into the the melted chocolate. Let the drips fall away and then return the dipped sandwich to your cold, parchment-lined baking sheet.  Freeze the sandwiches again for 15 minutes, until the chocolate had chilled and hardened.

Eat and enjoy! Wrap any extra ice cream sandwiches in parchment and store them in the freezer until you're ready to munch again.

makes 12 ice cream sandwiches (we made 7 monster-size sandwiches, but I will definitely stick with a more manageable size next time)


Happy Summer everyone!!!

If you want more summer ice cream deliciousness, check out Phyllis' genius recipe for S'Mores Ice Cream on Food 52...

AMAZING MINT CHIP ICE CREAM

Don't we all dream of lounging around in our pjs eating ice cream on a weekday? Well, my boy Otis had Spring Break last week, and that is just what he did.

Otis can groove with some serious savory cooking and he is a master when it comes to chopping veg, but he also swoons for making sweets. Fresh Mint Chip Ice Cream seemed like a good way for us to celebrate the Easter Break, the green explosion of spring, and our bountiful backyard mint patch.

Otis says this is the best ice cream he has ever tasted (and we all know that 11-year-olds are ice cream experts!)  I personally think the whole recipe is quite dangerous. I found myself wanting to slurp the minty custard before I even froze the stuff - need I say more?

INGREDIENTS thanks to David Lebovitz

(printable recipe)

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 packed cups fresh mint leaves
• 5 egg yokes
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped and melted

Warm milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan, over medium heat. Stir to melt sugar. When sugar has dissolved, add mint leaves to the pan. When everything is hot and steamy, remove the pan from the heat. Cover, and let the mint leaves steep in the warm milk for an hour.

After an hour of steeping, pour the minty milk mixture through a strainer into a medium mixing bowl. Using the back of a wooden spoon, press down on the mint in the strainer to release as much flavor as you can, then toss out the mint leaves and wash your strainer. Return infused milk to the medium sauce pan and rewarm over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

(Pour the remaining cup of cream into a large mixing bowl. Place strainer over the top of the bowl, and set aside.)

Whisk egg yokes in a separate, smallish bowl. Pour a ladle or two of the warm infused milk into the yokes and whisk to integrate. Then pour all of the yokes into the sauce pan with the warmed minty milk. Stir continuously with a spatula and cook custard, over medium heat, until it begins to thicken. (Lebovitz says the mixture is done when it reaches 170 degrees, or is thick enough to coat the spatula.)

Pour custard through the strainer into the large mixing bowl holding the cream. Stir. Place mixing bowl over an ice bath and continue stirring until the custard has cooled. Transfer to a covered container. Refrigerate for two hours, or even overnight, then freeze in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturers instructions.

While your ice cream maker is working its magic, put a storage container into the freezer to chill.

When your ice cream machine is done, pull the chilled storage container from the freezer and drizzle some melted chocolate across the bottom. Then add some ice cream to the container. Then drizzle more chocolate over the ice cream. Use a spoon to break up the mixture and you will have nice broken streaks of chocolate (homemade chocolate chips!) running throughout the ice cream. Continue adding layers of ice cream and drizzled chocolate. Place your now marbleized ice cream into the freezer to firm up again before serving.

Enjoy!

My talented friend and fellow blogger, Phyllis Grant of Dash and Bella, recently posted a recipe for Mint Stracciatella Ice Cream. If you don't already follow her blog already, you should - everything she does is delish and I imagine her ice cream is no exception!

NECTARINE SHERBET

After a magical year-long travel adventure with my family, I was kinda scared to come home and have it all end.

But now that I am here in our Berkeley house, it feels sooooo good.... seeing friends and family, sleeping in my cushy bed, checking out my jungle-like backyard. And being the food-obsessed person I am, I am blown away by the abundance of good eats. I have always known what a special, lush food world we have here in the Bay Area, but after being away for a year, I am stunned to come back to this food-lovers paradise.

Every trip to Monterey Market is a dream of stone fruits, juicy berries, countless herbs, tomatoes, cheeses, farm eggs. It is almost too much deliciousness for me to take in. We've been going to the market every day, buying just enough ingredients to toss together summer salads, morning fruit, and simple dinners. My cooking is a little rusty (a few steps beyond rustic!) after being away and having really limited access to ingredients and kitchen supplies. Now, with sharp knives, a working stove, a spacious fridge, and endless gorgeous produce, I am getting back into my old Berkeley cooking groove and it feels damned good.

In honor of summer and my love for Berkeley, I give you this homecoming recipe from Chez Panisse Desserts. It couldn't be more simple and it is totally yummy. I have always been a fan of sherbet, especially Rainbow Sherbet: Lindsey Remolif Shere's Nectarine Sherbet has the all festive fun of childhood without the naughty chemicals - the vibrant flavor and playful "sherbet" color are all thanks to mother nature. Does it get better than this?

(Keep in mind that this dessert is only as good as its ingredients - make sure you use sweet, fragrant, ripe nectarines.) 

By the way, I made this sherbet without an ice cream machine, so there's excuse not give this easy recipe a try...

INGREDIENTS - adapted from Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere

(printable recipe)

• 1 3/4 pounds ripe nectarines (or peaches)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• lemon juice
• (Shere suggests a splash of kirsch to taste. I didn't use any, although I'm sure it's good.)

First, wash nectarines.

Remove the pits, and rough chop nectarine flesh.  (If you use peaches, Shere suggest removing the peels, but this is not necessary with nectarines.) Place chopped fruit and 2 tablespoons of water into a heavy bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven. Stew nectarines for 10-15 minutes, over low heat, until they are warmed through.

Scoop warmed nectarines into a blender or food processor. You may need to do a couple of batches depending on the size of your blender. Don't fill the blender too high, or you could burn yourself with the hot fruit. Puree until smooth. Add sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice and blend again. Taste for sweetness and add a little more sugar if you think it needs it.

You should have about 3 cups of puree.

(If you have an ice cream maker, go ahead and follow its instructions.)

If you are going old-school, as I did, transfer the puree into a freezable container. I used one of my glass storage bowls that has a lid. Place the covered puree in the fridge until it cools. When the fruit has cooled, put the container in the freezer. Every thirty to forty five minutes, thoroughly stir the fruit mixture. Be sure to especially scrape the frozen bits on the sides of the bowl and keep the mix well integrated, and smooth. (I used a metal soup spoon to do my stirring, but you could also use a whisk, wooden spoon, or even try an egg beater.) After a few hours of freezing and stirring, you are ready to eat.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Makes about 1 quart. 

If you need more frozen dessert inspiration, check out my friend Phyllis at Dash and Bella's new post on making Caramel Ice Cream. Yum!