Ice Cream + Frozen Archives | The Vanilla Bean Blog

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

Sarah Kieffer — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 14:14:10 +0000

I’m a big fan of no-churn ice cream, as you may have figured out if you’ve been reading here for a while. I also have a lot of nostalgia surrounding ice cream during the holidays; every Christmas Eve of my childhood was spent at my grandma’s cozy little house, and she, without fail, had a box of sprinkled minty green ice cream Christmas Trees in her freezer. This ice cream cake is an attempt at a grown-up version of that minty goodness; I’ve added chocolate (of course) and a layer of cookie crumbs replaces the sprinkles. The meringue topping puts this over the edge, and a little toasting from your kitchen blow torch will impress any holiday guests. What is baking vanilla? I’ve used Watkins Organic Original Gourmet Baking Vanilla for both the chocolate and peppermint ice creams. Unlike high-alcohol vanilla extracts, the Baking Vanilla doesn’t evaporate when baking or freezing, which helps retain its delicious flavor. It’s a perfect choice for this ice cream dessert, and any other holiday baking as well, like cake, pies, cookies, and crème brulee. All Watkins products are free from dyes, high-fructose corn syrup, addedMSG and other artificial ingredients. Watkins products are available online […]

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15 Best No-Churn Ice Cream Recipes

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 22:57:48 +0000

No ice cream cream maker? No problem. You don’t even need one to make some of the most amazing ice cream you’ve tasted! No-churn ice cream is made using just 5 easy to find ingredients and 10 minutes of prep. The ice cream is rich and creamy, and while the texture is slightly different than regular ice cream, it’s a great way to make a simple frozen dessert. In this post you’ll find my top 15 no-churn ice cream recipes, everything from classic vanilla to strawberry rhubarb, and a bonus recipe for Raspberry Chip! How to Make No-Churn Ice Cream I dedicated a whole chapter in my first cookbook to no-churn ice cream recipes because I love the ease and versatility of this method so much. No-churn ice cream is simply made by folding whipped cream into condensed milk, along with your favorite flavors or mix-in’s, then spreading in a pan and freezing. Besides heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk, you’ll add a bit of salt to cut the sweetness. And I like to add a small amount of cream cheese for it’s tang, to balance the flavors, and keep the ice cream smooth when it’s frozen. Using No-Churn Ice […]

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Coffee Blondie Skillet with Whiskey No-Churn Ice Cream

Sarah Kieffer — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 14:48:05 +0000

I’ve always been a big fan of skillet desserts, but since having children they seem to be a more regular occurrence; there is something about a cookie or brownie being baked in cake form that never fails to delight. I usually stick to chocolate chip cookies and brownies, but this time I used my Coffee Blondies recipe and was very happy with the results. To elevate this Blondie Skillet Cookie, I topped it with Irish Whiskey No-Churn Ice Cream (the kids just had vanilla, ha) and homemade caramel shards. The combination of coffee + whisky + caramel was a perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. (Side note: I recently found out I am about 5% Irish, so I’m embracing my roots with this recipe.) I baked this dessert in small skillets and then a larger one, and with and without chocolate. And I loved it all ways. *I have notes below on how to accommodate different ways of baking. More Skillet Dessert Recipes:

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Strawberry + Liliko’i Ice Cakes

Sarah Kieffer — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 18:16:26 +0000

We’ve had a heat wave here in Minneapolis, which I’ve welcomed with open arms for two reasons: last year we were robbed of a fall (it rained and was cold and the sun rarely shone and we never got our bright, crisp, Autumn days) and I’m not ready to let go of summer quite yet. I’m still drinking an Iced Americano through out the day, my windows are flung wide open from dawn to dusk, and I’ve tried to keep baking to a minimum so as not to have to turn the air conditioning back on (it just feels wrong in September). I also made these ice cakes from Alana Kysar’s beautiful new cookbook, Aloha Kitchen, to cool us off in the afternoons. I am enamored with Alana’s book – it is a gorgeous collection of recipes: favorites from her childhood growing up in Hawai’i, along with modern twists, and accompanied by her stunning photographs. She also gives a brief history lesson on the Hawaiian islands, the food culture of the islands, and some political history as well. Her introduction to the book has stayed with me for months; giving me much food for thought. She writes: “This Hawaiian word […]

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s’mores ice cream cake

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 07:00:42 +0000

This recipe for S’mores Ice Cream Cake first appeared on my site in 2016. It’s from my book, The Vanilla Bean Baking Book (affiliate link). I love it so much, I’m sharing again. ************************************ First of all, I want to say thank you, oh my goodness thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I had so many kind emails and comments and tweets yesterday; your support of my book is overwhelming. I wouldn’t have this book without that support, and I am forever grateful to you, dear readers. Thank you for following along here, and for being so wonderful. And, here’s a recipe from the book! Today happens to be my birthday, one that I am slightly freaking out about, as I seem to be getting close to large numbers I didn’t think were possible. I will be celebrating today, however, with this S’mores Ice Cream Cake. Making S’mores Ice Cream Cake This ice cream cake is on the extravagant side, with layers of graham cracker crumbs, two kinds of ice cream, and a toasty meringue top. I like to serve it in very thin pieces, as less is more for this dessert. It’s a showstopper for sure, perfect for […]

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Coffee Caramel Ice Cream Pie

Sarah Kieffer — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 15:42:37 +0000

This just might be a perfect summer dessert: a chocolate cookie crust, no-churn (and so easy!) coffee ice cream, with a topping of caramel whipped cream and candied cacao nibs. The crust and ice cream base can be put together a day or two in advance, which also comes in handy. If you aren’t into the candied cacao nibs, crushed chocolate covered espresso beans would also be delicious here. A few things: *The Coffee-Caramel combination on my ice cream cake is inspired by this Ice Box Cake over on ZoeBakes. *My summer reading has been fluctuating between Wodehouse (the Jeeves series) and the French Revolution, which has been an odd but interesting combination. I’m currently in the middle of the Twelve Who Ruled, which is a fascinating look at the Committee of Public Safety and their role in the Reign of Terror. *We recently splurged on an outdoor projector, so we could take our family movie nights outside this summer. We’ve just been projecting it onto our garage door, which works just fine! We’ve been showing our kids a bunch of our favorite movies from the late 80’s/early 90’s, and we’ve made it through Goonies, UHF, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, […]

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chocolate ice cream cake with mint meringue

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 17:10:11 +0000

Chocolate Ice Cream Cake with Mint MeringueFor a slightly taller cake, use a Pullman pan (affiliate link) and double the chocolate ice cream. This recipe gives you directions for making the no-churn ice cream ahead of time and then assembling the cake. You can just pour the fresh made ice cream over the cookie crumb crust and then freeze, but you won’t be able to do the double layer of cookie crumbs because the ice cream will be too soft and the crumbs in the middle will just mix into the ice cream. ___________________________________________________________ Somehow we are already on the front steps of 2018. The door is open, and another January welcomes us in with a glorious smile, reassuring those waiting out in the cold that right inside, just through that open door, things will be better. The new year will bring hope, and change. So we resolve to evolve, and put our faith in the dropping of a ball, a countdown from ten, and then number one. Two weeks in, however, we realize it’s still all the same, January is December, minus the Christmas tree. The list of resolutions gets shoved in a drawer, we turn on the news […]

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 14:31:11 +0000

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest; Where can we find two better hemispheres, Without sharp North, without declining West? Whatever dies was not mixed equally; If our two loves be one, or thou and I Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die. -John Donne, The Good-Morrow This past week I found volumes A-F of the Norton Anthology of English Literature (affiliate link) at my local thrift store, and I gleefully tucked them into my cart and took them home to read. I had a gigantic hardcover anthology that I carried around all through college, but since graduating the books have been updated tremendously (YAY), and I’m happy to find better translations, women authors, and helpful commentary. I’m a sucker for sixteenth century literature; I fell in love with Shakespeare in high school and enjoy reading the poetry from that time period (as you can see in the above poem). However, I’m starting at the Middle Ages and working my way through. It’s always a good sign when you pick up a book before an iphone; I haven’t enjoyed reading this much in quite awhile. I also […]

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Raspberry Ice Cream Cake

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 02:01:22 +0000

“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James I have to agree with Mr. James here; summer is magic. With my littles at home and days filled with swimming, reading, long walks, trips to the library, canoeing, hammocking, lego building, and not homeworking, I am entering August on tiptoes, knowing there are only four weeks of leisure left. ‘Twenty-nine days!’ my seven year old son lamented today as he counted on the calendar. “Only twenty-nine days left of summer! I’m doomed!” I tried to reassure him it was plenty of time, but August does have a reputation for flying by too fast. Or, as my friend Kate put it, “August is the Sunday of summer. June is Friday night, July is Saturday, and each day of August quietly whispers, Monday is just around the corner.” So we made ice cream cake. Because the weather is warm, and we still have days left to celebrate our freedom. Raspberry crème fraîche no-churn ice cream with chocolate cookie crumb and toasted meringue topping, to be exact. It was decadent, and delicious; it cooled us to our toes and […]

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Roasted Peach and Salted Caramel Pops (With Vanilla and Bourbon)

Sarah Kieffer — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 15:47:31 +0000

I missed Billy’s Popsicle Week back in June. I stuck my popsicle molds somewhere last winter ‘so I knew where they were’ and then of course, couldn’t find them when warm weather hit. Last week my husband gently guided me down to the basement to clean out our storage room filled with (mostly my) boxes and piles and whatnot, and lo and behold, there they were, tucked in a box marked ‘random kitchen things.’ So, much later, I am finally making popsicles. But not just any popsicles. These little pretties took a bit of time to put together, but dang, they are worth it. Roasted peaches, salted caramel, simple syrup, and some bourbon make these quite the late summer evening treat. Get yourself cozy in on a pool floaty and enjoy. Roasted Peach and Salted Caramel Popsicles (with vanilla and bourbon) Adapted from People’s Pops by Jordi, Carrell, and Horowitz. Ten Speed Press 2012. The salted caramel and simple syrup can be made ahead of time, and refrigerated. You will have a little caramel and simple syrup left over. I have these popsicle molds, and they work well – I just didn’t use the lids, and put sticks in instead. […]

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