Chewy and Creamy Carrot Cake Sandwiches

I just can't seem to catch up. Maybe it's because instead of spending the time I'm online updating my blog, I spend it on facebook doing nothing of importance. (See Urban Dictionary for a glut of facebook related terms.)

And my poor little blog ends up neglected. Like with these ice cream sandwiches that I've been meaning to post for a week and a half now. That isn't that long of a time, but considering that I moved them to the top of my list of things to post, as unchronologically sound as that is, there is no excuse for this delay.

Other than neglect, that is.

I got the idea a couple months ago when I stumbled across Inside Out Carrot Cake Cookies from Gourmet. But I thought they'd be so much cooler if instead of a cream cheese frosting filling they had a cream cheese ice cream filling. But I didn't feel like making ice cream then and bookmarked the link.
Then the weather started to warm up, and looking through my bookmarks the week before memorial day, I saw the cookies and remembered the ice cream sandwich idea. I looked in the fridge, had everything for them, so instead of making lemon curd cupcakes like I'd been considering, I made these instead!

They were a hit. Next time, apparently, I need to make a double batch. Or make them larger.


Chewy and Creamy Carrot Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches
makes... I don't remember, somewhere between 18 and 24 sandwiches, I think
adapted from Gourmet and Bri's Ginger Cheesecake Ice Cream

For cookies:
1 1/8 cups (about 5 oz) all-purpose flour*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (2 1/2 oz) packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (2 3/4 oz) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (about 5 1/2 oz) coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1 scant cup (3 oz) walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz) raisins, chopped if large

Preheat oven to 375F and place racks in top and bottom third. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed; add flour mixture and stir or beat until just combined.

Drop 1 tablespoon batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of baking sheets (top to bottom, front to back) halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch; about 10 to 15 minutes.
Let cookies cool on pans 1 minute; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For Cream Cheese Ice Cream:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Beat in vanilla.

Heat the milk in a saucepan until bubbles just start forming around the edges. Slowly beat the hot milk into the cheese mixture. Stir in the cream and cover and refrigerate until chilled (about 4 hours) or overnight.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.


To assemble sandwiches:
Prepare lots of flat area in your freezer and some shallow plastic freezer-safe containers or plates.
Take 1 cookie and top with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream cheese ice cream fresh from ice cream maker, or after being frozen and slightly softened. Top with another cookie and place in freezer immediately.
Repeat with remaining pairs of cookies.

Freeze 2 to 3 hours or until set. They thaw fairly quickly, so you don't want to remove them too soon from the freezer before serving.

Beans for Dessert

My favorite Chinese pastry is based on something that isn't even Chinese at all. Red bean paste, which fills my favorite pastries in Chinatown, is Japanese. I think. I hope I just didn't misunderstand everything just now, but I'm fairly confident that what I'm saying is correct.

So after spending Friday in Chinatown for my friend's birthday, I bought some azuki beans on the way home with thoughts of making red bean paste filled mochi, since I figured I could use the rice starch I have to make paloodeh, and Iranian frozen dessert. But then I couldn't figure out how to make the super sticky, smooth, and gooey red bean paste since most recipes I found were for a rustic tsubushi-an, or mashed red beans. Which is totally fine with me, because it means I can make one of my favorite ice cream flavors instead: red bean ice cream.

For some reason, before Saturday, it never occured to me to try to make red bean ice cream. I've been keeping my eye out for matcha powder to make green tea ice cream, and was going to make candied red beans as a topping for it...but the thought of making red bean ice cream didn't occur to me. So when I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it.

So, sort-of following a recipe for tsubu-an, I set of on my quest to make the ice cream. And along the way, ate quite a bit of the extra tsubu-an. I've discovered it's quite tasty cold with some warm oven-roasted rutabaga, topped with some spinach, and wrapped in a flour tortilla. It was a very sweet meal, but that's okay with me.

Red Bean Ice Cream
adapted from Closet Cooking

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mashed or pureed cooked and sweetened azuki beans (tsubushi-an)or red bean paste
1/2 cup sweeted azuki beans (tsubu-an)*

In a pot, bring milk and all but 2 Tablespoon of the sugar to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolk and reserved 2T of sugar. Whisk in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk a tablespoon at a time to temper. Whisk the tempered egg yolks into the hot milk in the pot and heat over low heat until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon or has reached 170F or 77C.

Remove from heat and whisk in cream and pureed azuki beans. Let cool and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, 4 hours or overnight.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Add whole azuki beans in last few minutes of churning.


*If you want my versian of tsubu-an, which isn't perfect, but works. It came out undercooked a bit while cooked right in other places. Soak beans overnight and then, in a pot combine 1 1/2 cups azuki beans, a heaping half cup of sugar, and water to come about 1 inch above the beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until super tender. Add more water as needed.

First Day of School With A Cherry On Top

Recipe updated and notes added 1 Sept. 2007 and 2 Sept. 2007

Before I put the batch of ice cream in the ice cream machine this evening, I did homework for three hours. Yes, did, not completed.
And it is only the first day of school. A shortened day of school.

Maybe I should be worried. But it's hard to worry when a cold, creamy dessert is awaiting, with a hint of a pale pink swirl and dots of graham crackers amid tawny specks of toasted almonds (though maybe that's just the pink playing with me.)

The only drawback is this ice cream with a twang, I mean tang, is just a tad bit too sweet for my liking. But mom thinks it is just right. (I ran out of sugar while making it.)

Also, I'm currently in a stage where weights are the nicest measures because they allow for laziness and no scooping or leveling with sugar and flours, so I've embraced them, though I'm trying to be nice and use measures too, but really, I'm lazy.
Mallets really do come in handing for chopping nuts too.


Almond Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream
loosely adapted from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein
makes about a quart

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon (14 g) brown sugar
4 ounces (115 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 graham cracker sheets (45 g)†
1/2 cup (85 g) whole almonds, toasted and chopped (or hit with a mallet...it does the job)
1/2 cup (120 g) sour cherry preserves* OR 1 cup (200 g) pitted tart/sour cherries, drained**

additional almonds and sour cherry preserves (optional), to serve

Beat the sugar and the cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and almond extract. Set aside.

Meanwhile bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the cheese mixture and pour entire mixture back into pan. Place over low heat and whisk constantly until thickens slightly, about 10 minutes, making sure not to let the mixture come to a boil. (For those who are ready to probe it with a thermometer, the temperature to cook custards to is 170F or 77C. Just don't let it go over 180F or 79C.) Remove from heat and pour through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Let cool slightly and stir in heavy cream. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours or overnight.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. About 5 minutes before done freezing, add almonds and broken bits of graham crackers. Add half of cherry preserves. When ice cream is done, stir in remaining cherry preserves. Place in freezer for at least an hour to harden.

*Our sour cherry preserves, or marabaye abaloo, are homemade. The cherries are whole and in a syrup, so cooking down cherries with lots of sugar and a bit of water will probably yield similar results. I'm not sure what is available at stores involving cherries since I've never bought any, or at least not that I remember buying.
** The second time I made this, I used cherries that had been cooked with sugar and then frozen, the juices reserved and cooked down into a syrup separately. This would probably be easier to replicate, using cherry pie filling that the cherries have been picked out of, or canned pitted cherries. Frozen cherries could work, but it would not be as sweet. Maybe one day I'll try it with one of those to see if it works, but I'm thinking if I run out of cherries I'd just make a different sort of ice cream. Though it is tasty...
†If you prefer ice cream with more chunks in every bite and are a bit overwhelmed by all the almond, then use5 (75 g) graham cracker sheets, and 1/3 cup (50g) toasted almonds instead of the amounts called for. I'm still on the fence about the reduced almonds, but I definitely like the increase in graham crackers.

Cookies and (Ice) Cream, Brown and Purple

Last month, I made the plum ice cream from David Lebowitz's book, The Perfect Scoop.
A few days ago, looking for the recipe for cookie dough, I came across the recipe for Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies. He suggested them with the plum ice cream, which Mom had liked, so I decided to give them a try.

And now I've decided to praise the book, much like many others already have. Their praise may have been most of the reason I picked up the book to start with... and now I understand why.

And not only were the ice cream sandwiches easy to make (and the oatmeal cookies the perfect thin chewy cookie), they were tasty!


Plum Ice Cream Sandwiches
adapted from The Perfect Scoop
Makes about 1 quart

1 lb (450 g) plums
1/3 cup (80 ml) water
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (180 g) sugar
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon Triple Sec
18 Large Oatmeal Cookies

Cut plums, remove pits, and cut each plum into eighths. Combine plums and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, 8 minutes, or until plums are soft. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and let cool.
Once cool, using an immersion blender, or working in batches, puree plum mixture with cream and liqueur.
Chill until thoroughly chilled, 4 hours or overnight.
Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturers directions.

Once frozen, sandwich ice cream (about 1/2 cup) between two cookies. Store in freezer until ready to serve.

Large Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from The Perfect Scoop
makes 18 cookies

2/3 cup (90 g) whole-wheat pastry flour*
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (90 g) packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (150 g) rolled oats (also called old-fashioned)
1/2 cup (80 g) raisins
3 tablespoons (45 mL) whole milk
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line several baking sheets (about 3) with parchment paper or silpats.

Whisk together flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in large mixing bowl, breaking up lumps of brown sugar. Stir in oats and raisins.

Make a well in the center, then pout in the oil, milk, and egg. Whisk together and then stir into the batter until smooth.

Drop heaping tablespoons, about 6, evenly spaced on each baking sheet. Spread the batter with the back of a spoon, making each circle about 2 to 3 inches wide.
Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after about midway through baking. Remove from the oven and let cool.

*I made the first batch with all-purpose, which is what the recipe originally called for.

I Hope He Screams For Ice Cream

I remember when I was eight or nine years old going with my neighbor to pick up a mint-chocolate chip ice cream cake at a local ice cream parlor. The cake was for her son's birthday party that afternoon, and I remember how happy he was with the cake since he was in the minority of kids who didn't really like icing.

His birthday is tomorrow, and while he's twice as old as he was then, there are some things that don't change (though it really hasn't been all that long): don't bother him during a Cubs game, and it is always a safe bet to offer him ice cream. While I'm not sure if mint-chocolate chip ice cream is still his favorite, it's a good bet.

Of course, though, I couldn't stop at just mint-chocolate chip ice cream. That would be too boring of a gift, and probably no tastier, or even less so, than that from the ice cream parlor nearby.
Poring through a stack of books, I was determined to find THE recipe. After placing torn pieces of paper in quite a few pages and looking over them once again, ruling out those with fresh mint (too much of a risk it could turn out bitter) or a dozen eggs (I wasn't planning on making meringues any time soon - though I guess I could have used it as an excuse to make marshmallows), I chose the mint-chip variation of a cheesecake ice cream recipe. It looked easy to make, and one I was willing to actually follow. Plus, now I can make a label with the word "cake", which makes it so much more fitting for a birthday.


Mint Chip Cheesecake Ice Cream
adapted from Cheesecake Ice Cream by Bruce Weinstein in The Ice Cream Book
makes about 3 cups

1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 graham cracker sheets, crumbled
3 1/2 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, or 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or both, for texture)

Beat the sugar and the cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and peppermint extract. Set aside.

Meanwhile bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the cheese mixture and pour entire mixture back into pan. Place over low heat and whisk constantly until thickens slightly, about 10 minutes, making sure not to let the mixture come to a boil. (For those who are ready to probe it with a thermometer, the temperature to cook custards to is 170F or 77C. Just don't let it go over 180F or 79C.) Remove from heat and pour through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Let cool slightly and stir in heavy cream. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours or overnight.

While the custard is chilling, if making chocolate chunks (optional, you could use chocolate chips instead), melt the chocolate and pour on waxed paper in an even layer. Let cool and break into pieces.

Stir the chilled custard and freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. If your ice cream maker allows for things to be poured in during the freezing process, add the graham crackers and chocolate during the last few minutes of freezing, or after the ice cream is semifrozen.

Dessert...Insired by a salad

The current issue of Eating Well has raspberries on the cover, so it isn't surprising that there is an article on raspberries with recipes for them. I remember there being a salad that had raspberries, mango, and avocado. We had a surplus of mango last week (hence the sorbet), but I didn't try to make the salad. Instead, I bought some raspberries to make raspberry sorbet, and was also set on making avocado ice cream and making a terrine out of them.

I've made the terrine. I just haven't unmolded or tried it yet, though I have had each component.

I was searching for an avocado ice cream when an old issue of Martha Stewart Living came in the mail. I flipped through it and saw avocados in one of the sections. I was thinking, maybe they'd have a recipe, and a few pages later, there it was in print. None of the ice cream books I had checked out from the library had contained a recipe (though I finally found The Perfect Scoop and it does) for Avocado Ice Cream, and the one I'd found on the Food Network website seemed to complicated. With the magazine, I now had all the components to make my terrine a reality.

The raspberry sorbet though, was by far the tastiest part. Or at least when eaten separately. It's super rich and as creamy as a sorbet could possible be.


Raspberry Sorbet
adapted from recipe for raspberry and kaffir lime sorbet in Ice Cream! by Pippa Cuthbert & Lindsay Cameron Wilson

2 cups raspberries
3/4 cup sugar
300 mL of water (approx 1 1/4 cups, sorry for changing units)
juice from 1 lime

Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and cool for about 10 minutes. Process or blend to puree the mixture, and strain through a sieve into a bowl to remove seeds. Refrigerate until cooled. Once chilled, freeze according to ice cream maker's instructions.

Ready for Sorbetti?

Okay, so it wasn't true sorbetti (whatever that may be), but I did make sorbet.
Dad bought a box of mangoes, so we had nine RIPE mangoes in the house. He used some on Sunday night for dinner, but on Monday I decided I'd try my hand again at frozen treats. I flipped through the books I checked out from the library and found a two recipes for mango ice cream, one for mango sherbet, and one for mango sorbet. I asked Dad which he'd like, and he said sorbet (then sherbet, but I'm not a sherbet fan so I went ahead and made sorbet anyway.)

Since the first thing I'd made in the ice cream maker was a custard based ice cream, sorbet was a breeze. The only hard part was pureeing the mango with the orange juice because I was using too small of a food processor. Dad loved the sorbet, as did the other five people eating it. I'm not sure about the sixth because they took theirs to go.
I think I'll try it again, but see what happens if I make the syrup without corn syrup and omit the liquor, because it lowered the freezing point a bit TOO much. But it was good, so maybe no changes are in order.


Mango Sorbet
makes two quarts
from The Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Cookbook by Mable and Gar Hoffman

3 cups water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 large ripe mangoes
1 cup no-pulp orange juice
1/4 cup orange liqueur (such as Triple Sec)

In a medium saucepan combine water, sugar, corn syrup; stir until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.
Cut up mangoes and remove peel and puree in a food processor with the orange juice. Stir the mango puree into the cooled syrup. Stir in liqueur and freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions

Lime Meringue Baked Alaska

Today is National Ice Cream Day (or so I've heard). In honor of it, I decided it was the perfect day to try out the Lemon Meringue Baked Alaska Recipe that I'd been eyeballing ever since I saw it in the Cooking Light 2006 cookbook, but since we only have limes in the house, it seemed only logical to make Lime Meringue Baked Alaska instead.

Lime Meringue Baked Alaska
32 vanilla wafers
2 cups low-fat creamy vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups lime sherbet, softened
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
grated lime rind from one lime

Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with wafers.

Place ice cream and sorbet in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon mixture into prepared pie plate and place in freezer.

Place egg whites in large bowl and beat with a standing mixer at high speed until foamy. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until it registers 238 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. Pour hot sugar syrup over egg whites in a thin stream, beating at medium speed (this is why you want a standing mixer). Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in lime rind. Remove ice cream from freezer and spread over ice cream Loosely cover and freeze 4 hours or until firm.

Using a blow torch (or small culinary butane torch), lightly brown the meringue before serving. (Or just be boring and use the broiler.)