Berry Frozen Yogurt {w/o ice cream maker!}

For those of you without an ice cream maker -- this recipe is for you!

I've been in a smoothie making mood lately, and this recipe was born out of my inability to finish an entire smoothie in one sitting.  When I make a smoothie, I make enough for two servings -- sometimes Frog Prince enjoys his half, and other times, he'd rather have a cup of tea.

I poured half of the berry smoothie into our ice cream storage containers and set it in the freezer.  In a matter of 3-4 hours in the freezer, I had our own creamy version of frozen yogurt made without an ice cream maker!

Now, when I make a berry smoothie, I enjoy half right away and freeze the other half.  Then, I'll pop that frozen half in my lunch box and take it with me to my office and stick it in the fridge.  In time for a mid-morning snack the smoothie is now partially thawed and makes a great bowl of frozen yogurt I can enjoy in my office.  This really works well for me as it switches things up in my lunch and it's an easy way to increase the fruits I eat each day.

Berry Frozen Yogurt

1 recipe berry smoothie

Storage container

Freezer

Prepare the berry smoothie according to directions. 

 

Pour the smoothie into a freezer-proof storage container.  

Freeze for 3-4 hours.  

Before serving, remove from the freezer and allow the frozen yogurt to thaw a bit.  Alternatively, remove from the freezer and place in the fridge for 3-6 hours before serving.  

Enjoy your homemade frozen yogurt without using an ice cream maker!

Linked to: Tasty Tuesdays, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Copycat Carvel Ice Cream Cake

Seeing as yesterday we hit a record high of 103 degrees here in the land of the frozen tundra, today is the perfect day for an ice cream cake recipe.

I made this cake for Frog Prince's 30th birthday.  He requested a "Carvel Ice Cream Cake".  A what kind of cake?  Clearly this boy is not from around these parts.  In fact, the closest Carvel Ice Cream Store is 400+ miles from here.  But, when you grow up in Up-State NY, this is a birthday treat that Frog Prince wanted a taste of as he celebrated the big 3-0.

After figuring out that a Carvel Ice Cream Cake was made completely from ice cream {not like my other ice cream cake recipe that has a dark chocolate cake base}, and had a layer of chocolate crunchy goodness in the middle, I set to work to re-create a Carvel Ice Cream Cake {I had never seen or tasted!} for my boy.

Although it didn't look exactly like the cake he had as a kid, Frog Prince greatly enjoyed this birthday cake, as did those we shared it with!

Copycat Carvel Ice Cream Cake

1 recipe, dark chocolate ice cream*
1 recipe, hot fudge sauce
1 recipe, vanilla ice cream*
12 oreos or chocolate wafers
1 C whipping cream
1/4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Begin by preparing the chocolate ice cream.  Spread the soft ice cream just after making, into a chilled 9x9 glass baking dish.

Freeze this layer for ~2 hours.

Then, prepare the chocolate crunchy center. To do so, I recommend using chocolate wafers. Or, even chocolate Teddy Grahams or chocolate graham crackers. I used Oreos and scraped the filling out of most of the cookies. If you want a DQ-style Oreo blizzard cake, leave the Oreos whole.

Place the cookies into a food processor and pulse until coarsely-finely chopped.

Pour half of the hot fudge sauce {warmed slightly to make pouring easier} into the cookie mix.

Pulse 3-4 times until clumps of cookie and fudge form.

{Don't let anyone catch you sneaking a taste!}

Drop the crunchy mixture over the frozen dark chocolate layer.

As tempting as it may be, don't prepare the cookie mixture early. The longer the fudge sits together with the cookies before freezing, the softer the cookie filling becomes. And, as I was informed by Frog Prince, the center of the cake needs to have a little crunch to it.

So, work quickly to make the crunchies and then spread them out over the top of the ice cream.

Cover with softened vanilla ice cream.

Cover and freeze overnight.

Whip together a whipped cream frosting. Combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla together. Then, spread over the top of the vanilla layer.

Freeze until you are ready to eat.

Remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

As a side note - serve this cake in a bowl. We tried serving it both in bowls and on plates and preferred the bowl and spoon option! Easier to eat and get all the yummy dessert onto the spoon and into your mouth!

*Note: If you wish to use homemade ice cream, make it fresh right before making the cake.  This allows the soft-serve consistency ice cream to easily be spread into the pan.  If you use store-bought ice cream, allow the ice cream to soften at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before preparing the ice cream cake.  

Linked to: These Chicks Cooked, It's a Keeper, Full Plate Thursday, Strut Your Stuff, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Made by You Monday

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

This decadent chocolate ice cream made the perfect bottom layer for Frog Prince's 30th birthday cake.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream - Adapted from Cuisinart

1 C milk
1/4 C sugar
1 C dark chocolate chips
1 C whipping cream
1 C half and half
1 tsp. vanilla

Begin by warming the milk in a large saucepan.  Warm milk until small bubbles form around the outside.  Stir often during this process.  Then, set milk aside.

Using a food processor, pulse the sugar and dark chocolate together until chocolate is finely chopped.

Then, pour the mixture into the warmed milk.

Stir well.

Turn the burner on to low, and place the saucepan back on the heat source.  Stir constantly, to help the chocolate pieces finish up melting in the milk.

Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.

Then, pour the chocolate mixture into a large 4 C measuring cup, or a large bowl; preferably with a pour spout.

Allow the mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Add in the half and half, cream and vanilla.  Mix well.

Then, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.  Make according to manufacturers directions.

Remove from the mixer and transfer to freezer-proof containers.

Allow the ice cream to harden up for 1-3 hours; or serve right away at a soft serve consistency.

This is amazingly rich -- perfect for a 1/2 C serving and delightful with fresh raspberries.

Linked to: Mouthwatering Mondays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday (2), Totally Tasty Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday, Tasty Tuesday, Ingredient Spotlight

Hot Fudge

Seeing as ice cream season is just about upon us, I tried a new hot fudge topping recipe to drizzle over our homemade vanilla ice cream.

Oh, my!  What a delightful way to jazz up plain.old.vanilla.  Although I love vanilla ice cream {it is my favorite} this hot fudge sauce reminded me of the hot fudge sauce we had when I was a kid.  

Hot Fudge Sauce - Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 T butter

4 oz. dark chocolate chips

2/3 C water

4-5 T corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Begin by brining the water to a boil in a small saucepan.  

Meanwhile, melt the butter and chocolate chips together.  This can be done in the microwave, heating for 30-second intervals and stirring in between until melted.  You can also melt the chocolate butter mixture on the stove top.  

Once melted, make sure it's nice and smooth...then, carefully add it to the boiling water.  

Add in the corn syrup.  

Stir well, and then bring the small saucepan to a boil.  Reduce the heat a bit at this point to keep the mixture from boiling so hard that it boils over.  But, don't reduce it too far that you lose the boil.  Boil gently for 9 minutes, stirring frequently.  

After 9 minutes, the sauce should be thickening up nicely.  Remove from the heat at this point and cool for 10-15 minutes.  During this time, the fudge will solidify even more.  

Serve immediately atop ice cream.  Save the rest for later by transferring it to a cleaned canning jar.  Refrigerate.  

To re-heat, simply warm on the stove top or in the microwave until warm.  Then, drizzle over ice cream.  Enjoy!

Linked to: It's a Keeper, Recipe Swap, Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Mangia Monday

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

This ice cream is amazing.  

Really.  

It needs no introduction.  

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. 

Make it. Now. 

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream - Spirals and Spatulas

1 lb. strawberries, quartered, stems removed
3/4 C sugar
1 T lemon juice
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 C cream
1/2 C half and half
1/2 C milk

Place the strawberries into the blender.

Blend up the strawberries until pureed.

Then, add in the sugar and lemon juice. 

Pour in the half and half and cream into the blender.  

Blend!

Dice up the cream cheese.  

Add in the cream cheese cubes.  

Then, puree again, making sure that all the cream cheese cubes are well mixed into the strawberry mix.  You don't want any cream cheese chunks in the ice cream.

If you still have room in your blender, add in the remaining 1/2 C milk.  Stir to comine.  If not, pour in the mixture into a larger bowl or measuring cup to add the milk.  Then, pour the ice cream mixture into the frozen bowl of your ice cream maker.  

Let the ice cream mix for ~20 minutes.  

After about 20 minutes, the ice cream will be soft-serve consistency.  Serve at this point, if desired.  

Or, for a harder scoop ice cream, place the ice cream in freezer-safe containers.  

Freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.  

This ice cream is excellent plain... but even better with graham crackers.  

Just crumble 1/2 of a graham cracker over the top of a 1/2 C serving of strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

Serve up and enjoy!

Linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at The Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday. Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Ingredient Spotlight, Strawberries! Show us your life: Desserts