Lazy Sunday

Sundays are the perfect lazy days. It's the end of the long week, the best time to kick back and relax in some comfy pajamas while watching sports (go Flyers!).

Today is the epitome of my usual lazy Sundays, and I had a craving for something sweet, but didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I'm also feeling a little sleepy today, so I thought a nice, rich coffee ice cream might be the kick start I need. Luckily, I found a no-cook recipe that caters to both my caffeine craving and my slothful Sunday ways, and added a surprise at the end to liven it up.

No-Cook Coffee Ice Cream (adapted from this Food Network recipe)

So pretty! Coffee granules floating in half-and-half

This is the best vanilla extract, in my opinion. If you try it,
  I don't think you'll go back to the typical grocery store stuff.

Note: I've cut the recipe in half. I like to try new ice cream recipes, so I don't want to make too much of any one thing—when I run out quickly, it's just an excuse to make something new!

• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee crystals
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a small bowl combine the half and half, coffee crystals, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the heavy cream. 

 Not going to lie—I definitely taste-tested at this point.

Prepare according to ice cream mixer instructions. Freeze for at least two hours afterwards.

 The final product, perched atop a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

The lighter side of raspberry

With half a bag of leftover frozen raspberries and the knowledge that I'd probably gained seventeen pounds from their first application, I thought it might be nice to cut out the dairy and eggs and try out a sorbet. I recently had an awesome raspberry lemonade while out at lunch recently, and I had a few lemons on hand, so I came up with:

Raspberry-lemon sorbet

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the 1/2 cup of water, stirring occasionally, over medium heat.

Add the frozen raspberries and cook until they begin to break down, about six minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice. Run the mixture through a strainer to remove the raspberry seeds.

Chill the mixture for at least two hours, then follow instructions on ice cream maker (for me, this meant assembling the freeze bowl, then slowly pouring the chilled mixture into the bowl while it is mixing.

Finally, chill in the freezer until sorbet is firm. 

Overnight works best.

Final product: smooth, tart, and refreshing.

This turned out to be a great recipe, for which I guessed the measurements based on my taste preferences. All I knew about sorbet is that it's best to start with simple syrup, and a one-to-one ratio of sugar and water sweetened the sorbet just enough. I like very tart fruit flavors, though, so if you want something sweeter I recommend increasing the sugar. This recipe is reminiscent of the raspberry lemonade that inspired it.

First attempt: white chocolate raspberry ice cream

I can say with no degree of uncertainty that I am not a stranger to ice cream. I vehemently argue whenever someone says that it's only a summer food, or even a dessert, since I have no qualms about having ice cream for breakfast in the dead of winter. But I will say that I am completely unaware of its preparation, since I usually lovingly grasp it from its frosty shelf after spending countless minutes deciding on which new Ben & Jerry's flavor sounds the most appetizing. I've decided recently, though, that every dessert is better homemade—from chocolate chip cookies to the icing on a cake, I refuse to make anything out of a box, so why should my frozen favorite be any different?

White chocolate raspberry ice cream

 For my first attempt, I educated myself by perusing various recipes online to see what basic ingredients and ratios most people use when making ice cream. I decided to find a recipe for a base, and then add my own twist of ingredients for flavor. Allrecipes.com provided a helpful starting place with the following recipe:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1-1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

(This was originally doubled, but for a first attempt, I thought it might be better to keep things small-scale).

Not exactly appetizing, yet.

1. Pour the heavy cream and half-and-half cream into a heavy saucepan, place over medium-low heat, and heat until barely simmering, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to low.
2. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.  
3. Slowly pour about 1/4 cup of hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat three times more, whisking thoroughly before adding each additional 1/4 cup of hot cream to the egg yolk mixture. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot cream, and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and will coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let mixture boil.
4. Pour the ice cream base into a bowl and allow to cool for about 20 minutes; place in refrigerator and chill overnight. 
   Before chilling overnight, though, I added my own twist:

I had to restrain myself from just eating them frozen.

 

• 1-1/2 cups frozen raspberries
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Cook down the raspberries in a saucepan over medium heat until hot and liquefied. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain out the seeds over a bowl until just juice and pulp are left. Return the remaining raspberry juice to the saucepan, add the white chocolate, and cook, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted. 
2. Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm, then stir into the slightly chilled ice cream base. Return to the refrigerator and chill overnight.
3. The next day, freeze mixture according to instructions on ice cream maker. I used the freeze bowl attachment for a KitchenAid mixer.
   
   

 

Oops, made a mistake here. I apparently didn't read the directions, and poured the mixture into the bowl before making sure everything was working properly. The dasher got stuck in the prematurely freezing cream mixture and wouldn't mix, so I had to force it manually around the bowl a few times. Lesson learned!

And here's that final product picture again:

Not bad for my first attempt. I was afraid that the raspberry flavor wouldn't come through since I was working with mostly juice (from frozen raspberries, even), but the tartness floated on top of the creamy texture, offering just the right amount of tang balanced out by the mellow white chocolate. The texture was positively dreamy—thick, yet smooth. 

Look out, unseasonably warm temperatures...