Ice Cream Trio

I've never been a person who gets sick often, but this week started out bad.  I felt a little crummy when I got up on Monday, you know, a scratchy throat and some body aches.  I went to work, mostly forgot about it and went to bed that night without giving it another thought.  About 1:00 in the morning, I woke up, throat in flames, could not swallow, definitely could not sleep.  I took some ibuprofen, switched on the TV, made myself some hot tea and a salt-water gargle (2 separate things!) and tried to make myself feel better.  The hot tea felt good on my throat.  I made another cup of tea.  And another.  And another.  Pretty soon, another thing that was keeping me from sleeping -- I had to pee every 10 minutes!  The next morning, I went to the doctor and found out I had strep throat.  Do adults even get strep throat?  Well, I did.  The doctor sent me home with some penicillin and told me to get some rest and stay out of work for at least 24 hours.  I crashed on the couch and willed myself to feel better.  Two days passed in misery.

Now, today I am no longer contagious, the antibiotics have kicked in, and all that's left is that minor scratchy feeling in my throat, mostly a memory.  I bet some ice cream would make it feel 100% better!

Please enjoy this delightful ice cream trio, adapted from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop. Tomorrow, it's getting plated up as a grown-up banana split...



Print this recipe!

Tin Roof Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop")

6 oz milk

3/4 c sugar

Pinch of salt

12 oz cream

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

4 egg yolks

¼ t vanilla extract

¾ c chocolate-covered peanuts

Fudge ripple

Warm the milk, sugar, salt and 4 oz of the cream in a medium saucepan. With a sharp paring knife, scrape the insides from the vanilla bean and add them, along with the pod, to the hot milk mixture. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Rewarm the vanilla-infused mixture. Pour the remaining 8 oz cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.  Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream to cool. Stir in the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator. Freeze the ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. While the ice cream is freezing, chop the peanuts into bite-sized pieces. Fold the peanut pieces into the frozen ice cream as you remove it from the machine, and layer it with Fudge Ripple. 

Chocolate-covered Peanuts: Melt 2 oz chocolate in a small bowl set over a pan of boiling water.  Stir the chocolate into ½ c peanuts, spread on a parchment-lined pan and chill.  Chop into small pieces when cool and hardened.

Fudge Ripple: Stir ¼ c sugar with ¼ c water, 1/6 c light corn syrup and 3 T cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Allow to boil for about 2 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in ½ t vanilla.  Cool, then chill completely before use.           

Coffee Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop")

12 oz milk

3/4 c sugar

1 1/2 c whole coffee beans

Pinch of salt

12 oz cream

5 egg yolks

1/4 t vanilla extract

1 t finely ground coffee

Heat the milk, sugar, coffee beans, salt, and 4 oz of the cream in a medium saucepan until warm, then cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.  Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set on ice over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.  Reheat the milk and coffee mixture until again hot (but not boiling!). In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to be sure that you don’t overcook your eggs. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over medium, stirring constantly, until nappe (or mixture coats the back of a spatula or wooden spoon).

Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible. Then discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla and finely ground coffee, and stir until cool.  Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Roasted Banana Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop")

3 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 packed c brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
12 oz milk

2 oz cream
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 t freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 t salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice the bananas into small pieces and toss them with the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter in 2 qt baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring just once during baking.

Scrape the bananas and syrup into a blender or food processor. Add the milk, cream, vanilla, lemon juice and salt, and puree until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker. 

This would be excellent with the chocolate-covered peanuts or rum-soaked raisins. 

Here's another angle on the banana split...