MAPLE PECAN ICE CREAM

I’ll never forget the first time I was in charge of desserts for a Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, it’s not like I’m a grandma and it was over 50 years ago, but like I’ve mentioned before, I didn't fully get into baking until after college. In 2013, my Thanksgiving was very low-key that year and only consisted of me, my mom, my sister and her now-husband for dinner; a small get together but we had a really fun time nevertheless. Even though I knew it was going to be just the four of us, I went completely over the top with planning the desserts since it was my first time and ended up serving 4 (!!!) dishes.

The 4 dishes - a deep dish apple pie with a side of spiced caramel, chocolate chip cookies, cranberry hand pies, and today’s recipe of maple pecan ice cream - were a lot of work. But I remember being so happy and excited to feed my family that day that I didn’t care if I was in way over my head. Every night of the week leading up to the big day, I prepped and worked on different components of the 4 dishes (while also helping my mom with the main meal) and despite being told that I didn’t need to put so much effort into it because it was only going to be “us”, I kept my head down and finished what I started. And everything honestly came out great, surprisingly! The high I felt from accomplishing something like that was 100% worth it all.

Every Thanksgiving since then, I’ve calmed down a bit on the quantity of desserts and have shifted my focus on making a couple of really, really good dishes. Besides returning year after year to the pumpkin cheesecake recipe I gave you earlier this week, I sometimes opt to re-make the maple pecan ice cream that I first tried in 2013.

Not that many people think to make homemade ice cream for Thanksgiving. Of course, this is because it’s just another thing that would need to be added to an already long to-do list and not everyone has the time. The norm for most people, and trust me, my family does this as well, is to buy a big ole tub of vanilla ice cream for anyone that may want a scoop with their slice of pie. And chances are, only about a 1/3 of the party will want some, whereas another 1/3 would prefer whipped cream, and the remaining would prefer nothing. But l wholeheartedly believe that this maple pecan ice cream will be requested by EVERYONE at the dinner table. Unless you have nut allergies, and if you do, I apologize because you are missing out!

First of all, the flavor alone is pretty unique and something that you wouldn’t be able to find in the freezer section of your local grocery store. There is of course the ever so popular “Butter Pecan” flavor that most people are familiar with, but this ice cream is definitely on a whole different level, largely due to the maple syrup aspect. The ice cream base is only sweetened by pure maple syrup (the good stuff, not Aunt Jemima’s) and in fact, the only “sugar sugar” found in this recipe belongs to the candied pecans that are folded in with the maple ice cream after it’s churned. And speaking of those candied pecans - that are simply cooked with butter and brown sugar - they add such an incredible flavor and crunch to the ice cream that it makes it unbelievably addicting. There’s a full cup of pecans in this recipe and that’s because I want you to get pecans with every bite.

This ice cream is custard based - the best ice creams are - and so this means that you’ll have to temper the eggs when making the base. But besides that little step, everything else is fairly simple! And what’s most important is that you can make this days (but no more than a week) before Thanksgiving and thus have more time to give to your turkey, stuffing, and other desserts.

I say give this maple pecan ice cream for Thanksgiving a try and you’ll see how your guests (or hosts) go completely insane over it. And for those who still take the whipped cream over the ice cream: they will never know what they’re missing.

Maple Pecan Ice Cream

Yields a little less than a quart

Recipe adapted from Closet Cooking

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw pecans, roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

• 2 tbsp. brown sugar, light or dark

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup (Grade A or B works)

• Pinch of salt

• 4 large egg yolks

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the chopped pecans and toss to coat with butter. Sprinkle in the brown sugar, and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the pecans are candied. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely.

2. Warm the milk, heavy cream, maple syrup, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Just as the milk mixture is beginning to simmer, gradually add some of it to the bowl of egg yolks, whisking constantly as to not scramble the eggs (this is called tempering). Once the egg yolk mixture temperature has raised, pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spatula or spoon.

3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl set over an ice bath for about an hour before moving to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

4. Churn the ice cream in your maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and mix in the candied pecans. Freeze until solid.

ROASTED STRAWBERRY + VANILLA ICE CREAM

With about a month left before summer is officially over, I am scrambling to make as many dishes utilizing what the season has to offer. Even though I'm much more of an autumn and winter fan, summer produce yields my favorite fruits to eat: watermelon, stone fruit, and berries. Although living in California allows me to eat some of these fruits year round, nothing compares to when these fruits are at their peak of ripeness.

The recipe I am giving you today was not what I had planned exactly. I was testing a roasted bourbon-peach sherbet and after a few trials, I ended up axing the recipe altogether. Alex gave his seal of approval, but from the process to the finished product, I came across a bunch of problems and in the end, I couldn't stand behind the recipe nor could I share it with you. Maybe I'll try it again next summer when I haven't reached my limit of purchasing peaches yet.

With that said, I want to be clear that today's ice cream recipe is no consolation prize, and in fact, I'm looking at the peach sherbet failure as a blessing in disguise. I realized that I hadn't shared my go-to vanilla ice cream recipe yet and instead of just giving you the recipe for that straight-up, I wanted to add something to it highlighting a summer ingredient. Enter: roasted strawberries.

Let me preface this by saying that growing up I never EVER cared for ice creams that didn't have some kind of chocolate element to them. Chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, cookies 'n cream... these were all my favorites. Flavors like pistachio, strawberry, cherry, or butter pecan, were all a no-go for me. Fortunately, I've outgrown my narrow-mindedness in the ice cream department, and can earnestly say that this roasted strawberry and vanilla ice cream is in my top 5 favorite flavors. Roasting the strawberries in honey and a bit of balsamic vinegar gives it such a unique flavor that isn't overpowering to the vanilla, and leaves you with a complete fresh taste. It's truly incredible.

I divided up the recipe so that if you 0nly want to make the vanilla ice cream, and trust me, you'll want to, the directions and ingredients are there for you. I've made this vanilla ice cream countless times and it's so creamy and refreshing that I will probably never bother trying to find another recipe. As for the roasted strawberries, there's one tip that I want to give: the larger you leave the roasted strawberries when cutting them before adding to the ice cream base, the bigger chance of them becoming icy when in placed in the freezer. As you can see in the pictures, I chose to leave the strawberries larger because I think it looks beautiful, and I personally wasn't phased by the texture of the berries. If you think that will bother you, simply puree the berries in a blender. 

Roasted Strawberry and Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients for Roasted Strawberries

• 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half or quarters depending on size

• 3 tbsp. honey

• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Ingredients for Vanilla Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz)

• 1 cup whole milk

• 2 cups heavy cream, divided

• 3/4 cup sugar

• Pinch of salt

• 6 large egg yolks

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Additional Ingredient

• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions

Make the strawberries: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium size bowl, mix the strawberries, honey, and balsamic vinegar and transfer to the baking sheet, making sure to scrape out everything from the bowl.

3. Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, stirring the strawberries once halfway through. The berries will appear well-cooked, a bit browned, and the juices will be bubbling.

4. Allow the berries to cool for about 15 minutes on the baking sheet. Using a knife or kitchen scissors, roughly cut up the berries so there will be bigger chunks in the ice cream. You can also use a muddler if you want a more less chunky mixture. Transfer to a bowl, making sure to get all the juices from the parchment paper and chill completely until ready for the ice cream.

Make the vanilla ice cream / strawberry vanilla ice cream

1. In a large bowl, add 1 cup of the heavy cream and set a strainer over the top (use a bowl that will be able to fit over an ice bath for later).

2. Warm the milk, 1 cup of heavy cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Just as the milk mixture is beginning to simmer, gradually add some of it to the bowl of egg yolks, whisking constantly as to not scramble the eggs (this is called tempering). Once the egg yolk mixture temperature has raised, pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spatula or spoon.

3. Pour the custard mixture over the strainer-lined bowl. Stir the custard in with the heavy cream that is already in the bowl and add in the vanilla extract. Let the ice cream base sit over an ice bath for about an hour before moving to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

4. When ready to churn, mix the roasted strawberry mixture with the custard ice cream base. Add the lemon juice. Churn the ice cream in your maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

5. Transfer the finished ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until solid. Enjoy!

COFFEE TOFFEE ICE CREAM

If I haven't made it abundantly clear yet, ice cream (and sorbet, and gelato...) is my favorite thing to make in the kitchen when it comes to sweets. The Vivid Kitchen has been live for about four months now, and out of the 20 or so posts I've written so far, this marks my fourth recipe dedicated to the frozen treat. Personally, I believe making ice cream is the most rewarding dessert: from making the custard (if the recipe calls for it) to the hours you have to wait for it to chill, to watching it churn in your ice cream maker... makes the finished product that much better. 

On my Instagram account the other week, I asked my followers to partake in an Insta Story poll on which ice cream flavor they wanted me to make for the blog next. The options were either Mint Chocolate Chip or Coffee Toffee, with the former being a flavor I have made numerous times, while the latter I had not tried until this post. The poll results were very close, but Coffee Toffee just barely edged out Mint Chip. I was actually pretty satisfied with the results because I wanted to try something new, and I gotta say, I am thrilled with the outcome of today's recipe. 

This ice cream recipe is custard-based so there will be the added element of tempering your eggs on the stove top while trying not to make scrambled eggs (yuck), as well as one more step that involves using actual whole coffee beans. At one point in the directions, you will be "steeping" coffee beans in the milk mixture for about an hour, almost as if you were making sun tea with teabags. It's an vital process in ensuring that the coffee flavor will be very pronounced. 

When the custard is made and ready to chill before being transferred to your ice cream maker, the whole coffee beans actually will be taken out and discarded (according to the recipe from David Lebovitz, of course). But, instead of throwing away all of those coffee beans, I let them dry out for a couple of hours before blending them up in my Magic Bullet, or blender, and adding them to the churned ice cream. Not only did this step give the ice cream even more coffee flavor, but I think it made the ice cream look more appealing with its tiny specks of coffee throughout. This is an optional step, but I think it was well worth it.

Now, let's not forget the second part of the ice cream flavor we are featuring today: the toffee! When I thought of this cute rhyming ice cream flavor, I thought I was the only genius who had thought of this flavor combo, but alas, I was not (hello Ben & Jerry's). Regardless, the crunchy chocolate-covered toffee bits mixed in with the coffee base takes this ice cream to a whole different level of deliciousness. You can either use Heath or Skor bars (both available in your local grocery store).

Lastly, I don't know if any of you have been to Trader Joe's lately, but they recently started selling ice cream waffles cones! I've been wanting grocery stores to start selling them for years, but I've only ever been able to find the cheap-y (but still delicious) sugar cones. So now that my beloved Trader Joe's sells them, I couldn't be happier. The cones taste AMAZING and actually make the ice cream taste better, believe it or not. Please, go buy a couple of boxes now!

Side note: If caffeine for dessert aka before bedtime isn't your thing, you can absolutely buy a container of decaffeinated coffee beans instead. If you don't think you'll get use of the leftover decaffeinated beans, I would suggest buying exactly the amount the recipe calls for by getting the beans from the "bulk" section at your grocery store. 

Coffee Toffee Ice Cream

Yields about 1 quart of ice cream

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 1/2 cup whole coffee beans, preferably dark-roasted

• Pinch of salt

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

• 5 large egg yolks

• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp. finely ground coffee OR espresso powder (I used the latter, since I always have this on hand for when I bake brownies)

• 8 oz. chocolate-covered toffee, chopped (Heath or Skor bars work perfectly)

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Once warmed up, turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let it sit at room temperature for an hour.

2. Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream into a large bowl and set a strainer over the top (use a bowl that will be able to fit over an ice bath for later).

3. After an hour, rewarm the mixture on the stove on medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Just as the coffee/milk mixture is beginning to simmer, gradually add some of it to the bowl of egg yolks, whisking constantly as to not scramble the eggs (this is called tempering). Once the egg yolk mixture temperature has raised, pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spatula or spoon.

4. Pour the custard mixture over the strainer to separate the whole coffee beans. Press down on the beans to make sure you get all the liquid. Stir the custard in with the heavy cream that is already in the bowl. Add in the vanilla extract and ground coffee/instant espresso. Let the ice cream base sit over an ice bath for about an hour before moving to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

5. Reserve about a 1/4 cup of the whole coffee beans that were left behind in the strainer and allow them to dry out on paper towels while the ice cream is chilling. Add them to a blender, and pulse until fine. Set aside.

6. Churn the ice cream in your maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. A couple of minutes before stopping the machine, sprinkle in 1-2 tablespoons of the finely ground coffee beans.

7. Transfer the finished ice cream into a bowl and stir in toffee bits. Freeze in an airtight container and enjoy, preferably in the Trader Joe's waffle cones!