Chocolate Ice Milk

 

Chocolate Ice Milk

Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 329.

A few years ago, I made Milk Chocolate Ice Milk. This is Chocolate Ice Milk, much richer with a strong coffee flavor. After trying it, I think that the 2 tablespoons of espresso powder is too much, and I wonder if she may have meant "2 teaspoons".  Whatever, I recommend decreasing this amount unless you like the flavor.

The last time I ordered cocoa, I tried a new one - King Arthur Black Cocoa. It is very intense and indeed very black. 

Due to the strong flavor, I tried this with some vanilla ice cream and enjoyed it more. 

This is easier and faster to make than the Milk Chocolate Ice Milk, which involving cooking for 30 minutes. Still, it is a dessert to plan in advance due to the chilling period before and after freezing it in the ice-cream maker.

Makes 1.5 Quarts

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee powder *(I recommend halving this!)
1 quart (4 cups) cold milk

Place the sugar, cocoa, salt and espresso (or coffee powder) in a blender or food processor. 

Add 1 to 2 cups of the milk (reserving the remaining milk) and blend until the sugar and cocoa are dissolved. Then mix in the remaining milk.

Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Freeze in an ice-cream churn according to the manufacturer's directions. Cover and freeze for several hours before serving.

Plum Ice

Plum Ice 
Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg.  336.

2 lbs. (8 large) dark plums
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar (Note: I would use only 1/2 cup)
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Every year, a man from the family who owns the nursery where I work, brings us these delicious plums. Last year, I made a non-Maida recipe,  Plum Coffee Cake, which was very good. I wanted to do something different this time, and, turning to Maida's books, I found this recipe.

The recipe suggests using 'Black Diamond' or 'Santa Rosa' plums. I have no idea which variety these are.

A note on the sugar - it is way too much! I reduced it to about 3/4 and it was still very sweet. I would suggest 1/2 cup sugar, especially if the plums are very sweet.

This is easy to make. You will need an ice-cream maker. We have a little Krups one that is wonderful.

The recipe makes 1 1/2 quarts.

Halve and pit the plums and set aside.

• Stir the water and the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved. Add the salt and the plums. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10-20 minutes, until the plums are tender. Some of the skins may loosen and become detached. This is ok.

Puree the plums in two batches (including the skins)
 in a food processor until smooth.

Strain the mixture over a bowl.

Add the vanilla and lemon juice. 

Stir and chill in the freezer or refrigerator until very cold.

Freeze in an ice-cream churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a covered container in the freezer for at least several hours before serving.

Milk Chocolate Ice Milk

 

Milk Chocolate Ice Milk

Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 330.

 

So simple and so delicious. The hardest part of this recipe is having to stand and stir for thirty minutes. Only two ingredients - milk chocolate and milk. Maida Heatter says in the introduction that she made the recipe up and it is as good as ones made with heavy cream and eggs. She's right. It is very creamy and so good. You will need your ice cream maker for this. For years, I've been using a 1 quart Krups ice cream maker and I love it.

1 lb. milk chocolate (I used Hershey's)

3 cups milk

Cut the chocolate into small pieces and put it in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and reserve the remaining 2 1/2 cups. Stir until the chocolate has melted.

Gradually add the milk, whisking until it is smooth.

On medium heat, continue to cook the mixture, scraping and stirring frequently. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir occasionally until the mixture has cooled.

Place in a covered container in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.

After bringing it out of the refrigerator, whisk it to remove the heavy layer on top. Transfer to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Fantastic Vanilla Ice Cream

Fantastic Vanilla Ice Cream
(Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed., pg. 301).

Ice cream is one of my favorite things on earth and I always have some on hand, although most of the time it is store bought. That is absolutely okay but once you experience home-made ice cream, you realize that the two are indeed separate entities. I have made some of Maida's delicious ice creams in the past (Devil's Food Chocolate and Blueberry instantly come to mind) but so far this year, had not even taken the ice cream maker out of the freezer. That is, until this week. I opted for something simple and came across this recipe.

This is a delicious ice cream but it is very, very soft and begins to melt almost immediately after being removed from the freezer. It is very rich so a little bit goes a long way. I made the Grand Mariner Chocolate Sauce to go with this and of my lord, talk about divine. I will post that recipe later.

You will need a candy thermometer.  This recipe makes 1 1/2 pints.

2 cups heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Divide the heavy cream into two separate cups.

Place one cup of the cream in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Let it stand until it achieves a wrinkled appearance.

Beat the egg yolks for a few minutes until they are pale and thick.  Gradually add the sugar and beat for an additional two minutes.

Add a little of the cream mixture to the egg yolks to temper it and then add about half of the cream to the eggs, scraping the bowl as needed.

Now add the egg mixture to the remaining cream that was left in the double boiler and place it back on medium heat.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape and stir the mixture until it reaches 180 degrees. Be sure and scrape the bottom of the pan as well.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl.  Stir until slightly cooled and add the vanilla extract and the remaining one cup of heavy cream.

Chill for an hour before putting it in your ice cream maker. Follow the directions for your machine (mine takes about 20 minutes).

Glace au Chocolat

Glace' au Chocolat 

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 223.

Summer is here and what better way to celebrate it than with ice cream. Actually, any time is good for me when it comes to ice cream. I love it and remembered reading in one of Maida's books that it was her favorite dessert as well. 

This is a French ice cream which means that it is made with eggs. It is easy to make and does not require an ice cream freezer. There were several times during the making of this that I thought I had done something wrong but it turned out well. For one thing, she says that after bringing the mixture to a boil, it will become very thick. I didn't notice a thickness at all - in fact, mine was very thin, almost watery. I thought I had perhaps added too much water but after double-checking the recipe, it was correct. You will need to freeze the ice cream for at least 3 or 4 hours before it firms up but after it does, it is very hard and kind of difficult to remove from the pan. 

This is very rich and just a small portion will satisfy any serious chocolate lover. The type of chocolate you use is variable. I used semi-sweet just as it is listed in the recipe.

6 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar

I used semi-sweet chocolate, chopping it in very small pieces. 

Beat the heavy cream until it holds a shape. I find the whisk attachment is the best for whipping cream. I always chill the bowl and the whisk - it only takes a few minutes.

The egg yolks should be beaten for several minutes until they turn a soft yellow color. 

The sugar and water is boiled for 3 minutes without stirring and then the chocolate is added to the mixture. This is where she says that it turns thick. It didn't thicken for me - it was very thin.

The chocolate mixture is added to the egg yolks gradually and then the whipped cream is added in small increments by folding it in. 

Doesn't it look great?

She recommends freezing it in a loaf pan or ice-cube tray (I thought this was odd at first, then realized she was referring to the old-fashioned types that had the perforated inserts laid in them). Cover it with foil and freeze. I kept testing it and it does not begin to harden until at least 3 hours, more like 4 hours. The next morning is was rock hard and I even had difficulties removing it with a scoop. It is best to let it sit for a while and soften a bit, otherwise it tends to flake off in slivers when you are trying to scoop it out. This is very rich and decadent!

Yum

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 228.

Here is a dessert sure to make any chocoholic swoon. Silky and decadent, this frozen mousse is like a rich chocolate ice cream. It is really easy to make - all the folding required will give you a workout but it is worth it! The crust can be made with crushed wafer cookies or you could even buy a ready-made crust. If doing your own, the instructions say to apply the crumbs around the sides of the pan (use a springform pan) but I did not do this - I just made a bottom layer. You will have to run a sharp knife around the pan before releasing the catch on the pan.

The mousse is soft (even after freezing) and it will need to be put back in the freezer as soon as possible after serving. Maida Heatter recommends covering the mousse with either whipped cream, strawberries or chocolate leaves. I did not do either, it looks lovely without a topping.

Crust

8 oz. chocolate wafer cookies
3 oz. (3/4 stick) butter, melted

Chocolate Wafer cookies can be purchased or you can make your own (try this recipe) To make the crust: Butter the sides only of a 9 x 3 springform pan. Do not butter the bottom. Crush the cookies to a fine powder and combine with the melted butter. Pat about 2/3 of the cookie mixture around the sides of the pan. Place the remaining crumbs on the bottom of the pan and pat down firmly. Bake for 7 or 8 minutes, remove from the oven and cool.

Chocolate Mousse

1 TBS. dry instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cups sugar
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs, separated
3 cups whipping cream
Pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

In a 2-qt pan, dissolve the coffee in the boiling water.

Add 1/2 cup (reserve 3/4 cup) of the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add the chocolate (over low heat) and stir until smooth.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and stir until blended.

Whip the cream until it holds a shape but it not dry. (Chilling your bowl and beaters helps)
Set the whipping cream mixture aside for later.

In a separate bowl (or clean the one you just used), beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Add the salt and cream of tartar and beat until the egg whites hold a soft shape. Add the reserved sugar a little at a time on low speed.

Increase the speed and beat until the meringue is firm, but not stiff or dry. The meringue will be firm and glossy.

Pour a little of the chocolate into the egg whites and fold together. Do this in several additions. Leave some of the chocolate in the bowl.

Now fold the batter into the remaining chocolate.

Add the whipping cream mixture to the chocolate and fold in.

Pour the batter over the crust and smooth the top. Sit it in the freezer for an hour and then cover airtight with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight or up to 2 weeks.