ice cream Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Mango Curd Ice Cream

May 2, 2017 By Becky 34 Comments

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This mango curd ice cream is rich and refreshing at the same time, and perfect for taking advantage of peak mango season!

Have you spotted any champagne mangos (also known as ataulfo or honey) in stores recently? They’re my absolute favorite. They’re the smaller, golden-colored mangos, and I find their flavor sweeter and cleaner than their larger, red-skinned counterparts. (I didn’t take a picture of the whole mangos this time, but you can see what they look like in the photos for my stuffed avocados with shrimp and mango.) Their flesh is also less fibrous than other mangos, which makes them an ideal choice for whipping up a smooth curd that will eventually become mango curd ice cream.

Making mango curd is easy, and it’s a wonderful addition to my relatively large collection of fruit curds. I start by pureeing mango chunks to yield the golden nectar you see below (an immersion blender makes cleanup super quick). The mango puree goes into a saucepan with raw sugar, a few egg yolks, a couple spoonfuls of lime juice, a splash of vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Next, I whisk it over medium heat until it’s cooked and thickened a bit. Since the mango puree is so thick to begin with, the change isn’t as dramatic as with other curds, so I like to use a thermometer to keep track. When the temperature is between 150 and 155°F, it’s done. If you don’t have a thermometer, watch for plenty of steam rising from the edges of the pan, but don’t let it actually start to bubble.

No-Churn Cherry Ice Cream

July 16, 2016 By Becky 11 Comments

This no-churn cherry ice cream is simple, ridiculously easy, and so good! What more could you ask for from a summer dessert? With a dairy-free option that’s vegan and paleo with no added sugar, everyone can indulge.

How do you feel about the dog days of summer? I may be alone in this, but I like them. I find extreme heat kind of comforting. I like how the air is almost palpable when the temperatures get high, as if it’s a blanket wrapped around you providing a bit of pressure. I made it through two Houston summers with no AC in my car (I still miss that ’89 Buick!) and now I’m relishing my first full hot summer here in the Tennessee Valley.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t also like to indulge in frozen treats when it’s hot out. We’re still living in a very small house, so my beloved ice cream maker is in storage. That means I’ve been turning to my favorite no-churn frozen treats time and time again, and this no-churn cherry ice cream is the one I make the most.

It’s unbelievably simple, and it tastes so good. I actually first made and shared this several years ago, but it was buried in the archives with terrible photos, so I know many of you never got to see it.

I took some time off from this ice cream because I always loved it so much made with coconut milk, and about a year ago I discovered that I’m allergic to coconut. However, recently I’ve been making this ice cream with heavy cream, and while it’s much less paleo it is still delicious. It’s hard to do a true comparison since I can’t taste the two versions side by side, but I think the coconut milk version is even a little better. Go for that unless you’re coconut averse or allergic like me! As a bonus, that means the ice cream is vegan as long as you don’t add any honey.

Cherry Berry Ice Cream Loaf

July 3, 2016 By Becky 4 Comments

This show-stopping ice cream loaf is easy to put together with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and cherries and store-bought ice cream.

Happy Fourth of July! I realize I’m getting this dessert idea out to you at the very last possible minute, but this is so easy and elegant that I just had to share. Plus, it doesn’t have to be patriotic. You can swap in whatever fruits and whatever flavors your prefer and enjoy this ice cream loaf technique all summer long.

Here I used vanilla bean and lemon ice creams. The lemon ice cream is super refreshing, and plays really well with the fresh summer fruit. The blueberries, strawberries, and cherries were so beautiful that I couldn’t bring myself to cook them as I had originally planned, but using raw fruit makes this ice cream cake taste fresh and almost light, plus it cuts down on the prep time.

No-Churn Mocha Ice Cream

August 16, 2015 By Becky 6 Comments

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No-Churn Mocha Ice Cream (sweetened with maple syrup) | acalculatedwhisk.com

So, have you made Nigella Lawson’s no-churn coffee ice cream? It’s ridiculously easy and delicious, and when I discovered how simple it was to make really good ice cream with just a mixer, I was tempted to get rid of my ice cream machine!

To make the no-churn ice cream, you beat heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and flavorings until it’s nice and thick, then freeze the ice cream. That’s all there is to it! The only thing is that I’m not a big fan of cooking with sweetened condensed milk–there’s so much refined sugar in it, and I try to avoid that whenever I can.

So I decided to try making my own sweetened condensed milk using maple syrup, with some guidance from this recipe from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring. The homemade sweetened condensed milk takes a while to make, but your house will smell amazing. You do have to watch it pretty closely but don’t have to stir it constantly, so it’s a good time to do some cleaning or other tasks around the kitchen. I got a lot of dishes done while I was making it! (Anything that gets me to do more dishes is good, and pretty rare.)

The results are so much more delicious than canned sweetened condensed milk! The maple flavor adds a caramel note to the ice cream that goes perfectly with the chocolate and coffee. In addition to working beautifully in this ice cream, the maple-sweetened condensed milk is amazing in hot or iced coffee.

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

May 30, 2015 By Becky 24 Comments

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Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream | acalculatedwhisk.com @beckywink

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Last weekend I went to an amazing food photography and styling workshop in Plymouth, MA (more on that here), yesterday I took the comprehensive exams for my master’s program, and somewhere in there I turned 30.

I actually love birthdays (especially mine), and so far I am feeling good about being 30. Ben’s birthday is just a week and a half before mine, so we celebrated with a joint make-your-own ice cream sandwich party. It’s hard to imagine anything more fun than smooshing ice cream between cookies with your closest friends!

This ice cream was not present at the party because it hadn’t occurred to me yet–I was actually inspired to make this because of all the leftover buttermilk I had after making Ben’s birthday cake. (He always wants a gluten cake for his big day, and who am I to deny a birthday boy? It’s the only glutinous baking I do all year. I made him this chocolate cake and it was fabulous. The only change I made was using avocado oil instead of canola. The avocado oil is tasteless and worked great in the cake!)

For the party I made a classic vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker and Nigella Lawson’s no-churn coffee ice cream. If you don’t have an ice cream maker (or even if you do!) you HAVE to try this no-churn business. I was blown away by the awesome, creamy texture and how easy it was to make. (It is, however, less healthy than what I normally make due to copious amounts of sweetened condensed milk. Worth it for a special occasion, though!)

Matcha Avocado Ice Cream

April 20, 2015 By Becky 12 Comments

This matcha avocado ice cream is delicious, easy to make and full of healthy fat. It’s gluten free with a dairy free option!

I’m working with high school students this semester, and on Mondays we have great chats about our weekends. I always feel like a boring, lame adult because every time they’re like, “What did you do this weekend?” I’m like, “Oh, I did a lot of cooking, and only a little bit of cleaning.” Welcome to my life.

I was excited last Monday because I felt like it sounded a lot cooler to say I made ice cream. Cooler both literally and figuratively, I suppose.

Of course, they wanted to know what flavor, and I wish you could have seen the looks on their faces when they found out I put avocado in my ice cream. They didn’t know what matcha was, and that part kind of flew under the radar–everyone was really stuck on the avocado.

You know what, though? It’s not weird at all. I knew I wanted to make a matcha ice cream (because matcha in all the things feels like spring to me), and I decided to throw in an avocado because green tea and avocado are spring-green-colored soul sisters. The finished product doesn’t taste like avocado, but has an added richness and health boost thanks to that sneaky addition.

Mocha Pistachio Ice Cream (Dairy Free, Coconut Free)

July 9, 2014 By Becky 4 Comments

Sadly, it turns out that I’m allergic to coconut.

This is especially devastating because coconut is the miracle food source of the paleo world. Coconut milk, sugar, flour, oil, and butter are all delicious, and do an impressive job of standing in for their non-paleo counterparts.

I can’t help but wonder if my sudden increase in coconut intake during my January Whole30 was what caused my allergy to surface. But, no matter the cause, I won’t be partaking in any coconut anytime soon. Eating raw coconut makes me feel awful, and my doctor told me not to eat cooked coconut either unless I first sit through a challenge test in his office. The test would consist of me bringing in some food with cooked coconut in it, eating it one bite at a time, and seeing if I go into anaphylactic shock or anything. I told him no thanks for now.

Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream (Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-free)

September 17, 2013 By Becky 20 Comments

Did you know there was once a molasses flood in Boston? A five-story high molasses tank exploded on an unusually hot day in 1919 and surged through the North End, destroying a fire station and leaving a path of sticky destruction in its wake. Some say that when the weather is really warm, you can still smell the molasses on the city streets almost 100 years later.

I was fascinated by the molasses flood as a kid and did a report on it in elementary school. I think that was the last time I thought about molasses, though, because I almost never cook with it. But, while making a failed batch of pumpkin bread over the weekend, I ran out of honey and needed another sweetener. The molasses in the back of my cupboard seemed like just the thing, and it was (the pumpkin bread only failed because I asked Ben to watch it for me, and it ended up baking for almost three hours). Molasses has a spicy flavor that goes really well with pumpkin, and contributes to this ice cream’s rich orange color. I did a little research and there seems to be some debate as to whether molasses is truly paleo, but I’m sure that this ice cream would still be delicious if you added more honey instead, or even tried maple syrup.

Strawberry Ice Cream (Paleo, Vegan)

July 20, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Okay guys, so technically when you go paleo, you are supposed to be really hard core for 30 days. You are not just supposed to jump into making a million and one paleo desserts. You are not supposed to have any desserts at all for that first month. But, BUT…I just had to make one last dessert. It’s what I do. And it’s really good. You’ll understand when you taste it!

This ice cream is made with coconut milk and sweetened with honey (or maple syrup or agave for a vegan version). The strawberry syrup has a little balsamic vinegar in it, just to deepen the flavor. Don’t worry, you won’t taste it. You can hardly even taste the honey and coconut–this is mainly just strawberries and cream flavored. It’s fabulous, and there’s nothing bad or unnatural in it.

Ingredients (makes about a quart):

For the strawberry syrup:

2 cups fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon honey, agave, or maple syrup
3 tablespoons water
1 scant tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt

For the ice cream base:

1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
1/2 cup honey, agave, or maple syrup (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make the strawberry syrup, hull and halve the strawberries. Place them in a saucepan over medium heat with the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring often, until the strawberries have softened and are starting to break up (about 10 minutes). Cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor. Blend until smooth, and strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, pressing on the pulp to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard pulp and refrigerate syrup until cold.

To make the ice cream, whisk together all the ice cream base ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in the cold strawberry syrup, taste, and adjust the sweetness as desired. Refrigerate until chilled, and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Homemade Magic Shell

July 7, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Several weeks ago, I made mint chocolate chip ice cream. It’s Ben’s favorite flavor, and I really like it, too. It was late at night when it was ready to eat, so we had some, and the next day I asked Ben not to finish it while I was at work so I could get some pictures later.

Well, guess who conveniently forgot about what I said? It’s all worked out pretty well for him, though, because I just had to go ahead and make more mint chocolate chip ice cream.

It’s also working out pretty well for me, because I just got my hands on a copy of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home. It’s my kind of book! It has so many delicious and creative ice cream recipes, organized by season. And, it has lots of recipes for sauces, mix-ins, and sundaes. It even has a recipe for macaron ice creams sandwiches. I love it!

Jeni’s ice cream base has a few interesting ingredients (cream cheese and cornstarch, for example), but they result in an ice cream that stays creamy and scoopable day after day. You have to try this!

Ingredients (makes one quart; adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home):

For the ice cream:

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/ 4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Handful of fresh mint leaves, torn into pieces
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons green creme de menthe (optional)

For the chocolate chips and magic shell:

7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and two tablespoons of the milk to form a smooth paste.

In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese and salt until smooth.

Heat the cream, remaining milk, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, and boil for four minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually mix in the cornstarch paste. Return the mixture to a boil and cook for about a minute, stirring, until somewhat thickened.

Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese, whisking until smooth. Stir in the vanilla, creme de menthe if using, and mint leaves. (If you decide not to use the creme de menthe, your ice cream won’t be green. You can always add food coloring if you want.)

Refrigerate the mixture for at least four hours to chill and infuse the milk with minty flavor. When ready to freeze the ice cream, strain out the mint and freeze in your ice cream maker.

To make the chocolate chips and magic shell, heat the coconut oil and chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Cool to room temperature before layering with the ice cream.

When the ice cream is done, put a thin layer of chocolate in the bottom of an airtight container. Add a layer of ice cream, then drizzle on some chocolate. Keep layering until the ice cream is all packed up, using just about 2/3 of the chocolate.

Freeze the ice cream for at least four hours before serving.

Magic shell should be liquid at room temperature, but can be microwaved if necessary. To serve, spoon a little chocolate on top of your ice cream and watch the magic.

Magic shell will keep in the refrigerator for three weeks.

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Tipsy Coffee Ice Cream

May 28, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

I’m in love with my new ice cream maker! It’s so easy to use. I loved the strawberry ice cream I made the other day, and was ready to try again as soon as we finished eating it. Since the machine was a gift from my mom, I decided to ask her what flavor she wanted, and she said Kahlua. I convinced her that it would be even better with Jamaican rum cream, since that’s what I had. And I added a little hint of coffee to round out the flavors. You could probably make this with Kahlua, although it’s not creamy like rum cream and Bailey’s. Let me know if you try it!

Anyway, this ice cream was seriously delicious. My mom and I could not even wait for it to fully freeze before eating all of it (hence the melty pictures, sorry!). It’s different than the strawberry ice cream because it doesn’t have an egg custard base, but it was still very creamy. I didn’t miss the eggs at all (plus, I was out). It also means this ice cream is easier to make! Win-win-win.

P.S. I store my ice cream in recycled coffee cans. Not just my coffee ice cream, but it’s especially fitting here. They are a good size, and convenient with the snap-on lids.

Ingredients (adapted from this recipe on Annie’s Eats; makes about 3 cups or 6 servings):

1 cup 2% milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup whole coffee beans
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 cups heavy cream, divided
1/4 cup rum cream or Irish cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon finely ground coffee or espresso powder

Combine the milk, sugar, coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is hot and starting to bubble around the edges. Turn off the heat and let steep at room temperature for an hour or so.

Strain the coffee mixture into a bowl. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups of cream, the rum cream, vanilla, and coffee. Stir and chill in the refrigerator until completely cold. Freeze in an ice cream maker and enjoy!

Double Strawberry Ice Cream

May 26, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

You may have noticed I am on a bit of a strawberry kick recently (see no-bake strawberry swirl cheesecake bars, strawberry shortcakes with balsamic chocolate glaze, strawberry & cream margaritas, and strawberry curd). Well, the strawberry love continues. This is partly because I still have a jar of strawberry curd in my fridge, and am tempted to add it to just about anything. However, if you don’t feel like making strawberry curd (but really, why wouldn’t you? twenty minutes and your strawberries will last for weeks in the fridge in a delicious, spreadable form) you can still make this ice cream. Just omit the strawberry curd for single strawberry ice cream, or replace it with an equal amount of fresh strawberry puree.

This ice cream is rich and creamy thanks to the vanilla bean, strawberry curd, and custard base. You have to try it! It’s also a wonderfully pastel shade of pink, my favorite color.

Ingredients (makes 1 1/2 quarts, adapted from Martha Stewart):

8 egg yolks (save the whites for breakfast or meringues)
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 cups milk (I used 2%, but Martha calls for skim)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 vanilla bean
1 pound strawberries, hulled and finely chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup strawberry curd or fresh strawberry puree

In a saucepan (off the heat for now), combine the egg yolks, 2/3 cup of sugar, and salt. Gradually whisk in the milk. Scrape the seeds of half a vanilla bean into the mix, and throw the bean in, too.

Heat the mixture over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.

Prepare a bowl set oven an ice bath (a larger bowl filled with ice or ice water). Place a fine-meshed sieve on top. Pour the thickened custard through the sieve, discarding the vanilla bean. Stir in the cream and strawberry curd. Let the mixture chill, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is cold, I recommend you refrigerate it overnight to make sure it’s REALLY chilled.

Mix the chopped strawberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar and set aside.

When the custard mixture is completely chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker. A few minutes before the ice cream is ready, add in the strawberries.

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

You can also sandwich some of this between two honey vanilla cookies for the world’s best ice cream sandwich!

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