Raspberry Ice Cream

I made raspberry ice cream based on this recipe yesterday, and I have thought of nothing else for the last 24 hours.  It literally took all my self-restraint to not eat the entire batch right out of the ice cream maker! 

The recipe calls for blackberries but my parents had an abundance of raspberries.  So raspberry it was!

Take 4 cups of fresh (or thawed) raspberries and wash them thoroughly.  Although, we're going to squish them through a strainer later so I'm sure that will catch any small bugs crawling around . . .

In a medium sauce pan put the raspberries over low-med heat and add 1/4 c of sugar and the juice of half a lemon.  Stir them around a little and let them cook with the lid on for about 20 minutes. 

Until they look like this!  The smell is incredible.  Right from the start you'll know that you're doing the right thing by making this ice cream.  Which is good, because you may need that confidence in the steps to come.

Push all the juice and pulp through a fine mesh strainer leaving behind all the seeds and larger chunks (and any bugs, I mean, lemon seeds you might have dropped in earlier)  This step alone probably took me about 10 minutes.  I found it best to push the pulp around, then lift the strainer and scrape along the bottom with my spoon to loosen all the thick syrup that was caught.  Trust me, it's worth the effort. 

Now set that aside, and then heat 1 1/2 cups of half and half, and a cup of sugar.  This only needs to be heated through so it shouldn't take long.

While that's heating separate 5 egg yolks into a bowl and whip them up until they are light yellow, and a little fluffy.  I was less than dexterous at separating my eggs which is why you see three egg yolks, and some egg yolk pudding in the bowl here.  But since they're all getting whipped up it doesn't really matter right?  Right?

Once the half and half mixture is warm, temper in the eggs by drizzling about a cup of half and half to the eggs while whisking constantly.  As you can tell this takes both hands leaving no hands to take pictures.  You'll just have to trust me that I did this. 

Once the eggs have been warmed up a little drizzle the eggs back into the pan while whisking. 

Keep this over low-med heat and keep stirring until it starts to get thick  I nearly panicked because mine wasn't getting thick at all, but then it seemed to happen all at once.  When it's thick enough to coat a spoon and leave a mark when you run your finger through it, it's ready.  (Relax!  The hard part is mostly done!)

Suddenly realize that your strainer is still full of raspberry pulp and scramble to clean it before your custard solidifies.  (Congratulate yourself!  The hard part is now all the way done!)

After your strainer is clean, pour 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream in a bowl, place the strainer on top, and strain your custard directly into the bowl.

Give it a stir until it's all combined and get ready for the fun part. 

Ready?

You don't look ready!

Pour in the raspberry syrup and sigh a contented sigh because now you remember that you're creating something wonderful.

See the pink?  See the wonderful?  See the reflection from the flash on my camera because my kitchen gets 0% natural light?

Cover this and put it in the fridge until it's chilled (about 2 hours)

Or put this bowl inside a bigger bowl filled with ice and stir it until it's chilled (about 10 minutes) 

Smile pleasantly at your new ice cream maker for a moment and think of what you went through to get it. 

Then put it to work.  It should have it's own instructions.  You don't need mine.  Do you?  Yeah, I didn't think so.

When the ice cream maker is done, open it and squeal in delight at your creation!  (this is a necessary step.  Don't ask me why, but the ice cream tastes better when it has your approval.)

Pull out the paddle and scrape the ice cream back into the bin, smooth it out, and cover it tightly.

While you're doing this glance over your shoulder to see Miyagi approving heartily of your creation.

Just looking at this picture makes me break out in a sweat.  I think I'm addicted.

There's still some left.  For now.

And check out the cute ice cream dishes my sweet little niece bought for us!  This is just another one of those things that mysteriously makes the ice cream taste even better.

Salted Caramel Brownies

I based this off a recipe on thepioneerwoman.com that was based on a recipe that was based off a bakery brownie . . . . you get the idea.

By the time I made all my substitutions I think I can safely say I've made it my own way.  I considered making brownies from scratch buuuuut I had a pack of brownie mix in my cupboard so I took the easy way out.

I mixed up the mix according to the box directions.  This takes about 45 seconds.  Then I spread it thinly in a well greased jelly roll pan.  This takes about 53 seconds.  Then I put it in the oven and checked them at 10 minutes (because they were so thin I didn't want them burned to a crisp)  So my total time for the brownies was about 12 minutes.  We'll say 15 to be on the safe side.  Can you see why I opted for the easy way out?

It's really better if the brownies are less chewy and more well done.  I am not good at this.  Mine turned into brownie globs instead of brownie bars.

Let the brownies sit and cool completely while we work on the real beast, the caramel sauce.  Once again, I started with the recipe from Pioneer Woman, but then I realized I didn't have enough sugar.  So I kind of fudged the recipe to be more like the caramel from my caramel corn.

This meant adding brown sugar to replace the white sugar.  Do you know what the difference is between white and brown sugar?  Anyone? 

Molasses. 

Brown sugar is just regular sugar with molasses added.  So brown sugar works just the same but with a little flavor added.  I mixed 2 cups brown sugar with 1/2 cup of water and let it come to a boil.
 

Then I replaced whole cream with evaporated milk.  Pretty close.  Not exact but it seems to work fine for my purposes.

When the sugar mixture had boiled for about 5 minutes I added 1/2 cup evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup of butter.  According to the original directions I should have been done by now.  But this looked really thin to me so I decided to use the method I do with caramel corn, and let it boil until it gets to the soft-ball stage.  What's that you say?  I'll show you!

Drop a small amount of the caramel into some cold water and see what happens.  See how it all spread out and basically dissolved into a caramel colored cloud?  That means it's not ready yet.  Keep boiling.

Keep boiling.

You'll be able to see the caramel getting thicker and the bubbles more solid.  Let's test it again with a clean cup of water.

Dribble a small amount in the water and . . . see how it all clumps together in small blobs?  Now you know that it will solidify somewhat when it cools instead of remaining completely runny.

Take the pan off the heat and add about 1tsp of vanilla to give it a little extra flavor.

Then I poured it over the cooled brownies.

Now this is the best part.  Sprinkle a generous amount of kosher salt over the caramel.  This gives it such an amazing flavor!

That little bit of salt will just put you over the edge.  Miyagi agreed that it was what made him keep going back for another bite.

Looking back I think I'd add a little salt to the caramel as well as sprinkling it on top.

I was planning to bring these to my work to share.  Miyagi and I don't need to eat them all at home by ourselves . . . right?  The more I think about it the less generous I'm feeling.

I think I know what we're having for dinner tonight.