Sunday, March 11, 2012

Week 29: Basil Gelato

We'll it doesn't taste like pesto if anyone is wondering. It has a great earthy flavor. Basil has a licorice taste to it and I hate licorice, but I like this. Perhaps because its sweet and not too strong (we'll see what its like tomorrow when the basil flavor has had a chance to develop.

I may not have chopped up the basil fine enough to take out the texture. In looking back at the picture in the book she had more flecks of basil and not really pieces of it as in mine. Its interesting to take a normally savory flavor and turn it into a sweet treat. its a big gamble that can only be done with certain flavors. This works well as a sweet flavor possibly because basil is a sweet herb to begin with.

I made Bolognese sauce today and it complimented it nicely. It makes a nice pairing with any Italian food I think. Even Thai or Indian food might benefit from a sweet basil dessert. The creaminess will definitely balance out any spiciness in the dish.

It was a simple base to make and might be nice to try with other herbs. I've had lavender ice cream before which was really neat.

Its a fancy, sophisticated treat that is impressive to have people try. Lets hope some folks are ambitions enough to try it tomorrow.

Week 28: Cocoa Sorbet

So I had better hopes for this one. The recipe was so simple I thought what could go wrong. Well it turned out more like fudge than sorbet. 3 ingredients, cocoa powder, sugar syrup and vanilla extract. I used agave syrup and a bit of water to thin it out. I'm not sure if that created the problem or if the thickness of the mixture was the issue. Maybe if it had more liquid, i.e. water in it, it would have gotten frozen like sorbet should instead of being still soft and fudge like. Don't get me wrong it was still good. And it was good on top of the white chocolate ice cream. But it wasn't sorbet.

I will keep it in mind when I want a good fudge or chocolate sauce recipe.

Been A Long Time

In the haze of preparing for our wedding, I've let my blogging slip.Slip isnt the word, more like drop from my life entirely. If it had a bigger following I might feel bad about it. But since I do this mostly for myself I have to just go with the flow. I set a goal that i wanted to make 52 ice creams and I'm going to do it. It just might take me a little longer or I may have to do double time to catch up. But it will get done. I did make ice cream during the hiatus. Lets see...

I made white chocolate ice cream which I was going to have for a baby shower at work but them decided on making three different ice cream cakes instead (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry). I made the cookie crust and used store bought ice cream like in this post. They were heart shaped and adorable and I wish I had gotten a picture.

I made some more Guinness ice cream that didn't come out so well, so Rob took a stab at and for his first time making ice cream he did amazing. Its not the easiest to make on your first try but it tasted amazing, It was nice of him to make an ice cream for me and I think he has a greater appreciation for this endeavor than he had before. He admitted it was hard work and didn't really want to make it again. I think the Guinness was what attracted him. Some beer for the ice cream more beer for him (haha!). I'll be making another attempt at Guinness ice cream for St. Patrick's Day. That is one ice cream where you have to stick to the recipe and not fiddle with it which is where I got in trouble.

A few weeks ago I made Cocoa Sorbet which I will blog about next.

 And today I made Basil Gelato will be the next post after that.

If I missed any mentions of ice creams made in the past few months I'll throw them in intermittently.

Pheww, I feel better for writing this out. I have to keep the momentum going and keep going. I've done alot of wedding planning and that is tapering down now so I should be able to get back to it regularly.


P.S. I have a board on Pinterest dedicated to ice cream related things. Check it out!
Feel free to send me things you think I should pin there.

I cant wait to make this pinned lovely from How to: Simplify...I'll need a decadent occasion for this one.

Chocolate Doughnut, Nutella, and Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches
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