Hot Pink Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

What a pleasure, the “Barbie” movie came out this summer turning our world into a sea of pink. I love the bright and splashy color, “pink,” and the vibrance which it has added to our universe. A little fantasy and imagination helps balance all the sobering news in our world. To celebrate the Barbie theme, I devised a shortbread ice cream cookie sandwich to share. And, it is delicious. Cherry-infused ice cream filling and bright pink icing make the cookies mighty tasty. I named them “Hot Pink Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches” to avoid any copyright infringment issues with the Mattel folks. It takes several steps to make this dessert, but it is worth it. The shortbread cookies with pink icing can stand alone, but why not add a cherry ice cream filling?

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Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Strawberries

“Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Strawberries” is just a whimsical, fun summer dessert. The little members of the family can help stir up the brownie batter and everyone will enjoy eating the dessert. The recipe combines a delicious chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and strawberries for the filling. The dessert is frozen and then cut into bars. Who can resist these brownie ice cream sandwiches? And surprise, the strawberries are the star of this recipe. This dessert needs plenty of freezing time (at least 4 hours), so allow adequate time to make the dessert. Let’s get started.

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Mile High Lemonade Ice Cream Pie

Here’s an absolutely luscious dessert for hot summer days, “Mile High Lemonade Ice Cream Pie.” The dessert is a spin-off on the venerable “Mile High Ice Cream Pie” made famous at the Carribean Room of the Pontchartrain Hotel, in New Orleans. My dessert features a graham cracker crust and a filling of vanilla ice cream mixed with lemonade concentrate. It is topped with a thick meringue which is broiled in the oven. The tart, citrus lemonade flavor and meringue topping complement each other perfectly. My taste tester friends and husband devoured this dessert. A meringue is a little tricky to make; but definately is worth the effort and that “touch” makes this dessert special. This may be my favorite recipe of the summer.

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Sage Ice Cream

What do you cook when a friend gives you a large bunch of fresh sage which she grew in her Louisiana garden? Why, let’s make “Sage Ice Cream.” The unexpected gift of fresh sage sent me scurrying for recipes since I wanted to use the sage while it was still fresh. Several years ago, we ate lunch at a trendy restaurant/bar in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. The dessert consisted of Sage Ice Cream and Pumpkin Empanadas. I have long since forgotten the name of the restaurant, but not the dessert. Both the ice cream and empanadas were unique and memorable. I recalled the delicious sage ice cream and decided to make my own. To accompany my ice cream, I quickly baked some tasty sugar cookies using Bisquick (since I am on a Bisquick “kick”). Enjoy!

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Simply Blueberry Lemon Gelato

I love to make homemade ice cream, especially in the summertime and so I have concocted up a new combination of flavors — blueberry and lemon — in this no-cook ice cream.. You just can’t beat the flavor and texture of homemade ice cream compared to commercial ones. And, dreaming up ice cream flavors is a great way for me to be creative. Plus, you can make much healthier versions. This silky, smooth blueberry-lemon gelato is a great way to end August.

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Aspen’s Lime Gelato with Agave

This week I made the best homemade ice cream that I have ever cooked. “Lime Gelato with Agave” is a cool, tart and soothing frozen ice cream. It is the perfect dessert for these hot summer days. Recently, I sampled a version of Lime Gelato at the Saturday Farmer’s Market on a trip to Aspen, Colorado. The lime flavor was intense and agave added an interesting sweetness. Although gelato frozen desserts are considered to be Italian in origin and really have no unique relationship to Colorado, the farmer’s market vendor was a family-owned Colorado purveyor, using local ingredients and recipes. After returning home from my Aspen trip, I decided to attempt to make my own Lime Gelato. And success!. It was delicious!

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Let’s Make Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Floats

What is this? These are an old-fashioned ice cream floats which I have named, “Green Swamp Floats.” We are getting to the end of summer — Labor Day is coming up. Let’s celebrate by making “Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Floats.” Sipping an ice cream float in the afternoon used to be a summertime treat when I was growing up. It satisfied one’s sweet tooth and quenched the thirst on those hot summer days. And an ice cream float was so, so easy to make — really just two ingredients — coke and ice cream. When company came for an extended visit, these were sure to be on the agenda. So let’s make a traditional ice cream float using Barq’s Root Beer and also some surprises.

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Moose Tracks-Inspired Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Swirl

I discovered a different brand of ice cream recently while visiting in Houston — Moose Tracks Ice Cream. With such a unique and novel name, it catches your attention. Of course, I had to try a scoop of Denali’s® “Extreme Maximum Fudge Moose Tracks” Ice Cream. The ice cream was pretty good. Being curious, I wanted to learn why I’ve been missing this brand of ice cream all these years. And I am making my own Moose Tracks-inspired version of their original flavor, “Vanilla Ice Cream with Fudge Swirl and Peanut Butter Cups.”

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Brown Sugar & Walnut Dairy-Free “Ice Cream” a.k.a. Frozen Dessert Delight

Summer and early autumn means that it is time for homemade ice cream. However, if you are lactose-intolerant, then eating lots of ice cream may result in an uncomfortable digestive reaction. Since we’ve started drinking almond milk at our house, I decided to see if I could make a dairy-free and lactose-free “ice cream” variation. I used almond milk, brown sugar and walnuts in the recipe and amaretto liqueur for flavor. To make a “smooth texture” I added xanathan gum. The recipe doesn’t contain eggs making this recipe good one for a vegan diet. For a finishing touch, I topped the frozen dessert with my “Fresh Cherry Topping” and some of the topping even got mixed in with the frozen dessert for a swirled effect. Well, surprise, it turned out to be quite delicious. Let’s enjoy this concoction.

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Cane Syrup Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

Do you ever purchase an ingredient, forget that it is somewhere on your pantry shelves and purchase it again? This is how I wound up with three bottles of Steen’s Cane Syrup. What can a person do with three bottles of molasses-flavored syrup? I made ice cream — a great summertime dessert. Yum. And I added candied pecans using pecans left over from last winter’s holiday baking. This is a low-fat ice cream; my recipe uses whole milk rather than heavy whipping cream. Lite and delicious. Continue reading