A Taste of Things to Come

In July of 2010 I discovered the awesome art of ice cream making while attending a cooking demonstration at Rosa Mexicano in downtown Los Angeles. A Cuisinart 2 quart ice cream maker was raffled off at the end of the demonstration. And I didn't win it. Total sadface.

But a few days later, still eager to make my own ice cream, I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought the same ice cream maker with one of those handy blue 20% off coupons that the Beyond sends to me every week...and then the adventure truly began!

Last year I made 17 ice creams. I'll let you know more about them in the future. This year I plan to make at least 52 ice creams. That's a lot of ice cream and it might hamper my other resolution to eat more healthy foods. This is a definite Catch 22. My secret plan is to give most of the ice creams I make to my friends so that I don't eat it all myself. Uh oh. I guess that's not a secret at anymore.

Anyway, I digress. The last ice cream I made in 2010 was a special Christmas themed ice cream: Peppermint Candy Cane Crunch.

The peppermint flavor was super strong. Perhaps because 3 tablespoons of peppermint extract might be too much, but what can I say, I love that tasty menthol flavor. Mouthwash ice cream anyone? Just kidding. The ice cream itself was originally a solid white color, but through the addition of crushed candy cane bits it took on a fancy red and white swirly hue. Okay, maybe it was just pink. See for yourself...

To your left is a picture of a scoop of Peppermint Candy Cane Crunch garnished with some semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips. It was mmm mmm good.

Another interesting fact about this particular ice cream is that it did not freeze hard. It never had to sit out a few minutes after being taken out of the freezer. Its scoopability was just superb. But then, so was its meltability. I'm not sure exactly why this happened. It may have been caused by the amount of alcohol from the hefty additions of peppermint extract as alcohol can easily lower the freezing point of ice cream (or anything you intend to freeze). On the opposite side of the freezability spectrum was my tart Thanksgiving themed Cranberry Sauce with White Chocolate Chips ice cream creation (which was one-third cranberry sauce)! It froze super hard and needed to sit out at least 15 minutes before being served.

So, you may be wondering, what's next? Well, ice cream #1 of 2011 will be another ice cream of the menthol variety. Stay tuned!