#7 Red Velvet Valentine Cheesecake

Wouldn't Valentine's Day be wonderful if you could enjoy it with a delicious helping of Cheesecake Ice Cream and Red Velvet Cake (COMBINED)? OH YEAH.

I used this recipe as a guide while making the ice cream this week, but I only used 9 egg yolks instead of 10 and then 16 ounces of cream cheese instead of 15 ounces, so it would be extra CHEESY, which is perfect for Valentine's Day because it's one of the cheesiest holidays of all!

You have to be careful when pouring scalded milk/cream into the egg/sugar mixture as the hot liquid can cook the eggs if it is poured in too quickly, so you must whisk and pour and whisk and pour until it's all mixed together. Then you have the beginnings of a custard base, which must be heated to thicken.

Making the custard base was a little nerve-racking as my eggs began to curdle from overheating BUT there is a solution in case this ever happens to you. The solution is: IMMERSION BLENDER! It will decurd those curdles and return them to a custard state of mind, err, being. Next I took the mixture off the heat and put the bowl into an ice bath to rapidly cool it down. I added about a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 4 drops of lemon juice to give the ice cream a little extra flavor, and then I blended in the softened cream cheese. And of course, because it's Valentine's Day, I added some red food coloring.

Tasha, the supreme baker of cupcakes which are also commonly known as Tashcakes, graciously provided the delicious red velvet cake for the mix-in. Thanks, Tasha! You can read about her foodie adventures over at The Nom Nom Blog.

The final product is beautiful and tasty, just like a Valentine's Day treat should be. It's super creamy and basically tastes like a very rich frozen cheesecake! The red velvet cake mix-in transforms it into a full and hearty ice cream.

Oops... made too much of a good thing!


So, what have we learned? Cheesecake Ice Cream + Red Velvet Cake = <3