(#129) Baked Apples & Honey

Buttered apples baked in cinnamon and clove with a spoonful of honey. 

(#109) Mystery Cookie: I'll Never Tell.

Mystery Cookie -- it's a dirty little secret in ice cream form. 

Here's the scoop on #mysterycookie: It's six cookie varieties in ONE flavor. If you try Mystery Cookie at any future Scoopsies event(s) and guess all of the cookies correctly, you will be deemed "The Ultimate Cookie Monster" and win a gallon of Mystery Cookie and...a Golden Cookie. Your guesses must include brand and type of cookie and I can only tell you if your six guesses are correct as a whole. All are considered "cookies" on their packaging. 

Hint: There are two of the same type of cookies in Mystery Cookie, though they are different brands. 

You'll never guess unless you truly are a Cookie Monster. Happy guessing, you little piggies! 

(#100) 365 Days and 100 Flavors Later...FLAVOR #100!

One year and 100 scoopsies later, I have completed my goal of making 100 ice cream flavors in 365 days.  

I'm about to plop on my bed and take a week-long nap, but before I do, here is FLAVOR #100! I picked this flavor as my last because it seemed like a challenge. As it turns out, the process was approachable and really fun! It feels like every flavor that had an aspect that intimidated me at first turned out to be pretty simple (i.e. the candied ginger I made for (#66) Ginger Chocolate Chunk, the pie I made for (#98) Stroopwafel & Limburgse Vlaai, cutting up and roasting chestnuts for (#83) Chestnuts Roasting, and making mochi balls for (#35) Green Tea). So this flavor truly does sum up "100 Scoopsies." It reinforces the biggest lesson I have learned during this project--anything is doable! I've learned that through these flavors and the project as a whole!

Now, without further ado, here it is--#100. Fried Fried Dough Ice Cream: a cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar ice cream with pieces of homemade fried dough that is nestled in a fried shell. 

Pre-fried balls!

Now it's time to have a glass of wine and toast to an AMAZING YEAR! 

THANK YOU ALL FOR FOLLOWING ALONG ON THIS ADVENTURE! There's so much more delightfulness to come! 

(#94) CHOCOLATE CHIP CANNOLI: Holy Cannoli

I'm at flavor #94 (holy...cannoli...six left!) and I honestly mean it when I say: THIS IS MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE! More than "S'moresies" and Ginger Chocolate Chunk. 

However much I ignore it, I'm lactose intolerant and rarely eat more than a few bites of ice cream at a time. But I've been devouring this one and craving for it when I'm not near my freezer.  It makes me want to use ricotta in all of my flavors. Ah, so good! So good! Want a bite?

 

Scoopsies' Chocolate Chip Cannoli Ice Cream--bon appetit! 

(#89) SRIRACHA CHIP: The Srirachapocalypse Is Over!

A few months ago the Srirachapocalypse began when the Huy Fong factory was ordered to temporarily shut down. Production has since resumed and we can all continue to use and abuse sriracha like there's no tomorrow.  

This flavor, of course, is not for the faint of heart. My mom said it "tasted like pizza" and...she loved it. I, on the other hand, certainly could not eat an entire scoop.  

Would you try it?

Scoopsies' Sriracha Chip Ice Cream is made with: whole milk, heavy cream, sriracha, chili powder, egg yolks, sugar and dark chocolate

(#88) BLACK SESAME: The Color! The Taste!

A few people have requested Black Sesame Ice Cream and at #88--here it is!  I loved making this one!  Black sesame seeds are so cute (yes, cute!) and they smell soo good after you toast them. The flavor tasted a lot like peanut butter (as expected) and the color--who isn't intrigued by gray ice cream? 

Scoopsies' Black Sesame Ice Cream is made with: heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, black sesame seeds (toasted), and egg yolks

(#83) CHESTNUTS (ROASTING): A Post-Christmas Song

Better late than never, right? This flavor, along with Pumpkin Pie, wins the award for most labor-intensive. Roasting, preparing, and cutting chestnuts up is quite a process.  It was worth it because I've never even had a chestnut before! 

Scoopsies' Chestnut Ice Cream is made with: chestnuts:  roasted and shelled, heavy cream, whole milk, light brown sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, dark rum

(#79) VANILLA BEAN: Sweet Pods

The word "moist" usually makes me really uncomfortable.  But let me just say that there is nothing like a moist (cringe!) vanilla bean.  I used to not have the patience to make Vanilla Bean ice cream; cutting up the bean and making sure to get each bit of vanilla was so tedious.  But I have come to love this and now find it therapeutic.  I love taking my time with each vanilla bean, appreciating it in every way. Feeling how soft and moist (cringe!) it feels, admiring its layers and its sweet, delicate aroma. There is nothing like breathing in a bundle of vanilla beans. These pods are surely a gift from the universe. 

It's about time I made a Vanilla Bean flavor. I've experimented with the flavor for awhile and have finally found a recipe that is perfectly rich and creamy. 

Some tips for using vanilla beans:

1. Don't be stingy.  I use two and a half beans per quart of ice cream. Don't use a small amount of vanilla bean and try to compensate with vanilla extract.

2. Every bit is precious. When I get some on my fingers, I dip my fingers in the heated batter so the vanilla isn't wasted. I would also put the emptied pods in the batter, so any left over seeds come out. You can take the pods out after the mixture is done heating and scrape them again. They will be softer and the seeds will come out easily. Just be sure to put them back in the batter before you put it in the fridge to ripen. 

3. Bulk is the best. If you'll be using a lot of vanilla beans, buy them in bulk! They're so overpriced at the market (the cheapest I've seen is $2/bean).  I've recently started buying them in bundles of 30 from an online vendor--they're the same quality and more than half the price.  Be sure to buy Grade A beans, as they are moister (cringe!) than Grade B. 

Scoopsies' Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is made with: vanilla beans, whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract.

(#74) APRICOT BRANDY: 'Tis the Season to be Cordial

Apricot Brandy Ice Cream: fresh apricots and brandy with chunks of caramelized apricots.  

This flavor was suggested by my foodie friend in London and I love her for it! Although subtle, the brandy complements the fruity taste and gives the flavor a little kick at the end of each bite. 

Enjoy these photos and get ready for Chocolate Stout Ice Cream! 

Scoopsies' Apricot Brandy Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

6 fresh apricots, roasted 

*1/2 cup and 1 tbl light brown sugar 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 tbl brandy

5 egg yolks

Caramelized Apricots

4 fresh apricots

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/8 cup heavy cream

*Use the tablespoon of light brown sugar to sprinkle over the apricots before roasting! 

(#72) ROSEMARY CHÈVRE: Dew of the Sea

Rosemary Chèvre, refreshing and delicate--a real palate cleanser.  

Scoopsies' Rosemary Chèvre Ice Cream

4oz. goat cheese

3/4 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

.6 oz (about 1/4 cup) fresh rosemary 

4 egg yolks

(#71) SMORE: Please Sir, I Want S'moresies!

It has been a crazy few weeks between the holidays and Harvard Book Store's Holiday Warehouse Sale (Scoopsies had a booth and we premiered some unbelievable seasonal favorites)! But I'll be catching up on flavors like crazy this week (Apricot Brandy, Mulled Wine and Chocolate Stout are all coming up--notice a theme here?) 

As I approach 100 scoopsies, deciding on the flavors is getting harder. I want each flavor to be better than the last, and I want to continue to challenge myself. But I'm still finding room for those classics, like S'more--ahem--S'MORESIES!  It might seem like a simple flavor, but making it this late in the project was a wise decision. It is perfection! A pint in and I found myself asking "please sir, I want s'moresies!" This flavor makes my top 10 "scoopsies," standing beside Ginger Chocolate Chunk and our first flavor, Turkish Coffee. 

Scoopsies' Smoresies Ice Cream is made with: marshmallows, heavy cream, whole milk, egg yolks, graham cracker, bittersweet chocolate and sugar. 

(#70) BACON & WAFFLE: Breakfast Scoops

Anything can be turned into an ice cream flavor...our Bacon & Waffle flavor (#70!) is proof of this.  It works surprisingly well!  More novelty flavors coming soon.  As usual, send us your ideas! 

Scoopsies' Bacon Maple Waffle Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar

6 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup candied bacon pieces

maple-soaked waffles, cut into little bits

(#69) SWEET POTATO WITH TOASTED MARSHMALLOW: A Scoopsies Thanksgiving

And now, a flavor that has been on our master list since day one: Sweet Potato with Toasted Marshmallow!

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Scoopsies' Sweet Potato with Toasted Marshmallow 

(yields 1 quart)

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups milk

1 sweet potato

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp guar gum

5 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup marshmallows, toasted

Before puréeing the sweet potato, cook in a pan over medium heat with:
1 TBL maple syrup
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

(#68) DATE PECAN PIE: Date-worthy

I love asking my parents for their opinion of our flavors.  If I give my Mom a taste and she likes it, she'll go on about how impressed she is and then she'll send me an email about it later that night.  If she doesn't like it, she'll always find a kind way to break it to me: "it wasn't my favorite." My Dad almost always gives his "this is great!" in his over-enthusiastic Dad voice. But when I gave him a bite of this Date Pecan Pie ice cream, he paused for a minute, took another bite, and told me that this was his favorite flavor so far! My Dad approves of my Date (sorry, I had to!)

For the sweet pecans: Cook them in butter and maple syrup (try sprinkling some cinnamon on them, too!) and let them cool in the freezer before churning them with the ice cream.

Scoopsies' Date Pecan Pie
(yields 1 quart)

2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

10 medjool dates, pitted

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 egg yolks

Pecans, toasted

1 tbl butter 

2 tbl maple syrup

(#67) COQUITO: Puerto Rican Cocktail Turned Ice Cream

This cocktail-turned-ice-cream is the Puerto Rican version of eggnog.  It's super sweet and creamy with all of the essential Fall flavors.  Give or take a tablespoon of Bicardi depending on preference, but I think this is the perfect amount--a subtle kick that makes this flavor! 

Scoopsies' Coquito Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

1 tsp whole cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbl Bicardi (or another white rum)

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 egg yolks

(#66) GINGER CHOCOLATE CHUNK: FALLing In Love With Ginger

I've been using the season as an excuse to (over)use some of my favorite ingredients. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple, and the spice I have come to love with all of my heart: ginger. 

We've had many ginger-based successes--(#3) Lemon Ginger, (#42) Ginger, and most recently, (#62) Maple Ginger.  We could only justify making yet another ginger flavor if it had some kind of kick to it.  When I stumbled upon a food blog with a candied ginger ice cream flavor, I was inspired and jumped right on it. 

Candying is something I've been wanting to do for awhile now and for whatever reason, I was intimidated until recently. As it turns out, it's quite simple! David Lebovitz breaks it down very well. If you don't own an ice cream maker, you should still try candying ginger for something else.  Maybe dip the pieces in dark chocolate and give them out as holiday treats?  

This flavor is one of my absolute favorites. Chunks of chocolate, bits of candied ginger--seriously, a late-Autumn delight! 

Scoopsies' Ginger Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
(yields 1 quart)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup freshly grated ginger
5 egg yolks
(homemade!) candied ginger bits
2 oz. chopped bittersweet dark chocolate

(#64) HIBISCUS: Floral Inspiration

My latest source of ice cream inspiration is the herb, flower, and spice section at Cambridge Naturals in Porter Square. I'm usually there for an hour, looking at and opening each of the many jars that draw me in.  There I have found flowers and herbs that I never considered making ice cream with and even some that I have never heard of.  Sitting at your computer and researching ice cream flavors doesn't even compare to having the ingredients laid out in front of you. I still have a bag of juniper berries and dried sage, so more of these fun recipes are to come! In the meantime, here is our Hibiscus Ice Cream to hold you over!

     Above photo: Wikipedia

Scoopsies' Hibiscus Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup dried hibiscus
1/2 cup cane sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract

(#63) HEMP: More Vegan Deliciousness!

We haven't made enough vegan flavors! We're trying to make it more of a priority, especially because we've had only positive feedback for both our Coconut Almond Carob Chip and our new Hemp Ice Cream!  You can count on a few more vegan flavors in the very near future! 

For this recipe we used hulled hemp seeds (blended with agave nectar) and coconut milk and cream as a base.  It was a pleasantly surprising success! 

Scoopsies' Vegan Hemp Ice Cream

(yields 1 pint)

14oz. coconut cream

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/8 cup cane sugar

1/4 tsp guar gum
1 tsp vanilla extract

(#62) MAPLE GINGER: The Taste of Fall

I used to hate Autumn because it meant Winter was on its way.  The temperature starts to drop, everything starts to die, and it's dark by 5pm.  But the flavors of Fall make up for all of this (and the foliage isn't bad, either!)  While I'm usually deep into hibernation at this point in the year, I am now out and about, and able to enjoy all of the gifts that Autumn has to offer.  This is all thanks to ice cream, of course.  I'm in love with all of the possibilities for this season so much that I haven't even thought about Winter creeping up on us.  

Maple Ginger is the essence of Fall in an ice cream flavor and one of my absolute favorites to make (and eat!)

Recommended: throw in the ginger while you are reducing the maple syrup.  This will help blend and bring out both flavors.

Scoopsies' Maple Ginger Ice Cream

(yields about 1 quart)

1/2 cup grade B maple syrup (reduced to about 1/4 cup)

1 cup fresh ginger (grated)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups milk

5 egg yolks

1 tbl maple extract

(#61) PUMPKIN PIE: A Belated Halloween Treat

Most foods marketed as "pumpkin" flavor are really just a blend of the Fall spices (cinnamon, clove, ginger, etc) and don't even have a bit of pumpkin in them.  Made with fresh pumpkin purée, our Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream is the real deal.  

When we worked at Emack & Bolios a few years ago, Pumpkin was the most popular flavor come September.  We'd run out of a "party tub" of it in no time. The owner kept the recipe to himself, and would tell us "if you guess what spices I used, I will tell you if you're right."  My bet is we'd be able to guess each spice now, but we've come up with our own version of Pumpkin that we think could become a Scoopsies classic!

We made this flavor with our own pumpkin purée and you can really taste how fresh it is!  Just a tip: use fresh pumpkin purée and never canned pumpkin! Like vanilla extract to vanilla bean, you can't really compare the two.  They taste like completely different flavors and the canned pumpkin really compromises the flavor (and overall quality). 

It took me one hour and two knives (at the same time) to cut the pumpkin just in half, but it was worth it (and for the record, not once did I ask one of my strong roommates to help!) 

Pumpkin puree directions: are here!

Scoopsies' Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

1 1/2 cup fresh sugar pumpkin puree 

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

 1 tbl cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

2 tsp ginger

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract