Root Beer Float Ice Cream

Did you ever, while looking for vanilla extract at the grocery store, see the Root Beer Concentrate and wonder what it's for?

Is it for making your own soda? Are you supposed to cook with it? If yes, what? And then I was at my favorite local ice cream shop and they had Root Beer Float ice cream as a special flavor last night and it is my new favorite thing. And so naturally, I had to figure out how to make it myself.

And then I was impatient. This is a custardless ice cream, cream, sugar, and extracts. No eggs, no cooking. Mix up the ingredients and pour in the ice cream maker. Easy peasy. Custard ice creams are usually creamier, smoother, than egg-less ice cream. Fresh out of the ice cream maker, of course it always feels creamy; this one, without the eggs, gets some ice crystal throughout it in the freezer after a day, which makes it feel even more like the foam on a real root beer float.

This ice cream tastes like summer. It tastes like the foam on a root beer float, or when you've mashed all your ice cream into your root beer. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that.) It tastes like something you eat on the way home from the beach. You can almost feel the salt drying on your skin eating it.

You know you want to try this.

Root Beer Float Ice Cream

yields 1 quart

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk*

3/4 c sugar

1 tablepsoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon root beer concentrate

Pour all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk. Taste and add more flavor if needed. Freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.

* You can use one quart of half and half instead of the milk and heavy cream

Watermelon Mint Sorbet

Have you ever been sitting there eating watermelon and thought to yourself, "This watermelon is tasty and delicious and really refreshing but I wonder if there's any possible way I could make it more refreshing?"

No? That's just me then? Well, I figured it out. You add mint and turn it into sorbet. It's amazing. It's the perfect treat for a hot day. I bet you didn't realize you wanted to eat this until just now, but now you know! It refreezes to coming out as a similar consistency to watermelon, but it's super cold and has a refreshing hint of mint. You should make this for your next cookout. You should make this just to have in your freezer to eat when it's hot and gross out.

Watermelon Mint Sorbet

1 small seedless watermelon

1 c sugar

1 c water

2 mint teabags* (make sure they are just pure mint)

Dash of lime juice

1/4 c vodka **

Bring water and sugar to a boil and cook until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add mint tea bags. Let sit out until room temperature, then refrigerate until cold.

Cut watermelon and scoop innards into blender. Add a dash of lime juice. Blend until liquid, this is fast, but you might have to push the watermelon back down towards the blades. It took me two blenders-full to turn the watermelon into juice. Combine watermelon juice and simple syrup.

Pour in ice cream maker. When the ice cream maker has finished doing it's thing, move sorbet into Tupperware and stir in vodka. Freeze in freezer for a few hours.

*There is no reason whatsoever not to use fresh mint if you have it. I don't have an herb garden and the grocery store was out of fresh mint when I went looking for it so I used mint tea instead

**Booze helps keep your sorbet from turning into ice in the freezer. I spent a couple of days trying to decide if I was going to use rum, tequila, or vodka, and settled on vodka for two reasons. One, it adds little in the way of flavor. Two, I couldn't find tequila in my liquor cabinet, and the only rum I could find was coconut. So, I went with vodka. I encourage experimentation and ask you to let me know how yours turns out if you try something else.

Grasshopper Pie

Today is pie day, and so Bess and I decided we needed to put up a post about pie. Grasshopper pie is the pie that, to me, tastes like childhood birthday parties. We didn't really cook with booze generally, except for this pie. I don't know at what point it was that I learned that it was actually based on a cocktail. Chocolate. Mint. Whipped cream, marshmallows, Oreos. What could be better? And you don't even need to do a pie crust. (I tend to avoid pie crusts whenever possible. I have been known to throw fits involving throwing pot holders across the room due to burnt pie crusts.)

I tend to decorate the top with Oreos. My sister has done the top with Andes mints.

Ingredients
For the filling:
32 large marshmallows or 3 c mini marshmallows
½ c milk
¼ c crème de menthe (white works, but green is dramatic)
3 Tbp white crème d cacao (doesn't have to be white, but it's prettier)
1 ½ c whipping cream
green food colouring (optional)
For the Crust:
1 1/2 rows of Oreos, crushed
4 Tbps. melted butter

Melt marshmallows and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly. When marshmallows are melted, remove from heat, and let cool until thick (in a cold kitchen with a granite counter, this took about an hour and a half).

Meanwhile, assemble the crust. I crush oreos in a food processor, then put them in the crust with the melted butter and pat into the pie pan.

Blend liqueurs into the marshmallows. This can be tricky, since the marshmallow has basically resolidified. If you have an immersion blender, it's hugely helpful.

Whip the cream, then fold into the marshmallow mixture. Pour into prepared crust, and decorate with oreos, if you want. (I actually prefer the inside cream to the crust and oreos, but it's prettier this way.) 

Put in freezer, and freeze for at least 4 hours.