Raspberry Sorbet

No added fat, no dairy since it's a sorbet. Yummmmm! Perfect for the warm weather that's coming. I found this at Chow.com. I have to admit that I don't like straining seeds so my 3 kids were wonderful and did that part for me. Start out with 6 cups of raspberries, but you only end up with 1 quart of sorbet. Not a lot, but it's really good.

Raspberry Sorbet
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. water
6 c. raspberries (about 1 3/4 pounds), thawed if frozen
1 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. (Alternatively, place the sugar and water in a container with a tightfitting lid. Shake vigorously for 3 minutes. Let rest for about 1 minute. Shake again until all the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds more.)

Place the raspberries and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium bowl and strain the mixture, pressing down on the solids and scraping the inside of the strainer with a rubber spatula until mostly seeds remain (you should have about 2 1/3 cups raspberry purée); discard the solids. Whisk the sugar syrup into the raspberry purée. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour.

Whisk the raspberry mixture to recombine. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container with a tightfitting lid and place in the freezer until completely frozen, at least 3 hours. Let sit at room temperature to soften for a few minutes before serving. The sorbet will keep for up to 1 month.

Mint-Truffle Ice Cream Terrine with Mint and Chocolate Sauces

This was my favorite polka dot dessert and it didn't even make it to the party. I started making it the night before, but I didn't finish assembling it until the morning of the party and it didn't harden enough to be ready. It's chocolate truffles frozen in a loaf of vanilla ice cream. I like it because it's unique and also because of the rich, chocolatey truffles embedded in the ice cream. Those bites with the truffles are really good. R-E-A-L-L-Y good! I'd like to try a different flavor of ice cream next time because vanilla is my least favorite flavor. Maybe a coconut sorbet. Coconut and mint and chocolate? Sounds good to me.  

I found this recipe at Bon Appétit. I have a note about the chocolate sauce below the recipe. The recipe also calls for a mint sauce made from fresh mint, so it's green. I wasn't sure if kids would want to try it so I didn't make any. With fresh mint, I'm sure it would be really good though. For this photo I just used purchased chocolate syrup because the homemade chocolate sauce wasn't drizzling pretty for a photo.

Mint-Truffle Ice Cream Terrine with Mint and Chocolate Sauces

Truffles and chocolate sauce

1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 t. pure peppermint extract
Unsweetened cocoa powder
5 c. (2 1/2 pints) vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

Mint Sauce:

3/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. water
2 c. (lightly packed) fresh mint leaves

Preparation

Truffles and chocolate sauce

Bring cream to simmer in heavy large saucepan; remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in extract. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours, or chill overnight.

Line baking sheet with foil. Drop scant 1 tablespoon chocolate mixture for each of 16 truffles onto prepared sheet. Dust hands with cocoa; roll chocolate mounds into rounds. Cover and freeze truffles. Cover and chill remaining chocolate mixture for sauce. (Truffles and sauce can be made 2 days ahead.)

Line 8 1/2 x 4 1/2x2 1/2-inch metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving long overhang. Spread 1/3 of ice cream (about 1 2/3 cups) over bottom of prepared pan. Press 8 truffles in random pattern (and spaced apart) into ice cream layer. Spread 1/2 of remaining ice cream over. Press remaining 8 truffles in random pattern (and spaced apart) into second ice cream layer. Spread remaining ice cream over. Cover terrine with plastic wrap overhang. Freeze at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

Mint sauce

Bring sugar and 1/3 cup water to boil in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour syrup into blender; cool 10 minutes. Add mint leaves to syrup and puree until smooth. Transfer sauce to bowl; cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Whisk to blend before using.)

Stir chocolate sauce over low heat until warm. Transfer to pitcher. Turn ice cream terrine out onto platter; peel off plastic. Cut terrine crosswise into slices; arrange on plates. Drizzle chocolate sauce and mint sauce around terrine.

                                        

The recipe says to use the leftover truffle chocolate as a sauce for the ice cream, but it was very thick so I added some extra whipping cream to make it a bit thinner. It was still thick. But it is sooooo heavenly. I would say I will whip some up and keep it in the fridge for impromptu ice cream nights, but that would be very dangerous. It would not last long at this house!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

I found this creamy, delicious ice cream recipe at Baking and Boys, where Katrina is always making things that tempt me. She got the recipe from Anna at Cookie Madness, where I have gone for quite a while now to drool over her food too. The only thing wrong with making this is that it doesn't make a lot, only about 4 cups. How can you pig out on something when you have to share it and that's all you have? My kids' answer is to just make more. Sounds yummy! On both blogs, their photos showed green ice cream, but there was no food coloring in the recipe so I added it here. As you can tell, it was starting to melt by the time I got around to taking a photo, but we were about to eat it so I couldn't re-freeze it for a better pic.

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 T. cornstarch
2 large eggs
1 c. whole milk
2 c. heavy cream (divided)
1 3/4 t. peppermint extract (not mint)
1/8 t. vanilla
3-4 drops green food coloring
3 oz. (or to taste) grated dark chocolate


Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and eggs together in a mixing bowl until light.


In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of the cream to a simmer. Pour the simmering cream mixture into the egg mixture whisking constantly, then return the mixture to the saucepan. Reduce heat to about medium low and whisk or stir constantly until the mixture thickens – it should not come to a complete boil, but rather thicken just to the consistency of thick gravy and it usually takes 7 minutes or so. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into the mixture, then stir in the peppermint extract, vanilla, and food coloring. Chill for a few hours or overnight until very cold.


Following the ice cream maker’s directions, mix the ice cream until thick. During last 5 minutes of ice cream mixing, add the grated chocolate. Spoon into a lidded container and let sit in the freezer to ripen until you are ready to serve it.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Alex and Elisa were so eager for me to try out our new ice cream maker that I got from CSN Stores, but I was a little afraid. I know it's silly, but I've never used one before and wasn't sure how to use it. But it was so easy to use (and you don't have to add all that salt like in the old ones) and the ice cream was ready in less than an hour. I decided to make peanut butter ice cream from Baking and Boys! and throw in some Resee's Peanut Butter Cups. We loved it and I can't wait to make another flavor next.

In case you know that Sabrina is allergic to peanuts and think I'm such a mean mom to make something she can't eat, she doesn't like ice cream. I just got her a Kit Kat bar, her favorite, and she was very happy. But after seeing the ice cream maker work, she decided that next time I make another flavor without peanut butter, she'll try it to see if she likes it more than "regular" ice cream.
                 
Peanut Butter Ice Cream

¾ c. smooth peanut butter
¾ c. plus 2 T. sugar
2 2/3 c. half-and-half
Pinch of salt
1/8 t. vanilla extract

Puree the peanut butter, sugar, half-and-half, salt, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.