ice cream Archives - Ari's Menu

Toasted Marshmallow Sweet Potato Ice Cream

November 23, 2014 · by Ari · 12 Comments

With all the flavor of classic sweet potato casserole, this Toasted Marshmallow Sweet Potato Ice Cream is the perfect Thanksgiving or any time dessert. Perfectly spiced, made with sweet potato puree and torched marshmallows.

It’s my favorite week of the year!! I go absolutely nuts for Thanksgiving. It’s my second favorite holiday (my birthday is my favorite because I love to be the center of attention 😉 ), and it’s my holiday to host. The first year I hosted, I made Thanksgiving brunch and dinner. It was exhausting, and it never happened again. Now I just put all my effort into the one meal, which is eaten as dinner, like a normal person, at 6pm. I don’t understand eating Thanksgiving “dinner” at noon. That is Thanksgiving lunch.

My favorite dish has always been my mom’s sweet potatoes. The recipe came from her mom, and she has made it for Thanksgiving every year for as long as I can remember. I just die over those perfectly browned, gooey marshmallows sitting on top of my favorite food. I still refuse to make them because they will never taste as good as hers.

This year I set out to make my favorite side dish into an ice cream, and oh my gosh…you guys. I can’t even handle it. I can’t go a single day without dipping my little spoon into that container. In fact, I knew I had to make a whole other batch to have enough for Thanksgiving! The good news? The recipe is super hands off. It has a lot of components, but the most time consuming part is toasting the marshmallows, and if you want to do that more quickly, you can broil them in the oven. I prefer to use a brulee torch for even toasting, but that is me being type A, and you certainly don’t have to be that meticulous. 😉

Now before you go writing this off as super indulgent, I have to tell you that each serving has only 5.1 grams of fat and 155 calories. I usually don’t count these things, but I was curious because I figured the sweet potato, marshmallows and lower ratio of heavy cream (most ice cream recipes call for 2 parts heavy cream to 1 part whole milk, and I reversed that) would lighten it up a little. Those are the same nutrition figures as many varieties of frozen yogurt! The marshmallows do hike up the sugar content a bit, but this is dessert after all. And it is a Thanksgiving (or any time!) dessert that you can enjoy in moderation any time!

Toasted Marshmallow Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 16 hours

Yield: about 6 cups

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Toasted Marshmallow Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato
1 x 10 ounce bag of marshmallows (mini or regular)
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar (dark brown sugar preferred)
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon, optional

Instructions

Pierce sweet potato several times with a fork. Roast at 400 degrees until very soft (you should easily be able to slide a fork right into the sweet potato), about 60-80 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes until it is easy to handle, then remove skins.
Place marshmallows on a large cookie sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper. Either torch with a brulee torch, or broil until browned, about 5-10 minutes. Once marshmallows are well browned all around, place them and peeled sweet potatoes in a blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth and combined.
In a small sauce pan, combine 1 cup whole milk with brown sugar and maple syrup. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and stir constantly until brown sugar is fully melted and combined. Transfer to blender/food processor and add remaining milk, heavy cream, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Blend/process to combine for about 15-30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl or tupperware. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. Add vanilla and bourbon (if desired) in the last 2 minutes of freezing. Transfer to a freezer safe container to finish freezing completely.

Notes

Before serving, let the ice cream soften for about 10 minutes at room temperature for optimal scooping.

http://www.arismenu.com/toasted-marshmallow-sweet-potato-ice-cream/

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

August 3, 2014 · by Ari · 17 Comments

Rich, creamy ricotta ice cream loaded with mini dark chocolate chips with underlying flavors of honey and vanilla bean. All the flavors of a classic cannoli in ice cream form!

Do you ever love something so much that you feel like no matter how much you try to describe it, you can never quite put it into words? It’s how I feel about Mia Michaels’ choreography, or when I saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on Broadway, or when I first discovered CILANTRO! I can’t tell you how good it is, you just need to experience it with me.

That’s how I feel about this ice cream. I felt like no matter how many pictures I took, or adjectives I thesaurus-ed, nothing could quite capture my new favorite ice cream. I loved it more than any ice cream I’ve ever purchased at a homemade ice cream shop, and definitely more than anything I’ve ever bought at the store.

First of all, I am OBSESSED with ricotta cheese. Once upon a time, I spent like an entire year on phase 1 of the South Beach diet. It was not a good year. I can tell you, however, that my favorite part was “snacking” on low-fat ricotta cheese. And by “snacking”, I mean opening the tub, grabbing a spoon, and looking down to see half the container had disappeared. Whoops.

But it’s not just the ricotta that makes this so special. It’s the hint of honey, the little specs of vanilla bean that carry a bold flavor (one of my very favorite flavors), and the multiple dark chocolate chips you get in every bite. I don’t know what it is about the mini chocolate chips that make them so much better, but they really do make a difference here, and although you are free to use whatever chip you like, I highly suggest the tiny guys for this recipe. Mini chips = more chips in every bite = automatically better.

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours

Yield: 5-6 cups

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Ricotta Chocolate Chip Ice Cream {with Honey & Vanilla Bean}

Rich, creamy ricotta ice cream loaded with mini dark chocolate chips with underlying flavors of honey and vanilla bean. All the flavors of a classic cannoli in ice cream form!

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
15 ounces ricotta cheese
4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon, optional
3/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Instructions

In a medium pot, combine whole milk and sugar over medium to medium-low heat. Stir constantly until sugar is fully dissolved and incorporated. Remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature.
Add heavy cream, honey, ricotta, cream cheese, vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract and blend in a large blender or food processor. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. If desired, add bourbon during the last few minutes of freezing. Fold in chocolate chips then transfer to freezer safe container to finish freezing completely.

http://www.arismenu.com/ricotta-chocolate-chip-ice-cream-with-honey-vanilla-bean/

Snickers Ice Cream

July 8, 2014 · by Ari · 7 Comments

Ultra soft and creamy sweet cream ice cream loaded with chopped Snickers bars. The perfect summer treat that you will want to repeat all year round!

Psssst…Stick around for a super awesome giveaway at the end of this post!

Can we talk about homemade ice cream? It took me so long to get it right, which is silly because it is stupid easy. I’m just lazy and I never read the instructions on my ice cream maker. Sometimes I’m surprised I can even boil water.

I kept not chilling my ingredients well enough, and then after, like, 10 minutes I would give up on the churning because it had been soooooo loooong and nothing was happening. So I’d throw it in the freezer where it would then become hard as a rock and proceed to eat it anyway because ice cream is freaking delicious. Frozen solid or not.

So this perfectly made ice cream is a recent development and I cant stop, won’t stop. I am obsessed, and I don’t care that I have probably gained like 17 pounds from my summer ice cream obsession. Totally worth it. Plus, running makes up for all calories, right? Shhhh, don’t rain on my parade.

This is without a doubt, the richest, creamiest ice cream I have ever tasted. I have to admit, after this one, I lowered my fat content a bit on future ice cream recipes, but sometimes you just need the full fatty goodness, and I’m not going to keep that from you. You absolutely can play with the amounts of whole milk / heavy cream depending on what you’re in the mood for. This ice cream is half milk / half cream, and let me tell ya, the texture is so soft and creamy that I would dare to call it perfection.

I loaded up this baby with about 100 Snickers bars (yeahhh, we’ve already established that it’s not healthy, and I’m not even sorry), but you could also use Reese’s or Butterfinger, or really whatever you want. I personally love it with Snickers. The way the caramel and chocolate freeze and get extra chewy. It’s totally dreamy.

Snickers Ice Cream

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours

Yield: about 1 quart

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Ultra soft and creamy sweet cream ice cream loaded with chopped Snickers bars. The perfect summer treat that you will want to repeat all year round!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped Snickers bars

Instructions

In a medium pot, combine whole milk and sugar over medium to medium-low heat. Stir constantly until sugar is fully dissolved and incorporated. Remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature then add heavy cream and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Cover and chill for 4 hours or up to overnight.
Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions, then fold in chopped Snickers. Transfer to freezer safe container to finish freezing completely.

http://www.arismenu.com/snickers-ice-cream/

And nooowwww for a very exciting giveaway! I, along with some of my friends, am giving away a $125 Target gift card, a $125 Amazon gift card and a $50 Starbucks gift card. Pretty much all of my favorite things. 😉 Giveaway opens July 9th at 12am EST and will remain open until July 23rd at 11:59pm EST. Open to US residents only. Good luck!
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As I said, this giveaway is sponsored by some of my favorite people. Check them out and see what they’re up to. 🙂

Cereal Milk Ice Cream

June 15, 2014 · by Ari · 8 Comments

The sweet, starchy milk from the end of your cereal bowl in ICE CREAM form! This simple ice cream is made with only a handful of ingredients, and the best part is, you can customize with your favorite cereal and make it in a variety of flavors!

My mom has told me on multiple occasions that if she were on death row, her last meal would be Sugar Crisp (remember that cereal???) and heavy cream. She is also, like me, a huge fan of Frosted Flakes. One year, I made her a Frosted Flake ice cream cake. It was delicious, but the cereal absorbed the milk (like cereal does) and was a little soggy mixed into the ice cream. It had potential, but just wasn’t quite right.

Whenever I make a bowl of cereal (Because, yes, I totally make it. From scratch…errr box…), I always pour in extra milk so that I can drink it at the end. Please tell me you do that too?? After it’s soaked up all the sugar and starch from the cereal and is creamy and lightly sweet? It’s my favorite.

This year for Mother’s Day I decided to try cereal and ice cream together again, but this time I soaked the cereal in the milk for a couple of hours, tossed the cereal, then turned it into ICE CREAM! Do you have a favorite dessert? Mine always has and will forever be ice cream. It’s kinda tied with fro yo, but if I had the metabolism of a 16 year old boy, it would totally be ice cream. Oh and then cookies (obviously) come in that #3 slot.

My mom took one bite and told me this was the best thing I’ve ever made. She even said she wanted it again for her birthday just a few weeks later. Smooth, creamy, soft and scoopable straight out of the freezer, this ice cream is a total winner!

I used my current cereal obsession + some brown sugar for extra sweetness. I also added about a tablespoon of bourbon at the end, but that is totally optional. Alcohol does help the ice cream to stay soft and not over freeze, but with the vanilla extract in this one it should be fine without it. But honestly, in my house bourbon is never optional.

Also, a quick warning: This is not a healthy recipe. It is the real deal. Heavy cream and all. I’m not sorry. It’s worth it.

Cereal Milk Ice Cream

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours

Cereal Milk Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups cereal (I used Honey Rice Puffins)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional
1 tablespoon bourbon (or vodka), optional

Instructions

In a medium pot, combine whole milk and brown sugar over medium to medium-low heat. Stir constantly until sugar is melted and combined. Remove from heat.
Pour cereal in a large bowl (a shallow bowl will work best). Pour whole milk on top. Cereal should be completely submerged. Cover and chill for 1-4 hours. Longer is better, but an hour will do the trick if you're in a hurry. Stir every hour.
Strain milk through a fine mesh strainer. In a large bowl, combine strained milk, cream, and extracts. Cover and chill for an additional 1-2 hours or up to over night. You want the mixture to be fully chilled before transferring to your ice cream maker.
Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. If desired, add bourbon during the last 2-3 minutes of freezing. Transfer to freezer safe container to finish freezing completely.

http://www.arismenu.com/cereal-milk-ice-cream/

Banana Cream Pie Shake

July 21, 2013 · by Ari · 12 Comments

Do you guys remember the banana cream pie shake at Sonic?? OMG, I was obsessssssed with it. I would go through the Sonic drive through multiple times a week for that little gem. Creamy banana shake with crushed graham cracker? That is speaking my language. Although I always thought their whipped cream tasted a little weird. Anyone else? I am a whipped cream lover, but theirs always tasted slightly like plastic to me.

Anyway, I was obsessed with the shake, and lately my girl Sally has been making a bunch of frozen banana shake recipes. I’d been dying to try the banana soft serve craze anyway, and I was inspired to try my own so I jumped on board to recreate one of my favorite treats.

You see, I secretly thought it would never be as good as everyone says. Bananas as ice cream? The ice cream lover in me wanted to be stubborn, and I thought it was like when everyone said mashed cauliflower was like mashed potatoes. I still don’t get that one…

But the thing is, this EXCEEDED all of my expectations! In fact, it was so thick at first that I had to use that little stick for my Vitamix to press the banana pieces down and even get it to blend, and the results were so rich and creamy that I added way more milk than I originally planned. Also, I used 3 bananas because I thought I would need that many for one photo. Ummm, nope! It definitely made 3 servings that were nearly impossible to not eat all at once in one sitting (I know bananas are good for me, but somehow I believe 3 at once may be what they call “too much of a good thing”). Then if this dreamy shake wasn’t enough, the combo of the crushed graham cracker and the honey…uuugggghhhh… You guys, I just wanted to put honey and graham cracker crumbs on a huge spoon and eat it along side my shake. I loved it so much that after the first time I made it, I made it about 3 more times that week. It’s so quick, easy and will totally cure your sweet tooth!

Banana Cream Pie Shake

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 2

Serving Size: About 1 cup

Banana Cream Pie Shake

Ingredients

2 large ripe bananas, chopped and frozen
2/3-1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

Optional for topping:

Honey or agave for lining the glass
3-4 tbsp crushed graham cracker crumbs (use vegan and/or gluten-free graham crackers if desired)
Light whipped cream or whipped coconut cream

Instructions

In a high quality blender, blend bananas, 2/3 cup almond milk, and vanilla. If desired, add more milk until milkshake has reached your desired creaminess. This will depend on the size of your bananas and how thick you want your shake.
To prepare the glass, drizzle honey or agave on a small plate. Place graham cracker crumbs on a separate small plate. Roll the top of your glass to just coat it in honey/agave then graham cracker crumbs. Add prepared milkshake, then top with whipped cream or whipped coconut cream if desired. Serve immediately.

http://www.arismenu.com/banana-cream-pie-shake/

Magic Shell Cups

July 7, 2013 · by Ari · 29 Comments

Remember Dibs? They were so popular when they first came out. Dangerously good, and finally brought ice cream as a “snack” to movie theaters. I was pretty obsessed, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m pretty obsessed with anything that includes ice cream. 😉

I tried to make you Dibs. I tried to many ways. I made a mess of my kitchen. Chocolate and fro-yo everywhere. And I’m not one of those roll with the punches people who keeps it cool when things don’t work out. No. I work in an embarrassingly fragile state in the kitchen where I am known to have legit freak out when things don’t turn out the way I want them to. It’s really fun being married to me. 😉

Anyway, after several failed attempts, I decided to change things up a little. Last year I was obsessed with making these cups. Then after selling hundreds of them for fundraising and spending pretty much every weekend making them, I decided I never wanted to make a single candy cup again for the rest of my life. Good thing these are ice cream cups instead. They did bring back some painful memories, but man were they worth it in the end!

These cups are everything you love about a magic shell ice cream cone in tiny, bite-sized cups that are perfect for when you just want a little bit of sweetness. They are also extremely versatile. You could put rice krispies in the chocolate for some added crunch, you can use any type of ice cream/fro-yo you like (I like it best with nonfat vanilla fro-yo or coconut milk ice cream), you can add sprinkles (no brainer for me!) for color and crunch, and you could even put in some peanut butter, granola or pretzels to add some variety!

Magic Shell Cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 26-30 cups

Serving Size: 2 cups

Magic Shell Cups

Ingredients

20 oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or dark chocolate chips)
1 tbsp coconut oil
Approx 1 cup ice cream/frozen yogurt of choice (I used coconut milk ice cream and nonfat vanilla fro-yo. If vegan, use coconut milk or other nondairy ice cream.)
Sprinkles for topping, optional

Instructions

Line mini muffin tins with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, heat chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted.
Spoon enough chocolate to cover the bottom of each baking cup. Add scant tablespoon fro-yo or ice cream. Cover with more chocolate. Add sprinkles if desired.
Freeze for at least one hour or until set. Cups will stay kept in the refrigerator for up to one month.

http://www.arismenu.com/magic-shell-cups/

3 Ingredient Roasted Banana Coconut Milk Ice Cream

May 12, 2013 · by Ari · 33 Comments

Of course I would need the most complicated title ever to describe the simplest recipe. In fact, it’s probably more difficult to say the title out loud than it is to make it. It’s that chronic over-sharing thing I do. I just can’t help it.

So after an amazing cold front, it is officially into the triple digits for the next 5 months or so with very little hope at dipping back down into anything resembling a reasonable temperature, which means I need ice cream. Not want, need. Have I ever told you that ice cream is my favorite dessert? I rarely make it because I have the hardest time getting the right texture when I make it at home, but coconut milk is pretty much the best ingredient on earth, and when you combine that with sweet, roasted banana, you are looking at a pretty sure thing.

Between the sweetness and creaminess of those two ingredients, I promise you don’t need anything else. You can always add a little pure maple syrup or brown sugar if you prefer something a little sweeter, but believe me when I say that roasting that banana brings out all of it’s rich sweetness, and totally does the trick. You can also add chocolate chips, cinnamon, extra fruit, pretty much any add-ins you’d like. This recipe is more like your base–your starting point, and a great and simple treat for the long summer months coming our way!

3 Ingredient Roasted Banana Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

3 Ingredient Roasted Banana Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Simple, easy, vegan roasted banana coconut milk ice cream with only 3 ingredients.

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
3 medium bananas, peeled and sliced
1 can full fat coconut milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400. Place banana slice in a rimmed baking dish and drizzle with coconut oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until soft and syrupy, tossing half way through.
Transfer cooked bananas to a blender, scraping your pan well to include the syrup that cooked out from them. Add coconut milk and blend until combined.
Chill mixture until cooled throughout, about 4 hours up to overnight.
Freeze according to ice cream maker's instructions. Store in an airtight freezer-safe container for up to 2 weeks.

http://www.arismenu.com/3-ingredient-roasted-banana-coconut-milk-ice-cream/

Chocolate Chip Coconut Milk Ice Cream

September 20, 2012 · by Ari · 4 Comments

What? It’s fall where you are? I’m really sorry, but the high here today is still in the triple digits, so I bring you ice cream.

Special creamy coconut milk ice cream that I can share with all my vegan and no dairy friends, because I really like them. This was made special for Bethany who recently gave up dairy and is taking a more paleo approach to eating. This ice cream isn’t paleo–it has sugar, but it is dairy free, and about a billion times more delicious than any soy ice cream I’ve ever tried.

Have I ever mentioned that ice cream is my very favorite thing? Okay, I know I have a lot of very favorite things, but ice cream has been on the list since I was like 1. And I’m kind of old, so that’s a long time. To be honest, light ice creams are tough to make at home. I’ve made a couple I like, but it’s really tough to get the right texture. Coconut milk is so perfectly creamy–it worked as an amazing base, plus the recipe was so simple!

The flavor combination of coconut milk + brown sugar with dark chocolate was ridiculously good. In fact, I ended up having to give the leftovers to my mom and step dad because I knew I couldn’t be trusted. I got the empty container back about 3 days later. I guess they liked it too 😉

Chocolate Chip Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Ingredients

1x15 ounce can full fat coconut milk
1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar (depending how sweet you like it)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips (if you want to keep it vegan, make sure to buy vegan chips)

Instructions

In a medium bowl or blender, combine coconut milk, brown sugar and vanilla.
Freeze mixture according to ice cream maker instructions.
After finished churning, fold in chocolate chips before transferring to storing container.

http://www.arismenu.com/chocolate-chip-coconut-milk-ice-cream/