When she sent me this post it was still Winter. But by now, we should all have had a breath of Spring. Welcome back, ice cream. It's been a while.
When I was visiting my sister Lisa in Washington, DC over the holidays, I overheard a couple of her friends talking, across the table laden with our Mexican-themed Christmas feast. Tom and Jordan were talking about remodeling their kitchen and getting rid of “unnecessary” appliances. Tom began to list off a few of them that were currently sitting on the porch waiting to be taken away. My ears perked up when I heard ice cream maker. Me: “Seriously? You have an ice cream maker sitting on your porch that you are about to throw away?” Him: “Yep! We only used it a couple of times, so we are getting rid of it. Do you want it?” Me: “YES!!!” And shortly after I arrived home in Madison, a barely used ice cream maker arrived at my doorstep. Thank you Tom and Jordan! Confession: I’ve been secretly coveting an ice cream maker for years. I could never justify actually spending the money to purchase one, but there’s nothing wrong with accepting a free gift! Being the dessert lady that I am, I wasn’t content making something mainstream for my first try with the ice cream maker, so I modified the vanilla recipe in the instruction booklet and voilà! Raspberry cinnamon ice cream. Yum. (Thank you Cuisinart Instruction/Recipe Booklet for providing me with the basics).
Raspberry Cinnamon Ice Cream
This recipe makes 10 1/2 cup servings.
2 cups heavy cream – chilled
1 cup whole milk – chilled
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
Cinnamon to taste
Combine all of the ingredients except the raspberries and cinnamon and follow the instructions on the ice cream maker. Add the raspberries and cinnamon during the last 10 minutes. Freeze until the ice cream reaches the desired consistency. When I made this recipe, I used local organic cream and milk, and organic raspberries. I reasoned that with so few ingredients, quality was important. I think it paid off with the taste. Also, if you are feeling guilty about cooking with heavy cream, it is a must for the texture. I have since made chai ice cream using whole milk only and it turned out more like ice minus the cream.
Being someone to tends to go overboard when making desserts, I couldn’t show up to Tuesday Dinner with ice cream and no accompaniment. So I found this recipe for little nut cookies in one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison.
Almond Cookies
This recipe makes 3 dozen 2-inch cookies (or half as many 4-inch cookies).
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup lightly toasted almonds, finely chopped (I recommend using a food processor if you have one)
Powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth and light. Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla, almond extract and salt. With the mixer on low, stir in the flour and then the nuts. Drop the dough by teaspoons (or tablespoons for larger cookies) into cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned on top and slightly browner on the bottom, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on rack completely, then dust with powdered sugar. When I made these cookies, I used a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon to form the cookies and ended up with much bigger cookies than I had originally intended. So if you are looking to make little cookies, I recommend making them smaller than you would think. Enjoy!
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