Brownie Fudge Ripple Ice Cream

August 12, 2013 by 4 Comments

This time last summer we were living in China. If you would have told me then that a year later we would be living in Chicago, I might have laughed at you. Then again, you could almost say that about everywhere we have been/have lived for the past 4 summers. To say that life has been unpredictable is a bit of an understatement.

So here I sit. 37 weeks pregnant, living in Chicago, and rejoicing that I have once again been reunited with my ice cream maker  (just like I did when I made this and this).

This ice cream came about because of 2 almost unbelievable words. Leftover. Brownies. What kind of a person has leftover brownies?! As crazy as it sounds, I did indeed have a few brownies left over in a pan that were just a day or so away from becoming stale. Not wanting to be wasteful, I decided I must use them to make ice cream. The fudge ripple just seemed like a natural addition to round out the entire ice cream experience.

For the ice cream base I went with a Philadelphia style vanilla. Philadelphia style ice cream does not have a custard (egg) base. The milk and cream are simply heated together with the sugar and then chilled until churning. It’s slightly easier than custard style ice cream. Some people think you lose some of the rich, creaminess that the custard provides while others swear they can taste the egg in custard ice cream and therefor prefer Philadelphia style. Me, I can go either way. I like custard. I like Philadelphia style. Custard is probably a touch richer, but Philadelphia style is still creamy and delicious. Can you really go wrong with homemade ice cream? I don’t think so.

Brownie Fudge Ripple Ice Cream

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk (no less than 2%)
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean split in half (I omitted this time because mine had not yet arrived in the mail!)
1 recipe Fudge Ripple (recipe below)
1 cup brownies chopped into bite size chunks, I used leftovers from this recipe

Directions
In a medium saucepan, stir together 1 cup of heavy cream and sugar. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into the mixture and then add the pod. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the rest of the heavy cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Place the mixture in the coldest part of your fridge and chill thoroughly, I would recommend at least 4 hours.

After chilling, remove the vanilla bean pod and churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

After churning, spread 2-3 tablespoons of fudge ripple sauce over the bottom of your desired storage container*. Add several dollops of ice cream and smooth over the fudge ripple, careful not to stir the fudge into the ice cream. Sprinkle with brownies and press into the ice cream. Drizzle with several tablespoons of fudge ripple. Add more ice cream and repeat process until you have used all of the ice cream and brownie chunks and most of the fudge ripple. Press plastic wrap into the top of the ice cream, put on the lid and allow to freeze for several hours before serving.

*I use a glass Pyrex container. I also like to put it in the freezer for about an hour before I start layer the ice cream/fudge. I can’t say for sure if it makes it easier, but in my mind it seems like it would.

Source:the Perfect Scoop

Fudge Ripple

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
In a medium sauce pan, whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cocoa powder. Continue whisking and heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the edges start to bubble. Continue whisking as the mixture comes to a low boil and then cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator until ready to use. Make sure it is very cold when you are ready to use it!

Source: The Perfect Scoop


Filed Under: Dessert, Ice Cream Tagged With: , , ,

Easy Turtle Brownies

October 7, 2011 by 1 Comment

 

It’s Sweet Friday again and today I bring you Easy Turtle Brownies. I wanted to title this post “Crazy Easy One Bowl Turtle Brownies” but I thought that might be a little long. These are however crazy easy to make, and they do only require one bowl. Perfect for a weeknight chocolate craving.

I do have a go-to recipe that I have dubbed my favorite but in my opinion a girl can never have too many ways to make a brownie. If you haven’t noticed, there is a salted caramel craze across the foodie world. So I drew some inspiration from that – and a bottle of Hershey’s caramel sauce that I found hidden on my refrigerator door shelf. I also had a bag of pecan pieces in the cabinet. That’s how the wheels starting turning.

I thought these brownies were fabulous. The bit of brown sugar I subbed in the brownies gave the chocolate an extra caramely and chewy kick. And every so often I would get a nice bite of kosher salt. They also had my ideal brownie texture, chewy, fudgelike, and moist. Jesse on the other hand liked them but still thought they were too “wet.” He prefers a much more cake like brownie so I wasn’t at all surprised. Just keep that in mind, if you prefer drier cake like brownies, these aren’t it.

Crazy Easy One Bowl Turtle Brownies
(Brownie adapted from Hershey’s, idea inspired by The Novice Chef)

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa powder*
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Hershey’s Caramel Syrup (or another brand of caramel, or make you’re own if you’re up to it)
Pecan pieces, optionally toasted
*I used half Hershey’s special dark and half regular cocoa powder, you can use a combination or whichever you have on hand.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking dish (or if you’re like me and resisting this purchase, just use a 9 inch pie pan).

Melt the butter in a microwave safe mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, stir the sugars into the melted butter. Add the vanilla and eggs and stir until well combined. Add the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and kosher salt to the bowl. Without breaking into the liquid ingredients below, give the dry ingredients a few stirs with a fork, then use your wooden spoon to incorporate into the liquid ingredients. Stir until you no longer see the flour.

Pour half of the batter into the greased pan and spread with a spatula (or save dishes and just use the wooden spoon). Drizzle the batter with the caramel syrup, being careful to keep it a 1/4 inch away from the edges. Pour in the rest of the batter. Drizzle with a little more caramel syrup then swirl with the spatula (or wooden spoon). Drop a small handful of pecans on top.

Bake for 20 minutes**, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool then slice into even squares or wedges and serve with a LARGE glass of milk.

**Because of the caramel syrup these were a little bubbly when baking, probably not the prettiest brownies I’ve ever made, but that’s OK. Don’t be scared when they don’t have box-perfect shiny crispy crust on top.

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Chocolate, Dessert Tagged With: , , , ,

Black and Tan Brownies

August 3, 2011 by 3 Comments

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One of the first things Jesse asked when we landed back in the states was, “So what are you going to bake?” Hmmm, good question. I had spent the last 5 weeks drooling over everyone else’s blog updates and I had so many ideas that I almost had no ideas at all. So I had to sit and think a little while.

When we made our first trip to the grocery stores I could tell his sweet tooth was settling in when a bag of Golden Oreos found their way into our cart. Have you tried these yet? Jesse and Sean are absolutely addicted to them. I love chocolate so I didn’t think I would like them, but there is just something about them, so good! I don’t even buy them because I know if I do the bag will be gone in one night.

However on this occasion, instead of fighting the stow-away Golden Oreos, I started thinking of a way I could use them to my baking advantage. I tossed around bar cookies with a peanut pairing (and those will be coming soon!) but in the end what I really wanted was CHOCOLATE. But how could Golden Oreos satisfy my chocolate craving? Then out of the blue it hit me, Black and Tan! Like the drink, where thick and rich Guinness mysteriously floats over top of a smooth pale ale. What if I created a thick and rich brownie that could mysteriously float over a smooth pale oreo?? Jackpot.

I was pretty pleased with the results. Just for fun, I’m still toying around with another variation of this dessert, but everyone was perfectly satisfied with this version. Give a try today and let me know how it goes!!

Black and Tan Brownies
(Sunny Side Up Original Idea; Brownie adapted from My Baking Addiction Cookie)

Ingredients
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate; coarsely chopped
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
12 Golden Oreos

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a microwave safe glass bowl, melt the butter and coarsely chopped chocolate on 50% power for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir with a rubber spatula. Return to microwave in 30 second increments until you can stir and the chocolate looks smooth, even in color, and melted through.

Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt to the chocolate and stir to combine. Gradually add the flour and stir just until combined.

Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Place a Golden Oreo in the bottom of each muffin cup. Fill each muffin cup a little more than halfway full with brownie batter (it should be just enough to fill all 12). Use the back of a spoon to smooth the tops. Bake for 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Careful not to over bake (like me!).

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Chocolate, Dessert Tagged With: , ,

Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies

July 20, 2008 by 8 Comments

** This post was imported as a part of my top 30 from my old blog – What’s Cooking in the Orange Kitchen**

If you’re in the market for a rich, dense, chocolaty, peanut butter brownie, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve had this recipe tucked away for over a year now and now I’m kicking myself for not getting it out sooner. These brownies were a perfect balance between cake and fudge brownies. Not to dry not to wet. I highly recommend you try them – like now.

Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

6 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips optional
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, such as Hershey’s

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9×13 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 egg, and milk until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, 2 cups white sugar, and vanilla. Mix in the remaining 3 eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; mix into the batter. Stir in chocolate chips.

Reserve 1 cup of the chocolate batter and spread the remaining batter into the prepared pan. Spread the peanut butter filling over the top. Drop the reserved chocolate batter by teaspoonful over the filling. Using a knife, gently swirl through the top layers for a marbled effect.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out almost clean. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Dessert, Old Blog - Top 30 Tagged With: , , , , ,