PANNA COTTA SUNDAE RECIPE

This is a perfect dinner party dessert. Creamy panna cotta and rose wine sorbet with raspberries and a shimmer of luxurious gold leaf. Your guests will simply love the popping candy Read more

SPICE DREAMS: FLAVORED ICE CREAMS AND OTHER FROZEN TREATS

In Spice Dreams, Sara Engram and Katie Luber are back to transform desserts the same way they revolutionized spice cabinets with their two unique lines of organic spices: tsp spices and Smart Spice. In their previous cookbook, The Spice Kitchen, they gave us new ways to enhance everyday family meals with herbs and spices. Now they’re spicing up everyone’s favorite treat.

Discover how you can incorporate fresh and dried herbs and spices into your homemade frozen desserts with more than 50 recipes for ice creams, sorbets, sundaes, ice-cream sandwiches, and other frozen treats. Honey-Mint Ice Cream with Thyme and Basil, Chile-Orange-Chocolate Sorbet, Cardamom Snickerdoodle Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches, and Caramel Apple Sundaes are just a taste of the deliciously decadent desserts you’ll find in this unique ice-cream book.

Beautifully designed and complete with full-color photography of these delightful desserts, Spice Dreams is a satisfying and wonderfully cool addition to the cookbook library for fans of ice cream, fans of spices, and food lovers everywhere.

About the Author
Sara Engram and Katie Luber are the cofounders of The Seasoned Palate, Inc., based in Baltimore, Maryland. Kimberly Toqe was the assistant test kitchen chef at Lawry’s before starting her own culinary consulting company, La Toqe Blanche.

The Seasoned Palate specializes in packaging organic spices in one-teaspoon packets for convenience and freshness. The company’s tsp spices line is sold in more than 300 retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and the Smart Spice brand is sold in supermarkets throughout the United States.

Product Details
* Hardcover: 84 pages
* Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (June 1, 2010)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0740780166

Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Treats
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HOW-TO MAKE ICE CREAM

Watch the video to learn how to make this ultra smooth and creamy ice cream infused with roasted coffee beans.

Makes 2 pints
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1 cup premium quality (preferably espresso) coffee beans
10 large egg yolks
1 cup (8 oz) granulated white sugar

SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM RECIPE

Bi-Rite Creamery, in San Francisco, make the best Salted Caramel Ice Cream. For those of us who do not live in San Francisco. Try making David Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream with or without bits of Caramel Praline. For variation, Lebovitz suggests adding some strong liquid espresso (or instant espresso powder) to the custard to taste, prior to churning the ice cream to make Coffee-Caramel Ice Cream. Other options for some of the mix-ins, try gooey Dark Chocolate Truffles*, crackly chocolate Straciatella*, or Oatmeal Praline* folded in at the last minute. Or try serving with warm Mocha Sauce*. For a “double-whammy” caramel try over sauteed apples or alongside a wedge of apple pie or Tarte Tatin. How ever you decide to eat the Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream is great!

Caramel Praline
1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, such as fleur de sel

1. To make the caramel praline, spread the ½ cup (100 gr) of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, unlined heavy duty saucepan: I use a 6 quart/liter pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or brush it sparingly with unflavored oil.

2. Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it – there may be some lumps, which will melt later.) Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it’s just about to burn.

3.Sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring (don’t even pause to scratch your nose), then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.

Ice Cream Custard
2 cups (500 ml) whole milk, divided
1-½ cups (300 gr) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 gr) salted butter
scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cups (250 ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they’re floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.

2. Spread 1-½ cups (300 gr) sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until caramelized, using the same method described in Step #2.

3. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk.

4. Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 degree F (71-77 degree C).

5. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

6. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

7. While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits, about the size of very large confetti (about ½-inch, or 1 cm). I use a mortar and pestle, although you can make your own kind of music using your hands or a rolling pin.

8. Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm.

Note: As the ice cream sits, the little bits of caramel may liquefy and get runny and gooey, which is what they’re intended to do.
* These recipes are available in Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments, by David Lebovitz.

Recipe and photograph by David Lebovitz, printed with permission. This recipe is featured in the 2nd issue of Desserts Magazine.