Ice cream adventures

In a fit of madness caused by crazy horse trainers and ridiculous census people, I decided I should cook something. I thumbed through my brand new cookbook "Dessert Fourplay" by award winning pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini. This book is my current obsession. I've read it cover to cover five times already and run my fingers over the pictures in hopes of somehow gathering the flavor through osmosis. So far I have to put my vivid imagination to use - no flavor-vision, no scratch and sniff, and these pages certainly aren't Wonka's lickable wallpaper. Sadly.


Last night's adventure was Cream Cheese Ice Cream. Iuzzini puts this in the "basics" section as one of the building blocks for his labor intensive feats of deliciousness. Yum. Seriously good stuff. It's not sweet, so don't expect a frozen cheesecake. But it makes a phenomenal base for any kind of sauce/topping you can imagine. I decided on raspberry sauce. I can't wait to try other flavors. In the meantime, both of these are so good, you put a spoon in your mouth and just pause. Wolfing is not an option. It is almost necessary to savor every little zip on the palate. The ice cream is a divine, velvety, sassy flavor. It's a grown up version of plain old vanilla and I highly recommend it in place of vanilla. It has the ability to break through all things coyingly sweet (and equally delicious) such as pecan pie.


And then there's the raspberry sauce. Like a spoonful of summer. You can almost hear the giggles of children at summer camp with this sauce. It's the kind of stuff that once made, you want to dig through your pantry to find anything to put this on. Save yourself the calories - just use the spoon. Some may remember my college days where almost everything I ate was a vehicle for raspberry jam. This has the same power. If I had known about the magic of this sauce, I would have carried a flask of it everywhere. Now I just have a squeeze bottle in my fridge and a large spoon nearby.


Cream Cheese Ice Cream:

1 1/4 c. whole milk
1/2 c. non-fat powdered milk (absorbs moisture and keep crystallization to a minimum)
1/2 c. sugar
2 tbs. light corn syrup
16 oz. cream cheese (don't skimp. Use the full fat version)
Juice of 1 lemon


Prep an ice bath in a large bowl, cut cream cheese into pieces and place in a medium bowl. Put the first four ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking. Watch it so it doesn't burn. Pour over cream cheese and blend with an immersion blender. I'm sure you could use a food processor if you don't have an immersion blender. Add lemon juice and blend again. Run it through a fine mesh sieve into another medium bowl and place this into the ice bath. Stir frequently and let it chill thoroughly. Pull out your ice cream maker and freeze. Since the base is chilled, it shouldn't take too long to freeze. Pack into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.



Raspberry Sauce:

12 oz. raspberries (fresh, frozen, whatever)
1/2 c. water
8 oz. raspberry jam (thickening agent)
sugar to taste if you want - the sweeter the berries, the less sugar you'll need!


Put the berries, water and sugar (if desired) into a saucepan and bring to just a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes until it thickens a bit. Again, with the immersion blender, or food processor, mix berries and jam until smooth. Stick in the fridge and cool before using. It will thicken more as it cools.


Scoop ice cream, pour sauce over, enjoy every single second. Truly tasty stuff.