Mom's Boozy Ice Cream Episode 1

Welcome for the first installment of Mom's Boozy Ice Cream!  My Mom has always made exceptional homemade ice cream, but in the last several years she has made it an adult dessert. What better way to complete my Bridget Jones transformation than taking the inescapable, vast black hole of Netflix, booze and ice cream, but without having to worry about measuring and mixing??

All sarcastic joking aside the *small* amount of alcohol in the ice cream does actually serve a purpose. It helps keep the ice cream softer and more scoop-able while adding a *hint* of flavor. However, if you are into dessert cocktails you can absolutely make it into a boozy milkshake. 

Peppermint Schnapps plus Junior Mints

The Not-For-Junior Chocolate Mint Ice Cream came into existence due to my Christmasy Cravings. While I did *ignore* the majority of the holiday I did cave into the flavors of Christmas (peppermint and gingerbread).

Junior Mints taste so good frozen that it seemed like a logical choice.

Just so you can see the amount of liquor actually in the ice cream. Again, looking for a kick...add more post-freezer. 1/4 to a 1/2 a cup for the whole batch.

 Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1cup semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
1 box Junior Mints (chopped up)
1/4 or 1/2 cup of peppermint schnapps (Add to your liking)

Melt semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl. Once melted, mix the sugar and eggs with the chocolate until fully blended and smooth.

Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. Once boiling, slowly pour the milk into the sugar, eggs and cocoa mixture. Blend well. Once blended, pour it back into the pan and keep on low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir constantly until it thickens up a bit. You can use your wooden spoon to test how well the custard coats the back of the spoon. Do not boil the custard or else you will have more of a breakfast treat than an ice cream!

 Remove from heat, and carefully pour through a strainer into a clean bowl. Let cool. Slowly add your cream, chopped Junior Mints and peppermint extract.

Once fully mixed and cooled, pour into your ice cream maker for about 15 minutes. Add in your peppermint schnapps and continue to keep your ice cream in your machine for an additional 15 minutes. Using a spatula, scrap your ice cream out of the machine and into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.

Mmmm..minty fresh!

Additions: Chopped Walnuts, Hot Fudge, Peanut Butter, or wafer cookies. My mom and I used a thermometer because she is OCD and likes to make sure everything is perfectly even and numerically accurate. This is why she excels in baking.

Boozy Banana Ice Cream came to be simply because we had an excess of bananas in the house and what better way to use them up? The only problem that I now foresee is the fact there there is a whole bottle of 99 Bananas to use up. Got rid of the fruit. Now have a bottle...about 92 Bananas left.

 This might come in handy if I can somehow mix up a Bluth's Frozen Banana beverage in honor of Season 4 of Arrested Development, which will be a bittersweet viewing. (See later postings for trial and errors on this mission)

Ingredients

2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tbsp. all purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 large ripe bananas (The more brown spots the better. This will be easier to mash and also make the ice cream sweeter.)
1 cup cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract (can substitute run extract if you are feeling a bit tropical)
1/4 cup or 1/2 cup 99 Bananas (You can substitute dark rum or one of those sweet chocolate, whipped cream nonsense vodkas.)

 In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar into the eggs until blended and it has a yellowish hue. Whisk the flour and salt into the mixture. Keep to the side.

Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat on the stove top until boiling. Remove from heat and slowly pour into the eggs and sugar mixture. Once combined, pour back into the saucepan and put on low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir constantly until it thickens up a bit. You can use your wooden spoon to test how well the custard coats the back of the spoon. Do not boil the custard or else you will have more of a breakfast treat than an ice cream! (Did you just get deja vu?)

Remove from heat, and carefully pour through a strainer into a clean bowl.

Peel your brown-spotted bananas and put into a bowl. Mash them up using whatever utensil you prefer. I found that the back of a fork worked just fine. Add the mashed up bananas to the custard mix, which should still be hot. Let cool. Stir in your cream and extract.

Once fully mixed and cooled, pour into your ice cream maker for about 15 minutes. Add in the liquor of your choice and continue to keep your ice cream in your machine for an additional 15 minutes. Using a spatula, scrap your ice cream out of the machine and into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight.

I feel like you can make this ice cream and take off with it. Some add-ins you might want to also consider are dried coconut flakes, bake pie dough, chocolate chips, cherries etc. I found this recipe very sweet and I like to tone it down with a sweet/salty combo so I added some natural peanut butter. Perfection!

Dear Santa, Enjoy the Cookies with a Cold Glass of Beer Love, Me

Cookies Clockwise: Caramel Apple Cookies, Raspberry Chocolate Cream & Junior Mint (looks the same), and Chocolate Gingerbread. Beer: St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (AKA: best Christmas Ale Ever) Letter: Nice way of saying enjoy your diabetes and liver disease. Don't drink and Drive.

I write this post fully aware that it is way past Christmas; however, since I was disguised as the Grinch this year I figured it would be much safer to write this post post-holiday. Grinch. Scrooge. Any character from the movie Mixed Nuts. You name it. I was it...with the exception of baking Christmas Cookies.

This has been an E. tradition since...well...my parents didn't really mind that we drank in front of them anymore. When the E. family kicks off the holidays with Christmas Cookie baking it isn't all sugar, flour, and lemon glaze. It is more like Christmas Ale chugging, sloppy stirring, first batch mishaps, and of course stuffing face after midnight. I have tried to tell Cody the beauty that is Christmas Cookie Baking, which is really codename for "Excuse to Buy Expensive Seasonal Beer and Getting Tipsy Before 5pm WHILE Making Yourself a Drunk Snack." It is almost as good of a concept as Kent's Insomnia Cookies: GENIUS!

As much as I love this tradition I almost didn't do it this year. I have nixed everything else, but I could not, would not, not bake. Especially since Cody constantly asked me why I wasn't baking him cookies. So here it is: Chocolate Gingerbread, Junior Mint, Chocolate Raspberry Cream, Caramel Apple Cookies, and Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti.

I would like to first point out that a KitchenAid is amazing. I have heard (with cringing jealousy) that it is a must have, but now I have no doubt. Not only does it thoroughly mix your cookie dough, it allows you you drink your beer instead of arm aching hand stirring. Deliciously lazy!  If you have a few extra hundred dollars I would highly suggest investing in one.

Recipe: Via Budget Bytes

 

Recipe: Six Sisters' Stuff (Notes: I like to warm these up in the microwave for a *couple* seconds to warm up the caramels)

Recipe: Sugar Hero (Note: For the Raspberry Chocolate Cream Cookies just switch out the peppermint extract with vanilla and the Junior Mint with a Raspberry Creme)

I have burnt white chocolate to a black crisp in the microwave before. Slowly melt the white chocolate on low heat in a double boiler and then dip a fork into the chocolatey goodness and go Jackson Pollock on your cookies. Think light, quick wrist flicking motions. 

Recipe: FoodNetwork

With an afternoon/evening of baking complete with five cookies cooling on the counter and empty St. Bernardus beers by the sink it was a successful Christmas Cookie Baking. Wish you were there, Teach.