Food

10 BEAUTIFUL ICE CREAM DREAMS NOW

Cherry Crisp Ice Cream Sandwich by Erica’s Sweet Tooth.

Courtesy of Erica’s Sweet Tooth. Cherry Crisp Ice Cream Sandwiches.

What foods do we dream about in summer? Ice cream dreams! Of course! We’ve collection 10 of the most scrumptious, dreamiest ice cream recipes and ideas we could find happening right now. So dig in….!

These Cherry Crisp Ice Cream Sandwiches by Erica of Erica's Sweet Tooth are a cherry ice cream dream-come-true. With big chunks of roasted dark red fruit studded throughout a rich cream-cheesey ice cream base, all slathered between crunchy oatey wafers, this is summer treat heaven!

1. CHERRY CRISP ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crisp Streusel:

4 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
Dash of ground cinnamon
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp old-fashioned rolled oats

For the Roasted Cherries:

2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp granulated sugar

For the Vanilla Ice Cream Base:

2 cups whole milk, divided
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the ice cream sandwich assembly:

24 graham cracker squares

DIRECTIONS:

For the Crisp Streusel:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except the oats.
Combine the ingredients with a pastry blender, 2 forks, or your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse sand. Then add the oats and mix well.
Spread the mixture out on the baking sheet and break up any clumps with your fingers.
Bake, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is browned and crisp, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool, then put in the freezer until ready to use.

For the Roasted Cherries:

Preheat the oven to 450˚ F. Combine the cherries and the sugar in a small pan and toss well to mix.
Bake the cherries for 10 minutes, or until the cherries start releasing their juices. Let the cherries cool to room temperature on the counter, then store in the fridge until ready to use.

For the Vanilla Ice Cream Base:

Combine 2 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch in small bowl and whisk until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and salt and whisk until smooth and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to the heat and bring back to a boil, stirring with a spatula until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
Whisk the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese until smooth. Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator to chill thoroughly before churning, I recommend overnight.
Once chilled, freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

For the ice cream sandwich assembly:

Line a 9x13" baking dish with tin foil so that extra hangs off the sides to make handles. When the ice cream is done, transfer to the prepared baking dish and add the cherries and streusel.
Use an offset spatula or butter knife to gently fold in the components until you have a nice swirl, but avoiding turning the entire batch solid pink. Cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
Once the ice cream has firmed, pull the ice cream from the dish using your tinfoil handles and transfer to a cutting board.
Use a graham cracker square to serve as a stencil and cut 12 squares of ice cream with a sharp knife. Sandwich the squares of ice cream between 2 graham crackers and place in an airtight container in the freezer.

2. RASPBERRY ICE CREAM SANDWICHES WITH LEMON COCONUT SHORTBREAD

While we are in the fruity ice cream sandwich frame of mind, here’s a gorgeous pink confection from Five and Spice, with fresh raspberry ice cream layered between impossibly delicious lemon coconut shortbread cookies. Doesn’t that pile look amazing?

INGREDIENTS:

For the Raspberry Ice Cream:

3 cups strained raspberry puree (made from blending and straining about 30 oz. raspberries. Strain well! Frozen and defrosted raspberries work fine). If you prefer, you can use just 2 cups
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup half and half
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Chambord

For the Lemon Coconut Shortbread Cookies:

1 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter (use good quality), soft but still slightly cooler than room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
the zest of 2 lemons
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

For the Raspberry Ice Cream:

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks and set aside.
Add the cream and half and half and sugar to a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the insides in. Then toss in the pod, for good measure. Heat just to a simmer (If you’re using vanilla extract, wait to add it until the end when you add the raspberries).
Add about 1/4 cup of the hot liquid to the egg yolks, whisking furiously to temper the yolks. Add another 1/2 cup, continuing to whisk. Then, scrape the egg mixture into the pot with the rest of the liquid is. Cook, stirring constantly at a low simmer until the mixture thickens to a custard consistency, thick enough to thickly coat the back of a spoon.
Strain the custard into a bowl. Stir in the raspberry puree (and vanilla extract if using) until completely mixed. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (I like to leave mine overnight). Then, churn in an ice cream machine according to your machine’s directions, transfer to a container and freeze.
Use to assemble ice cream sandwiches with the cookies, as directed below.

For the Lemon Coconut Shortbread:

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Bake in a 325F oven until just lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the salt and lemon juice.
Beat in the flour in two additions, adding the coconut and lemon zest with the second addition. Then beat just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms almost a single mass.
Gather the dough together, flatten it into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat your oven to 325F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about a quarter inch thickness. Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter to cut circles. Transfer the cookies to parchment lined baking sheets.
Gather the remaining dough together, roll it out again and cut more circles. Repeat as needed to cut all the dough (you may have some odd scraps at the end – bake them and snack on them), using as little flour as possible all the while.
Bake the cookies for about 16-20 minutes (rotating each baking sheet halfway through the baking time), or until they are golden brown. Keep the sheets with uncooked cookies on them in the refrigerator while they wait to bake (this may not be necessary if your kitchen is cool. Mine was roasting hot!).
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.
To assemble the ice cream sandwiches, let the raspberry ice cream soften slightly. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of a cookie. Top with another cookie and press down gently to make a sandwich. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the freezer.
Repeat until you have used up all of the cookie pairs (or all of the ice cream, whichever comes first, but they were fairly well matched). Let the sandwiches freeze until they are hardened. Then serve. They will also keep wrapped and stored in the freezer (put them in a box of some sort to protect them) for a while, just waiting for when you need them.

3. BERRY ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

And yet another, yet totally different berry ice cream sandwich caught our eyes and tongues and captured our hearts -- this treasure from World Tasters is so simple, yet so perfect. Perfect for a summer evening under the stars.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Ice Cream:

3 cups of berries (here we used a mix of strawberries and blueberries, but any will work)
2 cups of heavy cream
2/3 cup half and half
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar

For the Shortbread Cookies:

2 sticks of butter, room temperature
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of salt
1 cookie cutter

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the berries with 3/4 cup of sugar over medium heat in a small saucepan. The berries will start to plump and give off their juices. Allow them to cook down until the sugar is all dissolved and the mixture is just starting to turn syrupy or jam-like.
Remove from heat and split into two portions. Mix and blend 1/2 of the berry mixture with the milk and the half and half in a blender (or use a handy immersion blender like I did!). Store the other half covered in the fridge for now. If you are using seedy berries like raspberries, you can strain the mixture to remove the seeds.
Beat the cream and the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Mix this together with with the milk-half and half mixture. Cover and store in the fridge for at least 8 hours until ready to churn.
The next day, add the berry ice cream base to your ice cream machine and allow to churn (just follow the manufacturer’s directions). Once the ice cream is thickened and almost finished, add the remaining half of the macerated berries to the ice cream and churn some more until well-combined.
Line a baking dish with wax paper with overhangs. Pour your ice cream mixture in the baking dish and neatly spread out the ice cream for a flat layer of ice cream. Line the top of the ice cream with wax also (this prevents ice formation). Allow the ice cream to freeze at least 1 hour to overnight.
The shortbread cookies can be made at any time during the ice cream process. We used Joy of Baking’s recipe which worked out perfectly with our sunflower cookie cutter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
With a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy for 1 minute. Add the sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Using a spatula or a wooden spoon, slowly stir in the dry ingredients with the butter mixture.
Once combined, roll out the dough into a flat disk and wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to bake.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out your desired shape. Bake the cookies on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool before assembling your sandwich.
Remove the ice cream from the baking dish by lifting the ice cream using the overhangs of your parchment paper (this works really well!). Using the same cookie cutter, cut out your shaped ice cream and place in between two cookies.
Re-freeze the sandwiches for at least 10-15 minutes before serving.You can make the sandwiches ahead of time and store in the freezer before serving, just wrap each individual sandwich with some plastic wrap. Enjoy your berry-cool treat!

4. HOMEMADE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

These are simple good fun from Kiss My Spatula, with childhood memory flavors of chocolate chips and peanut butter. Ribbon optional. But she does suggest that you listen to I Like to Move It, Move It while you are eating them.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Ice Cream:

1 cup whole milk
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
a few drops of vanilla extract

For the Cookies:

3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter
1 large egg, room temperature
6 ounces, semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

For the Ice Cream:

Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan.
Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife.
Add the bean pod to the milk.
Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
Strain the custard into the heavy cream.
Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping.
Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

For the Cookies:

In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup oats until ground fine. Stir together ground oats, remaining 1/4 cup whole oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and peanut butter, combine well.
Add egg and beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Add chocolate chips and mix until just combined. Chill cookie dough, covered, 20 minutes, up to 1 week.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Form rounded tablespoons of dough into balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten balls slightly.
Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until just pale golden. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely.

Assembly:

Drop a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream between two cookies and squeeze gently together. Place between fingers of both hands and commence the badness.

5. BAKED ALASKA WITH MARZIPAN AND RHUBARB

If you are ready to get fancy, this just might be the prettiest Baked Alaska recipe ever. Baked Alaska with Marzipan and Rhubarb, by Cake Living, is so delicate.

INGREDIENTS:

Ingredients for the Cake:

85 g sugar
1 egg
60g plain flour
3 g baking powder (½ teaspoon)
50 g butter
30 ml water
80 g marzipan, grated

Ingredients for Meringue:

165g pasteurized egg whites (about 5 whites)
200 g sugar
30 ml water
5 g vanilla sugar (1 teaspoon)
The shell of ½ lemon
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Ingredients for Vanilla Ice Cream with Rhubarb Compote:

1 liter of good vanilla ice cream
1 serving rhubarb compote, see recipe here

FOR DIRECTIONS: See original recipe here.

6. CHOCOLATE COFFEE ICE CREAM CAKE

We found ourselves in a chocolate and coffee craving and --- VOILA -- up popped this amazing recipe for Chocolate Coffee Ice Cream Cake by Yossy Arefi which she first shared with our friends at Food52. The brownies are from Alice Medrich, so they’re divine. And the sweet cream ice cream doesn’t even need churning. Say hello to a new fave!

INGREDIENTS:

For the brownie layer:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup plus one tablespoon all-purpose flour
¼ cup cacao nibs

For the coffee ice cream layer:

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
¼ cup coffee beans, coarsely ground
¾ cups sugar
5 egg yolks
2 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
pinch of salt

No churn ice cream:

14ounces can of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons bourbon
pinch of salt

FOR DIRECTIONS: See original recipe on FOOD52 here

Serves 10 to 12

7. ROASTED BANANA PALETAS

These Roasted Banana Paletas, by Nicholas Day, are super-creamy popsicles with a sophisticated banana groove. They are super-simple to make. We found them on Food52.

INGREDIENTS:

3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

FOR DIRECTIONS: See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Makes 8 to 10 paletas

8. ROASTED FIG GELATO

Deep figginess, heightened with balsamic, and put over the top with mascarpone custard, this Roasted Fig Gelato from The View From Great Island is belissimo!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb Black Mission figs
2 cups heavy cream
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz package of mascarpone cheese (an Italian cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp Brandy
juice of 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:

Set oven to 400F.
Rinse and cut off the stems of the figs. Slice them in half and lay out, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes.
Put the roasted figs into a food processor and puree them until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the machine a few times to make sure you get everything thoroughly pureed. Chill the puree.
Put the cream, sugar, condensed milk, and mascarpone cheese in the food processor or blender. Process until the mascarpone is completely blended into the cream. Chill the mixture.
When everything is really cold, pour the cream mixture into your ice cream machine along with the fig puree. Process until almost finished, and then add in the vinegar, Brandy, and lemon juice. Taste the ice cream to adjust the amounts. Continue to process according to your machine's directions.
Fold the soft gelato into a container and put it in the freezer for at least several hours to allow it to firm up.

9. BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE CHUNK ICE CREAM

Blueberry Cheesecake and Ice Cream --- two dreams in one! Natalie Uy from Obsessive Cooking knows how to dream right. With chunks of cheesecake suspended in a cheesecake ice-cream base -- it’s just not fair! Check out her incredibly sumptuous ice cream fantasy here.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar, divided into 1/2 and 1/4 cups
1 cup cold light sour cream
1 cup cold heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
6-8 graham crackers

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Beat the cream cheese and sour cream at medium speed until soft and smooth, gradually adding 1/2 cup of sugar. Add the lemon juice and vanilla; beat until smooth.
Divide your cream cheese mixture into two halves. Take half and freeze it - this will be your cheesecake. Once frozen, cut the cheesecake into small chunks with a knife. With the other half, beat in the heavy cream, milk, and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar - this will be your ice cream base. Cover and refrigerate until very cold (2 to 3 hours).
Pour base into ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. In the last few minutes of churning add your cheesecake bits and blueberries to obtain a pretty swirl. Enjoy as soft serve or transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve. When ready to serve, add crushed graham crackers.

10. UBE ICE CREAM

It’s purple! So of course we love it! This Ube Ice Cream, from Allyson Kramer, is made from purple yam, also known as ube (pronounced: ooh-beh), popularly used in the Philippines and in Indonesia. Made with coconut milk, this ice cream is a great vegan dream. You can find these yams fresh, or frozen in chunks, in Asian groceries.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (550 g) boiled peeled ube or purple yam
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 can (about 1 1/2 cups) full fat coconut milk
1 cup soymilk
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

Blend all ingredients into a food processor or high powered blender until completely smooth. Transfer to refrigerator and chill until cold.
Place mixture into ice cream maker following the manufacturer’s instructions. Store in airtight flexible container in your freezer.
This ice cream is best after chilling several hours once it has finished processing.

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