Foodbuzz Tastemaker: Magnum Gourmet Ice Cream

Foodbuzz Tastemaker gave me the opportunity to sample a new line of premium ice cream bars, Magnum Ice Cream. Magnum Ice Cream uses silky vanilla bean ice cream surrounded by a layer of Belgium chocolate. With six different flavors to choose from, you won't know where to start!

I tried the almond ice cream bars. The almond slivers are mixed with the creamy chocolate coating and provide a pleasing crunch. I was rather surprised by the chocolate. It tasted rich, almost with caramel undertones, and the vanilla ice cream was thick and delicious. I would give these bars 5 stars based on taste.

What I was perplexed at, however, was the fact that each box contains three. Do they make these for me, myself, and I? What's up with that? Sure, I'll say they might be worth the premium price, but for the same price I can find another premium ice cream that contains at least four bars, not three. Each pack is $4.99, or $1.50 individually and can be found at Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger, Target, Meijer, and more.

Harry Potter and Butterbeer (with Homemade Spiced Coconut Ice Cream)

Don't forget to enter the Progresso giveaway for a chance to win Lemon Pepper Panko and a signed copy of Chef Michael Chiarello's Bottega

Harry Potter and Whichever-It-Is... Okay, it's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part one, opens today in theaters across the nation. And the world. Although none of the books ever mention the United States, so we're to assume the only witches and wizards are either British, French, or Russian. And none of the books mention Marmite, either.

Anyway.

I usually celebrate in some sort of way by making a treat, typically pumpkin pasties. I even have a crapton of pictures of the spread I assembled, complete with a jar of Marmite that I haven't since touched, from an "after the Deathly Hallows book release fiesta" that I've never developed. I'm not even a huge Harry Potter fan. I didn't swoon when Robert Patterson decided to eff the wizarding world after being destroyed by Voldemort by becoming a vampire. "Yeah, take that, Harry! Forget your scar -- I sparkle in the sunlight."

So anyway, again, my mom was throwing the idea around of creating a homemade butterbeer centered around our new favorite fall-flavored tea, Bigelow's Pumpkin Spice Tea. The version of butterbeer we make uses vanilla ice cream blended with brown sugar-and-spice mixed in butter, scooped in a mug, and topped with hot apple cider. Well, we had no ice cream. But why not make our own?

And so I did. I could have done that spell Hermoine does where she makes recipes come together. (Doesn't it bother you that this "spell" only works if the ingredients are present -- meaning, they have to originate from in the flesh and be in the same room instead of appearing from thin air? That's not magic, folks.) But instead I used regular cooking skills. Mom had the idea of using a can of coconut milk, as the higher fat content would erase the need of the butter. I quickly cracked and separated egg yolks from whites, whisked with sugar, then added whole milk and a can of whole coconut milk in a saucepan. With a pinch of salt and various spices, the custard was on its way, slowly heating up to a thickened mixture. I debated just using coconut milk, but I wasn't sure if it'd turn out too icy. However, I'll try it again since it'd have been lactose free.

Once that was set, I ended up refrigerating the custard overnight. You can then freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions, or do the caveman version of pouring the custard into a wide container with decently high sides, freeze, and stir in 15 minute increments.

Referencing my old ice cream post, the increments between stirring were longer. Maybe this was because the custard wasn't as chilled, but more room temperature, and then I realized I had followed David Lebovitz' instructions. So check earlier or check later, you decide.

(So during this ice cream venture, I decided to mix the almost frozen mix one time passed when it probably needed it, and instead of being completely smooth it took on a strange texturized appearance, as you can see in my picture. Not sure why this was.)

The ice cream came out incredibly delicious, thought with just a subtle hint of coconut. Not too sweet, yet sweet at the same time. Next step was to brew the tea, sweeten just a tad (1 teaspoon sugar per cup), then pour over the ice cream scooped inside a mug. What you get is a delicious foam as the ice cream melts from the hot tea. Eventually, the entire cup becomes cooler. I liked the way it tasted, though I think the apple cider gave it a rounder taste. Until most of the ice cream had melted, it still tasted a little watered down, but not bad at all.

What I would suggest is to brew the tea at double strength and sweeten more, or steep the tea bags in heated apple cider.

Definitely try this out if you're looking for a fun spin on your Harry Potter party.

(Recipe after the jump)

---

Print this recipe

Spiced Coconut Ice Cream
Recipe by Christina Provo

ingredients ~

4 large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 14.5 ounce can whole coconut milk
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

directions ~

1. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan until combined. Slowly pour in both milks, whisking to combine. Stir in the spices. Turn the heat up to medium and cook, stirring almost constantly, for 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, which will steep during the remaining cooking time. Continue cooking until the custard thickens, around 5-10 minutes. To test, it'll coat the back of a spoon and won't bleed into a line drawn through the center.


2. Immediately remove from the heat and pour into a plastic bowl. Let cool to room temperature; cover, and refrigerate overnight.


3. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions, or pour into a deep container. Place dish in the freezer. In 20 minutes, take the dish out and stir the ice cream. It'll have begun to freeze around the sides. Make sure you mix thoroughly so the custard is all once consistency.


4. Return to freezer, and repeat every 15-20 minutes, totaling 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cover, and freeze until eaten.

To make butterbeer

Brew a tea bag of Bigelow's Pumpkin Spice Tea in a cup of heated apple cider. Stir in a teaspoon of sugar. Scoop some ice cream into a mug, then pour the tea on top. Stir with your fake wand that is the equivalent of a fake Star Wars lightsaber. Enjoy!

summertime ice cream

I never realized it was possible to make ice cream without a machine, either because I'm stupid or because I never looked into it more deeply than an afterthought. Whatever the reason, a visit to David Lebovitz' blog where I found a method to make ice cream without a machine, I did a back flip and screamed for ice scream. I don't have any pictures of this.

This isn't actually the first ice cream I made as I tested it out 4th of July weekend with spectacular results (and you can substitute the heavy cream with evaporated milk...), an orange-flavored ice cream with melted chocolate added close to the end of the "churning" process. My next flavor needed to be something completely different than what I'm accustomed to making, and I used this opportunity to make a peach flavored ice cream for my brother, with what was supposed to be a hint of mint in the background.

The chosen recipe was the same as last time from Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook for the custard base, and the peach jam for the peachiness.

Giving step-by-step instructions so you cannot fail unless your inherent trait is fail, you cannot go wrong with this recipe. I chose it because it was a custard, including eggs, and therefore richer. I used heavy cream this time, but replaced the skim milk with whole milk for even more richness. A little tip, the custard is supposed to be more liquidy than what you might think a custard to be, but it will coat the back of a spoon.

So the first step is to heat the moo juice with some of the sugar, then remove from heat and steep the flavoring for 30 minutes. A word to the dumb: Don't steep mint for 30 minutes unless you want what tastes like undertones of rye. I figured maybe it was just me, but my brother commented on it. And I smushed his bowl in his plate and insulted is palate. Kidding.
The better way to steep the mint is to put a few sprigs in after the entire custard has finished, for 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, while the mint flavor came through this time (I didn't feel it was enough to come out against the peach the first time), it was very strong. Whoops.

As all ice cream recipes will instruct you to chill the custard in an ice bath prior to churning, I don't have ice. You could instead place it in the fridge overnight, but I hadn't any patience. What I did was place the custard bowl in a bowl of really cold water, changing the water whenever it became warm.

Next step is to place the cold custard in a shallow container and place in the freezer.

After the first 45 minutes this is what it will look like. Since you don't have a machine, you'll want to really get in there with a sturdy spoon or spatula and mix it all up, churning with the strength of your own arm, breaking up any frozen particles to emulsify the mixture into something evenly smooth.

The freeze-and-mix process continues every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours, as per Lebovtiz' instructions. The top picture is what it looked like after one of those, I think nearish the beginning, I'm sorry but I forgot precisely. But it shows how my freezer has a cold spot, so I turned the container at the halfway point. The second picture illustrates how I broke down the frozen parts and blended it all back together; you can also see the difference in texture from the first picture. Take your time and don't rush the process.

Here, near the end, is where I added the peach jam, though in two additions. Stewart's recipe said to add it near the churning time is completed and right before placing it in the freezer, but again this was with a machine so I was a bit unsure as to when I should actually add it. I noticed it made the mixture more liquidy, of course, so the freezing time had to be increased. (I also forgot to change camera settings.)

And finally, it'll look something like this at the end. As per normally, homemade proves to be better than many pre-made products. My one brother liked how it seemed richer and more dense than most ice cream, which makes sense considering less air was probably mixed in, not entirely unlike gelato.

Next time I want to try a recipe for chocolate sorbet I have bookmarked, and I probably will have waffle cones to go along with it. So, on the count of three we will all scream, just wait until I leave.