cold stone creamery kisses & cheesecake wishes...

So I've returned from out of space and everyone wants an update eh? What have I been up to...some are wondering. Does gaining 15 pounds in a few months suffice as an adequate answer? Because that's pretty much all I have been doing. Eating, working, falling in love, moving, working, eating, cooking and an array of other mischievous activities. Ahhh, who am I kidding. You want all the juicy details. Right? Right. So let's start at the end of the beginning...

There was a boy. Remember him? We met. Fell in love, rather quickly, and the rest was foodie history. I adopted him into my absurdly ridiculous gluttonous foodie world, and to my surprise, he fit right in. I mean the boy loves eating! So needless to say, Christmas went over without a hitch. The whole shebang filled with sweet potato pie, stuffed Turkey roulade, gingerbread cookies, and even some buttermilk bundt cake solidified our soul mate status. I cooked it, and well, he ate it all. Phew. Then came the sleepover phase. Lots of nights over. Leaving tooth brushes and Victoria's Secret stashes. Date nights consisting of dinner and a movie, and of course, dessert. But not just any dessert. My sweetheart introduced me to Cold Stone Creamery. How I have lived over two decades and never heard of this beloved ice cream chain before is beyond me. Their ice cream is so good, its orgasmic. No exaggerations here. I'm known to make funny noises while eating my Founder's Favorite and Chocolate Devotion flavors. If you never heard of Cold Stone either, its time to emerge from hibernation and get with it dolls. If you have been exposed to the light, tell me what's your favorite flavor? I have a new one, and it snuck up on me. The boyfriend always orders the same one. He first started with their Cheesecake Fantasy which is a berry filled bliss. But then one night we walked in and he ordered the Pie Who Loved Me, which is still a cheesecake delight, but instead of berries, cookies and pie crust take their place. When we got home, I had one spoon, then another, and another. Now every weekend when we order our two flavors, I end up eating half of his. Ha! Women...so self-entitled. Fast forward now to a deep desire to impress the hubby with my "I can make anything the store can dish up attitude" since he's dubbed me his black Martha Stewart, and I snatched up an ice cream maker on sale at Target (my new fave store now that I'm a wannabe housewife) and came home flicking through the instructions, browsing recipes online, until finally I grew the balls to make some homemade custard. And since I am quite a challenging damsel (re: over confident, but don't ask why), I of course thought of no better way to start off this homemade discovery than by making the Pie Who Loved Me flavor, which can easily be described as a decadent cheesecake with cookie crust and fudge drizzled on top.

Well, twelve hours later and we are still in shock, both stumbling over each other with ideas and what flavors to make next. I plan on making all of our Cold Stone faves, then heading into the shadowy abyss of sherbert, sorbets, and gelato. All I can say is, if you have fifty bucks on you and want some ice cream tonight, and every night after that without leaving the house, this was more than I hoped for, and you'll get addicted too. Cheers to ice cream-a-holics!

Homemade "Pie Who Loved Me" Ice Cream

adapted from David Lebovitz’s Cheesecake Ice Cream

Makes about 3 cups (little less than 1 quart)

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
4 graham crackers
5 Oreos
chocolate syrup or fudge

Method:
1. For the Ice Cream Fillings: Place the graham crackers in a food processor or blender and pulse until you have what resembles crumbly pie crust. Empty and do the same with the Oreo cookies. (I removed the cream from the cookies for a bit of a healthy kick. The point of homemade ice cream is knowing what goes into your custard and cremes. God knows what they use to make Oreo creme right!) Set aside.

2. For the Ice Cream: Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and throw them into a blender. Then add the sour cream, half-and-half, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth.

3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover it, and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. (I chilled mine in the freezer).

5. Once the ice cream mixture has chilled for at least 4 hours, freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (Mine was pretty simple. Just turn it on, pour in chilled mixture, and let churn for half an hour). During the last few minutes of churning, add in the pie crust, Oreos, and fudge.

6. Transfer the ice cream from the machine to a freezer-safe, airtight container. Place a layer of plastic wrap over the ice cream, fasten a lid on the container, and place the container in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.

7. To serve, top the ice cream with any remaining pie crust or homemade whip cream!

THE VERDICT: Holy smokes! It was good. So good, I don't even have pictures of the actual ice cream. I'm so sorry! We kept tasting and tasting, waiting for it to harden, that by the time it was ice cream consistency, that bad boy came right out of the freezer and straight into our tummies! The difference between mine and Cold Stone's? Well, hands down the homemade custard tastes exactly like cheesecake. The flavor is more robust and rich, whereas Cold Stone I believe either lessens the amount of cream cheese, or perhaps even uses just a cheesecake flavoring and not actual creme cheese. I guess it depends on your palette. I like both, sometimes you just want a hint, and sometimes you want to eat what tastes like a batter! And yes, the boyfriend loveddddd it. He adores the Oreo crunch. All in all, I'm considering starting an ice cream shop. No joke!

WHAT I LEARNED: I don't think I've ever been so pleasantly surprised with a kitchen outcome ever in my life. Its a huge deal to go from being intimidated by something for so long (macarons anyone!?) to finally slapping fear in the face and getting elbow deep in some custard. Once an ice cream maker is in your possession, its as simple as milk and sugar. But there are still a few things learned. For one, make your custard the night before if you really want serenity and perfection. I did this same day we wanted to eat it, starting the custard early in the morning, then finished it while cooking a full on BBQ dinner (more on that tomorrow) and it still came out great, but I prefer less chaos in my kitchen. Freezing the night before cuts out all the curious tastings and anxiety. Second, my particular ice cream maker does more of a freeze harden then churn even though it has the churner attachment, so I had to get all Cold Stone on it and fold in my fillings after it finished, which made it melt a bit before I put it back in the freezer. So depending on which model you have, you might want to add the fillings before you churn so everything hardens together. That's all for now.

PS- Other updates of course include launching my new company now that I put the tea party idea on hold (you'll never guess what it is, but try!) as well as getting a new apartment, and going full throttle into all organic, all natural, almost holistic-like living. More on that later. I have allot to share!

xoxo