PEACH ICE CREAM BROWNIE MUD PIE

Today is Peach Ice Cream Day. To celebrate the day, you can pour chocolate sauce over peach ice cream topped with fresh peaches. But to take it up a notch, make this great recipe from Land O Lakes. Don't forget that there are some wonderful recipes on food sites. I love this one!

PEACH ICE CREAM BROWNIE MUD PIE

Ingredients 

Brownie 

1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened 
1 (1-ounce) square unsweetened baking chocolate, melted 
1 large egg 
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

Filling

 
1 cup thick chocolate fudge sauce
1 quart peach ice cream, slightly softened 

Garnish 

Thick chocolate fudge sauce

Peach slices, if desired

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch pie plate with no-stick cooking spray; set aside. 

Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add chocolate and egg. Continue beating until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder; beat at low speed until well mixed. 

Spread batter into prepared pie plate. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges just begin to pull away from sides of pan. (Do not overbake.) Cool 1 hour. 

Spread thick fudge sauce over cooled brownie. Spread softened ice cream over topping. Cover; freeze 4 hours or until firm.  

Cut into wedges while frozen. Drizzle each serving with fudge sauce and garnish with sliced fresh peaches.

THREE EASY RECIPES FOR CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM: National Ice Cream Day

I scream! You scream! We all scream for Ice Cream! Make it chocolate! To celebrate National Ice Cream Day (and Ice Cream Month), here are 3 easy recipes for Chocolate Ice Cream. As always use the very best ingredients. Be sure and try all three and let me know which is your favorite!

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM RECIPE #1

Ingredients
1-1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Whisk together milk, cocoa powder, and sugar to combine.
Stir in heavy cream and vanilla extract.
Refrigerate chocolate ice cream base for at least 30 minutes before putting in your ice cream freezer, so it is completely cold. This will help freeze faster, improving texture, and allow cocoa powder to become fully hydrated by the milk and cream.

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM RECIPE #2

Ingredients
1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2/3 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups whole milk
31/4 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions
In bowl, combine cocoa and both sugars, whisking to combine well. Add milk and whisk until sugars are dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla. Pour mixture into freezer bowl of ice cream maker. Let run for 30 minutes, or until mixture is thick, soft, and creamy.
Transfer to airtight container and freeze at least 2 hours.

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM RECIPE  #3 (without ice cream maker)

This recipe is for Magic Chocolate Ice Cream -- recipe from Borden's Elsie the Cow

Ingredients
1 square unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions
Melt chocolate in top of double boiler. Add sweetened condensed milk and stir over rapidly boiling water 5 minutes until thick. Add water, mix well. Chill. Add vanilla. Whip cream to custard-like consistency. Fold into chilled mixture. Freeze until half-frozen. Take out of container and beat until smooth but not melted. Replace in freezer until frozen.

BEYOND BOBA: TAPIOCA USES & VINTAGE TAPIOCA ADS

Today is National Tapioca Pudding Day. I posted a recipe for Kicked Up Chocolate Tapioca Pudding on Tapioca Day, so I thought I'd write a little more about Tapioca. 

When I was growing up, tapioca was a once a week dessert. It was not a favorite, but times and recipes have changed, and it may have been how my mother prepared it. If you're into boba or bubble tea, you know that it is made with big pearl tapioca. That tapioca starch turns into a chewy gummy ball when cooked.

But what is Tapioca? I consulted Spruce Eats for answers.

Tapioca has a neutral flavor and strong gelling power, making it effective as a thickening agent in both sweet and savory foods. Unlike cornstarch, tapioca can withstand a freeze-thaw cycle without losing its gel structure or breaking down, making it an ideal thickener in ice cream recipes.

Varieties 

Tapioca starch (from the cassava plant) can be purchased as flour or instant flakes; it's opaque prior to cooking but turns translucent upon hydration. Tapioca pearls and powders are most often white or off-white, but the pearls, frequently used in desserts, can be dyed to just about any color. Tapioca pearls come in large and small sizes. Boba are large sweetened pearls often dyed black and used for bubble tea. 

Tapioca Uses 

Traditional uses for tapioca include tapioca pudding, bubble or boba tea, and other candies and desserts. Both tapioca pudding and boba tea are made with pearled tapioca, or small balls of tapioca starch that turn into a chewy, gummy ball when cooked. In addition, tapioca adds body to soups, sauces, and gravies; it has more thickening power and generally costs less than flour and other thickeners. Tapioca can be added to ground meat products, such as burger patties and chicken nuggets, as a binder and ingredient stabilizer. It traps moisture in a gel, so it's often added to baked goods to prevent the pastry from becoming soggy during storage. Tapioca is a common ingredient in gluten-free products because it helps lighten the texture and maintain moisture in the absence of gluten. 

How to Cook With Tapioca 

Tapioca pearls must be soaked for up to 12 hours and then cooked in boiling liquid to form a gel. Quick-cooking or instant tapioca, with a more granular texture, can be whisked into soups, gravies, jams and jellies, pie fillings, and other creamy concoctions to act as a thickener. Tapioca flour can be used in place of other flours and as a 1:1 replacement for cornstarch. 

What Does It Taste Like?

Tapioca does not have much flavor on its own, but when sweetened and added to desserts such as pudding, it adds texture and heft. The lack of flavor is an advantage when it's used to thicken savory dishes such as soups and gravies. 

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TAPIOCA has been around for a long time. Here are some great Retro/Vintage Advertisements for Tapioca. Some even have recipes! Let me know if you try any!

 

GRAND MARNIER TRUFFLES: Ooh la la...

Today is Bastille Day aka La Fête Nationale --and it's also Grand Marnier Day, so here's an easy recipe for Grand Marnier Truffles to celebrate the day! Ooh la la!

Grand Marnier, an orange flavored brandy, has been an icon of authentic French "joie de vivre" for over 150 years. Still owned by the Marnier Lapostolle Family, this acclaimed liqueur has a luxurious taste and still uses the same secret recipe. Grand Marnier is a blend of Cognac, distilled essence of bitter orange, and sugar.

One of the most important ingredients in Grand Marnier is Citrus Bigaradia Oranges. This variety of tropical orange stands apart from the sweet oranges we usually eat as it is bitter and has an intense aroma. Though the Citrus bigaradia is not a particularly rare orange, the way in which the oranges are harvested and then distilled to obtain the orange essence that goes into Grand Marnier® liqueur is very specific. The oranges are handpicked while they are still green -- when they are at their most aromatic. In order to preserve optimal concentration of the aroma of the peels, they are left to dry naturally under the Caribbean sun for several weeks on the Marnier Lapostolle family plantation. Their slow distillation extracts an orange essence that is particularly aromatic.

GRAND MARNIER TRUFFLES

Ingredients
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp fresh orange zest
12 ounces dark chocolate (65-75% cacao), chopped
1 Tbsp plus 1-1/2 tsp Grand Marnier
1/3 cup DARK cocoa

Directions
In saucepan over medium heat, bring the heavy cream and orange zest just to a boil.
Remove from heat.
Add chopped chocolate and Grand Marnier and stir until smooth.
Chill chocolate mixture (ganache) until hard enough to roll into balls.
Using two spoons or melon baller, extricate chocolate and roll into ball.
Roll ball in cocoa powder and chill.

This recipe can be doubled.

Experiment with different chocolate -- brands and amounts of cacao -- for different taste.