Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Hi guys!  Sorry this is late.  My Thursdays are pretty much all about Farmer’s Markets now.  I’m not complaining though.  So far they have been super fun.  We have met the best people, and I always love to sample my products for people.  I want to have all of America drinking the Gourmet Rooster Kool-Aid;)

Last night wasn’t quite as fun though….I have had a horrid sore throat for the past few days, so talking was hard.  My medical friend Charlotte diagnosed me with tonsillitis and gave me a shot of antibiotics in my behind.  I literally couldn’t swallow anything.  Every time I tried to eat if felt like I was swallowing shards of glass.  All I could eat was ice cream.  Which really isn’t the worst thing…..

Since I was on an ice cream only diet, I decided to bust out my trusty ice cream maker.  I already had a great recipe for homemade vanilla ice cream, but this time I stirred in Gourmet Rooster County Fair Peach Spread and ended up with the most delicious ice cream.  I made ice cream sandwiches for the kids, and I just ate a bucket of ice cream.  I will show you how I made it!

This ice cream starts out with a cooked custard base.  Don’t get scared….it is still really easy.  I used whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract and County Fair Peach Spread.

I have got to figure out how to get rid of the glare from the flash of my camera.  Until I figure that out….I do apologize for my unsightly photos;)

I started by whisking my egg yolks and vanilla into sugar.  I whisked for a while….until the mixture was slightly thick and pale yellow.

Like so.

Then I heated my milk to a simmer on the stove.  I am still figuring out the whole gas stove thing.  I have never had one before.  I love it, but adjusting the temperature is hard.  It’s touchy.  I can understand….I am too. 

Once the milk was at a simmer, and you will know this because there will be bubbles along the side, I slowly added about a cups worth to the egg mixture….whisking all the while.  This is called “tempering”.  It just means that I am bringing the eggs mixture closer to the temperature of the milk.  If I just stirred the egg mixture right into the milk I would have one helluva pot of scrambled eggs.  Sweet scrambled eggs, so that would be gross.

Once the egg mixture was heated a bit, I poured it slowly into the milk pot.  And yes, I whisked the whole time.

Me…..whisking.

I let this cook until the mixture thickened, about 5 minutes.  If you think you are getting curdled egg, turn down your heat.

Once my mixture was thick, I poured it into a large bowl that already contained my heavy cream.  I stirred it up and added my peach spread.

If you think your eggs curdled a bit, feel free to push the milk mixture through a fine sieve before you add it to the cream.  I can’t think of anything grosser then chunks of egg in your ice cream.  Well, I can….but I won’t go there.

This all got poured into the base of my ice cream maker and then I plugged that bad boy in and let it rip. 

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you must get one.  They aren’t that expensive and they are so fun!  You can make ice cream, obviously, but you can also make fro-yo, slushies, sherbet, etc.  My kids love it.

I let this run for about 30 minutes.

Once it was frozen, I transferred the ice cream to a 13x9 pan and popped it in the freezer to freeze all the way through.  My ice cream maker likes to keep everything at soft serve consistency, which is delicious but no bueno for ice cream sandwiches.

While my ice cream froze, I made snickerdoodles to use as my “bread” for my sandwiches.  I used a packaged mix.  I won’t show you because I think we can all make cookies from a mix.  I bet even Mr. Rooster can, and he can barely boil water.

Once my ice cream was hard and my cookies were cooled, I used a round cookie cutter to poke out my ice cream.  I chose a cookie cutter that was slightly smaller than my cookies.  This way the ice cream had a little “squish” room when I assembled my sandwiches.

Yum!  The peach ice cream is sweet and tastes like peach pie.  The cookies are the perfect complement too. 

I ate most of the ice cream…..I can’t help it!  It soothes my throat;)  But it is so creamy and delicious, I probably would have eaten it all anyway.  I hope that you will try this recipe if you have an ice cream maker.  If you don’t…go get yourself one!

County Fair Peach Ice Cream

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

9 ounces County Fair Peach Spread

Whisk together egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract until mixture is thickened and pale yellow.  Set aside.

Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Once milk is hot, slowly add about a cup of milk into egg mixture, whisking the whole time.

Pour heated egg mixture into milk and heat over medium heat, whisking frequently.  After about 5 minutes, the mixture will thicken and coat the back of a spoon.

Pour milk and egg mixture into a bowl containing heavy cream.  Mix well.  Stir in peach spread.

Pour ice cream mixture into ice cream maker.  Follow ice cream maker directions.