Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Last weekend at the farmers' market, there was proof of a devious mind. Someone had placed the bundles of mint directly by their register. How could I resist buying some? It was so fragrant and wonderful.

At first, I thought I might use it in a sauce for the lamb we had for Easter dinner, but that didn't happen. Thus comes the second inevitability concerning this bundle of mint: I had to make ice cream. Obviously.

As a trusted source of many frozen desserts, I turned to David Lebovitz's website for a recipe. Needless to say, he had one. I'm about half-way through steeping the leaves right now, but I can't imagine anything going awry. (P.S. Nothing did go awry--it's delicious, though yes, it is more herbal than the store bought mint.) So here it is.

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop via David Lebovitz
makes 1 quart

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream, divided
pinch of salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks
5 ounces chocolate

1. In a pot, warm the milk, 1 cup of cream, sugar, salt and mint leaves over medium heat until steaming

2. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour

3. Strain the leaves out of the cream and milk, and press out as much liquid from the leaves as possible (try to avoid excessive bruising as cell damage increases the herbaceous flavor and doesn't extract extra menthol)

4. Return the infused liquid back into the pot and rewarm

5. While the infusion is warming, whisk the egg yolks together in a bowl

6. Add a bit of the warmed infusion into the yolks a drizzle at a time, continuing to whisk

7. Once the yolks are warmed, drizzle into the pot of infusion, stirring as you do

8. Stir this custard mixture until it becomes thick enough to coat the spatula, just before it gets steamy (steam point tends to be around 180°F, yolk set point is 177°F)

8b. Optional: Strain the custard base if you think you have any clumps

9. Add the rest of the cream and cool--you can do this over an ice bath--then refrigerate several hours or overnight

10. Churn according to the directions on your ice cream maker

11. While that's churning, melt the chocolate (in a double boiler or the microwave)

12. Toward the end of the churning or as you are putting the ice cream in a container, drizzle the chocolate over the ice cream and stir (or let be churned) a little at a time

13. Freeze until firm

Chocolate Beet Cake

My first experience with chocolate beet cake was at a potluck earlier this year when Chris and I went to our CSA farm for a day of cider pressing. It was pretty exquisite, but it was much more a chocolate cake that incidentally had beets in it than a chocolate beet cake. The recipe that I found for making it at home, however, is more the latter. This is a beet cake that has some lovely chocolatey-ness to it, and I love it.

An additional note now that I've made this recipe again: I found that the cake is very different depending on how you make the puree. Boiling gives a much less pronounced beet flavor. This was probably obvious if I had thought on it, but I hadn't until it smacked me in the face. That said, I found boiling to be even easier than roasting and definitely shorter, so it's a bit of a toss up as to which I prefer.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe.

Chocolate Beet Cake
makes a two-layer 9-inch cake
adapted from Tiger in a Jar

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil (or butter)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs

4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 pound (~2 cups) beet puree*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce liquor of choice (I used whiskey)

10 ounces (2 to 2-1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

confectioner's sugar or frosting (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 375°F and grease two 9-inch cake pans

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together (or cream if using butter) oil and brown sugar; then add eggs and mix well

3. In a medium mixing bowl (or double boiler) melt chocolate and 1/4 cup butter and stir until smooth

4. Cool the chocolate slightly before adding beets, vanilla and liquor

5. Add the beet mix to the butter/sugar/egg mix and blend thoroughly (this apparently may appear separated, but I didn't have such an issue)

6. Sift together flour, soda, and salt before adding to the wet ingredients and stirring until smooth

7. Pour one-half the batter into each cake pan and bake for 20-30 minutes

8. Cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely

9. Dust with confectioner's sugar or frost and serve

*If you've not made beet puree before, it's very simple. You can either just boil the beets until they're soft, skin them and put them in the blender with a bit of water, or you can skin them, roast them with a bit of water then pour all that in the blend and puree it. It does take about an hour to roast them versus about 30 minutes to boil, but still easy-peasy. And cooked beets (either way) or beet puree freezes just fine.

Cocoadoodles

Cocoadoodles
makes 24

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
1 large egg + 1/4 cup infused vodka of choice (or another large egg)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Cream butter and vegetable shortening in bowl of electric mixer. Add sugar and beat until very light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add egg and beat in.

Add flour and mix to combine.

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.

Form dough into 1 1/2" balls. Roll in sugar and cinnamon.

Place on baking sheet lined with parchment, partially pressing down. Bake until top is cracked and lightly golden, 12-14 minutes.

Cool completely

Chocolate Mousse

I was looking through the various recipes that I keep on hand, and I realized that this mousse recipe has never made it here to Jammin' Jelly. That's likely because I tend to make it around the holidays, when I either have little to no access to the internet or am just not thinking about blogging a recipe when I could be talking with the people I love.

Regardless, I think this is such a wonderful recipe that I really do want to share it here. I know plenty of other people like it, as I've found it spammed over other food blogs, but it originates from Gourmet Magazine and you can find it here. I will say that I like it with the darker chocolate, but if you don't, you should use semi-sweet chocolate rather than bittersweet.

Without further ado,

Rich Chocolate Mousse
Serves 4-6
adapted from Gourmet

8 oz bittersweet chocolate (60-70%), chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
3 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon brandy, rum, or other liquor (such as creme de menthe)
1 cup heavy whipping cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Melt chocolate and butter, either in a metal bowl over pan of boiling water or in a glass bowl in the microwave. I know some people have trouble with scorching chocolate in the microwave, but it's my preferred method. I melt the chocolate for 1 min, then stir and add butter and put it in for an additional minute. Stir it again when you take it out.

2. If you don't care for washing your beater(s) inbetween beating the different parts of the eggs, start with beating the whites with the salt. Beat until they've formed soft peaks.

3. Beat the egg yolks until they are lightened and thick. A ribbon formed when you pick the beater up should take a few seconds to disappear.

4. Add the yolks and liquor to the chocolate mixture and stir in.

5. Beat the cream until stiff.

6. Fold cream and whites into chocolate mixture gently.

7. Transfer to dessert glasses or bowls, chill for 30 minutes before serving. You can also chill, covered tightly for up to 2 days, though you'll want to let them stand at room temp for 30 minutes before serving if you do completely chill them.