Margherita Pizza

We’ve riffed on tomatoes several times in the heat of the summer. In all of our ideation, we’ve always kicked around the idea of pizza but it wasn’t until now that we finally decided to take the leap.  Although I must admit, I did simplify the idea this round – and chose to leave out the pepperoni (even though I was soo tempted to put it in).  Instead I went the classic margherita route, inspired by the simple pizza topped with garden fresh tomatoes, basil and good old mozzarella cheese.

 

 

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The process begins with the tomatoes.  I chose to make a tomato jam for the tomato component of the flavor because the cherry tomatoes are typically sweeter and remind me a bit of a regular berry.  The jam was made like we would make any other fruit jam, a little lemon juice, and sugar and that’s it!  The cherries soak in lemon juice to coax out the liquid and then are cooked with sugar until the water is displaced.  It’s a sweet jam that explodes with tomato flavor.

 

 

cherry tomatocherry tomato jam

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the jam complete, the next step is the mozzarella ice cream base.  Similar to how we’ve used cheese in previous flavors, the mozz is shredded very fine, and then slowly whisked into the ice cream base as it’s being cooked.

 

 

mozzarella

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last step is the basil.  Fresh basil is minced very fine and added in fresh at the end of the churn to provide that bright herb-y accent that cuts right through the cheese and tomato.

 

 

Basilbasil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say, the end result was even more delightful than I expected.  I knew it would be good, but the flavors came together so fantastically well. As it turns out cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella are just as successful of a trio in ice cream as they are on pizza.

 

margherita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scoop is a tangy, mozzarella and basil flecked ice cream swirled with sweet cherry tomato jam.
Margherita Pizza Ice Cream Recipe

Cherry Tomato jam ingredients:
1 pint fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (about 1/2 pound)
1 to 1-1/2 Cups  sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Ice Cream ingredients:
1 Cup of Milk (The higher the fat percentage, the creamier the ice cream)
2 Cups of Heavy Cream
1 Cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 Cup of sugar
1 Cup of pre-made Cherry Tomato Jam
1 Tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon of salt

 

Instructions for the Jam: Place a plate in the freezer (this will come in handy in a bit). In a medium saucepan combine the sliced cherry tomatoes and lemon juice. Let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash briefly with a potato masher to press out more of the juice, but don’t pulverize. Stir in sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Cook and stir the mix until the bubbles subside and the jam appears slightly thickened, somewhere around 15 minutes. To test for doneness, spoon a small amount onto the chilled plate. If jam is gooey and wrinkles when you push your finger into it, it is done.  This means it will not be icy in the cream (which you do not want).  If not, add a bit more sugar and cook and stir a little longer before testing again.   Cover and chill completely until you are ready to make the ice cream.

Instructions for ice cream: Crack eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk fully.  Add sugar whisk until fully combined.  Add heavy cream, mozzarella cheese, and salt.  Whisk again until all ingredients are fully blended.

Over medium heat, whisk or stir base continuously. Keep stirring continuously until temperature reaches 165-170 degrees.  Remove from heat. Cool ice cream base to room temperature (an ice bath will do this in about 15-20 minutes).  Put base in a clean container, cover, and chill in refrigerator overnight.

5. Churn ice cream base in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add basil in last 5 minutes of churning.    Place ice cream is in freezer proof storage container. swirling in the cherry tomato jam in layers as you do so.  Place container in freezer and freeze ice cream for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight if you can wait.

*Yields approximately 2.5 pints
If you’d rather not make it, you can be one of two lucky winners of this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. Two winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 8/21/15 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally in Minneapolis. Prizes must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

 

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Swiss Almond

This isn’t the vanilla ice cream filled with chocolate covered almonds you might be familiar with.   There are almonds in it, sure, but that’s where the resemblance ends.  I’ve had cheese on the brain (when don’t I?) and have been kicking around a swiss cheese flavored ice cream for quite awhile.  As a kid, swiss cheese may as well have been poison ( to my wife it still is).  It’s one of those foods that is divisive – most either love it or hate it.  Well, my tastes have shifted in adulthood and I’ve found myself on the “love it” side of the fence.  Funny how many flavors hearken back to childhood memories good and bad.  To round out the swiss cheese ice cream, I chose to add some sliced raw almonds to the mix for a little crunch.

 

Swiss Almond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the swiss cheese selection, we chose Emmentaler.  I wanted a cheese that was on the dry side, to keep the moisture content down and to keep it from getting stringy in the melting process.  I would have loved to have used something local but local aged swiss is harder to find than I thought.

 

grated swiss cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The process of making the ice cream base is relatively simple.  The cheese is grated as fine as possible to make the melting and incorporating process go smoothly.

 

Swiss Ice Cream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The simple sweet cream base is mixed up and the grated swiss cheese is added gradually as the base cooks on the stove top and whisked until it is completely smooth.  The base is chilled, and the sliced almonds are added in at the end of the churn.

 

 

Swiss Almond Ice Cream

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end result was a very nice swiss cheese ice cream, speckled with a crunch from the sliced raw almond.  The pungent swiss cheese is  mellowed out by the cream and sugar but it’s bitter edge remains ever so slightly.  Fantastico!

 

Swiss Almond Ice Cream:

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Heavy Cream
1 Cup of Milk (choose your percentage based on how fatty/creamy you’d like your ice cream to be – the higher percentage the creamier the ice cream)
2 large eggs
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup finely grated dry swiss cheese (Emmentaler or any aged swiss)
1 tsp salt
1/2 Cup Sliced Raw Almonds

 

Instructions:

1. Crack eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk fully.  Add sugar and whisk more until cream, sugar and eggs are combined.  Add cream, milk, and whisk again until all are fully incorporated.

2. Place ice cream base in a pot and heat over medium heat, whisking or stirring continuously, gradually adding the grated swiss cheese and whisking more until cheese is completely melted into base.  Heat until temperature reaches 165 degrees. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature (an ice bath will do this in about 15-20 minutes) and then place in a container, cover and chill in refrigerator overnight.

3.  Churn ice cream base in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Add sliced almonds in last 5 muntes of the churn.  You can eat immediately as soft serve, but we would recommend freezing in a tightly covered container for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight if you can wait.  The flavors will continue to develop and change over the next few days.  Enjoy!

*Yields approximately 2.5 pints

 

 

 

If you’d rather not make it, you can be one of two lucky winners of this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. Two winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 2/6/15 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally in Minneapolis. Prizes must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

 

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Barley Malt Quark Apple Jam

Let’s face it folks, we’re clinging to summer with every fingernail we’ve got, but it’s dreamy warmth and bright sun is coming to an end.  The reality ahead is the second best transition season midwest has to offer – FALL! (sorry Fall nuts, I’m a Spring guy).   Back to football, back to school, back to cool nights and bonfires and gourds!  Back to the long sleeves and jeans us midwest folk are truly comfortable wearing. (amiright?)  Oh, and lest we forget APPLES! Every year we obsess a little about apples and we don’t plan on changing.

 

Apples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this week’s flavor we chose to create an apple jam.  In the past we’ve typically roasted the apples, but I wanted to try something different.  These Hoch Orchard Zestar apples were diced up small, and cooked down with sugar and cinnamon.  Making a jam allows us to get enough sugar in to displace the water content of the fruit and keeps the fruit from getting icy.  The trick is always to get the water out of the fruit but still retain the flavor.

 

 

Chopped Apple

Apple Jam

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve been experimenting with using different types of malt in ice cream and for this I wanted to try out this barley malt extract we picked up.  This barley malt extract is a lot like molasses – rich, slow, and sweet.  It provides a nice malt background flavor to the ice cream and pairs perfectly with the apples.

 

Barley MaltBarley Malt Extract

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a third dimension, we added some Quark cheese from Milton Creamery.  Quark is a fresh/unripened cow’s milk cheese.  Similar to cream cheese but a bit tangier.  Just can’t resist the temptation to pair apples with cheese – they work so well together.

 

Quark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scoop – a malty, tangy quark ice cream filled with ribbons of apple jam.  It’s fall dangit!

 

Barley Malt Quark Apple Jam

 

 

 
Look good? You can be one of two lucky winners of this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. Two winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 9/19/14 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally. Prizes must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

 

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Manchego w/Zinfandel Caramel

Christmas is now in the rear view mirror as is most of 2013, which means New Years eve celebrations are almost upon us.  New Years eve is synonymous with indulgence in good food, and good drinks, and like last year’s White Chocolate Pop Rocks w/ Champagne caramel, we wanted to do something apropos.  Where I come from,  no good party happens without a plate full of good cheese.  Likewise, a plate full of good cheese pairs fantastically with good wine, and that brings us to this week’s flavor, Manchego w/ Zinfandel Caramel.

wine and cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This flavor starts with my one of my favorite Spanish Manchego.  Its a spanish cheese from the La Mancha region, and this particular selection is a raw milk manchego.  Its buttery, with a nice salty bite and a great cheese-y flavor that pairs incredibly well with fruit and a bold red wine.

manchegograted machego

 

 

 

 

 

For the foundation of this flavor, the manchego went into the cream 2 ways- some was finely grated and melted into the base during the cooking process.  More was coarsely grated and tossed in at the end to provide an extra oomph with the occasional bite of cheese.

zinfandel caramel

 

 

 

 

 

The caramel begins as a standard sugar and water recipe, but is finished with a bit of cream to cool it first, and then the zinfandel right at the end to ensure the flavor doesn’t boil off.

manchego w/zinfandel caramel

 

 

The caramel is swirled into the ice cream as its packed into the pint.  It is a wonderfully rich, manchego ice cream decorated with ribbons of zinfandel caramel.

 
Like to try some? You can win one of the only two pints in the world, filled with this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. 2 lucky winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 12/27/13 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally and give us feedback. Pints must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

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