Mojito

Nothing spells summer like sipping on a Mojito in the sun.  For those of you not familiar, a mojito is a rum-based cocktail flavored with fresh mint, lime and mixed with club soda.  It’s a flavor we’ve kicked around for ice cream a number of times, but when we recently solicited our facebook fans for flavor ideas it came roaring back to life.  With that extra encouragement we went back to the drawing board and came up with a version that we’re pretty darn happy with – and hopefully our fans will be as well.

 

MOjito

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This flavor revolves around the mint, lime and rum of the mojito.  To avoid having a mint ice cream that would overpower the rum and lime flavors, we chose to put the mint into a syrup.

 

 

 

mint

mint syrup

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First the mint is pureed with a bit of water and then brought to a boil with sugar to create a syrup.

 

 

mint syrupmint syrup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the mint loses it’s nice green color and a some of the fresh flavor while being cooked into the syrup, more fresh mint is added into it once the syrup has cooled.  In addition, the rum part of the equation comes in here -the rum is also added to the syrup once cool.  We add it to the syrup rather than the ice cream itself because it has a tendency to stand out a bit more in the flavor when concentrated into a syrup vs. diluted into the ice cream base.  The syrup gets swirled into the ice cream at the very end.

 

lime zest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The base of the ice cream holds the lime flavor.  And the best way to naturally impart a fresh lime flavor into the cream is to use the zest of the lime.  The lime zest steeps in the cream during the heating process and creates a nice lime flavor without adding any additional water content (which is ice cream’s #1 enemy).

 

mojito

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scoop is a summery lime ice cream swirled with a fresh mint and rum syrup.  Happy summer!

 

 

Mojito 

2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup 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
1-3/4 Cup of sugar
1 Cup of fresh mint
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon Rum
1 Tablespoon of Lime Zest

Instructions:

Prepare syrup (should be prepared at least 1 day ahead: Puree 1 Cup of mint with 1/2 Cup of water. Place mint/water puree in pot and add 1 Cup of sugar. Bring mixture to light boil over high heat until it reaches a temp of 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Or if you don’t have a candy thermometer (I do this even with one): boil for approximately 5-7 minutes, remove pot from heat and spoon some of the syrup into a small glass ramekin, plate or bowl. Place the sample in your freezer for around 15 minutes. When at least 15 minutes have passed, and make sure it has cooled to a sticky syrup consistency. If its really thin you will need to boil a bit longer and do the freezer test again. If it’s too thick, you might need to add a tablespoon of water to the pot. Once you have reached that desired syrupy consistency you know you’ve got it where you want it. Once the whole mix is cool (this is key) add another 1/4 cup of finely chopped mint along with the rum and mix well. Then cool it all in a container until you are ready to freeze your ice cream.

2. Make ice cream base: Crack eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk fully.  Add 3/4 Cup sugar, and lime zest and whisk.  Add cream, milk, salt and and whisk until all are fully combined.

4. Cook/pasteurize ice cream base: Place ice cream base in a small pot and heat over medium heat, whisking or stirring continuously until temperature reaches 165-170 degrees. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature (an ice bath will do this in about 15-20 minutes).

5. Churn ice cream base in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Swirl in the mint rum syrup as you pack the frozen ice cream in a freezer proof container.  Let freeze for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight (if you can wait).  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 6/26/2015 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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Triple Citrus Cardamom

We’ve kicked 2015 off with citrus in last week’s wondeful Mimosa flavor, and since nothing cuts through the bitter cold better than lemons, limes and oranges we’re going to keep it going.

 

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cardamom

 

 

 

 

 

 

The real inspiration for this week’s flavor, however, has as much to do with the cardamom as it does the fruit.  I realized several years ago that a little too much cardamom reminded me vividly of a flavor from my childhood, but could never pin it down.  Then one day I realized what it was – Fruit Loops.  That’s right.  I don’t know if they actually use Cardamom in the sugary kids cereal, but ever since I made the connection I’ve wanted to duplicate the fruit loop flavor in ice cream.   Naturally, it has to be paired with lemons, limes and oranges right?  RIGHT.

 

Triple Citrus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To impart the citrus flavor we use only the zest.  Ah the magic of zest.  All of the fruit flavor without all of the water content that makes ice cream icy – and the leftover juice for us to enjoy with something else.

 

Triple Citrus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cardamom is mixed into our sweet cream base along with all of the citrus zest, and all the flavor co-mingles during the pasteurization process.

 

Triple Citrus Cardamom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rich sweet cream infused with lemon, lime, orange and cardamom.  A pretty spot on replication of the nostalgic fruit loop flavor. And for something new this year – the recipe!

 

Triple Citrus Cardamom 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 teaspoon Lemon Zest
1 teaspoon Lime Zest
1 teaspoon Orange Zest
1 teaspoon cardamom

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, citrus zest and cardamom and whisk again until all are fully incorporated.

2. Place ice cream base in a small pot and heat over medium heat, whisking or stirring continuously until temperature reaches 165-170 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.  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 1/9/15 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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Coconut Hibiscus and Lime

A few weeks ago I was enjoying a dinner at a local mexican restaurant when I noticed a hibiscus drink on the menu.  I had been kicking around the idea of making a hibiscus ice cream for awhile and this cool, sweet hibiscus tea got my gears turning.  After some more research, I discovered this dark red tea is an international favorite, loved in the Phillipines, Middle East and South America.  Different cultures have slightly different ways of making it, but all utilize the Hibiscus flower as the main flavor component.  However, with the Jamaican kick I’ve been on, my path was already chosen.  It turns out Hibiscus tea is so popular in Jamaica that it is actually ordered simply as a Jamaica in some areas of the U.S.

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For this flavor, I went back to our vegan friendly/dairy free coconut base. The coconut cream was a perfect backdrop for a Jamaican inspired flavor.

Lime zest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As is often done when this drink is served in Jamaica, i added lime zest to give it a citrus-y kick.

Hibiscus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These gorgeous Hibiscus flowers are packed with Vitamin C and are steeped in our coconut cream base to extract all of their bright floral flavors.

Coconut Hibiscus and Lime

 

 

 

The Hibiscus petals dye the ice cream a pretty pink.

 

 

 

 

The result is a rich, coconut based ice cream, laced with a tangy, floral hibiscus with a zippy finish of lime. Vegan friendly and dairy free.

Want to try it? 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 4/19 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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