Ice Cream without a machine + Chocolate Almond Milkshakes!

While I was in Atlanta for Blogher Food, Elissa, Lauren, Tessa, Kamran and I ate at the restaurant Yeah! Burger. Twice. Needless to say, it’s pretty dang good. They have hands down, the best turkey burger I have ever tasted.

Along with the really good turkey burger, they also have excellent shakes. The peach flavor is amazing, but the one that really stuck out to me was the chocolate almond. It’s a basic chocolate shake, but with almond butter mixed in. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but I LOVED it.



Since I don’t have a Yeah! Burger right down the street, I decided to recreate it at home. You could just use store bought chocolate ice cream, but homemade is so much better. This recipe I used is from David Lebovitz, ice cream genius. It’s the most creamy, rich chocolate ice cream ever. The best part? I didn’t use an ice cream maker! I have one of those huge, vintage wannabe ice cream makers, which is terribly loud and requires a massive amount of ice and rock salt. I hate lugging it out, so I googled “how to make ice cream without a machine” and landed on this page, also from David Lebovitz. Head over there for the method!

If you want to make ice cream without a machine, the key is to use a custard base, not one of those recipes for super quick, no cook ice cream, which are always too icy and not at all creamy. It takes more work, lots of stirring and cooling, but in the end it is so worth it.



The milkshake part is much easier than the ice cream part! Just dollop a few spoonfuls of almond butter into a glass, add ice cream, a little milk, and stir. The ratios are completely up to you. Want it super almondy? Add more almond butter. Want it really thick? Add less milk. I also like to stir in some very finely chopped lightly salted almonds and top it with shaved semi sweet chocolate.

Seriously y’all. Try this out. Both the shake and the ice cream! It’s the perfect way to ring in summer.



Chocolate Ice Cream
from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 cups heavy cream

3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

5 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Warm 1 cup of cream with cocoa powder in medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to boil then reduce heat and gently simmer for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in remaining cup of cream.

Pour mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as much as possible. Set mesh strainer atop the bowl. Warm milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan. Stir mixture constantly over medium heat making sure the scrape the bottom and corners, until the mixture thickens and reaches custard consistency.

Pour custard through strainer and stir it into the chocolate until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Continue to stir over ice bath until cool. Refrigerate the mixture to cool thoroughly and then freeze it in your ice cream machine per the manufacturer’s instructions, or follow the instructions here. Yields 1 quart.

Cherry Almond Crumble

Every year, around this time, I’m reminded of how much I adore cherries. I forget about them during the long winter, those days when fresh fruit is scarce. Then, as soon as I see them in the grocery store, I snatch them up, not giving a second thought about the $10 price tag.



I love that not only are they tasty, they are absolutely beautiful. There’s lots of pretty fruit out there, but I think cherries win the beauty contest, hands down. All those shades of red, their shiny skin, their ombre interior.



Today was the first time this season I seen them in the grocery store, so I grabbed a bag and brought them home to make this crumble. I’m an absolute crumble/crisp fiend, I think it’s the perfect way to bake with fruit. The flavor of the fruit it’s self really shines through, and the crunchy topping only adds to the deliciousness.





This recipe is loosely based on a recipe for a rhubarb, oat & pecan crumble from one of my favorite cookbooks, Rustic Fruit Desserts. While that recipe sounded great, I knew I wanted to bake with cherries and almonds, so I used it as an outline for what you see here. It turned out wonderfully, cherry and almond go so perfectly together. I used dark brown sugar in the cherries, to add a richer flavor, along with some almond extract.




This is best served fresh out of the oven, topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Let the ice cream melt into the crumble a little bit, it adds a creaminess that makes it taste even better.



Cherry Almond Crumble
adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts

Crumble

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cherry Filling

1 1/2 pounds fresh cherries, pitted
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (more or less, depending on your taste)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 8x8 baking dish (or 3 smaller dishes, like I used here)

To make the crumble, mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, almonds and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the butter, then press the mixture together in your hands to form clumps.

To make the cherry filling, mix together the cherries, brown sugar, almond extract and cornstarch.

Transfer the cherry mixture into the prepared pan and scatter the crumble topping over the top. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.