Lody z Masą Krówkową- Polish Caramel Ice Cream with Caramelized Coffee Walnuts

I feel like I've invented a winner here. I had a can of this delicious dulce de leche-like substance (it's thicker, though) and I promised a new batch of ice cream to my siblings. To make the ice cream even better (which is hard, considering how rich and caramelly it is on its own) I added crunchy, bittersweet caramelized walnuts flavoured with expresso powder. Altogether I think it's one of my best ice creams yet.

A couple of plusses about this recipe- you need less eggs and cream than with most custard-based ice cream, because the caramel itself contributes smoothness and richness. You also will probably have leftover walnuts to eat, since the recipe below makes a lot. Instead of walnuts, you can also use pecans, and you can substitute dulce de leche as well. Consider serving with a glog of liquor on top.

Lody Kajmak 
Adapted from F for Food

225 g. Kajmak/masa krówkowa, substitute dulce de leche
1 C. Milk, 3.8 %
2/3 C. Heavy cream, about 35%
3 Egg yolks
1 TBSP Brown sugar
1/2 C. Caramelized coffee walnut pieces, optional (recipe follows)
Pinch of salt

Heat milk and kajmak in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming. Separately, whisk together the sugar, yolks and salt.

Pour 1/4 C. of the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture and whisk together well. Strain back into the remaining milk and heat while stirring frequently until thickened.

Transfer to a cool bowl and add the cream. Refrigerate overnight.

Mix in ice cream maker according to its instructions. Layer with the nut pieces in a freezer-proof container and let freeze at least 2 hours before serving.

for the caramelized coffee walnuts:

80 g. Walnut pieces
60 g. Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Expresso powder

Mix all and toast over medium-high heat until the sugar is melted and smells caramel-like. Immediately pour onto a cool tray and keep in an airtight container until ready to use.

Halaya Ube Ice Cream

It's hard to imagine a simple ice cream recipe that comes out better than this one- it's creamy, soft and delicately flavoured, contains no eggs and takes hardly any time to prepare. It's even beautifully lavender-coloured. It goes perfectly with the mango ice cream I made earlier, but I imagine that it would also pair well with a bright green pandan ice cream or a red bean ice cream. Frozen, grated ube isn't hard to find in Asian supermarket's freezer aisles, though if I could find them fresh I'd like to try that at least once.

The halaya ube jam on its own.

The halaya ube jam is quite thin- but this makes it ideal for the ice cream batter, and easy to spread on bread or pancakes. It's incredibly delicious and worth a try if you haven't had ube before- it's nothing like the common orange sweet potatoes, with a delicate aromatic flavour that's hard to describe. Try it!

With the mango-cardamom ice cream- complimentary colours!

Halaya Ube Ice Cream
From Adora's Box

For the Halaya Ube:
1 410 g. Can evaporated milk
3/4 C. Sugar
2 Pandan leaves (optional) or 1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Lb. Grated ube/purple sweet potatoes (one frozen package)
1 TBSP Butter
Red and blue food colouring to enhance purple-ness (if desired!)

Cook together for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Let cool. 

(You can halve this recipe to just make the ice cream, or use the rest as a spread, in buns, et cetera.)

For the Ice Cream:

1/2 Above halaya ube recipe
1 C. Sweetened condensed milk, or 1 can
300 ml Heavy/whipping cream
1 C. Milk, preferably whole
Pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly and refrigerate at least 6 hours. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.

Mango-Cardamom Ice Cream (Eggless)

One of my favourite ice cream recipes is this very simple, eggless recipe that uses both delicious ataulfo mangoes (the king of mangoes!) and my favourite spice, cardamom. The flavours complement each other tremendously, and the texture is smooth and creamy even without eggs thanks to the sweetened condensed milk. 

I like to use canned mango purée because good fresh ones are few and far between, but if you can find some, just put them through a food processor until you get the 2 cups of purée. Another side benefit of this recipe is that because there aren't any eggs, there's no need to strain the mixture- it doesn't curdle at all.

The cardamom isn't necessary, but it adds a little bit more of a special touch, and makes it a very fitting dessert after any Indian meal. No embellishments are necessary, but if you want to make it a little fancier, try adding slivered almonds, crushed pistachios, flaked coconut or fresh mango pieces as a garnish. 

Mango-Cardamom Ice Cream
Adapted from Gayathri's Cooking Spot

2 C. Ataulfo mango purée
1 C. + 2 TBSP Milk
1 C. Whipping cream
1 Small can (about 1 cup) sweetened condensed milk
8 Cardamom pods
Pinch of salt
1 Tsp. Cornstarch

In a large bowl, mix the cream and mango purée. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring 1 C. of the milk, sweetened condensed milk, salt and cardamom to a boil. Remove from heat and cover. Allow to infuse for 30 minutes.

Mix the 2 TBSP milk and cornstarch. Stir into the mixture and bring back to a boil. Cook on medium heat until thickened.

Let cool for about 5 minutes while stirring, then pour into the bowl with the cream and mango and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.

Vanilla Ice Cream

If there's one thing that you always want to have on hand in the freezer, it's a classic vanilla ice cream. It's great on its own, easy to dress up with sauces or other toppings, can be added to all manner of drinks, goes well on many a cake and pie, and can even be melted down to make a quick creme anglaise should you ever not have time to make a custard to go with a dessert. 

There are many types of ice cream recipe, but this is a very straightforward one that uses the French custard method- which is only tricky in that you have to watch your custard carefully and stir a lot. The most important things to watch out for are:

• Make sure you stir the whole thing through, not leaving the bottom layer to burn.
• Heat the milk mixture only until steaming or lightly bubbling- don't let it bubble over! 
• Strain well to get rid of any curdling both when mixing the tempered egg yolks back in, and when adding the custard to the remaining cream. A little graininess won't be noticed in the final frozen product, but still should be avoided.

I use two vanilla beans as well as extract because I really like vanilla, but you can just use one bean or 2 Tsp. extract total for a more subtle flavour. I wouldn't recommend messing with the fat content of the dairy, number of yolks or amount of sugar, since all of these things will contribute to how smooth the ice cream will be- and a small scoop of very good ice cream is infinitely superior to a whole tub of less rich but less tasty generic store-bought ice cream. 

Some of the mix-ins that I can recommend are chocolate slivers, caramel sauce, jam, lemon curd, biscuit pieces- anything, really. The best part of homemade ice cream is that you can make absolutely any flavour that strikes your fancy.

Vanilla Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz

1 C. Whole milk, 3.8%
2 C. Whipping cream, 30-35%
6 Egg yolks
3/4 C. Sugar
2 Vanilla beans, sliced in half lengthwise
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract or rum
Large pinch of salt

In a large bowl, mix 1 C. of the cream and vanilla extract or rum. Cover with a strainer or sieve.

In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, remaining cream, milk and salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans into the pot with a knife and put the empty pods in as well.

Bring to a slight boil, then remove from heat and let steep, covered, for at least 30 minutes.

In a separate, heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Heat the milk mixture until it begins to steam, then pour 1 C. of it, one third at a time, into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. When the yolks and liquid have been completely mixed, strain them back into the liquid remaining in the pot.

Cook the custard on medium heat, whisking constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon or spatula- about the thickness of a gravy. Remove from heat and strain into the bowl with the remaining cream. Mix well and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, churn according to the instructions of your ice cream machine. Freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

I look forward to making pumpkin pie every thanksgiving- although we don't treat it as a big deal in my family, it is a good excuse to make a more North American centrepiece dessert. I love the spices and the pumpkin itself alike, and often I wish that I could have a bit of the pie out of season. This ice cream is the perfect solution- even on the hottest days of the year, its pumpkin spice goodness is welcome.

It's very simple to make, and involves a hefty amount of pumpkin puree to ensure a throrough dose of pumpkinny flavour. It's very smooth and creamy, although it doesn't use as much cream as many other ice cream recipes. It's also low on the pervasive ice crystals that plague homemade ice cream, thanks to the glog of rum that helps keep the freezing point down. I garnished it with ginger-nut biscuits and pecan halves, but it would also make a very good filling for ginger-molasses cookes in the form of an ice cream sandwich.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
From Closet Cooking

1 C. Cream, 30-35%
1 C. Milk
3/4 C. Brown sugar
5 Egg yolks
1 C. Pumpkin puree, roasted
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Ginger
1/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp. Cloves
1/4 Tsp. Cardamom
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 TBSP Dark rum or bourbon

Bring the milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Mix the yolks, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Once the milk is at a rolling boil, reduce the heat and temper the yolk mixture by quickly whisking in half a cup of the hot milk. Strain the tempered yolks into the saucepan and whisk frequently while cooking on medium-low until thickened. 

Pour the thickened custard into a bowl and whisk in the cream, spices, vanilla and alcohol of choice. Let cool and whisk in the pumpkin puree. Refrigerate overnight, then churn according to ice cream maker directions.