Pizza's Perfect Partner

As you already know, my husband is the pizza lover in this relationship. He loves to eat it, so I love to make it. Fun toppings, crazy combos, high quality ingredients: that's what makes a delicious pizza. Second to pizza, my husband CONSTANTLY asks for my true specialty: Homemade Ice Cream! Because besides beer (I'd much prefer a kombucha), nothing pairs better with pizza than homemade, heavy mix-in, ice cream. So it's time to share some ice cream tips and tricks and flavors to give you some fun ideas for your next dinner party or random Wednesday night.

Now before I can say anything about ice cream, I have to credit my entire ice cream knowledge to my friend and Yoda of Ice Cream, Isaac. Literally ANY ice cream question/idea/problem gets run by this friend. Lawyer by day, chef/baker/ice cream expert by night. He's an ice cream aficionado (and I probably should have asked him how to spell that... because it took me 5 mins to get that right). He's the guy reading up on the science, and history, and what the experts are doing when it comes to ice cream. So when I have an idea, 99% of the time Isaac helps me make it happen. And 1% of the time, it's his birthday and I just wing it. But everyone knows: Learn from the best, right? Tap into your friends. I promise you will have so much damn fun and will connect deeper with the people around you! Everyone has a gift, hobby, passion. Something they enjoy learning about for YEARS. Those people, typically, have a WEALTH of knowledge and usually great enthusiasm to share it because it is a passion. Personally I think it is so fun to share your knowledge with someone else. Especially your friends. I'm 89% sure Isaac likes me more for our shared love of ice cream (and fitness). When I share my passions, whether that be Jewish baking, beekeeping, fitness, health, happiness, communication, I always feel like such a proud parent when my friends succeed with knowledge I armed them with. I assume Isaac feels this about me. And I can make some damn good ice cream.

(ice cream pic)

My only downfall (jokes... I'm sure I have more than one), I DO admittedly struggle at listening. I so badly want to impulsively do things my way! Doesn't everyone? For me, listening is hard in general (I love to talk! Hello my job, and writer of this blog. Promise I'm working on it) but especially hard when it comes to an activity I have such strong positive energy behind. It's feels like being given a birthday present but being told to wait to open it. Come on! Let me just GO! However, it only takes a few frozen block of ice, instead of creamy ice cream, after being told what TO DO and thinking you know better, to change your tune. Isaac gets reallllllly stoked when we notices I've listened, acted, and succeed because of his advice. And despite making my fair shares of blocks of ice, when I do listen and succeed, Isaac's excitement and proud friend feelings are so tangible, even through text. Point of this rant, connecting with your network is the easiest and most fulfilling way to grow. And have so damn fun along the way.

So let's talk ice cream. First off, you need an ice cream maker. Ok you don't. Got some empty coffee cans? That works too. When my husband was a kid in Iowa they would roll cans with milk, cream and sugar outside in the snow (Ohhhh lord... "backkkk in my day.... we rolled cans in the snow to make ice cream". Wow. I am at that age) and boom: ice cream. Legit. It works. I've tried it.

Ice Cream in a Can- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q46UnlboDGk

I promise this is not the fastest, easiest or most convenient way to make ice cream. But it's super fun... so grab your spouse, your kids, someone else's kid (as I did), your parents, whoever, and roll yourself some ice cream. We made almond milk ice cream with dairy free chocolate chips. It totally works and it's delicious. But after that, get serious and buy yourself an ice cream machine. Here's what I got:

My Ice Cream Maker: https://amzn.to/3HEmC53

Nothing fancy and it does the job. You will need space in your freezer for the ice cream bowl. So if you don't have that, better work some OT and buy yourself this bad boy: https://amzn.to/3HElYVd. This ice cream maker will freeze the bowl for you.

Once you've got that.... time to create! I have made a ton of flavors over the years. But the true fun of homemade ice cream is creating combos you cant buy! So sure, start by making chocolate or vanilla or mint chip... but once you've figure that out, go WILD.

Here are some of the fun flavors I've tried. Some delicious, some not so much. Still fun, regardless.

Bourbon & Honey Cake Ice Cream

Nerds Ice Cream

Peach Bourbon Ice Cream

Cookie Dough and Brownie Ice Cream

Ashley's Flavor- more to come on this

Rose Wine Ice Cream

Cheesecake Ice Cream

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ice Cream

Golden Grahams S’mores Ice Cream

Mint Oreo Ice Cream

Cookie Bar Ice Cream

Chocolate Cardamom Ice Cream

Peanut Butter, Strawberry Jam and Chocolate Ice Cream

Oreo- Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Fireball Ice Cream

Dairy Free Mint Chip

Blueberry & Granola Ice Cream

Snickers Ice Cream

Coffee and Caramel Ice Cream

Buttermilk and Biscuits Ice Cream

Jelly Donut Ice Cream

Goat Cheese, Habanero and Jam Ice Cream

Brie and Jam Ice Cream

Horchata Ice Cream

Now, no blog post would be complete if I didn't share how! And since Ashley's Flavor is a STAPLE in our house, why not share this easy and DELICOUS recipe.

First, "Ashley's Ice Cream"? Yes. That's how we refer to it. Our sweet neighbor's daughter, Ashley, was having a birthday years ago. When I asked her to create a birthday ice cream, she quickly responded back wanting a vanilla ice cream base, with swirls of caramel and chocolate. Seemed easy enough. Made a vanilla base, made homemade caramel, and homemade chocolate fudge. Churned the ice cream, added the swirls, packaged the goods, and slapped a huge "Ashley's Ice Cream" on the cover so that no one would eat her birthday ice cream. But wouldn't you know, the day before Ashley's birthday, the container was half empty! There were only two possible consumers: myself or my husband. It would have been pretty hard for the dogs to have opened the freezer, so it wasn't hard to know what happened. When I asked Jeff: "What the heck?", his response was perfection: "I thought that was the name of the ice cream flavor, not who's ice cream it was for!" Can't even be mad about that. Fair assessment. And now, forever and always, vanilla with chocolate and caramel is called "Ashley's Ice Cream".

So lets make it.

Now, since I'll assume this is your first go at ice cream, I'm gonna keep it simple! I always make my own caramel. It's easy, if you pay attention. But caramel can easily burn so it does take a practiced eye and focus. I currently only posses one of those skills (and it's not focus). So to save you some time and guarantee ice cream success, lets buy some caramel sauce and call it a day.

Here's what you will need:

2 Cups of Heavy Cream

2/3 Cups Sugar

2 Cups Whole Milk

1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

A Pinch of Salt

A Ridiculous Amount of Caramel Sauce

(Or however much you like)

1 Cup Chocolate Chips

1/2 Tablespoon Coconut Oil

First off, put your ice cream bowl in the freezer! That bad boy needs AT LEAST 24 hours in the freezer. Rookie move would be trying to churn ice cream in a half frozen bowl. Tried it, too many times.... it NEVER works. You always end up with a mess and having to freezer the bowl EVEN longer. But the convenient part, delicious ice cream needs time in the fridge, so make your base while your freezer bowl chills.

Ok ice cream base time. In a medium sauce pan, on medium heat, put the heavy cream and sugar in together. Stir until the sugar has fully dissolved. That's it. Get it off the stove! Don't let it boil or steam or nothing. Just dissolve the sugar and boom, move on.

Then pour this mixture into a large bowl with the whole milk, vanilla extract and salt. Stir for a second, cover, and toss into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours (I typically let it sit overnight). Don't skip this. Warm liquid in a cold machine never ends well. And let those flavors marinate together. Promise its worth the wait!

Yep. It's Feb and the Xmas tree is still up.

Next, pull out that ice cream machine and follow the instructions for churning. My machine is easy-peasy: set the frozen bowl in the machine, add paddle, ice cream liquid, and top, then hit "ice cream" and "start". Simple, simple and then you are in business!

While that's churning, time to prep your chocolate. Now look, you can add the chips straight if you want. You can make a fudge sauce too. This is your ice cream, your rules. Typically I'd make a fudge sauce from scratch, but ya know what, who cares.... buy Hershey syrup if you want.... or skip it.... or do what I'm about to do. Again, nothing serious happening here. It's all about what your soul is calling you to do. Or what ingredients you have in your pantry.

For today, I'm going to drip in liquid chocolate into the churn so that we get little flakes of chocolate throughout. Effectively become a very fancy Italian ice cream called: Stracciatella. Or so that's what Isaac tells me I'm doing. Regardless, it's delicious and adds an interesting texture to a plain creamy ice cream.

In a microwave safe bowl- add 1c chocolate chips and 1T coconut oil. Nuke this for exactly 22 seconds, then stir. Why 22 seconds? Because it's so convenient to hit the same number twice. Pretty sure that's the only way I use my microwave. 22 seconds. 1min 11 seconds. 4mins 44 seconds. It's a life style. Join me. Keep doing 22 seconds then stir until fully combined. Let this sit while your ice cream finishes up. You DEFINITELY don't want hot liquid chocolate poured into your base. HOT + COLD = mess. It's science. Discovered by Galileo. JK. Just don't do it. Isaac will get mad.

Wait until 4 mins left on your churn. Not 5, or 3.... jokes again, do whatever the hell you want! Just before your churn is done, start dripping in the chocolate sauce. Use a spoon and drizzle while the machine still churns. So damn satisfying to watch. Ahhhhh! Let it finish churning and now we are cooking! (Not literally)

Next- into Tupperware. Scoop that beautiful vanilla ice cream with the chocolate into a large tub. When you have a thin layer, drizzle caramel sauce. Then repeat: ice cream layer + caramel sauce all over. When you are done, freeze for another 8-12 hours.

Almost time. I know it's a labor of love and not something you can instantly have (that's why there are grocery stores) but I PROMISE it's worth the wait.

Take your ice cream scoop and dig in! Ohhhh those swirls. That creaminess. If only there was a warm homemade cookie near by. This is the perfect end to any night.... but especially a pizza night. Homemade pizza and then homemade ice cream to follow?? I mean, could you get any happier? Probably not. So go back to my pizza making blog, whip up some dinner, tackle this ice cream and enjooooooyyyyyyyyyy! And when you come out of food nirvana, message me below with ice cream flavors I should try. Who knows... maybe one day we'll own a pizza and ice cream shop. I better start testing crazy ice cream flavors now!