Fresh from the Freezer

This flavor came about as a delicious and elegant way to use up an excessive amount of mangoes from summer. It was inspired by a recipe for mango or blueberry frozen yogurt by CozyIntentions on Reddit . Their recipe is definitely much more straightforward, but I adapted it to suit my needs with what I had in my pantry and fridge. Mini dark chocolate chips and cacao nibs add two different kinds of crunch for a fun variation of texture, and smooth, creamy, mango frozen yogurt balances out the cacao flavor. This mango cacao frozen yogurt is delicious, light, refreshing, and has a very balanced flavor. The vodka makes this recipe soft enough to scoop if leftovers are refrozen, but feel free to omit it if you know you won’t have any leftovers. By the way, this recipe was originally measured in grams, but the imperial measurements have been approximated just in case anyone needs them. I measured the mix-ins by volume.    Mango cacao frozen yogurt on top of eggfruit ice cream. I have...

It's just how it comes out of the machine. Get your mind out of the gutter...  I like to share the food I make with others in my household under one condition—I always get to have the last piece. This holds true for when I make ice cream as well. I always have to have the last scoop. This rule also holds true when it’s my birthday and I get a birthday cake. I will share with everyone as long as I get to have the last piece. So tell me why, this year, the “last slice” was a skinny, pathetic little sliver. This is the thanks I get for being generous! Next time, I am NOT sharing!!! It’s even worse this year because I actually had another reason why I wanted to save my birthday cake—I wanted to use it to make ice cream. Birthday cake ice cream was my favorite flavor as a kid, and I wanted to recreate it by blending equal parts in weight of cake and milk. I was left with less cake than I originally intended, but it actually ended up being the perfect amount. More cake would have...

  It’s mamey season. For the uninitiated, mamey sapote is a delicious fruit that hails from tropical regions like the Caribbean. It’s easier to compare the flavor of mamey to a root vegetable than it is to compare it to another fruit. It has the texture of a creamy fruit but, according to the internet, the taste of sweet potato. It looks a lot like one, too. When I tried it, I actually thought it tasted like a deep, almost bitter caramel. My family thought it tasted like banana when it was in ice cream form, and I could sort of see where they were coming from.   However you describe the flavor of mamey sapote, it’s quite sweet when ripe. It only needs a touch of sugar to maintain the sweetness typical of ice cream. I chose to use white sugar so as not to detract from its delicate flavor, but I think this fruit would also play well with brown sugar or maple syrup as a substitute. You might even be able to omit extra sugar altogether.   Anyways, if you’re lucky enough to ...

  I couldn’t find any other recipe for persimmon sherbet on the internet, so… voila! Sherbet is a bit more on the traditional side, isn’t it? Off the top of my head, I can only name a handful of flavors: orange, lime, raspberry, rainbow (which is usually a mix of the previous three), sometimes strawberry, and that just about covers it. It’s an old-fashioned treat that no one wants to disrespect by changing things up. But doesn’t sherbet deserve a little more recognition and diversity in flavors? It makes an excellent blank canvas for all fruits, with dairy rounding out the sharper edges of whatever fruit flavor it hosts. It’s also fun to invent new things, and I couldn’t find any other recipe for persimmon sherbet on the internet, so… voila!   I have heard that persimmons can be very sharp in taste when they aren’t ripened enough, but I thankfully have not experienced this yet. I got my hands on some Fuyu persimmons and waited to eat them until they were soft and ...

  Olive oil and pretzels create a mysterious yet addictive flavor that’s greater than the sum of its parts. This flavor combination is one of my favorites so far. Olive oil and pretzels aren’t strangers when it comes to desserts—think orange olive oil cake and chocolate-covered pretzels—but these star-crossed lovers aren’t often paired together for some reason. This ends now. Olive oil and pretzels create a mysterious yet addictive flavor that’s greater than the sum of its parts. It tastes a little like both ingredients, but the combination of the two also tastes like some secret third thing that’s been difficult for me to pinpoint. Whatever it is, I’m really, really into it. I’ve already made this flavor a few times now because of how fantastic it is. I had two other people try it and guess the flavor, and their guesses were nothing short of strange: white bean, onion, possibly toast, and a few others I can’t recall. The taste testers knew what weirdness I’m capable of. ...

I decided to take the inside of roasted sweet potato, mix it up with gelato ingredients plus a splash of rum, and presto! This Japanese sweet potato gelato was born. From the very first bite, I’ve been addicted to Japanese sweet potato, also called satsumaimo. There are so many confections from Japan that use Japanese sweet potato because of its gentle, chestnut-like flavor, including everything from cakes to cookies to puddings and then some. My favorite Japanese sweet potato dessert by far, however, is a baked treat that is literally just called “sweet potato.” Sorry, I know it’s confusing, but there is a dessert in Japan called “sweet potato” that is made out of the plant which is called “sweet potato” in English. To avoid too much confusion, I’m going to refer to the dessert as “suiitopoteto,” which is the Japanese pronunciation, and the tuber itself as “sweet potato.” These are suiitopoteto I made using this recipe  if you'd like to try making them.  They're bette...

  This recipe is basically just liquid Key lime pie meeting whipped cream, as it should be. Isn’t it always so nice to reconnect with old friends? I recently got into contact with a childhood friend of mine who I’ll call D, and I sent her a link to this blog. She expressed interest in a no-churn recipe. No-churn ice cream is easy and accessible. All you need is a can of condensed milk and a pint of cream. However, I have always hesitated with no-churn ice cream recipes because I anticipated them having several big problems:  1. Having a greasy mouthfeel  2. Melting too quickly  3. Being way too sweet I kept wondering what flavor might help mitigate those issues, and then it hit me—Key lime pie. Yay, I finally get to use this tray I bought at a souvenir shop!  I don’t mind doxxing myself just a little bit. D and I both grew up in Florida. She’s since moved away, so I thought this would be perfect to give her a little taste of her former home. The tartness o...