Apple Pie Ice Cream

I love Blizzard’s, McFlurries, and Cold Stone Creations. It’s fun to pick out the yummy bits and pieces of the mix-ins and to play the artist putting together a culinary masterpiece. Except for one time at Cold Stone with my friend Amanda, who put together a horrific combination involving raspberries, gummy worms, and some kind of chocolate caramel ice cream, I’ve never had a bad experience involving ice cream with the works.

My apple pie ice cream is a smooth, rich combination of vanilla spice ice cream with cinnamony apples and crunchy vanilla cookies tossed in. Quite a treat, if you ask me. I scoured the internet for various eggless recipes, just to compare the texture to that of the gelato of yesterday, and am very pleased with the end product. If for some reason, you don’t roll with the eggless crowd, just use the base from the chocolate pb gelato of ayer and add today’s spices and extras. It’ll be just as swell, promise.

And if this ice cream isn’t enough, I’ve also included the Barefoot Contessa’s yummy recipe for caramel ice cream topping.

Yields 1 qt.
2 c. cream
1 c. whole milk (I make it from powdered)
3T. cornstarch
1/2 c. sugar
1t. cinnamon Simplify by using 1 1/2 t. apple pie spice to replace cinn. and nutmeg
1/2t. nutmeg
1T. vanilla extract
Mix-ins:
10 vanilla wafers, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped finely mixed with 1T. sugar and 1/4 t. cinnamon
Heat cream and 1/2c. milk, 1/2c. sugar, and spices over medium heat, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together remaining 1/2c milk with cornstarch.When stove top mixture begins to simmer, slowly whisk in cornstarch liquid and continue to constantly whisk ice cream base until it boils. Lower heat to simmer the mixture, and cook (still whisking away) until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into another bowl and top with plastic wrap touching the ice cream base (to prevent a skin). Refrigerate overnight.

Chop apple and mix with sugar and cinnamon. Heat in microwave 2 minutes, or until apple softens a bit. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, chop cookies.Remove base from the fridge and freeze ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions, adding apple and wafers just before the end of churning.

From Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten
* Make sauce in advance and leave it covered at room temperature
1 1/2c. sugar
1 1/4c. heavy cream
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Mix 1/3c. water and the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook, without stirring, over low heat for 5-10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to meduim and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350F on a candy thermometer), 5-7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful, the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mix constantly at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. The cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify; don’t worry. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.