Rocky Road Ice Cream

Can you believe school starts back up in 3 weeks? Well, at least here in The Ville anyways...

I'm having a hard time believing it, but then again... I'm almost counting down. My son is in Pre-K and he will have the same class and teacher which I LOVE. So, I probably won't start having a mental breakdown until he's starting his first day of Kindergarten. EEP!

But then I think, Summer's almost over. And while I say "bring on Fall", I also feel like I have a lot to squeeze in. Have we been to the beach enough? No. Did we take ANY family trips? No.

And what about ice cream? This is only the SECOND batch I've made...That's unacceptable.

So excuse me while I shove ice cream down my family's throats, and make 10 more batches before the weather gets cool..

Then bring on the pumpkin!!

So what's your favorite ice cream flavor? My husbands' is Rocky Road BY far.. He would prefer it was filled with pecans, walnuts, almonds AND peanuts. He said "make me an extra rocky, rocky road"... and I said no. So ha!

Whatever. He should be happy, right? (**He is.**)

For the Ice Cream:

(recipe adapted from Annies Eats)

2 cups heavy cream, divided

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

4 ounce bar of Ghiradelli 60% cacao

1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped honey roasted peanuts

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows



 In a medium saucepan, combine one cup of the heavy cream with the cocoa powder and heat over medium-high. Whisk constantly to dissolve the cocoa powder. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to low and simmer for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate, whisking until melted and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream and pour into a large heat proof bowl. Set a fine mesh sieve over the top of the bowl and set aside.

Wipe out the saucepan and using the same pan, pour in the whole milk, sugar, and pinch of salt, warming over medium-high heat. When the mixture is warm but not boiling, lower the heat and slowly pour in your beaten egg yolks, whisking constantly. Continue heating over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, until the mixture is thickened and a thermometer reads 170 degrees. Remove from the heat, pour into the chocolate mixture using the sieve as to catch any scrambled egg bits. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator over night.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions. Stir in the mini marshmallows and peanuts until incorporated. Store ice cream in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

The chocolate base for this ice cream is smooth, creamy and indulgent. It would be an amazing pairing with any mix ins!

Happy Summer everyone! Enjoy it before it's over!

(My skinny-mini loves ice cream... isn't he the cutest!?)

Faux-Cronuts

I like cronuts and I cannot lie
you other bloggers can't deny
when a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist
I throw a cronut in her face...

...Just kidding. But I have always wanted to be a rapper. I'm pretty darn good at it. I mean, last rhyme aside.

Maybe in my next life.

But anyways, have you all heard of these cronuts? A croissant and donut hybrid? Heaven!

They look it anyways, I haven't actually been somewhere to try them. It's a little too fancy for Northern Nevada... And by fancy, I mean any meal outside of meat and potatoes.

And the real ones are probably a million times better then mine because these bad boys... are cheater cronuts!

You know, for us non-fancy country folk...

You want the recipe? You got it..

For the Cronuts:
(about 4-5 donuts)
2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Oil for frying

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Are you blown away yet? Ha.

Pop open 1 can of crescents. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the crescents to create the full rectangle shape. Pinching together the sides as you go. Now, working horizontally (that's hamburger style yo') fold your shape into thirds, like so...

Using a rolling pin, lightly roll over your smaller rectangle to seal the folds.

Now, working vertically fold into thirds again. Roll out your tiny rectangle to resemble the previous shape (about an 8x5 inch rectangle). Do this twice more so you have some amazing flaky layers.

Find a circle to match the size of donuts you want and cut out your donuts. You should get about two per rectangle. Find a smaller circle, about an inch in size, to cut out your middle.

I apologize for the lack of photography but here's a fun YouTube  how to of almost exactly what I followed...

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/sponsored-post-pillsbury-banana-cream-crescent-donuts-at-home.html

Heat your frying oil to 350 degrees.

Gently place your cronuts into the hot oil and fry until puffed and golden, about 1 minute per side.

Remove and place on a paper towel lined plate.

Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, mix together your cinnamon and sugar and dunk the hot donuts into the cinnamon sugar.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself... No body wants burnt fingers and lips from hot ass donuts.

So let cool slightly and enjoy!

Easy, warm, flaky, delicious cheater cronuts. Fancy them up with pastry cream, glaze, chocolate frosting... Etc etc.

Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes

I apologize for the long period of time between this post and my last one.

Unfortunately, late last month I lost my Father.

This has been the hardest period in my life... It has felt as though my passion for doing the things I love disappeared.

My dad was amazing, smart, strong and so, so funny.

But the one thing I know, is that he would want me to carry on. He would push me to do the things I loved because "life is too short".

He fought his way into the world, fought through it, and fought going out.

So I will continue to blog and remember the wonderful things he has taught me.

What I will miss most about him:

1. His laugh
2. His beard
3. The way he would describe every book he read to me in full detail.
and most importantly...
4. The amazing G-Pa he was to his grandchildren. He would change diapers, run with them, and play in the sandbox. Carry them on his shoulders and draw with them. Kiss them on their forehead and sing them to sleep.

He will be greatly missed.

But I know he would have loved these cheesecakes. He would say "you know, I don't really like chocolate..."
and sneak and eat 2 before he went to bed at night.

This post is for you dad. And everything I do every day to better myself, my family, and my children, I dedicate this to you.

For the Crust:
2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peanut Butter Cheesecake:
2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
3 large eggs, room temp
20 mini Reese's peanut butter cups, chopped

Ganache:
3/4 cup semi-sweet mini chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a regular sized muffin  tin with cupcake liners. This recipe will make 24 mini cheesecakes.

For the crust, mix together the crumbs, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Switch to a spoon, pour in the melted butter, and stir until the mixture is completely moist.

Place 1-2 Tablespoon sized scoops of the crumbs into the bottom of each prepared muffin tin, and press down until compact.

Bake the crusts for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients of the cheesecake filling. With an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attached, beat until combined and smooth.  On low speed, beat in the eggs 1 at a time, just until blended.

Fold in the chopped Reese's cups. Fill each muffin tin about 3/4 of the way full with the cheesecake mixture (this is typically a 1/4 cup for regular sized muffins).

Bake for 20 minutes until the cheesecakes are puffed. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Ganache, in bowl, mix the chocolate chips and the heavy cream.

Place in your microwave and heat on high for 1 minute. Stir. If not completely melted, heat in 30 second increments until smooth.

Stir in the 1 Tablespoon of butter, and stir until melted and incorporated.

Place the ganache in your fridge, or freezer to speed up the process, until thickened.

Spoon the ganache over the cooled cheesecakes, sprinkle with peanuts, and place in the fridge to set. Anywhere from a couple of hours to overnight.

I absolutely love the flavor of peanut butter cheesecake. Pair that with chocolate ganache and its a creamy paradise.

Enjoy!

And thank you everyone for visiting my blog!