Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Mint ice cream is love. Well, for me it is. I don't think there is any ice cream out there that taste better than mint ice cream. There a lot of people that disagree with me, it's pretty contriversal, especially with my boyfriend and my mom. It's funny how we can get into the silliest of arguments. Well, they're not really arguments, there just debates I guess.

My boyfriend loves birthday cake ice cream. I however loath birthday cake ice cream. Something about just... grosses me out. The taste all together just doesn't taste right to me. And my mom loves Rocky Road. I do like Rocky Road Ice Cream as well, I just don't love it. My brother is on my side with Mint Ice Cream being the best. He's a mint lover like myself. And since I just recently got an Ice Cream Maker (finally!), I wanted to make his and my favorite Ice Cream; Mint Chocolate Chip.

I did not come up with this recipe, I actually found it at Simple Recipes by Elise. I love a lot of the things she comes up with, and I finally came around to trying one of hers out. And I got to tell you; It tasted so good! I didn't add as much chocolate as she did. I didn't want to much chocolate it it. It came out so creamy, silky, and, of course, minty! This is defiantly something I am going to be making over and over and over again.

Recipe
Adapted here from Simply Recipes

3 cups fresh mint leaves, rinsed, drained, packed
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 egg yolks
3-4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (keep in freezer til used)


1. Firstly, take the fresh mint leaves, rid the stems, then rinse, drain, and pack it. Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with the 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of the cream. Heat until just steaming (do not let boil), remove from heat, cover. Let stand for 30 minutes. Reheat the mixture until steaming, remove from heat and let stand for 15 more minutes.

2. While the mint is infusing in step 1, prepare the remaining cream over an ice bath. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set in ice water (with lots of ice) over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

3. Strain the milk cream mixture into a bowl, pressing against the mint leaves with a rubber spatula in the sieve to get the most liquid out of them. Return the milk cream mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt to the mixture. Heat until just steaming again, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm mixture, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

5. Return the saucepan to the stove, stirring the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spoon so that you can run your finger across the coating and have the coating not run. This can take about 10 minutes.

6. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir into the cold cream to stop the cooking.

7. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (at least a couple of hours) or stir the mixture in the bowl placed over the ice bath until thoroughly chilled (20 minutes or so). Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

8. Once the ice cream has been made in the ice cream maker it should be pretty soft. Gently fold in the finely chopped chocolate. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it before serving.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

These brownies were made mainly for my boyfriend Chris who actually asked me if I'd bake him something today. And whenever someone asks me to bake something, especially friend or family, I'm always excited and ready to bake.

When I was sitting down on my bed yesterday, looking threw one of my Baking book by Williams-Sonoma, he asked, "If I find something that I like in that book and really want it, would you bake it today?" Oh course I would! I'm always ready to bake, and I was so happy when he actually wanted me to bake him something.

As he looked threw the book, he at first thought he wanted muffins, but then decided he didn't. He knew he didn't want bread. He didn't want to have my make a big pie, cake or cheesecake when it won't be eaten when made. Then we he got to the brownie section, he was like "Yes!" He then choose these Chocolate Mint Brownies. I was actually happy because I had these brownie bookmarked to bake, so, now I get to finally bake them.

These brownies are very and divine delicious, especially for someone who loves mint (Me, Me, Me!!). I love anything and everything mint. Mint is one of my favor flavors, and these brownies defiantly made me all happy and giggly from it yummy chocolate-ness. What could have made these better? A big serving of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with it!

Recipe

For Brownies

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour

For Icing

1 cup confectioner sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. milk, or as needed
2 tsp. peppermint extract
Food Coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil (or a 9 inch pan for thinner brownies; I did this one).

2. To make the brownies, combine the chocolate and butter in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Let cool slightly.

3. Whisk the sugar, peppermint, vanilla and salt into the chocolate mixture. Whisk the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then continue to whisk until the mixture is velvety. Add the flour and whisk just until incorporated. Four and scrape the batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake until the top is just springy to the touch and toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. About 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

5. To make the icing, combine confectioner sugar, butter, 1 tbsp. milk, and peppermint extract. Stir until necessary, thinning with milk if necessary. The icing should be thick. You can add food coloring to it if you desire.

6. Spread the icing over the cooled brownies. Put sprinkle on top if desired. Cut into 2 inch squares. Remove brownies from the foil. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Chocolate Mint Butter Cake

It was my little brother 13th birthday today. He can now officially consider himself a teenager (He's been dieing to be able to say he's a teen. It's kind of cute). I felt a little bad for him though because none of his friends could come spend time with him on his birthday. His best friend just recently moved back to New Orleans (him and his family evacuated here before Katrina hit), and all his other good friends were out of town. So I felt a little bad for him...

Nonetheless, I think he enjoyed his birthday very much. We took him rock climbing, which he absolutely loves to do, we got him all the silly little games that he's been wanting (which all together cost about $300! Ridiculous how much games have been getting!), and I made him a cake which he absolutely loved because it had one of his favor things; Mint!

My little brother loves anything and everything that has to do with Mint. So I wanted to make him a cake with that flavoring. To make it a little more minty, I found these mint chocolate chips at the grocery store (ding, ding!) so I got those to add to his cake to make it really sweet and minty. The finish product turned out pretty good, and he loved it, which made me really happy to know that he loved it and enjoyed his birthday. That's what mattered to me. I just wanted to make him happy.

Recipe

For Cake

2 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup boiling water
1 cup butter
3 eggs
2 tsp. mint extract
1 cup milk

For Frosting

1 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla


Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round baking pans. Set aside.

2. In a stainless steel or heatproof bowl, place the chopped chocolate, mint chocolate chips and cocoa powder. Pour the boiling water over and stir until they have melted. Set aside to cool while you make the batter.

3. In a seperate bowl , whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addiction. Add the mint extract and melted chocolate mixture and beat to combine.

5. Add the milk and flour mixture in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until incorperated.

6. Divide batter evenly into prepared baking pans. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before taking out of pan. Place on wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1. In a large bowl, beat butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar and salt until blended. Add milk and vanilla.

2. Add remaining sugar and beat until incorperated. Beat frosting until fluffy and smooth. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies

If these cookies don't remind you that its Christmas, then honestly, I don't know what will. These cookies are chocolate-y, fudge-y and the chunks of the lovely peppermint bark gives off a cool, sensational cocoa taste. The smell from these cookies from the oven filled the entire house with the scent of Christmas. These cookies are a great paring to have with a nice big glass of milk next to a warm fire and a Christmas tree.

These cookies didn't last long once they came out from the oven. These were a defiant success with everyones taste. Everyone just loved them! I think I may leave Santa some for him. He'll love them!! (wink, wink).

For the peppermint bark, if you want, you can always make your own. Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate. White Chocolate is what I prefer because, One, I find it taste better, and Two, it really gives off a Christmas feel. Now, if you don't want to make your own peppermint bark, you can always find them in specialty store or the candy store. But, if you want an even easier rout, just use white chocolate chips and crushed peppermint candies. Its a great substitution for the peppermint bark because its really the same thing.

Recipe

1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup peppermint bark, broken in bite size pieces


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugars together for about two minutes on medium speed or until well incorporated and light in color.

3. Add the egg and vanilla extract until well incorporated. Be sure to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl.

4. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Add to butter mixture slowly, on medium speed, stopping once all of its incorporated. Be sure not to over mix. Fold in peppermint bark.

5. Take small spoonful of the dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the pan before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely.