Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

My family and I went to the beach last weekend so I missed out on the brown sugar vanilla ice cream that was chosen by Karen of Karen's Cookies Cakes & More. I was kind of hoping to fit it in before we left but laundry and packing got in the way... I was kind of bummed I missed out on making it because I rarely use my ice cream maker and I love vanilla ice cream, so I am doing double duty for SMS this week.

The last time I made a custard ice cream, I was not quite sure how thick the custard was supposed to be. I was also using an electronic meat thermometer my husband got for the grill so I wasn't confident in the temperature reading I was getting. I wound up overheating the mixture and ended up with a curdled mess. I tried throwing it in the blender to see if it would come back together, but it just wasn't as creamy as it should have been. So I was much more cautious this time around.

The custard was super easy to make. I love recipes like this because they don't require you to temper the eggs. With my trusty meat thermometer in hand, I successfully heated the custard to 182 degrees (I should really get an instant read thermometer). After chilling overnight, I churned the ice cream Sunday morning and was it ever delicious. Super creamy and a nice vanilla flavor... I even got my three year old to eat a piece of chicken by bribing her with an ice cream cone!

Thanks Karen for picking such a great recipe! I was happy for an excuse to use my ice cream maker. You can check out the recipe on her blog.

Lemony Ice Cream Pie

My mom had pointed out this recipe when we were thumbing through a Southern Living cookbook looking for a chocolate cake recipe. It looked really good and seemed like a simple dessert to throw together. Since we were having family over for dinner on Sunday, I decided to give it a go.

First of all, I have to say I think this is the easiest dessert recipe I have ever made. You litterally mix a can of frozen lemonade (I used yellow lemonade) into a quart of softened vanilla ice cream, pour it over a graham cracker crust, and you are done. I was not quite sure the best way to mix the lemonade with the ice cream, so I tired using my blender. While it worked out fine, I think next time I will either use the whisk attachment on my stand mixer or use a hand blender. I think the ice cream was a little thick for the blender and I kept having to push it down with a spoon. Of course, I dropped the spoon into the blender while it was on, but luckily no damage was done!

I ended up serving the pie with fresh blueberries we had picked over the weekend and a blueberry sauce I threw together real quick. It was really delicious and very refreshing. This recipe is a definite repeat for the summer months. I also like the versatility of the recipe- you could serve on its own or pair it the blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.

I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my family did!

Lemony Ice Cream Pie

Southern Living Annual Recipes 2006

1 Quart Vanilla Ice Cream

4 oz. Frozen Lemonade Concentrate

1 Graham Cracker Crust

Mix softened frozen lemonade concentrate into softened vanilla ice cream. Pour into prepared graham cracker crust. Freeze until firm.

A couple notes...

• I used 1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream and 6 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate for a nine inch pie.


• While a blender can be used, it is probably easiest to mix using a stand mixer or hand blender.


• For the graham cracker crust, I used 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 6 T butter, and 1/2 cup sugar, and poured into a 9 inch springform pan. Press down on the crumbs to set.