Monday, August 23, 2010

Coffee Oreo Ice Cream

Mai hosted a lovely ice cream social event last Thursday. She made many yummy flavors (including chai masala, green tea, honey lavender and coffee oreo) and had cute serving glasses...both of which inspired me to 1) make more ice cream and 2) buy cute serving bowls.

My most favorite from her party was the coffee oreo ice cream. I normally don't like coffee flavored dessert all that much, but for some reason, it was love at first nom nom.

I was gonna say that I haven't had oreos in years, but then I remember that I probably had them in the pantry at work maybe a month ago.


Mai donated her remaining quart of whole milk to the coffee oreo ice cream cause. I already had instant espresso powder from the previous entry (frosting).

I know Halloween is coming up shortly, but that doesn't stop me from indulging in whole milk and heavy cream. Princess Jasmine ate ice cream, right?


Enter glass of skim milk here.

Nice and frothy!

Overflowing with coffee oreo ice cream

Better than Baskin Robbins...

These are my new dishes/spoons from a store in Union Square. Ice cream for two! <3>

Coffee Oreo Ice Cream

  • 1 cup whole milk, well chilled
  • 2/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp. instant espresso or instant coffee
  • 2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. chocolate extract* (or, just use 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
  • 3/4 - 1 cup oreo cookie crumbles (depending on your taste preference)
In a medium bowl, mix the milk, granulated sugar and espresso powder with a hand mixer until the sugar and espress powder are dissolved, about 1-2 minutes on low speed.

Stir in the heavy cream and the vanilla.

Pour into the chilled ice cream maker. Prepare according to your ice cream maker's directions. I chilled mine for about 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of the chilling process, slowly sprinkle in the oreo cookie crumbles.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Birthday Cupcakes!

Lavina was turning "24" so I decided to make (egg-less) cupcakes for the occasion.

Look at these lovely cupcake wrappers!

Mixing up the batter...

Ready to go in the oven

Lavina loves coffee flavored treats. What better than a mocha flavored frosting for these birthday cupcakes!

Foamy, airy frosting courtesy of whipping cream...


There's no instant coffee? Everything is RUINED!

Coffee & whipping cream dissolving to create the ultimate frosting


Whipped deliciousness
Happy Birthday Lavina!


Allergen-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. chocolate extract* *or, you can just include 1 tsp. vanilla extract instead of 1/2 and 1/2
  • 1 1/4 cup water
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cute polka dot paper liners.

Sift together the cake flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix together oil, vinegar, vanilla, and the water until well combined. Add flour mixture and mix until smooth. You will probably need to scrape down the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the cute polka dot paper liners, filling each three-quarters full.

Bake, rotating the muffin tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, roughly 20-25 minutes.

Turn the cupcakes onto a wire cooking rack and let them cool completely.

These cupcakes can be stored for up to 3 days (as though they'd actually last that long, hahaha.hahahaha) in an air tight container.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
  • 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
  • Chocolate coffee beans for decoration
Put cream, sugar, cocoa and coffee powder in a large bowl. Stir, cover, and let sit in the refrigerator for about an hour, until the chocolate and coffee have dissolved.

Remove from the refrigerator and beat with an electric beater until stiff.

Frost the cupcakes right before serving (so, I went Deb, Lavina and Marissa's apartment with my cupcakes and frosting in tow so the cupcakes wouldn't get messed up).

To frost, I used a zip-lock bag, and snipped off a small portion of the end of a bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Brrra* - Enchiladas & Peach Ice Cream!

Shrenik loves mexican food. Kim loves guacamole. And I love making ice cream.

We made guacamole per the recipe that Asmi and I used, probably with minor modifications.

The enchiladas are courtesy of Aida Mollenkamp, minor modifications

2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 red onion
1 package of mushrooms
3 cups salsa (we picked some green kind that was PERFECT for the recipe)
6 ounces monterrey jack cheese
12 (6-inch) tortillas
Sour cream and guac for garnish
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the oil in a pan, and once it is heated, brown the red onions. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add a 1/2 cup of the salsa until well-combined.

Warm up the tortillas - either in the microwave or stove top. I heated them up on the stove top kind of like chapatti, ha.

Take another 1/2 cup of the salsa and spread it over the bottom of a 13x9 dish. Take a tortilla and put a couple spoonfuls of the mushroom mixture along with 1 tbsp. of the cheese. Roll it up and put it on the seam side down.

Cover the enchiladas with the remaining salsa, and then top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for about 35 minutes. Then stuff your face! (see below for detail)

Peach Ice Cream (recipe from David Lebovitz)
About 4 large peaches
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla extra
A few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

You will need to peel the peaches for this recipe. To do so easily, boil some water, cut an X on the bottom of each the peaches, and lower then into the pot of boiling water for 20-30 seconds.

Remove with a slotted spoon, and transfer to a colander to shock with cold water. Once they are cool, you will find it super easy to take the skins off.

Peel the peaches, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Cut the peaches into chunks and cook them with the water in a pan over medium heat, for about 10 minutes.

Remove the peaches from the heat, stir in the sugar, and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature

Puree the peaches/liquid in a blender along with the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in your refrigerator, and then put it in the ice cream maker.

Secret, I think: So, this ice cream was superly fluffy and amazing (just ask Shrenik, Kim, and Lavina who stopped by later in the weekend to try it).

I think this was because Kim and I were talking and giggling and I ignored the timer and let the ice cream maker run maybe an extra 5-10 minutes. Or, maybe it was the sour cream?

And, how could I forget...Kim picked up Skinny Girl Margarita (yay bethenny!) for us to drink.

*Brrrra is the sound Shrenik makes at Mexican restaurants when the waiters are making your guacamole.