Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Apricot Strawberry Ice Cream

Congrats to Cleo, Peg and Sheila.  All three have new books out as of yesterday.  Here are the links! 

Cleo’s latest COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERY: A Brew to a Kill 

Peg's debut novel: GOURMET DE-LITE MYSTERY: Allergic to Death

And Sheila's latest ORCHARD MYSTERY: Sour Apples

Happy summer reading to all!

I adore ice cream.

I know, I know. I often write in this blog that I adore something. I like food. Sue me.

But I truly, truly adore ice cream. I remember a time when my husband  "caught" me in the kitchen, before I was heading out for my morning exercise, with the freezer door open, a container of ice cream in my hands, and a huge spoon tucked into my mouth.

He said, "Um, what are you doing?"

I sheepishly answered, "Having medicine."

Yep, I think of ice cream as medicine. It calms me. Cools my head. Makes me feel goooooood.  Yep, I also know I shouldn't have too much. But a little bit here and there, right? It's sort of like chocolate and wine and, well, all sorts of things that we know we shouldn't have too much of, but we need to have at times to make our gourmet life yummy.

So I happen to think I have perfected the at-home vanilla ice cream recipe. I like to add things to it.  If you don't like fruit in your ice cream, remove it from this recipe. The vanilla will still stand on its own.

But...

I adore apricots. Yep. There you have it. Adore.








And I adore strawberries.  I'm a foodie. I adore lots of things! And these fruits simply soar in this ice cream.

Enjoy.  Treat yourself occasionally because you are WORTH IT. And keep cool.

By the way, it's hot, hot, hot in Los Angeles. 110 degrees at 5 p.m. last night! And it's supposed to be that way all week. The upside...it's dry heat.  How is the weather where you all are???


APRICOT-STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM


* I use:  Cuisinart Counter top Mixer.

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks
1 c. sugar
1 c. half and half
2 c. whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup strawberries, chopped into small pieces
½ cup apricots, skinned and chopped into small pieces
2 tablespoons water

Directions:

In a sauce pan, over low heat, mix fruit, sugar, & water.  Cook for 8-10 minutes, until tender. Set aside and let cool completely. [Note, if the strawberries are too big, they freeze almost like ice cubes, so make sure you make little bites out of them.]

In a separate saucepan, stir together yolks and sugar and cook, 30 seconds on low.
Add half and half, cook 1 minute on low.
Stir and cook 1 more minute.
Stir and cook 1 additional minute.  [Total 3 ½ minutes.]
Add whipping cream and vanilla.
Stir and let cool to room temperature. 

Chill 1-3 hours in refrigerator

Then:

Start counter top mixer.  Add cream mixture.  Whip 20-25 minutes

Add fruit ice cream mixture.

Whip 5 more minutes until goodies are incorporated.

Pour into clean containers and freeze.  About three hours later, it’s a perfect consistency.

Yum!

* ** 

LASTLY...

Because I'm on a cookbook kick...you know about my new COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERIES coming out next year, right?...does anyone have a favorite ice cream or dessert cookbook title to share?

PLEASE... and THANK YOU.

P.S. The original ice cream recipe came from the Cuisinart cookbook that came with the machine. And then I tweaked it. I love tweaking. :)
 * * * * * * *

I'm very excited to show you my newest cover for the 
4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series: 
TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE.  

You can pre-order the book HERE. 






You can learn more about me, Avery, by clicking this link.
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Also, you probably know about my alter ego.
DARYL WOOD GERBER... 
Daryl's new series: THE COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERIES
debuts July 2013

"Like" Daryl's page on Facebook and "follow" Daryl on Twitter.
"She" doesn't say all the same things "Avery" does. Promise.


ALSO:

I'm pleased to announce that my short story, PALACE ON THE LAKE,  in Fish Tales: A Guppy Anthology has been nominated for both the Anthony Award and Macavity Award. 
Go Sisters in Crime Guppies! 
Without them, my career would not be possible. The group support is invaluable!
You can read PALACE ON THE LAKE by clicking on the title above. :)



Say cheese!

***********






6 comments:

  1. You know I share your passion for ice cream, and this sounds wonderful! Great fruits to mix!

    I would recommend Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is an Ohio marvel, with many of the delicious and unusual flavors that inspired Tally's creations in the Mysteries a la Mode. Her basic ice cream recipe is versatile and fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wendy, do you have a link for Jeni's recipe? Sounds great.

      ~Avery aka Daryl

      Delete
  2. I'll join you in a vat of that! What is it about ice cream? Yum.

    We've cooled all the way down to 90, but it's muggy, thick heat. I think I'd rather be at 110 if it's dry heat.

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Krista, I remember muggy when I lived in Orlando and in Charlotte. Those hot summer days with all the moisture can be grueling. Definitely prefer the dry heat. Miss my pals, though. :)

      ~Daryl aka Avery

      Delete
  3. Avery/Daryl - You're the best. Thank you so much for the shout-out on my new release - LOL on the adoring of things. We all do. I adore YOU for being so supportive of us all!!

    Cheers and have a delicious
    (ice cream filled) week,

    ~ Cleo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cleo, you're welcome. Enjoy the fun ride. Your books are selling great!

      ~Avery/Daryl

      Delete