My husband said to me just recently, “You are obsessed with food”.
Really?
It’s actually no recent revelation on his part. I must have been going on and on about food…again. We are currently on a trip; my senses are alight from the sights, smells, sounds but my taste buds are the most lit up of all.
In a short amount of time I have feasted twice on grilled sardines, one of my favorite seaside treats. I’ve also had my fair share of grilled prawns, mussels, sea bream– but it hasn’t been all surf and no turf. I’ve enjoyed a steak or two, as well. But my absolute favorite? This no-breakfast girl can’t wait to have her baguette with butter and jam each morning.
I have been looking forward to each meal and try to plan my days accordingly. It’s no wonder my husband’s eyes tend to glaze over with my talk of food. I do obsess about it. If I come across a dish that makes an impression on me, I will want it for weeks at a time. At one time or another I have been temporarily obsessed with bolognese ragú, linguine con vongole, creme brûlée, Caesar salad topped with fried calamari (haven’t gotten over this one), but more recently it was a cinnamon-cookie ice cream that caught my attention. I came across the ice cream flavor at a local ice cream shop and I had to return for more. The young girl serving me one day kindly informed me that they blend in a type of cookie mix to a vanilla base to make the ice cream. I’ve been meaning to try it but haven’t quite figured out how I would successfully recreate the it at home.
As it happened, I found the opportunity to combine two desserts when I ended up with a batch of brownies I wasn’t happy with. The flavor was not to be criticized, heavy on dark chocolate with cappuccino chips I threw in at the last minute. However, I wasn’t pleased with its cake-like texture. I’m more of a fudgy brownie girl (I have a few recipes in the archives). After giving half the batch away to a friend (he really liked it) I was inspired to experiment with the rest. Instead of making a cookie-flavored ice cream, I thought a variation on the classic brownie-vanilla ice cream pairing was worth trying.
I added brownie chunks to a vanilla ice cream base during the latter part of the churning process thinking the former would hold their form. In the end, the pieces fell apart and completely blended with the latter. Not what I had in mind but I was happy nonetheless. The ice cream was gelato-like in texture, creamy and not too firm with prominent brownie flavor and some vanilla thrown in. Brownies and vanilla ice cream do go well together, even this way. Now I have something new to obsess about.
* I used low-fat/nonfat ingredients because it’s what I had but feel free to use full fat but reduce the sugar.
Vanilla-Brownie Ice Cream
Ingredients
- **For the ice cream**
- 11 ounces fat-free condensed milk one can is 14 oz but I used 3 oz
- 2 cups milk I used 2% milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- Add in: 2 4-5 inch brownie squares
Instructions
-
Warm the condensed milk, 1 cup milk and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in the vanilla extract and set aside to cool slightly.
-
Pour the remaining 1 cup milk in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by adding 1/2 cup of the warm mixture, whisking constantly. Add another 1/2 cup and whisk. Then add back the egg yolk mixture into the sauce pan with the remainder of the warm mixture.
-
Stir the mixture over medium heat with a heatproof spatula. My mixture didn't thicken so after a few minutes I whisked 2 teaspoons of corn starch. It still didn't thicken but I had to continue cooking for another couple of minutes to make sure the corn starch would cook through.
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Place a strainer over the bowl of remaining milk and pour the warm mixture over it. Chill the mixture for several hours or overnight.
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Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. About 20 minutes in, I added the brownie chunks into the churning mixture and continued to let it churn for another 10 minutes. Chill for a few hours before serving.
Recipe Notes
Used David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream recipe with lots of modifications.
These photos are amazing and the vanilla brownie ice cream just made me weaken at the knees! I can’t resist. Please save me two scoops right now! Thanks for sharing, Jean!
Brownies and ice cream? Yes please!! A fabulous idea :). Hope you are having a great trip!
This is genius!! Looks so amazing my dear. Why didn’t I think to do this? I have had like brownie bit things in ice cream, but this is perfect!
I’m glad you are obsessed with food because you do make delicious food and we’re lucky that you have been sharing the recipes! We do not need brownie and vanilla ice cream as long as we have this in the freezer. 😀 Looks so good, Jean!!
It’s a terrible obsession to have, isn’t it, he he. Just be sure and remind him when you pass him a bowl of this, why again he’s getting it, lol. Dessert sounds so good right now, maybe I should pass on dinner and make ice cream. Enjoy your travels, can’t wait to hear all about it. Us with no life enjoy that sort of thing, he he.
-Gina-
A perfect combo!! Love the photos!
Vanilla ice cream and brownies in one mouthful? That’s basically my two favourite things combined! Love the speckled texture and it looks lovely and creamy.
As for your tales of your holiday, I’m so jealous, it sounds amazing. As does calamari topped caesar salad!
It is good to be obssessed (in a good way) with food!
That ice cream is fantastic and really tempting! A great flavor.
Cheers,
Rosa
Keep the obsession going – it leads to treats like this! Me want some! 🙂
You know I am not much of a ice cream fan but brownie .. oh dear.. LOVE! The photos are so so so gorgeous Jean.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this ice cream! Wish I was there to polish that whole container – and I know I could! A classic ice cream flavour, indeed! Wishing I had a bucket of that now…
i love making new creations out of baked goods that turned out wrong! this one looks like a MAJOR success, and don’t worry, i’m obsessed with food, too! 🙂
I love the sound of those calamari on top of caesar salad – keeps with the fish note introduced by the anchovies.
That ice cream would look good with some brownies mixed through and others in chunks.
Love this ice cream, thank goodness for the cakey brownies! Of course you are food obsessed, we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Jean – this ice cream is to DIE FOR!!! Love the combination. You made me smile when you had your response to your hubby’s inquiry about your love for food. Happy Sunday!!!!
This ice cream looks incredible. I kind of like that the pieces broke up; it creates more brownie flavor throughout. I’m going to have this ice cream on the brain until I make it. Yum!
i’m just like you. i go through phases when I bake. For example this week was dulce de leche. 4 cans in one week! Hubby thought I was crazy!
I’ve never made my own ice-cream and I know I’m missing out a lot. Maybe next summer … I hope