Today’s post is coming to you from a fellow Boston blogger, teacher, upstate New Yorker, food lover and overall enthusiast of life; my real-life friend, Anna! Not only did this dear friend make me THE BEST ICE CREAM OF MY LIFE, but she also agreed to share her post right here on The Sweet Life. Girlfriend knows whats UP.

Thanks Anna, you’re the best!

Hi everyone! I’m Anna and I’m totally excited to be here today and totally PUMPED to talk about ice cream.

ICE CREAM! Who doesn’t love it? And MELANIE! Who doesn’t love her?!

Melanie and I have been blog friends for awhile now. We like to take the occasional trip to Weggies together, eat tasty foods around the Bean together, and most importantly, eat strawberry and graham cracker ice cream together.

Making ice cream was one of the things I put on my summer bucket list, and if you know me, then you know I am not messing around. This summer bucket list of mine? I’m taking it VERY SERIOUSLY.

VERY.

So when Melanie randomly tweeted “I want someone to make me graham cracker ice cream and I want them to do it NOW.” I just said to myself, “DONE.”

Short side story: Once upon a time there was a gas station in Upstate NY that sold an ice cream called “Crumbs Along the Mohawk”: graham cracker ice cream with caramel swirl. I KID YOU NOT. It was real. It was my favorite ice cream EVER, and still is to this day. For my birthday last year, my boyfriend Zan bought me an ice cream maker and actually found the recipe for Crumbs Along the Mohawk online. Best boyfriend ever? I THINK SO.

Aaaaaaaanyways, I made the ice cream back when it was my birthday, did a little happy dance because it tasted exactly like the ice cream from the gas station and then, when Melanie tweeted her need for graham cracker ice cream, I KNEW it was time to make it again.

PLUS is was on my bucket list, remember? Everybody was about to win here.

And by everybody, I mean me and Melanie.

Below you will find the two ice cream flavors I made the night Melanie came over. In addition to the graham cracker, I made a roasted strawberry as well, from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home cookbook. I decided to make two, well, because, WHY ever NOT? Plus, Jeni’s strawberry ice cream is made with cream cheese and buttermilk. HELLO, DELICIOUS. I like to call this combination “Strawberry Cheesecake”. YEAH. Get excited.

(You will, of course, need an ice cream maker. I have a Cuisinart, but I’m sure any ice cream maker will do.)

Jeni’s Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream (from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home)

Ingredients:

for the roasted strawberries-

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/2-inch thick

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

for the ice cream base-

1 1/2 cups whole milk (I used half and half)

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 oz (4 tbsp) cream cheese, softened

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. To roast the strawberries, preheat the oven to 375F. Mix the strawberries with the sugar and place in an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish, stirring to combine. Roast for 8 minutes, just until soft. Allow to cool slightly.

2. In a food processor or a blender, puree the strawberries with the lemon juice. Measure 1/2 cup of the pureed mixture and refrigerate the rest for another use (I threw it in a smoothie).

3. To make the ice cream base, mix 2 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl, mixing to make a smooth slurry. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and salt. Set aside.

4. Fill a large bowl with ice and water and set aside.

5. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup, heating to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Return the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring with a heatproof spatula, cooking until slightly thickened (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.

6. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese, whisking until smooth. Stir in the 1/2 cup strawberry puree and buttermilk, mixing well. Pour the mixture into a gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag into the ice water. Allow to stand for about 30 minutes, until chilled.

7. Churn ice cream according to ice cream maker instructions. Pack the ice cream into an airtight storage container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Stewarts Shop Crumbs Along the Mohawk Ice Cream (from One Lovely Life)

Ingredients:

For ice cream base:

4 egg yolks

1/4tsp salt

2/3c sugar

2 1/2c half-and-half

2 tsp vanilla

For caramel sauce:

2/3c sugar

1/4c butter, cut into small pieces

1/2c half-and-half

1/4tsp salt

Additional:

1/2c-3/4c crushed graham cracker

1c graham cracker pieces

(This comes out to about 1/2 of my graham cracker recipe)

Directions:

Make ice cream base:

In a large bowl, beat together egg yolks and salt. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and half-and-half. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Pour 1/2c of the creamy mixture into the eggs and salt and whisk to temper the eggs. Return mixture to saucepan and stir over low heat until thickened to a thick sauce. It should resemble the consistency of light alfredo and should coat the back of a spoon well. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Strain into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate till cold. To speed up the process, set the bowl containing the ice cream mixture in a larger bowl filled with ice and water and keep in the refrigerator.

Make caramel sauce:

Pour sugar into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat and let sugar melt to make an amber-colored liquid. Stir in butter and half-and-half and continue to stir over medium heat until mixture comes together as a sauce. Stir in salt. Remove from heat.

When ice cream base is cold, begin churning in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. For me, this meant about 30 minutes in the Cuisinart. At about 25 minutes, I added half of the caramel sauce and the crushed graham crackers. Before putting it in the freezer, I stirred in the remaining caramel sauce and the graham cracker pieces, then froze until ready (about 2-2 1/2 hours)

Makes about 1 1/4 quarts (about 5 1/2cups)

ENJOY!

Thanks for having me over here on The Sweet Life today, Melanie! And thanks for helping eat the ice cream!!