Mint Chocolate

I had to make ice cream for a party this weekend. I wanted to make something a little different but not too far out. I'd been meaning to make mint chocolate for a while so I decided on that.

I had wanted to make it with real peppermint. I've used spearmint in the past and the results are a bit polarizing. Some people love it and others find it too herbal. I was curious if peppermint would have the same result. Well, even though Whole Foods definitely had peppermint previously, they did not have it a few days ago. I picked up a bottle of peppermint extract.

I was in a bit of a hurry putting it together and I couldn't quicly find a recipe to suit my needs. I turned to the William-Sonoma book and used the vanilla recipe. I added 2/3 cup cocoa (I was making a double-batch) to the dairy while I was heating it but before tempering the eggs. After thickening the custard, I added a tablespoon of the peppermint extract.

Actually, I was thinking of making it mint chocolate chocolate chip. I decided not to on Katie's suggestion. She tasted the base and thought it didn't need any chips. I wasn't sure I had enough minichips anyway.

The result was really good. It was a bit more minty than chocolate, which wasn't the intent. Maybe next time two teaspoons of extract and 3/4 cup of cocoa. But, I still really like it. I'm not sure if it's just the mint or if it's also the make-up of the ice cream but it feels very cold. That sound obvious but not all the ice creams I've made do feel cold.

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Peach

I picked peaches about a week ago and needed to do something. I also wanted to bring ice cream to help celebrate a friend's birthday (The Leavening Agent's author). Peach ice cream it was.

Well, I made this ice cream last year as it turns. I liked it then and I liked it this year, too. It packs a lot of peach flavor. I'd like to compare it against the recipe from William-Sonoma since that doesn't call for cooking the peaches.