Showing posts with label frozen custard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frozen custard. Show all posts

1.05.2011

diy: guinness frozen custard

So, it’s been awhile a week since I’ve written a post about frozen custard.  Seeing as though most frozen custard stands in St. Louis are closed for the season, it makes it a little difficult to keep up with visiting new ones + trying out new treats.  To make up for this, the Hubs + I decided we would try making some of our own frozen custard in our new handy, dandy ice cream maker!

So, what makes frozen custard different from ice cream?  Well, your typical run-of-the-mill ice cream is made of milk, cream + sugar.  What makes frozen custard different is that it has egg yolks in addition to the milk, cream, + sugar, giving it a richer flavor and creamier texture.  So, if you are ever making “ice cream” at home and need to use egg yolks, you are really making a frozen custard. [You can find all this on Wikipedia.]

And that’s your trivia for the day…

I must admit, though, I actually had no part in this recipe except for buying the ingredients to make it.  This was all the Hubs’ idea + development.  Plus, it has one of my new favorite beers as the main ingredient, making it even better.  What can I say, the man has good taste – he chose me, didn’t he?! ;o)

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GUINNESS FROZEN CUSTARD
From The Boston Globe.  Makes approximately 1 quart.  The only change made was using a whole vanilla bean instead of just half of one.  I’m not sure if it really changed the flavor at all, but I like more vanilla than less!

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cups Guinness stout beer
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons molasses (we used blackstrap)
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, scrape the vanilla bean seeds.  Add the pod, milk, and cream.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Turn off the heat, cover, and let the flavors infuse for 30 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together Guinness and molasses.  Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract.  Slowly whisk in the milk + cream mixture.  You want to do this slowly, as you do not want to scramble the eggs in the process.  [That would be very bad, and very gross!]  Start by whisking in a few tablespoons at a time, and then slowly stream in the remaining milk + cream.  GO SLOW!  Pour the now egg + milk mixture back into the medium saucepan.

Stir the beer mixture into the cream mixture.  Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon (about 6-8 minutes).

Strain the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap so that it is lightly touching the top of the custard, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

When ready, process the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers directions.  Ours took about 5 minutes to freeze.  You will then want to freeze the custard until ready to serve, or serve immediately if you can’t wait!

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This has a wonderful coffee like flavor to it and is not beer-y at all!  Don’t be scurred of the Guinness… it is not a beer-y beer to start with, and makes the custard extra creamy.  If only I had my own industrial frozen custard machine to REALLY get that wonderful creamy texture I love so much!

This is AWESOME with chocolate chips mixed in!  Your own homemade Concrete Runner concrete!  With that, I’m going to finish off the rest of the quart in our freezer!

12.28.2010

christmas visits

Happy Holidays and a very [late] Merry Christmas to you all!  I hope the last few days have found you happiness + good health, and God as blessed you with time with family + friends!

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Our Christmas was wonderful!  We spent our Christmas with both sides of our family, eating until we were stuffed and having a jolly good time!  Some of my favorite gifts included a new Coach purse from my in-laws, diamond earrings from the Hubs, an ice cream maker from the bro, and my new Vibram FiveFingers from the Hubs!  (I will be posting sometime about how + why I plan to incorporate barefoot running into my routine.)

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And a certain someone just so happened to celebrate his 30th birthday on the 26th!  I can’t believe I’m married to a 30 year old!  CRAZY!

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And for his annual “gift” for his birthday, we headed down to Matt’s “Happy Place” – Branson!  Or more specifically, Silver Dollar City

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We were also able to visit a fairly new distillery about 10 miles north of Branson – Copper Run Distillery.  They make small batch moonshine, whiskey, and rum.  It was delish and of course we ended up taking a bottle of whiskey home for the Hubs.

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And of course, no trip to Branson could be complete without a stop at my absolute FAVORITE frozen custard place!

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Yes, I know, it’s the 3rd time we’ve been this year, but it’s a definitely treat since there is not one in STL.  Plus, we went to one in Springfield instead of in Branson… so at least it was a different location, right?!

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I decided to try something new that I had never seen before.  The Askinosie WooHoo Concrete.

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A wonderful blend of bitter chocolate blended to pieces with Andy’s incredibly creamy vanilla custard.  And check out Askinosie Chocolate – they have a really great story.

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Matt chose to get the Boomer Bear in support of local Missouri State University.  A new combination that seems a bit weird but totally worked.  Sweet + buttery + crunchy = delish!

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Another successful Andy’s visit.  And although they are opened through the winter (GO if you have a chance), we won’t be back until SDC opens up again in the spring.

12.12.2010

closing time

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  Also, unfortunately, this includes frozen custard.  Well, not for good, but just for the season.

With the range of hot + humid in the summer to bitterly cold in the winter, St. Louis doesn’t exactly provide the best climate for frozen custard stands to stay open year round.  Of course, there are those few stands that do stay open year round because they serve indoors, but the classics (Ted Drewes, Fritz’s, etc.) must come to a close come December.  Luckily, February is the typical opening date, so we don’t have to wait very long!

We decided to go on the very last day Fritz’s was open because (1) I’ve had a very busy weekend with my church Christmas program, (2) they were closed yesterday for their staff appreciation day, and (3) I wanted to get it the last chance I could so I don’t have to wait very long until February.

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It was almost the trip that didn’t happen given the weather conditions:  bitterly cold (high 22* and low 6*) with gusty winds and SNOW!  But, with the store being less than a mile from our house and the fact they have a drive-thru, we braved the cold to get in my car and get some delicious frozen custard.

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I’ve been eyeing their newest concrete for a few weeks now – vanilla custard mixed with pumpkin pie filling + cinnamon granola.  Seriously, my 3 favorite things all rolled into one delicious concrete.  However, I was a little disappointed that the granola flavor didn’t come out more.  The pumpkin flavor was of course amazing, but that’s all I could taste with the crunch of granola.  Don’t get me wrong through, it was still yummy!

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The Hubs decided on the Caramel Apple sundae, which pretty much explains itself.

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It might be cold outside, but it’s warm enough in here to eat some frozen custard!

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And don’t worry, there are still a few stands that will be open through the winter, so we will definitely be hitting those up… along with hopefully a few homemade concoctions I have in mind.

But, it is a sad day to know that I have to wait until February to get my delicious Fritz’s concretes again…

12.07.2010

red velvet

It’s officially winter weather in St. Louis.  The blue box in the right hand corner of my computer reads 24 degrees.  COLD.

So, what does a couple do on a boring Tuesday night in blistery cold weather?

Go get frozen custard of course!  Well, drive through to get frozen custard…

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This is the last week Fritz’s will be open for the season, and seeing as we have only been twice this year [probably the least amount ever], we definitely had to make a trip.

And after I saw this on the sign, I knew we had to try it!

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I’m pretty sure this is the only time Red Velvet Cake has EVER been the Flavor of the Day.  It definitely didn’t exist when we worked there, and believe me, we tried EVERY combo possible.  Red velvet cake was NOT one of them.

However, seeing as this is one of my favorite flavored cakes [and remember, I am NOT a cake person], we absolutely had to check it out!  And that meant breaking the habit of always getting a concrete.  Sorry if I no longer live up to my “concrete runner” name after this…

After we got settled in back at home, I plopped down on the couch to taste the deliciousness that is red velvet cake.  And Fritz’s definitely didn’t disappoint!  Smooth + creamy as always, with just the perfect amount of red velvet chocolately flavor.

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It definitely didn’t warm me up, but it certainly tasted delicious!  Too bad I’ll have to wait until the spring to get it again…