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Sep 14 2011

Ice Cream in a Bag

Posted by Natalie | Perry's Plate in Step-by-Step Recipes

Really quick ice cream. Like, zero to sweet, frozen goodness in under 15 minutes. NOT too good to be true!

When I saw Ice Cream in a Bag by Tasty Kitchen member whatthedogate (Donna) I wondered why I had never tried this before. I thought it might be a fun project to do with my kids, so I gathered up the troops and got started.

To make two servings of ice cream you’ll need two pint-sized zip top baggies, two bowls, and two willing helpers.

Pour a cup of half-and-half into each baggie. The bowl is there to help the little ones from spilling it all over the place.

In each bag, add a tablespoon or two of sugar, depending on how sweet you want it. I used raw sugar, which worked nicely.

Now pull out all of your fancy extracts and flavorings. Let the kids pick whatever flavor their little hearts desire. (Only to have them both pick vanilla. I swear my kids have more personality than that.)

Add about two teaspoons of vanilla extract to the bag. (Measurements may differ depending on the flavor you use.)

Zip it up tight! (Very important.)

Next pull out a giant bowl of ice and some rock salt. You know, the kind you use in them old-fangled ice cream makers.

Grab a gallon-sized zip top bag for each small bag and fill them about 1/3 full of ice. (The recipe says 4 cups for each bag.)

Add 1/2 cup of rock salt to each bag of ice.

Now place one pint-sized bag into each gallon-sized bag. To go one step further, place that whole thing into another gallon-sized bag. If that seems a little wasteful, I’m sure they can be easily rinsed out and re-used.

Now let those kids earn their ice cream. Shake, shake, shake! Or carefully kick it around on the floor.

May I take a moment to leave you with a mommy comment? I love my kids. A lot. Becoming a mother is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. But motherhood has absolutely crushed my pre-baby dreams of being in charge and doing what I want all day long. Oh, and dressing my kids up everyday to look like Gap models. I have very little say in what they wear and how (or if) I do their hair. Luckily you caught them on a good day.

Back to the ice cream. The bag needs to be shaken for about 5 minutes straight.

If after 45 seconds you start getting looks like this, you might want to step in and help. The recipe suggests sticking the bags in the washing machine through a couple of spin cycles. I tried it and it actually works!

The result? Sweet, creamy, frozen goodness.

If you’re expecting Ben & Jerry’s to come out of that bag, you may be slightly disappointed. The ice cream isn’t gourmet quality, but it’s made with fresh ingredients and tastes like homemade ice cream (which is more than most store-bought brands can claim).

Plus, I have never met a kid who was picky about their ice cream.

Thank you Donna for a great activity to do with my kids! Check out Donna’s blog What the Dog Ate as well as her recipe box for more great recipes, including Edible Ice Cream Bowls and Homemade Microwave Popcorn!

One note about the recipe: If possible, use freezer bags for the ice cream. Both of my bags leaked a little, and I don’t know if it was due to my daughter kicking it around on the floor, putting it in the washer, or using a flimsy pint-sized bag.

Printable Recipe

Ice Cream in a Bag

by whatthedogate on June 24, 2011 in Desserts, Ice Cream

See post on whatthedogate’s site!

4.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s) 1 vote, average: 4.00 out of 5

Description

In honor of summer, you must, must try Ice Cream in a Bag. It is such a fun, kid friendly activity. And it’s so yummy!

Ingredients

4 cups Half-and-half
8 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
4 whole Pint Sized Zip Lock Baggies
16 cups Ice
8 whole Gallon Sized Zip Lock Type Baggies
2 cups Salt, Rock Salt Type

Preparation Instructions

Measure out 1 cup half and half into a pint sized baggie. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Repeat for the remaining three pint sized baggies. I used a loaf pan to hold the baggies while I added the ingredients. No spills! Seal the baggies and place them in the freezer while you assemble the gallon sized baggies.

Fill each of four gallon sized baggies half-way full of ice. For me this was about 4 cups of ice for each of the four gallon sized baggies. Add 1/2 cup of ice cream salt to each gallon sized baggie of ice. Now double bag those puppies. That’s where you get the 8 gallon sized baggies from.

Remove the ice cream mixtures from the freezer. Recheck the seal on the ice cream mixture to make sure they are well sealed, and place one pint sized baggie into one gallon sized ice set up. Seal each of the gallon baggies.

Shake, shake, shake for at least 5 minutes. For my little ones, this proved to be a little challenging, so I helped out. Then it got a bit cold for my hands. You could try wearing oven mitts to insulate your hands from the cold. Me? I put all four set-ups in my front-loader washing machine and set it to spin. Three minutes did the trick!

This project would make a great summer time scientific inquiry for the kiddos. “Which agitation method produces an ice-cream like consistency in the fastest time?” I fully expect everyone to try this out and report your results in the comments section. Now get shakin’!

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Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

Sep 12 2011

Best Carrot Cake of All Time

Posted by A Cozy Kitchen in Baking, Step-by-Step Recipes

There’s nothing quite like a moist piece of carrot cake speckled with a variety of coconut, nuts, dried fruit and carrots. Carrot cake truly does make my heart pitter-patter. And what I love most of all is that the bits of shredded carrots make the entire thing healthy, right? Right?

Regardless of whether that last statement is actually true or not, there’s plenty of reasons—healthiness aside—to make this carrot cake. Like its appropriate title, this was in fact the best carrot cake I’ve had to date. Big-ups to TK member Kpurwin (who adapted it from Southern Living) for providing us with such an honest and delightful recipe.

To kick off this carrot cake endeavor, you’re going to start by lining (and greasing) your cake pans with wax paper. This makes for easy carrot cake extraction later on.

Time to get all of the dry ingredients together: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Do a little sift action and set aside.

Next up, the wet ingredients. Start with the sugar.

Add the eggs and vanilla.

Lastly, add the buttermilk. And then, using a hand mixer, beat everything together until completely blended.

Add the flour mixture in a few batches and beat, on low, until juuuust combined.

Let’s be honest. The best part about carrot cake is all the stuff it’s studded with. Let’s start with the coconut and pecans. And if you’re all out, substituting almonds is totally a good idea.

Add the grated carrots and cubed pineapple. Everyone will thank you later for this.

Transfer the batter to your two lined and greased cake pans. That’s some gorgeous looking batter, isn’t it?

Stick it in a preheated 350ºF oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

While it’s baking, turn your attention to the buttermilk glaze. It’s a breeze. Add everything to a saucepan (minus the vanilla) and cook until it reaches a boil and just mix. And then add the vanilla at the end.

Right when your cakes come out of the oven, pour the buttermilk glaze over them. This will give them a good dose of extra awesomeness.

You’re gonna wanna spread it all around evenly, making sure the entire cake is coated and smothered in it.

Let the cake cool completely and come to room temperature. While it’s doing its cooling-down action, you can get started on the cream cheese frosting.

Pretty standard stuff. Just add everything to a bowl and beat until completely smooth.

After your cake is done cooling, you’re going to transfer the first layer of the cake to a big plate or cake stand. You can line the cake stand by placing squares of parchment underneath the cake. Then when you’re done icing your cake, all you have to do is remove the parchment squares, and tadaaa! Clean cake stand.

Place a big scoop of icing on top of the cake. This would be a perfect time for an off-set spatula, but since I have a kitchen that eats things, my big spatula had to do.

Just be sure to lay it on thick! You want a good layer of icing in between the two layers.

Gently place the second cake atop the first one.

Evenly distribute icing on the top and on the sides. If you want to get fancy, you can stick this in the fridge so the icing can set and then add on one more even layer of icing.

OR you could be lazy and, taking a knife, swirl on a second layer of frosting.

Take the parchment from the sides and you’re set to present, eat, and devour your carrot cake.

As promised, this recipe really is for the best carrot cake ever. There’s loads of texture, plenty of moistness and the combination of the buttermilk glaze and cream cheese frosting absolutely result in the best carrot cake of all time. This carrot cake deserves a place in everyone’s recipe box/arsenal.

Thank you Katy and Christine for creating two towers of heaven! Visit their site Young and Hungry for more of their recipes.

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