Summertime

What's more summery than ice cream? And what's more fun than ice cream you can eat with your hands?

In light of these truths, I made ice cream sandwiches, following an idea from the most recent issue of Everyday Food: ice cream sandwiches using storebought pizzelles.

I made coconut ice cream:
4 cups unsweetened coconut milk (I used 1.5 cans lite and 1 can regular)
1/3 cup sugar (this wasn't very sweet, 1/2-2/3 cup might be better if you want it sweet)
1/2t vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine milk, sugar and extract and chill. Stir in coconut and mix in an ice cream maker. Or transfer directly to freezer and stir every 15-30 minutes until frozen (which is what I did, it was too hot for my ice cream maker to work when I made this)
(Note: this ice cream was rock-hard when I took it out the freezer. I recommend letting it sit for about half an hour on the counter before serving)

Blueberry sorbet (somewhat adapted from a Ben & Jerry's recipe for strawberry sorbet)
3/4lb thawed frozen blueberries (or fresh, if you have them)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine and let sit in the fridge for a couple hours. Mash the blueberries with a potato masher (I do wonder if I should have cooked them to start, they stayed whole, which was still good, but not really what I was looking for)

Then combine:
2 cups of water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
and add to blueberries.

Transfer to ice cream maker to freeze. This is a really nice, light dessert, good for a hot summer evening, whether or not you're on a diet.
(Like the coconut ice cream, this stuff's pretty hard straight from the freezer, so pull it out a bit before serving)

And I made strawberry ice cream.
1 3/4 cups 2% milk
3 long strips lemon peel
1/2 t vanilla
dash of salt

Combine in a medium saucepan and cook until just barely boiling.

Meanwhile, whisk together
1 egg
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

And whisk in milk mixture, one ladle full at a time, stirring constantly. Transfer milk/egg mixture back to saucepan and cook, until custard is thickened and reaches about 175F (a meat thermometer is handy for this).

Strain custard and chill in an ice bath for a few hours, or in the fridge overnight.

Puree
3 cups strawberries
1/4 cup sugar

And add strawberry puree to custard. Transfer to an ice cream maker, and just before completely frozen,
Add
1/2 cup quartered strawberries.

Done! (Note, like the coconut ice cream, this was really hard ice cream, I recommend letting it sit on the counter at least half an hour before attempting to serve)

When all of these ice creams were at a soft serve consistency (ideally, fresh from the ice cream maker, before freezing thoroughly in the freezer), I assembled the ice cream sandwiches.

Coconut ice cream and pizzelles (from BJ's, this entire package was $7.99)

Lay out pizzelles on a clean counter. Spoon about 1/4 cup softened ice cream over each pizzelle.
Top with another pizzelle and smoosh gently.

Freeze until dessert. I made these several days ahead and stored them in the basement freezer in tupperware/fake tupperware. The pizzelles softened, but were a nice match for the ice cream, and the sandwiches were very refreshing.

And speaking of sorbet, here's a recipe I haven't tried yet, but want to.
Beer sorbet
18 oz (1 and 1/2 cans) flat dark beer, perhaps Guinness
5T (1/4 cup plus 1T) sugar

Mix, freeze in the ice cream maker.

I love the story that goes with it: Ben & Jerry say that at trade shows, they always ended up next to the beer booth, and no one wants ice cream while drinking a beer (to which my husband says, seriously?), so they decided to just go with it, and have a beer-friendly frozen dessert, beer sorbet. Having really enjoyed a stout ice cream, and loving the beer/honey syrup I make for beer cookies, I'm eager to try beer sorbet. I may play around with substituting honey for sugar.