Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream with Ferrero Rocher Pieces

*From Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe Booklet

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream with Ferrero Rocher Pieces

1 C. whole milk

1/2 C. granulated sugar

8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I use semisweet) broken into 1/2 in. pieces

2 C. heavy cream

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 C. chopped Ferrero Rocher pieces

Heat the whole milk until it is just bubbling around the edges (this may be done on the stovetop or in a microwave). In a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse to proces the sugar with the chocolate until the chocolate is very finely chopped. Add the hot milk; process until well blended and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and let the chocolate mixture cool completely. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. Cover, refrigerate, and chill for 2 hours or longer.

Mix according to ice cream maker directions. Add Ferrero Rocher pieces during the last five minutes of mixing. If a firmer ice cream consistency is desired, place in an airtight container in the freezer for two hours or longer. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving.

Here's how it went:

Pulsing the sugar and chocolate pieces.

Heating up the milk on the stovetop.

The milk/chocolate/sugar mixture.

Adding the heavy cream.

And mixing in the ice cream maker.

Now for the little bit of heaven.

All chopped up and ready to go.

So delicious!

My take: I've used this chocolate ice cream recipe a lot before, but if I added anything I used York peppermint patties (which is also really good). But when we were in California we had some Ferrero Rocher gelato, then I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa where she made some chocolate ice cream like this, so I decided to go for it. It turned out really well, and Jack even said this was better than his previous favorite (homemade coconut ice cream). I did learn from Barefoot Contessa that you shouldn't use chocolate chips for your chocolate pieces, since they have some sort of waxy additive in them. And I always put my homemade ice cream in the freezer after mixing it so that it gets hard like normal ice cream.

Crawfish Etouffee

*Recipe from Houston River Baptist Church 50th Anniversary Cookbook

Crawfish Etouffee

1 stick butter
1 med onion, chopped
1 med. green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C. celery, chopped
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 t. red pepper (I used ground cayenne pepper)
1 10-oz can Rotel
1 10.5-oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 10.5-oz can cream of celery soup
1 10.75-oz can cream of shrimp soup
1 10.75-oz can cream of cheddar soup
1 lb. crawfish tails

1. Saute in butter the onion, bell pepper, and celery until tender. Add seasonings, Rotel, and soups. Cook and stir until all ingreidents are blended together.

2. Add crawfish and cook about 20 minutes until crawfish are done. Add 1/2 C. water or more if needed should the mixure get too thick. Served over cooked rice.

Here's how it went:

Sauteeing the veggies.

Cooking it all up. I was worried it was too light-colored, but I guess it browned up with time because it came out looking like this:

So good!

My take: Having never made crawfish etouffee before and only ever eaten it a few times, I was a little worried about the end product. But Jack and I both like etouffee, so I wanted to try it out. This recipe was so easy and came out tasting really good! It has a spicy kick to it, but I like that. I often ask Jack (when I try out a new recipe) if it's worth repeating. That's the true test. This time I didn't have to even ask him. As we were eating he said it's a definite repeater.

Lime Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce

*From Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade


Lime Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce


1 (16 oz) boxes pound cake mix
1 1/3 cups water or whole milk (I used water)
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 t. lime zest
1 T. lime juice
Strawberry Sauce (recipe follows)
Garnish: lime wedges and fresh strawberries


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a tube pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.


2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, butter, and eggs; beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium, and beat for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape bowl as needed (batter will be thick). Stir in lime zest and lim juice. Spoon batter into prepared pan.


3. Bake for 1 hour and 10 mintues, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with Straberry Sauce. Garnish with lime wedeges and strawberries, if desired.




Strawberry Sauce


1 1/2 C fresh strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 t. lime zest


1. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine strawberries, sugar, and lime zest; process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides.

My take: This actually turned out pretty well, as evidenced by the fact that Jack and I ate the whole thing by ourselves! Over the course of a few days, of course. I did think the cake was a little dry - could have done with some sour cream or something.


Here are some pictures I took along the way:

Gathering my recipe and ingredients.

Prepared tube pan.

Zesting the lime.


Mixing all those ingredients together.

Adding the lime zest.

And the lime juice.

Time to bake it.

And ta da!

Making the tangy strawberry sauce.




And there you have it.