One of our favorite treats is ice cream.  It just makes you happy.  Why is that?  Is it because many of us relate some vivid memory of childhood to ice cream?  We both remember making homemade ice cream with our families as kids.  It was always such a treat when it was finally frozen and ready to eat. Rhonda’s grandparents lived less than a block away from the local Dairy Queen.  It was always a special event to walk down the block and buy a Dilly Bar from the DQ.  Craig remembers that his dad would wake up in the middle of the night and sneak into the kitchen to eat ice cream from the carton.  His dad would eat the ice cream in leveled layers, hoping that no one would notice that he had been in the freezer in the late hours of the night.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, we love ice cream!  No matter how full you are, you can always make room for ice cream.  It slips into the cracks!

This week you are going to get 2 great recipes for the low, low price of one.  First up is the Choco Menta Shake.  Think Girl Scout Thin Mint in a shake!  This shake is made with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, milk, chocolate syrup, Branca Menta and Kerrygold.  Place all of the ingredients into your blender.  Blend well and serve in a chilled glass.

Branca Menta is a mint liqueur.  It is a cousin to the Carpano Antica that we shared with you in our Sangria recipe.  Like Carpano Antica, it is a product of Italy and made from a very old recipe passed down for generations.  If you like mint, you will love its taste.  We have other recipes that use this refreshing liqueur that we will share with you in future posts.

You may have heard of Kerrygold butter.  Kerrygold Irish Cream is also available in the United States.  Kerrygold Irish Cream is made with real cream from Irish grass-fed cows, Irish whiskey, and real chocolate.  Other Irish creams only use chocolate flavoring, but Kerrygold uses the real stuff!  This creamy sensation tastes great served over ice, but we included it in our chocolate shakes to give them an extra creamy chocolaty flavor.

 

Choco Menta Shake

• 1 pint of vanilla ice cream
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 Tbsp chocolate syrup
• 1 ounce Branca Menta
• 2 ounces Kerrygold Irish Cream

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately in a chilled glass.  Garnish with syrup and mint leaves.  Serves 2.

 

Our Kerrygold Caramel Shake has the same ingredients except there is no Branca Menta. Remember in the Bananas Foster post, we told you to save your extra caramel sauce?  Well, you will be happy you did.  It makes a great addition to the Kerrygold Caramel Shake.  Yummo!

Kerrygold Caramel Shake

• 1 pint of vanilla ice cream
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 ounce of caramel syrup
• 2 ounces of Kerrygold Irish Cream
• Sprinkles, Sea Salt, Caramel Syrup or Chocolate Syrup for garnish.

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Serve immediately in chilled glass.  Garnish. Serves 2.

Want to make your shakes look special?  Try a few of our tricks for garnishing.  Chilling the glass ahead of time prevents your shake from melting too quickly.  You can also drizzle some chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass prior to pouring the shake inside.  It gives your shake a professional look.

I drizzled some chocolate syrup on the top of the shake and added a few small mint leaves for a special garnish.

You can also garnish your shake by placing the rim of the glass in chocolate syrup.  Then place the syrupy rim into a plate covered in sprinkles.  This will give your shakes a fancy look that will be sure to impress guests.

We would love to hear if you try one or both of the shakes.  Do you serve shakes as beverages or desserts?  Desserts you drink?  We can’t decide.  How do you like to dress your drinks to impress?

Disclaimer:  The beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years and older.  We do not support or encourage underage drinking.  Always drink responsibly and never drink and drive.