Celebrate the USA with Raspberry No-Churn Ice Cream

Last night we went to our first outdoor concert in 2 years.  We originally purchased the tickets in 2019 to see Rick Springfield with Chicago, but we only saw Chicago.  We guess Rick stayed in Australia?  Either way, we are had fun getting back to some of our favorite summer past times.  Speaking of favorite summer activities, you know that ice cream is one of things that we enjoy most over summer and this week we have a easy, tasty and fresh ice cream recipe that will be sure to rival the fireworks at your Fourth of July festivities.

This gem of a recipe is from our easy no-churn ice cream recipe base that we shared with you in our Move Our Paciugo… post. Instead of using Irish Cream for the flavor base, we added Chambord Raspberry Liqueur and it was ah-mazing!  Why we didn’t think of this before?  A simple garnish of fresh berries on this silky, smooth ice cream is a simple and delicious dessert for any time of a summer.

This recipe is the perfect recipe for a weekend at the lake or beach.  Not only are there few ingredients, but you can easily enjoy homemade ice cream without the need of an ice cream churn.

The ingredients that you will need are: a can of sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, salt, Chambord Raspberry Liqueur, and heavy cream.  Remember, one of the best things about this recipe is that  all you need is a hand held electric mixer and a freezer.

Make sure that your mixing bowl and beaters have set in the freezer for about 20 minutes before starting the ice cream.  It will help the cream peak sooner.

Stir together the  milk, vanilla, salt and Chambord. Set aside.

Place cream in the chilled bowl and beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until peaks form.

Fold 1/3 whipped cream mixture into milk mixture to lighten it and then fold in the remaining cream until ice cream mixture is smooth. Be careful not to over whisk and stir.  You don’t want to deflate the whipped cream. Carefully pour the creamy mixture into a glass loaf pan. Place in the freezer for 8 hours.

Top the ice cream with fresh berries when serving and enjoy the fireworks!

Need some other Fourth of July recipes? Check out some of our previous posts.

Red, White and Blue Smash

Strawberry Basil Margarita

Red, White and Peach

Raspberry Margarita

Spiked Watermelon Lemonade

Raspberry Mojito

Boozy Berry Ice Cream

TBPB Cannonball

Espresso Oreo Shake

Tequila Lime Strawberry Ice Cream Pie

Prosecco Summer Dessert

What fun plans do you have for celebrating our nation’s birthday?  We would love to hear about it!

 

Cool Off with a Cucumber Margarita

There is something so refreshing and cooling about the taste of a cucumber.  Is it because we associate it with the popular phrase, “Cool as a cucumber?” Or is it an  ingredient that is often used in summer salads and dishes that we associate a cool factor with cucumbers?  According to Netmeds.com cucumbers are about 95 % water which aid in the “coolness” of the cucumber.  Cucumbers also have other great properties and benefits, such as, hydrating the body, rejuvenating the skin, building strong gums and fresh breath, promoting digestive health, regulating blood pressure and aiding in weight loss. Who knew there were so many benefits to this green, spiky fruit!

We researched different cucumber cocktails and margaritas and decided on a version that follows our winning  skinny agave margarita base.  The cocktail is quick and easy.  The hardest part is juicing the cucumber, but that only takes about  5 minutes.  You can whip this cocktail up quickly and head poolside in no time.

First we juiced half of a cucumber.  We removed the cucumber peel, and place the cucumber in our juicer.  We juiced the cucumber for about 5-7 minutes.  This created some juice and thick pulp.

We filled our shaker with ice, and added tequila, lime juice, agave nectar and cucumber juice and pulp.  We shook the drink vigorously for about 30 seconds, and then poured the beverage into a margarita glass filled with ice.  If you don’t want the seeds from the cucumber in your drink, you can add a small extra step of straining the liquid into your glass. Garnish the drink with cucumber slices and sprig of fresh mint.

Interested in a frozen margarita? Add all ingredients to the blender with a cup of ice and blend to preferred consistency.

If you are viewing this post via email, visit us at www.theblingpig.blog for a complete recipe for the Cucumber Margarita.

Today looks like the perfect day to slurp down one of these yummy cocktails near the pool.

 

Show Dad S’more Love with This Delicious Dessert

The heat is on and summer is in full swing.  Surely you knew a post with ice cream was coming soon.  We love ice cream at The Blind Pig Blog.  Nothing says, “Hello, Summer!” like some yummy ice cream.  However, another thing that makes us think of summer is sitting around a roaring campfire roasting marshmallows and eating s’mores.  Yumm-O! What a better idea than to combine two of summer’s favorite treats into one yummy calorie-filled treat for Dad?  Yes, of course, we will say that we just HAVE to make this dessert for Dad! So in support of dads everywhere, we will sacrifice and share with you the recipe for S’mores Ice Cream Cake.

Like most ice cream cakes, this recipe is not difficult to follow, but you do need to plan a day or two in advance.  This is not something that can just be whipped up at the last minute.  To create this delectable dessert you will need graham crackers (of course), whole toasted almonds, sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla ice cream, fudge sauce,  Caffe’ Borghetti Espresso Liqueur, marshmallow crème, and miniature marshmallows.

To start you will preheat the oven to 350 degrees while you finely grind the graham crackers, toasted almonds and sugar together in a food processor. Add melted butter and process until moist crumbs form. Next press the graham mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan.  Bake the crust for about 12 minutes.  Cool the crust completely.

After crust is completely cooled, remove ice cream from the freezer and soften.  Spoon a layer of ice cream into the bottom of the crust approximately one inch thick.

You can make your own fudge sauce for the cake or cheat (which is what we did this time).  If you are cheating, empty a jar of Smucker’s Fudge Sauce into a small microwaveable bowl.  Add one ounce of Caffe’ Borghetti Espresso Liqueur to the sauce and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute.  Stir together Caffe’ Borghetti and sauce until smooth.  Spoon half of the fudge sauce over the layer of ice cream.  Place the cake into the freezer for two hours.  After two hours remove the ice cream and soften again. Spoon a layer of softened ice cream on top of the bottom layer of ice cream and fudge.  Add an additional layer of fudge on top of the second layer of ice cream.  Return the cake to the freezer for 12-24 hours. You may want to save some fudge to drizzle over the top of the cake before serving.

Remove cake from freezer.  Spread a thin layer of marshmallow crème over the top of the cake.  Sprinkle the cake with mini marshmallows.  At this point you have two choices in how you would like to proceed. The first choice is to place the cake on a cookie sheet, turn on the broiler in your oven and lightly toast the marshmallows.  However, placing an ice cream cake into a warm oven sounded a little contradictory to us, so we opted for another option.  Option 2 is to use a small kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows.  We lightly toasted the marshmallows with the kitchen torch and it worked perfectly.  We did not have to worry about melting our ice cream cake in the oven and we had yummy toasted marshmallows.  We understand that everyone is not as lucky as Rhonda to have a family who gifts unique kitchen gadgets for Christmas and birthdays, so we wanted you to be informed of the oven option.

The ice cream cake after the layer of marshmallow crème is added.

Rhonda’s handy dandy kitchen torch.

The top of the cake after lightly toasting marshmallows.

After toasting, drizzle remaining fudge over the top of the toasted marshmallows.  Cut into single servings and let your family enjoy the ultimate taste of summer.

If you are viewing this post via email, please visit us at www.theblindpig.blog for a complete recipe for S’mores Ice Cream Cake.

We hope you and your dad or dads love this dessert.  If you want to make this dessert and just think of your dad while you are eating it, that’s okay too! Either way, Happy Father’s Day to all of the great dads out there.  We love you!