No Churn Rocky Road Ice Cream

I recently made some peach ice cream using Martha Stewart's recipe for No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream.  I wondered if I could do the same thing for chocolate.  I started looking around the Internet, because I didn't know what to use to make it chocolate.  I could replace the Bourbon or Peach Schnapps with the Crème de Cacao that is languishing in my pantry.  I have cocoa powder, but I worried that it might not blend well.  I DO have some Ghirardelli chocolate bars I bought and never used.  Then I noticed a picture of chocolate ice cream with nuts sprinkled on top.  That sounds good.  OOH.  WAIT.  Rocky Road.

I recently went to the grocery store when very hungry.  Yes, mother, I know.  Don't DO that.  I saw some chocolate and vanilla swirl marshmallows.  Lee likes marshmallows and the thought process went, I will buy some, eat a few and then they will disappear before I go back into the pantry.  But paired with some walnuts, that would make a pretty good version of Rocky Road ice cream.

 

No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons Crème de Cacao (optional)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate bar, melted.  I used Ghirardelli.
2 cups heavy cream

 

If you choose to make the rocky road version

 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6 or so large chocolate vanilla swirl (or plain) marshmallows, chopped small.  Or use a handful of the miniature marshmallows.
Powdered sugar

Place the sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl.  Add the vanilla and the Crème de Cacao and give it a stir.  Break up the chocolate bar and use your favorite method for melting chocolate.  It will burn if you get it too hot.  I chose to use a pan over very low heat and as soon as it started to melt I turned off the heat and just kept stirring it until it was all smooth.

 

I set the hot, melted chocolate aside and started the cream whipping.  It takes at least 5 minutes and I wanted to let the chocolate cool a bit first.  I used the Kitchen Aid mixer and set it to whipping the heavy cream while I chopped some nuts. 

 

I used a pair of kitchen shears to cut up the marshmallows.  In order to keep them from sticking, I put a small amount of powdered sugar on my cutting board and dipped the cut ends into the sugar to prevent that. 

 

I cut them lengthwise in strips, dipped them and then cross cut them and dipped again.  Make sure the cream does not get over whipped, so check it often. You want it to make stiff peaks. 

I made a smaller amount of nuts and mallows and then decided it didn't look like enough and made a bit more.  These are the final measurements.

 

 

Stir the cooled, yet still liquid, chocolate into the milk mixture. 

 

Then fold in the whipped cream.  When the chocolate is all one color, you may add the nuts and mallows.  Or just nuts.  Hey, it's YOUR ice cream!

 

I used the Glad FreezerWare containers and it made about 2 1/2 containers.  It needs to freeze for 6 hours, but I lost control after about 2 hours and it was soft and delicious.  But you should have more willpower than I.

 


 


I have to say I liked it even better than the Peach Ice Cream. It was as silky as any high priced ice cream and the marshmallows were soft and the walnuts crunchy.  Just perfect.

Magic Chocolate Flan Cake

   
   

In a previous post I made an Orange Flan.  My search engine on this site is wonky, so if you want to see it, Google Orange Flan Shenandoah and it will come up.

While researching flan recipes, I found a lot of references about flan cake.  I didn't see how flan, which is a type of custard worked with cake. My daughter, Trista, lived in Mexico for a year and she said it was one of her favorite things.

Then I bought a one year subscription to Cook's Country magazine.  Not only is it as magazine with recipes, but it shows how they change and develop them and gives recommendations for all things cooking related.  This month featured a Magic Chocolate Flan Cake recipe.  It went into the make-for-Christmas pile on my counter.  The magic takes place when you cook the flan cake.  You put the cake batter in a Bundt pan first and then pour the flan on top.  They switch places during the baking process.  It's is fun and delicious and a science experiment all in one.  You gotta try it!

Magic Chocolate Flan Cake


Cake

1/2 cup caramel sauce or topping
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I had some dark chocolate chips left over and used them!)
6 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Flan

2 (14 oz)  cans sweetened condensed milk  They recommended Eagle Brand
2 1/2 cups whole milk
6 ounces cream cheese I used Philadelphia.
6 large eggs plus 4 large egg yolks...you're gonna need 10 eggs and a whole dozen for this recipe!
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First off you need to know that you will need to make this about 10 hours before you plan to eat it.  It takes time to bake and then chill. Twelve hours or overnight wouldn't hurt.

   

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a 12 cup non-stick Bundt pan.  I used wax paper and Crisco to grease the pan because the Bundt pan instructions said that I should not use Pam or any other spray and it came out so easy.

   

Buy some fancy caramel sauce, because you won't be making it and you want the best.

   

 Heat it a bit in the microwave to make it pourable and pour it evenly into the Bundt pan.

   

Put the chocolate and the butter in a large bowl and microwave just until melted.  It may look like it isn't melted, so take it out every 30 seconds or so and stir it a bit.  Whisk in the buttermilk, sugar and vanilla extract.  Then add the two eggs.  I did it this way so the heat of the melted butter and chocolate wouldn't curdle the eggs.  They are added last after everything has cooled off a bit.

   

Set a sifter on a small plate.  Place the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in the sift into the chocolaty mixture. Stir until just combined.  Spoon on top of the caramel in the Bundt pan and smooth out the top.

   

Now for the flan part.  My blender will not hold 2 quarts, so I had to divide this into 2 parts.  If yours will hold that much, go ahead and put everything in at once.  I wanted to make sure I didn't have too much in one part and not enough in the other so I divided it equally.  This is how I did it.

   

Place one can of the sweetened condensed milk and 1 1/4 cup whole milk in the mixer.  Add 3 eggs and 2 yolks and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  I had an 8 ounces package of Philadelphia cream cheese.  I cut it into fourths.  I put one whole section and then 1/2 of a second section in the blender.  Process until smooth.  It will take about one minute.  Pour that over the cake and then do the same thing one more time.  You will have one section of the cream cheese left over.  My cake started to float up before I finished processing the second part of the flan.  Don't worry if this happens.  It will do it in the oven in a bit anyway!

   

Just so you know, there will be a lot of dishes to do while you are waiting for the flan cake to cook!

   

Place the Bundt pan in a large roasting pan and place everything in the oven.  Pour hot water in the roasting pan until it reaches half way up,  being careful not to put any in the Bundt pan.  You should be careful not to burn yourself during this process and don't ask how I know this is an issue. : )

   

Bake in the 350 oven until a toothpick comes out clean from the cake and the flan is 180 degrees.  Mine was done at about 70 minutes, but the recipe suggested 75 to 90 minutes.  Remove the roasting pan and set on the stove.  Using mitts remove the Bundt pan.  Don't get your mitts in the water! 

   

It is cold here and I didn't start cooking as early as I should have, so I put my Bundt pan out on the table in the screen porch to spead up the cooling process. It may take you 2 hours to cool enough for it to go in the refrigerator.  Then chill 8 hours by their recommendation.  I  kept it in rigerator for 4 hours after an hour on the 40 degree porch and it worked out fine.

   

To remove the flan cake from the Bundt pan, fill the sink with hot tap water so that it will cover one third of the pan.  Set it in there for 1 minute.  Don't cheat.  Set it back up on the sink, dry the bottom and loosen the edges of the cake with a plastic knife.  Place a large serving plate over the top of the pan.  Hold the pan with one hand and the plate with the other and flip it over.  It will fall right onto the plate and the caramel sauce will ooze down the sides.

 

    

 

 

Serve big giant hunks to everyone or you will end up with  the rest to eat by yourself and you will have to put off your resolution to lose weight until next week.