May 2018 - Slice Of Honey

I have so many wonderful memories that include ice cream! Clearly a sign of a happy childhood. A sign of a happy adulthood, while we’re at it! Blizzard dates with high school friends and clown cones for my 7^th birthday party were awesome but the best memories are with my grandfather. He would pull out the big crank churn and help us make homemade ice cream. It felt like it took hours of churning and adding more salt and more ice. But the reward was always worth the wait. Fresh from the churn, it was like soft serve ice cream. I always added chocolate syrup on top and Grandpa would help me scrape every last bit from my bowl.

Those memories with Grandpa are incredibly sweet. However, as a career woman, a wife and a mom, I don’t have the patience to wait on ice cream to churn. When I saw the no-churn ice cream trend I knew I had to try it. The basic concept is combining whipped cream with sweetened condensed milk. Beyond this, the flavor combinations are limited only by your own imagination. The coffee flavor I’ve created here seems to me like a great excuse to have ice cream for breakfast.

Tips:

If you’re caffeine sensitive, feel free to use decaf instant coffee rather than regular.
Be sure whip the heavy cream yourself rather than using premade whipped cream. There is a difference in texture and sweetness.

No Churn Chocolate Chunk Coffee Ice Cream

16oz heavy cream

1 single serving packet instant coffee granules (I used Starbucks Via)

1 Tablespoon hot water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

14oz sweetened condensed milk

½ cup chopped dark chocolate

Directions:

In a large, cold bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. In a medium bowl, stir coffee and hot water until coffee dissolves. Stir vanilla and sweetened condensed milk into coffee until well combined. Mix coffee mixture into whipped cream. Stir in chocolate. Pour ice cream into a 9×5 loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.

I’ve reached an interesting stage of life where friends are not consuming alcohol like we used to. The reasons seem to vary greatly – pregnancy, health issues, recovering alcoholic. Regardless of the reason though, let’s just admit that we would all be a bit healthier if we went for a mocktail rather than some booze. When I was pregnant, I would ask bartenders to create a mocktail for me when I was out to dinner with friends. Maybe it was pregnancy brain getting the best of me but it never really occurred to me to create some mocktails of my own at home. Now that I’ve made a few I’m actually inspired to make and drink more of them!

The inspiration on this flight of mocktails was really to create drinks comparable to cocktails I would normally order myself at a bar or restaurant. I enjoyed all four drinks listed here but the first two are my favorite. These could be so fun to serve at a baby shower or even just a booze-free brunch with friends!

Tips:

If added sweetness is desired for the Pink Lemon Drop, serve in a sugar rimmed martini glass.
You can buy or make your own simple syrup. To make your own, add ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool completely before adding to your mocktail.

Flight of Mocktails

Sober Sangria – makes 4 drinks

1 orange, sliced

1 apple, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 peach, sliced (in winter, you can sub the peach out for 1 cup pomegranate seeds)

1 cinnamon stick

1 ½ cups pomegranate juice

juice of 1 lime

1 cup cranberry juice

Place all fruit and the cinnamon stick in a pitcher. Pour in pomegranate juice, lime juice and cranberry juice. Stir all ingredients and refrigerate a minimum of 4-8 hours in order to allow flavors to blend and drink to chill. Can be served over ice if desired.

Pink Lemon Drop Mocktini – makes 1 drink

¼ cup cranberry juice, chilled

½ cup Italian lemon soda, chilled

2 fresh ginger slices

1 small sprig rosemary

Optional garnish – 1 lemon slice

Pour juice and soda into a martini glass. Place ginger slices on a toothpick then place in drink. Add rosemary and lemon slice.

Mock-Mojito – makes 1 drink

2 tablespoons simple syrup

Juice of 1 lime

1 sprig fresh mint

¾ cup Topo Chico (or plain carbonated water of choice)

Crushed ice

In a 10oz glass, stir together simple syrup, lime juice, Topo Chico and mint. Add crushed ice until glass is full. Garnish with more mint if desired.

Berry Sunrise – makes 1 drink

1 handful blueberries (or opt for blackberries, raspberries or sliced strawberries)

½ cup grapefruit juice

½ cup sprite

Crushed ice

Muddle berries in the bottom of a 10oz glass. Stir in grapefruit juice and sprite. Add crushed ice until glass is full.

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