IT'S SUMMER! ICE CREAM, PEACHES, & BLUEBERRIES; Enjoy These Recipes

IT’S TIME FOR ICE CREAM!

Here’s a little trivia you might enjoy. Where is the ice cream capital of the WORLD?

Believe it or not, in a small city, population only 10,000; Lemars, Iowa. In 1994 it was officially recognized as the ice cream capital of the world as it produces the most ice cream there. Now known as Blue Bunny brand, it started as a dairy farm in 1913.

Turning to my recipe, this is a surprisingly easy ice cream cake to make; and what a homemade flavor you get. If you don’t have a 9”springform pan, this summer dessert is worth having one.

This recipe comes from an interesting cookbook published in 1993. Hundreds of community cookbooks were collected nationwide from all kinds of organizations; churches, hospital auxiliaries, clubs, etc. (I love those little cookbooks, good home cooking). Thousands of recipes were tested and rated till the cream of the crop was chosen for the book. This particular recipe comes from a Medical Center Auxiliary in Fort Oglethorpe, GA. that published their book for fundraising.

CHOCOLATE-AMARETTO ICE CREAM CAKE

Ingredients:

1and ½ cups chocolate wafer or cookie crumbs

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted and crushed

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, melted

¼ cup amaretto

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 ( 8 ounce) carton sour cream

3 cups whipping cream, whipped

Optional - additional whipped cream for garnish

 

Combine chocolate wafer crumbs, almonds, and butter; firmly press 1 cup of crumb mixture in bottom of a lightly greased 9-inch spring form pan. If you don’t have a spring form pan, use a 9” deep dish pie or cake pan, which has been lined with waxed paper, so that you can lift it out onto a serving plate.

Set prepared crust and remaining crumb mixture aside.

Combine chocolate and amaretto in a large bowl; stir well. Add sweetened condensed milk and sour cream; stir well. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon half of chocolate mixture into prepared crust; sprinkle with half of reserved crumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining chocolate mixture and crumbs. Cover and freeze at least 8 hours. Carefully remove sides of spring form pan. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish each serving with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

This makes approx. 8-10 servings.

FROZEN CREAM PIES;

           a “COOL” DESSERT

• Frozen pies, akin to “ice cream”, are an easy way to make a tasty dessert for a family meal or to bring to that next cookout. My favorites are chocolate cream frozen pie, peanut butter chocolate cream, and this frozen strawberry pie, recipe below. I have to say that this is one instance when those pre-made pie crusts come in handy, and I do take advantage of them.

 If you are a cook that likes to experiment and come up with your own recipes, using the basic recipe below; cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, whipped topping, and nuts, you can substitute any berry, peaches, or    nectarines for the strawberries. The fresher and riper the fruit, the more flavorful the filling will be. Than just match the crust flavor to the filling;    such as a shortbread cookie crust or the ever-popular graham cracker.
     This recipe  is great for summer get-togethers as it makes 2 pies. They will keep in the freezer till you are ready to serve them. 
For added convenience use pre-made crusts.
The filling is delicious as well as making an attractive presentation. 
Frozen Strawberry Pie
Ingredients:
Two (2) 9 inch chocolate crumb pie crusts (supermarket-baking aisle)
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the strawberries. Fold in the whipped topping and pecans. Pour into crusts. Cover and freeze for 3 to 4 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before serving.
Optional garnishes; fresh strawberries or chocolate curls.

THREE DIFFERENT WAYS TO USE FRESH SWEET PEACHES
Biting into a ripe, juicy peach has always been one of my favorite summer things. This is one of the best fruits to pick right from the tree. If they need to ripen a little, place in a small brown paper bag and let it sit on your counter.
I  head to a nearby orchard every August to pick a dozen or so. I envy anyone reading this that is fortunate in having a peach tree in their back yard.
My cousin Paul lives in CT and has a small peach tree that he gives special care to, and that tree is prolific with peaches right now. He and his wife make their own spiced peach jam (recipe below) every year, and give it away as gifts. 
This first one is for all you cooks out there. Don’t let this summer go by without enjoying one of these. Here’s to all of you!
Frozen Peach Margaritas
Peel, pit, and slice fresh peaches to make 2 cups. Freeze in covered container till firm.
In a blender, combine frozen peaches, 3/4 cup tequila, 1/4 cup triple sec, juice of 3 limes (about 1/4 cup), 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 cup ice cubes. Puree until smooth.
 Serve immediately.    Serves 4
Peach Cream Freeze in Waffle Bowls
Ingredients:
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1 cup cold milk
1 package (3.4 ounce) vanilla instant pudding
1 ½ cups thawed whipped topping
20 “NILLA” cookie wafers (or like brand), coarsely broken
1 and 1/2 cups sliced fresh peaches
Make filling:
Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; beat 2 minutes. Stir in whipped topping, wafers, and peaches. Freeze filling 6 hours or until firm. Scoop into 8 waffle bowls.  
Spiced Peach Jam

Ingredients
4 cups fully ripe peaches (peel, pit, mash/crush)
¼ cup lemon juice
7 and ½ cups sugar
 ½ teaspoon of EACH;  cinnamon, cloves, and allspice
2^nd step….1 pouch of Certo liquid pectin
Combine all except Certo in large pan. Mix well and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1 pouch of Certo immediately. Stir for 5 more minutes (skim if needed).  Put in jam jars (Paul & Carol use 32 oz. for family and 4 oz. jars for gifts), proceed with 10 minute boiling water “bath” to seal canning jars. Let cool and make sure the jars are properly sealed.
Paul and Carol use a food processor, saying it makes a better jam as well as being easier. If you have one, put the peeled, pitted peaches in the processor with the lemon juice and “pulse” until fully chopped and incorporated.
HIGH ON A HILL PICKING BLUEBERRIES!

My Uncle Leon lived in Fitchburg MA, and along with my father and grandfather, would gather as many of the older children as they could cajole and pack them up for a day trip from Southboro to Fitchburg, where they would spend the whole day up on a favorite hill, picking sweet, wild blueberries which was prolific with blueberry bushes. When the family returned home my mother and I needed to pick them over right away; if left overnight they would be mushy by morning.
 As a family, we had picked and packed into freezer boxes 24 quarts of blueberries. It was quite a sight to see to look into that freezer. We had more than enough berries for the year ahead for blueberry pies, muffins, and shortcake.

Blueberry Buckle
One of our favorite desserts is Blueberry Buckle which is an old-fashioned cake that is best served warm. It is wonderful “comfort food” and made more delicious topped with whipped cream.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soft butter
 1/2 cup granulated sugar
 1 egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼  teaspoon grated lemon peel
 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 1 cup all-purpose flour
 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
2 cups (1 pint) fresh blueberries or frozen, unsugared blueberries 
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar; beat in egg, lemon juice, lemon zest and nutmeg. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Blend into creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Butter an 8-inch square pan. Spread cake mixture into pan. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over the top.
Topping: 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup butter, room temp.
In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle mixture over the blueberries.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden and wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

TIP: If you want to freeze fresh blueberries, pick them over taking off the stems and removing any mushy ones, or ones not quite ripe, and place in a plastic bag. DO NOT WASH FIRST. Blueberries freeze better when they are as dry as possible. I put them in small zipped bags, a few bags with 1 cup, and a few bags with 2 cups, measured out for a recipe of your choice.

Here is an additional recipe to use those blueberries, a short-cut version of:

Blueberry Cream Pie

Mix together an 8 ounce package of cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 2 envelopes Dream Whip (can be found in the baking aisle).

Slice 2 bananas and put on the bottom of a pre-made graham cracker pie crust; sprinkle with lemon juice. Spoon cream mix on top of bananas.

Mix 1 cup fresh blueberries with 1 can blueberry pie filling; spread on top of cream filling.  Refrigerate 4 hours.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER

 &  COOK FROM YOUR HEART