Candy Cane Stracciatella Gelato

I don't think my house has ever been dustier.  Ever.  And the dirty clothes?  I've let them pile up for a week.  Today is the first day that I have not been involved in some kind of Christmas festivity or visiting with family or eating a huge dinner or something.  It seems strangely quiet here.  And messy.  Very, very messy.

This Christmas season was one of the best ever.  My sister, brother-in-law, and six year old niece traveled from Missouri, not only to spend Christmas with us, but to be here for a surprise birthday party for my mom who turned 60 years old.  My sister and I had been planning it for probably six months, and the whole thing went off without a hitch.  I can't believe it, but it did.  My mother had no idea about the party, but also no idea that my sister and her family were coming, so it was a double surprise.

My mom and I on her 60th birthday.

Needless to say, there has been a lot of eating going on.  Tons.  And while the rest of the blogosphere is telling you what you can do with your leftover Christmas ham and mashed potatoes, I am all about using up your leftover candy canes.

Candy canes on their own are very undesirable to me, but finely crushed in some peppermint gelato with tiny bits of milk chocolate chips (stracciatella)?  I can totally go for that.  And I did.  Several times.

So what makes this recipe special is that basically I make a homemade magic shell that hardens instantly upon hitting the cold, churning gelato, and breaks into tiny chips.  Stirring the coconut oil and chocolate chips together make the chocolate much easier to drizzle into (or onto) the gelato.  I love it when I can make something homemade (easily) and it turns out to be just as good or better than the processed store bought version.  (Oooh!  This chocolate syrup recipe is like that too!)

Here are my notes:

-If you are concerned with portion control, how about spooning some of the gelato into some cute little jelly jars?  You could layer with some more magic shell and store them in the freezer. 





-I have the 2 quart Cuisinart ice cream machine.  This recipe slightly overflowed when it was done, so you may need to prepare yourself for that if you have the same size.  It worked, it was just very full.  See pic above.

-The homemade magic shell is nothing I invented.  This recipe is all over the Internet in various forms, but these particular measurements work well for me.  I have also made this with dark chocolate chips.

-The magic shell really needs to stay at room temperature.  If it hardens, just zap it on the microwave for a few seconds and stir until smooth.

-You could substitute organic virgin coconut oil if you can find it to make it healthier (or so I've read).  I used LouAna coconut oil that I found by the regular cooking oils.

-I like to transfer mine to a squeeze bottle to make it easier to stream in.

Candy Cane Stracciatella Gelato

Printable Recipe

4 cups whole milk

10 large egg yolks

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2-3 drops red food coloring, if desired

1 cup very finely crushed candy canes or hard peppermint candy, divided

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup coconut oil

Place milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to about 175 degrees (just before scalding), whisking often. Meanwhile, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until well blended, about 1 minute.

Gradually whisk about half the hot milk into yolk mixture. Return to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens, about 5 minutes. Strain through a fine wire mesh into a medium bowl. Stir in heavy cream, peppermint extract, and red food coloring, if desired. Chill custard until very cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Stir chocolate and coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth; remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  Do not refrigerate. 

Freeze custard in a 2 1/2 quart or larger ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. During last 5 minutes of freezing, add all but 3 tablespoons of the crushed candy canes to the gelato.  When that is mixed, slowly drizzle half of the chocolate mixture into the gelato.  (The chocolate will immediately harden and break into tiny chips as gelato continues to churn.)

Serve the gelato in soft form straight from the ice cream maker, or place in a large freezer safe container and freeze until desired firmness. Top each serving of gelato with a drizzle of the chocolate, followed by a sprinkling of the reserved crushed candy canes.  (I like to transfer the chocolate mixture to a squeeze bottle for easier drizzling.) About 2 1/4 quarts.

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Mississippi Kitchen!

For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  

Isaiah 9:6

Santa’s Salt and Pepper Butterscotch-Pine Nut Cookies

"I'M IN LOVE, I'M IN LOVE [with these cookies] AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!"

Yes, I have probably watched Elf six times this month.  And I am truly in love with these cookies.  Did you see Monday's The Chew?  Well, my cooking friend Catherine was on the show competing in a cookie bake-off.  And guess what?  She won.  With this recipe.  And I had to drop everything I was doing yesterday morning and whip up a batch.

Let me tell you about them.  They are different.  They are easy.  They are delicious.  I loved them.  In fact, I think I'll go eat another one right now for breakfast.  These flat, buttery, crispy-around-the-edges, chewy-in-the-center cookies have butterscotch chips in them, along with buttery, toasted pine nuts.  But the real pop comes from a good measure of sea salt and--get this--coarsely ground black pepper.  Now, don't look at me like that.  The pepper is just enough to give each bite a little, well, bite.  It blends perfectly and sets these cookies apart from you average chocolate chipper or sugar cookie. It's like the salt and pepper linger in your mouth as an after-note, but I'm telling you, it's crazy good.

You can find the recipe HERE.  And just to vent a little, people truly amaze me (but not in a good way) by the negative comments that they post in public forums.  Would it kill you [person who leaves negative comments] to be happy for someone or at the very least keep your negativity to yourself?  Maybe you need to read my article on being happy when others are happy.  It might really help you with your attitude.  Just sayin'. 

Yeah, just a little bit of holiday venting, folks.

I did have to make the slightest adaptions because I didn't have unsalted butter or flaky sea salt, but here are my notes:

-Okay, like I just said,  I did not have unsalted butter.  And because of that fact, I decreased the tablespoon of sea salt to 3 teaspoons.  I did leave the 1/4 teaspoon of regular salt in the dough.  The cookie was great to me.  Just the right amount of salt in my book.

-I also did not have flaky sea salt, but I did have fleur de sel.  So I used that.

-These are flat cookies, but you know what?  Flat is good.  Flat is beautiful.  Just ask Keira Knightley.  I suppose if you chilled the dough, they wouldn't spread so much, but the flat worked well for them.

-And because they did spread, I only put 9 to a pan.  And I did use the parchment paper.

Can you see the specks of pepper?  Huh?  Can you?

-I used a coarsely ground black pepper.

-Do watch those pine nuts, just like she notes in the recipe.  Once mine started turning golden brown, they all browned quickly after that.  You really need to focus.  Don't be a cotton headed ninny muggins.