As someone who grew up loving ice cream, it’s the one thing I miss most about being lactose intolerant. Since getting my ice cream maker attachment for Christmas, I have been really excited about trying out alternative milks for making ice cream.

Since I can eat goat and sheep’s milk products, I knew I wanted to try to get my hands on some goat or sheep milk to make ice cream at some point. Imagine my surprise when Hubby brought home a carton of goat milk from the store one day. It turns out the grocery store near us here in Ohio carries goat milk right next to the refrigerated soy milk. Sometimes Ohio amazes me.

I instantly started searching for an ice cream recipe to use my goat milk in. Obviously, I gravitated towards chocolate recipes. I used high quality chocolate/cocoa (Scharffen Berger) like I always do in my ice cream recipes. I decided to chop up some bittersweet chocolate to throw in to the ice cream during the last few minutes of churning. This boosted the chocolate flavor and gave the ice cream a nice crunchy texture.

We both loved this ice cream. If you’re not used to the flavor of goat milk, I would definitely recommend starting with a chocolate ice cream. The milk does have a unique flavor that I refer to as “goaty” as if that means anything… I think the goaty flavor would be even more prominent in a vanilla ice cream that I could barely taste it in this chocolate ice cream.

The goat milk ice cream was not as creamy as the other chocolate coconut milk based ice cream recipes that I made, but we both really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to continuing my quest to try alternate milks for future ice cream recipes.

One Year Ago: Blueberry Basil Goat Cheesecake Bars
Two Years Ago: Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes (aka, Quintuple Chocolate Cupcakes)
Three Years Ago: Homemade Coleslaw
Four Years Ago: Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Toasts

Continue reading: Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Goat’s Milk Ice Cream

Today is my birthday, and like the cake, we’re keeping the celebration simple this year. We’re having some friends over for a cookout next weekend to celebrate. There will be some grilling, a game or two of bocci, and smores. I can’t wait for the upcoming opposite of an over-the-top party.

While this cake may seem understated, the flavors are rich and chocolatey, like a chocolate cake should be. Using a simple ganache to fill and frost the cake just adds to the decadence and keeps the cake extremely moist. With a simple candle, this would make any birthday boy or girl giddy with joy.

Three Years Ago: PB&J Omelet
Four Years Ago: Crockpot French Dip Sandwich

Continue reading: Chocolate Fudge Cake

A few months ago, I threw together some sugar cookie bars to take in to work. I ended up with leftovers to bring home with me. I’m not used to that… I blame it on the fact that the recipe makes a LOT of sugar cookie bars, and it was a beautiful Friday so I think people cut out early. When I take baked goods to work, I don’t usually set them out until the afternoon so I’m not ruining anyone’s lunch appetite.

So I found myself with some leftover sugar cookie bars. Not sure what to do with them, I wrapped them up in some plastic wrap and foil and threw them in the freezer.

A couple weeks later, after the huge success of the Snickerdoodle Ice Cream, I was trying to decide what kind of ice cream to make next. You can see where this story is going. Similar to the Snickerdoodle Ice Cream, this is simply a vanilla ice cream (made with almond extract and very little sugar) with large chunks of sugar cookie bars thrown into the mix. To make things even more fun, I also threw some sprinkles in. If you don’t happen to have sugar cookie bars sitting around, or don’t want to make them, you could easily use sugar cookies (homemade, or even store bought) to make this ice cream.

With the taste of sugar cookies and the fun sprinkles mixed in, this is the perfect ice cream to serve at a birthday or any other celebration.

One Year Ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins and Balsamic Fiddleheads
Three Years Ago: Homemade Chicken Broth and Veggie Chicken Soup in the Crockpot
Four Years Ago: Mounds Cupcakes
Five Years Ago: Pina Colada Cupcakes

Continue reading: Sugar Cookie Ice Cream

This is incredibly sad for me. As an early adopter of all things Google, I have been using GR for years now. My system for saving recipes includes adding a star and tags to indicate the kind of recipe it is. GR is the first place I go when trying to decide what to make next…

As a reminder, you can always subscribe to Beantown Baker via email. That way new posts appear in your Inbox shortly after they are published. If you are interested in that option, simply add your email address to the box that says “Keep in Touch” on the right.

You may be wondering what I’m going to do to replace Google Reader. Based on the reading I did, I decided to go with Feedly, although I have encountered some bugs with it already…

Here are the issues I have had:

First, upon importing my data from GR, it imported my folders, but not my tags. As I mentioned above, I have a TON of posts tagged. Hundreds. Maybe even thousands. This was potentially a deal breaker for me until I found some help in the comment of this article. Following the instructions listed HERE, I was able to copy and paste my tags into Feedly. Score.

However, the next time I logged in to Feedly on a different computer, the tags weren’t there again. To fix this, I simply opened Feedly on the computer I had first loaded the tags in to, copied them and emailed them to myself. Annoying, but easy enough to implement.

So once my posts were reflecting their tags, I was ready to start using Feedly instead of Google Reader. However, I found that I had to log in every time I went to use it. Even though I use Google Chrome with the Feedly extension. When it did log me in, my tags and the preferences I had set for the appearance were gone again. This issues seems to have gone away recently, so maybe Feedly has been getting some updates

At this time, I’m going to continue to try to learn to love Feedly. But really, I just wish Google Reader wasn’t going away…

Now, we didn’t have spiral cut currywurst in Germany, but once you spiral cut a processed meat link, you’ll never go back. I saw this article when someone posted it on Facebook and was so intrigued, I had to try it.

You see, I’m definitely a burnt hot dog girl. The more charred on the grill, the better. (I’m the same way with roasted marshmallows, by the way). So the thought of having an increased surface area to caramelize even more of the hot dog’s exterior, the better! I was a little apprehensive that my mettwurst would fall apart as I spiral cut them, but they held together just fine. I’ve also done this with bratwurst with no issue.

Not only do you get more caramelized deliciousness from spiral cutting, you also get more nooks and crannies for your condiments to stick to. And, if you’re using a bun, spiral cut dogs are longer than those without spiral cutting, so they fit the bun better.

So to recreate our currywurst meal from Germany, I simply spiral cut some mettwurst, grilled them up, and served them over a generous smear of curry ketchup. I served them with some crispy baked french fries. Next to a great beer, it was *almost* like we were back in Germany…

One Year Ago: My Favorite Strawberry Recipes and Edamame Avocado Salad
Two Years Ago: Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Neapolitan Ice Cream Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Chickpea and Roasted Red Pepper Salad and Dark Chocolate Frosting
Four Years Ago: 40 Clove Garlic Chicken in Crockpot

Continue reading: Spiral Cut Currywurst

Giant M&M Cookies

Be sure to check out all the baked goods, including my contribution – these Giant M&M Cookies! Bidding is open NOW and ends tomorrow, so don’t delay!

But then I made that homemade curry ketchup… And I was doomed. I started searching for a recipe that would mimic my favorite qualities of a good fry without the frying. I know, I know. Fries that aren’t fried just aren’t the same. But I was determined to find a way to bake fries and have them turn out crispy. And, what’s a good fry without some seasoning on them!

I pulled from a combination of ideas I came across while research. After a few trial and error batches, here’s what I came up with.

First, season the heck out of your fries. I tried a couple different variations of seasonings and liked this combination the best. Definitely tailor it to fit your likes. By brushing more of the oil/seasoning mixture on while you flip the fries, you’re going to get more of the seasoning to stick to the fries.

Next, use a rack to cook your fries on. This ensures the potatoes aren’t sitting in the oil and can get crisp all the way around. I use the same method of placing a cooling rack over paper towels when I do bacon in the oven, so I’m familiar with the concept. And, no, your paper towels won’t start a fire in your oven.

Last, be sure to toss the fries at least once or twice while they’re baking. This will help to evenly cook the fries.

Once I came up with a recipe that I liked, it’s been hard not to make these on a regular basis to feed my french fry habit. So far, I’ve been able to stay strong, but writing up this post is making me want to bake up another batch tonight…

One Year Ago: Spinach-Strawberry Salad
Two Years Ago: My Favorite Brownies
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars and Fire Roasted KetchupFour Years Ago: Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup
Four Years Ago: Chocolate Oreo Rice Krispies Treats in the Microwave

Continue reading: Crispy Baked French Fries

One thing that stands out for me is the food. And the beer. No surprise there, right? A few foods really stand out when I think back on that trip. One of those foods is currywurst. We enjoyed it on more than one occasion while in Germany.

I had honestly never heard of curry ketchup before that trip, but once we got home, I knew it would be something I’d want to recreate. Luckily, I had no problem finding a recipe for curry ketchup on the internet.

This ketchup was so simple to throw together, makes the house smell amazing while it’s simmering away, and tastes just like I remember from Germany. I used Penzey’s sweet curry in the ketchup. Since making this, we have been eating it on everything. I even gave a jar of it to Hubby’s mom for her birthday.

I’ve been on a BIG condiment kick recently. From salad dressing, to mustards, and barbeque sauces, our fridge is full of jars of homemade deliciousness. It’s been a lot of fun and I have more condiment recipes coming your way soon!

Three Years Ago: Salmon with Strawberry and Tomato Salsa and Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Four Years Ago: Blondies and The Cabinets have Arrived!

Continue reading: Homemade Curry Ketchup

Early June is one of my favorite times of the year for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s my birthday month. Yes, I’m one of those obnoxious people who expect you to care that one day out of the entire month is my birthday. Lucky for me, Hubby humors me and lets me talk about my birthday month like it’s completely normal. What would I do without him?

Second, it’s strawberry season. I *wish* I could live in a part of the world where strawberry season lasted months. But around these parts, it’s only a few precious weeks in June. Hubby and I haven’t found anywhere to strawberry pick yet this year (recommendations anyone?), but I’ve been enjoying the strawberries that come in our CSA box every week.

The majority of our strawberries are being eaten straight up. The other night we threw some angel food cake on the grill and topped it with strawberries. It was amazing.

And, of course, I always bake with strawberries during strawberry season. I have posted quite a few strawberry recipes in the past 5+ years. This chocolate goat cheese mousse tart might be one of my favorites of all time.

It starts with a chocolate graham cracker crust. Next up comes a silky chocolate mousse. The original recipe used all cream cheese, but I threw in half goat cheese, half cream cheese. I know strawberries and goat cheese pair together nicely and who doesn’t love a little tanginess in their dessert? Last, but definitely not least, fresh strawberries top off this dessert. It’s seriously a winner and I think you should make it this summer.

Two Years Ago: Challah Bread and Freezable Lemon Bars
Three Years Ago: Strawberry and Spinach Salad and Strawberry and Blueberry Jam
Four Years Ago: It’s an Appliance Party! and Turkey Chili
Five Years Ago: Deceptively Delicious Brownies

Continue reading: Chocolate Goat Cheese Mousse Tart

And it requires even more patience than most ice cream recipes. This ice cream takes 5 days to make! Yep, five days. And believe me, it’s worth the wait.

Scooping this ice cream is somewhat difficult because it’s just so thick. I served it with freshly whipped cream and raspberries to lighten up the thickness a bit. When I had some of the ice cream by itself, I could only eat a small scoop because it was just so rich.

I have to thank Fiona for sharing this recipe for me. We were emailing one day and she mentioned she was making it. I got started on my batch that very night when I got home. You should do the same.

One Year Ago: Boston’s Chocolate Brunch from In and Around Town
Two Years Ago: Cannoli Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Strawberry Cobbler
Five Years Ago: Cookie Dough Chocolate Ice Cream Cupcakes and Goat Cheese and Spinach Turkey Burgers

Continue reading: Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream