Habitation: Frozen Treats to Beat the Heat

I make ice cream almost every week all year round. It’s pretty close to a religious experience for me. There is something comforting about tasting the cool rich creamy goodness while enjoying a Ryan Gosling movie in the coziness of my own home.

I don’t need hot weather to convince me to churn out frozen dairy because the flavors and silky texture already have me under their spell. Once you have homemade ice cream, you will never go back to the store-bought kind again.

With the heat wave we have been experiencing here in the Midwest, making ice cream has started to become a necessity to stay cool.

Ward off the intense heat of summer with these 3 out of the ordinary recipes…

Cereal Milk Ice Cream

Stay with me here. Do you remember when you were a kid and you slurped the cereal milk right from the bowl? All that sugary goodness at the bottom mixed in with rich whole milk… It would be a waste not to drink it, right?

Ingredients

• 2-3/4 cup sugary cereal (i.e. Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes, etc.)
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

• First, you will need to create the cereal milk. Take 1-3/4 cup of the cereal and crush it into a large bowl. Reserve the 1 cup of cereal to be added later. Add the whole milk. Cover bowl and put in the fridge for about an hour to let the cereal steep in the milk.
• Strain cereal milk mixture using a fine sieve or a strainer lined with cheesecloth into a container. Discard mushy cereal.
• Pour 1 cup of the cereal milk into a mixing bowl. Reserve the rest to drink for later or make more ice cream.
• Whisk the 1 cup of cereal milk with cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined. Crush the 1 cup of cereal and lightly stir into the mixture. Refrigerate for about 8 hours or overnight.
• Strain cereal mixture again. Discard mushy cereal. Pour mixture into ice cream machine and churn for about 20 minutes.
• Pour ice cream into freezer container and let it cure in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
• Scoop into a bowl and garnish with crushed cereal.

Who would have guessed you can have breakfast for dessert, too?

Coffee Ice Pop

Ingredients

• 2 cups strong coffee, chilled
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions

• Whisk together all ingredients until well blended.
• Pour into ice pop molds and insert sticks.
• Freeze until firm at least 6 hours or up to 1 week.
• Unmold pops by running hot water on the outsides of molds for a few seconds, then pull out sticks.

This is a grown-up’s dream – coffee and caffeine all in one delicious frozen treat.

Watermelon Hibiscus Sorbet and Cream

The variety of teas out there is amazing. There are thousands of different tea leaves alone and combining them with other flavors increases the variations ten fold.

My goal was to create a frozen version of peaches and cream. I love tart and sweet in one package. It may seem like double the work, but with double the flavor you are making two frozen treats into one…

Ingredients

• 2 cups watermelon hibiscus tea (If you can’t find this particular flavor, substitute with a tart, fruity tea)
• 1-3/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

• In a small saucepan, combine tea and 1 cup of sugar. Bring to a simmer until sugar has dissolved. Set aside and let cool.
• Whisk together heavy cream, milk, vanilla extract and the remaining sugar. Add mixture into ice cream maker and churn for about 20 minutes. Pour into a container and cure for about 2 hours.
• Add lemon juice and lime juice to sweetened tea. Churn in ice cream maker for about 15 minutes. Pour on top of vanilla ice cream. Freeze for another 2 hours to let sorbet cure.
• Scoop through the 2 layers to create a swirl of sorbet and ice cream when serving.

If you’re short on time, you can always make the sorbet on its own. After you churn it in the ice cream maker, pour sorbet into ice pop molds and freeze.