Just like the real thing....

I was lucky enough to live a short drive from a ColdStone Creamery for a couple of years. I almost always bought Cake Batter ice cream with rainbow jimmies mixed in. Not especially exciting considering you are able to have three mix-ins without an extra charge. But I thought it was perfection. I even bought it by the half gallon to keep in the freezer. However, they didn't seem to have as many dedicated patrons as myself and the store didn't stay open.

Ever since that sad day when I drove past and noticed the for rent sign up in the window I have been on a mission to recreate my beloved Cake Batter ice cream. Other brands began to offer it in the store. Edy's had its American Idol themed "Take the Cake" and Ben and Jerry had a birthday cake flavor as well. But the blue frosting in Edy's turned me off and the B&J's had an over powering chocolate frosting. Sure they were good... but not great.

The next step in my process was making it at home. I had an ice cream churn that got little use, and after a batch of Alton Brown's banana ice cream I jumped into making cake batter. Some quick internet searching suggested all you had to do was add around a cup of cake mix to your vanilla ice cream base and freeze it. I learned the hard way they where wrong. The ice cream was dry and floury tasting. It didn't offer the flavor I wanted and the texture was just terrible. I was sad, and discouraged. The ice cream churn sat unused in the basement pantry.

Eventually I began to plot my next attempt. Talking it over with my friend at work, discussing the technical side of ice cream making and how to avoid my previous short comings. It wasn't until I was inspired to make some Blackberry ice cream and had a delicious outcome that I was motivated to put my plan into action.

So back to the internets I went, and I found myself this recipe. Lacking any reviews, I could have been scared off. However the recipe had all of the steps I was looking for. A custard based ice cream, were the cake mix was added at the start and pre-cooked to eliminate the flour taste as well as hydrate the flour. This is not low fat, or part of any balanced diet. But it is creamy and I think very close to ColdStone Creamery's version of Cake Batter Ice Cream. So dust off those ice cream churns and indulge!

The Recipe:

Cake Batter Ice Cream
makes 1 qt.

2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup cake mix
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
5 large egg yokes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pour 1 cup whipping cream into a medium saucepan. Add 2/3 cup cake mix and whisk briskly over high heat until the well blended. Begin whisking again when bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Once the batter starts clumping together, immediately remove from heat and add the remaining 1 cup whipping cream. Whisk until it is smooth, and then pour into a 2 quart mixing bowl. (*I found there where some clumps at the bottom of my pan in the corners, but they mixed into the ice cream well)

2. Break and separate 5 large eggs, pouring the egg yolks into a clean small mixing bowl. Clean and dry the saucepan used to heat the cake mix and whipping cream.

3. Pour 1 cup of whole milk into the clean saucepan. Add 2/3 cup sugar and whisk until all of the sugar is dissolved. Warm over medium heat, until bubbles form around the edge of the pan.

4. Pour about 1 cup of the warm milk mixture slowly into the egg yokes while wisking, then pour back into the saucepan and continue heating over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the mixture thickens. (it should be able to coat the back of a spoon once think enough)

5. Pour the custard base through a mesh strainer into the mixing bowl (from step 1) and whisk to combine the custard base and cake batter. Add ½ tsp of high-quality vanilla then refrigerate. (this step is VERY important, patience matters!) After 5-12 hours of cooling, freeze according to the instructions that came with your ice cream maker.

The Result:


If my butt is bigger next time you see me, you will know why. Although I have been balancing out my ice cream consumption with egg white omelets. Might as well use them for something!

I am knitting too, I swear!

I just scrolled through my past few posts... garden, garden, garden, garage door, breakfast cake. What kind of blog is this anyway? I am knitting. A lot actually. I guess I had just been content updating details in Ravelry and not going into any additional detail here. Buttercup is done. WOOO! I will photograph it soon, and get a finished sweater post up especially for it before too long. I am very happy with the outcome.
Ginormous blanket is on hold. Although it is almost chilly enough the past few nights to want to snuggle under it and knit double stranded wool into garter stitch. Also on the needles are in no particular order. Pittsburgh Socks: basic sock recipe, toe up with Lorna's Laces sock yarn in bee stripe.

I think it is a few stitches too wide for my foot, so I am going to frog back before I get too far along so it fits me, and not K.
A second attempt is being made at knitting with lace weight yarn. My first attempt didn't get very far before I proclaimed I didn't like knitting with thread and I gifted the yarn to a friend who I believe gave it a happy life as some beautiful item no doubt. In any case. Lace, take two:

Fountain Pen shawl from IK Spring 2009. Yarn complements of Shelly, who also had a realization that she didn't like lace weight yarn.

More Gardening

Thrilling blog right? All I talk about anymore are plants and deer. Guess what.

ITS GARDEN UPDATE TIME!!! Month three.
I have peppers on most of the pepper plants. Aside from one which seems to be getting crushed by a roma tomato plant. This particular specimen has three peppers.

And speaking of those Roma tomatoes, well they seem to be producing a lot of fruit now too. Here is one especially large cluster tucked away towards the bottom of the plant. I think I counted 12 tomatoes just in this one bunch!

The early girl plant even has one tomato which is considering changing colors. It was the first tomato that the plant produced. So it is only natural it ripen first. (the photo is so blurry- sorry about that.)

And finally... this is the part where I talk about the deer.

And how much they munched off of my poor plants. This time was a lot more severe than the past snacks they indulged in. If you click the photo all the chewed stems are far more obvious, but basically the whole fenced in area had been about full of leafy full tomato stems. Thanks a lot deer. I thought we where friends. See if I throw any more over ripe apples your way again.

Wildlife Warning

Apparently... the deer in my town are online. AND, they read my blog.


Thankfully it looks like only two plants where nibbled. And all of my tomatoes are in tact. Guess I could sprinkle some more of the repellent around the ground. They are being stealthy. I have not seen them in quite a while. But the evidence is clear. They are on to me.

Garden Watch, 2009

I would like to thank Mother Nature for all of the rain over the past month. Sure, I have had my moments of desperation begging for just a short burst of sunshine to brighten up the string of cloudy days, but it has really made my attempt at gardening easier.

As you may notice I added a small fence, that barely stays up on its own. Next year I will do a better job of installing it. For now it does the job of keeping the pups and child out of my plants.

There have been a few other changes in the garden. The tomatoes are flowering like crazy. They have passed the second ring on the tomato cage and are stretching up towards the third ring.

I was surprised to find there are a few small tomatoes. This one is from the "Early Girl" variety that I had planted

and I hadn't realized it at first but it looks like I have a few Roma Tomatoes too!


I have been adding fresh parsley, cilantro and basil to many of our meals in the past couple of weeks. The cilantro is about twice as tall as the parsley and my basil looks a little sad since a bug had munched on some of its leaves. Not worrying about it yet... but hopefully it rebounds soon. I have dreams of pesto and brushetta in my future.

Any one else having fun tending their gardens? What are you growing this year? I would like to do more next year, and I am already thinking ahead!

A little paint, a big difference

I am not sure why we didn't think of this sooner. K didn't know either. I know because we talked about it. When we first bought the house we replaced the white siding and the front door within the first year. Going with a beige/tan color. However our garage door remained an unsightly bright white. I am not against white garage doors. But ours was very utilitarian looking and because of its white color it seemed to stand out against the brick and muted beige siding. So we fixed it. And by we, I mean I.

Used a tinted primer to help with coverage, and cover the places where the white paint had rubbed and chipped off so the new paint would stick. I was happy to only need one finish coat too. We are very pleased with the results. So if you are a victim of an ugly garage door and no money to replace it. I suggest paint!

A Tail of Two Breakfasts

I have always been a fan of the coffee cake. It ranks in the top three breakfasts next to pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Over the past couple of years I have stuck with two primary recipes. There was the old standby, which was convenient, quick, and in my opinion tasty. Then more recently I had come across a Cooking Light recipe for a blueberry coffee cake that takes much longer to make, includes a lot more ingredients but is worth the effort if you have the time.

And then one day I was out of brown sugar. Knocking the old standby out of contention for breakfast that morning because it has brown sugar in the topping. However, I knew I didn't have everything for the fancy blueberry one either. Plus I was hungry.
Necessity is the mother of invention.

I decided to experiment. It made K nervous. I reassured him it was a minor modification, a simplified blueberry coffee cake. The merger of the two other recipes. And I must say it was rather successful. (otherwise I might not mention it).

The recipe:
Amanda's Blueberry Coffee Cake
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup milk (or water)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Topping
6 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp stick margarine or butter, melted
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9 inch round (or square) baking pan. Mix the Bisquick, sugar, egg and milk in a bowl until combined. Fold in blueberries. Pour into pan. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter.

Bake 23-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.