Freeze These: Frozen hot chocolate

by Sarah Steimer

A little throwback to our January hot chocolate guide, yes?

• 2 cups milk
• 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• pinch nutmeg
• heavy whipping cream
• pinch sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine whipping cream and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until you reach a whipped cream consistency. Add vanilla and combine. Place in the freezer.

In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt the chocolate and combine with nutmeg. Add milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let cool. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze.

Place the frozen hot chocolate into a blender and pulse, slowly adding a little additional milk, along with two regular ice cubes and a dollop of the frozen whipped cream. Pulse until smooth.

Serve with summer fruit and a spoonful of the whipped cream on top.

Makes two cups.

Recipe: Sarah Steimer

Photo: Sarah Steimer

*Throughout June, “Freeze These” will feature our favorite frozen dessert recipes — all of which can be found here.

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Freeze These: Mango-ice cream pie with crunchy lemon crust

by Caitlin Saniga

This melty-good pie almost didn't make it through the front-porch photo shoot.

For crust:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed (almost powdered) lemon wafer cookies (The vanilla wafer cookies work, too, I suppose.)
• 5 tablespoons melted butter

For filling:

• 1 pint mango sorbet
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Use a food processor to crush the cookies. If you don't have one, put the cookies in a heavy-duty zip-top bag, and use a rolling pin to crush the cookies.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, use a rounded spatula to combine the cookie crumbs and butter. Pour the mixture into a pie pan and flatten it with your fingers to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake the crust for 6 to 8 minutes, just enough so that it firms. Place the pan on a potholder and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Microwave the mango sorbet for 15 seconds. Use a spatula to spread the sorbet over the bottom of the pie crust. Freeze pie for 30 minutes.

Microwave the vanilla ice cream for 15 seconds. Use a spatula to spread the ice cream over the sorbet, being careful not to mix the two layers. Freeze pie for 30 minutes.

Run a flat-edge knife or pie cutter under hot water and cut the pie into slices. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe: Caitlin Saniga

Photos: Caitlin Saniga

*Throughout June, “Freeze These” will feature our favorite frozen dessert recipes — all of which can be found here.

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Freeze These: PB&J ice cream sandwiches

by Sarah Steimer

Totally OK for these to be messy and not that attractive because they are delicious.

Amount is totally dependent on how many you make, the original recipe was for 20. which is absurd.

• graham crackers
• peanut butter ice cream (I had vanilla and chocolate in my freezer, I let them soften a little and mixed in some peanut butter instead of buying more ice cream).
• strawberry jelly
• strawberries, sliced thin
• peanuts, chopped

Break graham crackers into squares. Spread jelly on each cracker and place strawberry slices on top. Freeze for about a half hour or so. This way when you add the ice cream the jelly won’t slide off the cracker.

Add the ice cream once the jelly has frozen, enough so it’s about an inch thick. Top with another jelly cracker – you want jelly on the top and bottom of the ice cream, otherwise all you will taste is peanut butter.

I've been getting really good strawberries at the farmer's market.

Roll the sides of the ice cream in the crushed peanuts, pressing it gently into the ice cream with your hands. Pop back in the freezer so the ice cream and nuts can set. Serve with napkins and milk.

Recipe adapted from: Martha Stewart

Photos: Sarah Steimer

*Throughout June, “Freeze These” will feature our favorite frozen dessert recipes — all of which can be found here.

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Freeze These: Ice cream sandwich cake

by Caitlin Saniga

This took about 15 minutes to prepare. I waited the minimum hour freeze time, so the whipped cream was just barely frozen and still kind of soft. It got icier the longer it stayed in the freezer.

Does anyone remember Vienetta ice cream cakes? This recipe reminds me of a much less intricate-looking version with the added bonus of including already-delicious ice cream sandwiches. And it still looks impressive.

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 6 ice cream sandwiches (3.5 ounces each)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, chopped (I accidentally bought mini chocolate chips {so cute!}, so I didn’t chop mine)

Line a large baking dish (I used a 7-by-11-inch glass dish) with a piece of wax paper or parchment, allow the paper to hang over both long sides.

In a large bowl, beat the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

In the bottom of the pan, arrange 3 of the sandwiches in a single layer. Spread 1/4 of the whipped cream over. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and whipped cream. Spread the remaining whipped cream along the sides of the stacked sandwiches.

Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chopped chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour and up to a week.

Holding both sides of the paper overhang, lift the cake out of the pan and transfer to a plate. Discard the paper and serve.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Recipe adapted from: Real Simple’s Easy, Delicious Meals

Photo: Caitlin Saniga

*Throughout June, “Freeze These” will feature our favorite frozen dessert recipes — all of which can be found here.

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Freeze These: Lemon, strawberry and yogurt popsicles

by Sarah Steimer

It was 93 degrees out when I shot this. I had seconds to get a decent picture.

•  6 ounces vanilla yogurt
• 2 lemons
• 5 strawberries
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 2 cups of cold water

Place a few tablespoons of the yogurt in six 4-ounce paper cups. Insert popsicle stick and freeze for at least 45 minutes (you may need to mess with the stick a little to get it to stand up).

I immediately dripped some of this on my shirt. Little ice water pulled the stain out, though.

In a blender, combine the strawberries, juice of two lemons, honey and water. You can use sugar instead of honey, but  I just thought it’d be nice to stick with natural sugars instead of granulated. Pour the mixture into the cups and freeze for another few hours. The popsicles should pop right out without much effort.

Makes six popsicles.

Recipe adapted from: Shop.Cook.Make

Photos: Sarah Steimer

*Throughout June, “Freeze These” will feature our favorite frozen dessert recipes — all of which can be found here.

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Freeze These: Watermelon-lime granita

by Caitlin Saniga

Hello, beautiful!

• 4 cups cubed seedless watermelon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• dash of salt
• mint sprigs and lime wedges, optional

This is what the granita looks like come scraping time. Grab a fork, and start digging. And don't worry, the granita is soft enough that you won't hear that awful nails-on-a-chalkboard sound when you scrape.

Puree the watermelon, sugar, lime juice and salt in a blender until smooth. Pour into a 9x9x2″ metal or glass baking pan (or a pan of similar size). Freeze mixture for 1 hour (Set a timer!).

If you have the mint around, you *need* to use. It adds so much freshness!

Stir, mashing any frozen parts with the back of a fork. Cover and freeze the mixture until firm, about 2 hours.

Use a fork to scrape granita vigorously to form icy, flaky crumbles.

By the way, this can be made 3 days in advance. Just make sure you cover the pan with foil and keep it frozen. Then give it a quick scrape before serving.

To serve, scoop the granita into frosted glass bowls or mugs and garnish with mint sprigs and lime wedges (if you want).

Makes 6 servings.

Recipe adapted from: Bon Appetit

Photos: Caitlin Saniga

*Throughout June, “Freeze These” will feature our favorite frozen dessert recipes — all of which can be found here.

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