Easy Chocolate Icecream

Here I am, talking about David Lebovitz again. Get used to it- I'm on an ice cream kick.

This is not ice cream as we know it- it is incredibly easy to make, requires no ice cream maker, and I am going to claim that it's healthy. It has very little dairy and a lot of banana. And chocolate. And a wee bit o alcohol.

The alcohol keeps the ice cream from freezing solid and the banana (which as we discussed in the last post, is an emulsifier) keeps everything suspended and homogenous. And the chocolate makes it delicious.

I made this ice cream a lot while we were going through the moving process. It was just too easy to whirl the ingredients around in the blender, pop it in the freezer and come home later to something refreshing after a long day of painting and packing.

This ice cream does not have the creamy ice cream texture we expect from ice cream, but offers mucho refreshment for very little effort.

Ingredients:

1 banana, peeled and chunked

2 oz semi-sweet chocolate

6 T milk

7 T liquor (you can use pretty much any type- though some will taste better than others. I've found combinations of rum, baileys and kahlua to work well. Also, I've used a bit less liquor before and it turned out fine- but the less you use the more icy the ice cream will be.)

That's it! Now put the milk in a cup and put the chocolate in the milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir to melt the chocolate. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend til smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into a bowl or tupperware, cover and freeze for about 4 hours.

Be sure to let me know how many times you make it this week!

Kahlua Cupcakes

I am proud of this combination. However, I used my fail-proof chocolate cupcakes from Martha, and they failed. I used brown sugar instead of white, but that may not have been the only thing I did wrong.

First make Chocolate Cupcakes. If you want, you could add some kahlua to the batter.

Second, make Chocolate Coffee Ganache for the filling.

Heat 1 cup cream on the stove. Add 2 T coffee and let steep for 5 minutes or so. Use a coffee filter or a fine sieve to strain out the coffee grains. Heat the cream again, and add 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped. Let sit for a minute or two, then stir til smooth.

Use a small round cookie cutter to cut holes in the tops of the cooled cupcakes. Save the pieces that come out. Put about a tablespoon of chocolate filling in each hole, then replace the cupcake cap.

Next, make icing using 2 stick softened unsalted butter. Pour in 2+ tablespoons Kahlua. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, until preferred sweetness and consistancy. (Between a 1/2 pound and a pound.) I used food coloring to make mine orange for halloween.