Summer = Ice Cream.

Don’t check my math, I know it’s accurate.

About this time of year my mind starts to go ice cream crazy. The weather is nice, just begging you to enjoy a cold scoop. I can’t be the only one in this dilemma.

While I’ll never turn down an opportunity to hit up Braum’s (Tulsa shout-out!) or Aggie Ice Cream or Orange Leaf, I really love to make my own. It’s so rewarding and who can beat having a quart of the homemade stuff in the freezer? And since I can’t get Blue Bell out here in the forgotten West, I’m all the more willing to do the work myself.

My favorite ice cream cookbook has been Jeni’s.

I had been hearing Bobbie and Robert rave about her flavors for years before she started shipping them across the country to specialty food stores. And then her cookbook came out and I no longer had to shell out $12 for a pint. All was well. Her flavors are exotic and mind-blowing. You might remember the Cranberry Royale Sorbet and Bourbon Ice Cream I made for Thanksgiving last year. So amazing.

Recently I was reading a review for food blogger David Lebovitz’s new book, My Paris Kitchen. After a little digging on my library’s website, I not only put myself on the waiting list for that, but all of his other books as well, including his The Perfect Scoop.

Apparently he wrote the Bible of all Ice Cream cookbooks. How did I not already know this?!?! I picked it up yesterday on the way to my haircut and was sitting in my hot car in the parking lot, not willing to go in until I absolutely had to. I was too busy drooling over his recipes, photos and stories. French Ice Cream v. Philadelphia Ice Cream — did you know there are two ice-cream making schools of thought? I feel like such an ice cream amateur.

One of the first things I do with any dessert cookbook is flip to the back and check out “P” under the index. I measure and judge cookbooks by their peanut butter recipes. Joe and I are the reigning King and Queen when it comes to peanut butter. Our wedding cake was even chocolate-peanut butter, accompanied by Happy Birthday tie-dye cupcakes for those with peanut allergies. #sorrynotsorry

Back to the car. I was about to be late to my appointment, but David Lebovitz’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream was staring me in the face. It seemed too good to be true. A handful of ingredients. One blender and an ice cream machine. That’s it?! No eggs on the stove? No tempering?

*thump – whoosh*

That’s me dying and going to heaven. I had already planned on meeting Joe for lunch after my appointment and when I told him I had to stop at the store on the way home so we could make ice cream, he lovingly dubbed it “Saturday Fatterday,” in response to my Sunday Fundays. Works for me.

When I was mixing the ice cream, I remembered we had some of our favorite milk chocolate fudge (Southgate shout-out!) and being that milk chocolate is the perfect match for peanut butter, I decided to layer the ice cream with ribbons of the fudge. I hate always being right.

And then I stood over that machine and thought of all of the other things I could mix in, if I had them at the ready: Uncle Dick’s peanut brittle, salted peanuts, pretzels, chocolate-covered pretzels, mini-marshmallows, any kind of candy bar. Peanut butter is the new vanilla.

The light in my kitchen was so perfect this morning that I had to take a few pictures of my  new favorite ice cream. The peanut butter flavor is so prominent. No hiding in the background here. And no eggs! Philadelphia-style ice cream may be the way to go!

The only problem with using morning light to photograph your ice cream, is that you find yourself face-to-face with ice cream before you’ve had a chance to get out of your PJS. And then this happens…

Break out those ice cream makers, my friends! It’s officially summer. (And I’d start with this one…)

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

from The Perfect Scoop

3/4 c. smooth peanut butter (do not use natural peanut butter)
3/4 c. plus 2 Tbs. sugar
2 2/3 c. half-and-half
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. vanilla

Puree all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze to the desired consistency.

And now I’ll continue my ice cream obsession…anxiously waiting for my library to carry these. I may just break down and do an Amazon order…in Utah, the summers are too short.