That's right; I'm hopping on the summer blogging bandwagon. This is just the first of what I hope will be many, many, posts about ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet. 


I reclaimed an old ice cream machine from the give-away pile and got to work. 
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If there is one flavor I love almost more than any other, it's coffee. So naturally my first ice cream would be of the coffee variety. And I say variety because I added a little crunch in the form of almonds and chocolate chips. 
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A lot goes into making ice cream. At least, it was a lot more than I thought it was. First I brewed a small, strong dose of french press coffee since I don't have an espresso machine. Then I threw that in a sauce pan with some whole milk and heavy cream and let it boil. Then I added the secret ingredient. Or at least, the ingredient I was surprised to see in so many recipes: egg yolks.  
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I was trying to make ice cream, not frozen custard! But it is my understanding that the egg yolks are what make a good ice cream especially creamy, so I met myself in the middle and added four yolks. (Some recipes call for up to 12...or some other ridiculous number.) First I added a little bit of the hot liquid to the yolks, then added that mixture back to the original. 
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You then simmer this liquid down until it ambiguously 'coats the back of the spoon.' Or reaches a certain temperature. I am still without a thermometer, so I had to take the less accurate route. After reaching what I hoped was the coating stage, I cooled the liquid for two hours. 
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Then the magic happened. The magic that is facilitated by the world's tackiest kitchen appliance. I poured in my not-quite-cold-enough liquid and waited for the pre-frozen metal cylinder to go to work. Now, the box says that you only need to crank the handle once every 2-3 minutes and that in 20 minutes you'll have ice cream. Let's just say that I am impatient, probably spun it more than I should have, and it took closer to 40. 
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Once it reached a decent frozenness, I stirred my mixings into it, loaded it into a tupperware and stuck it in the freezer. 
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The next day I had ice cream. Hard as a rock ice cream. I think the water content in the coffee changed the consistency of the ice cream, because it was less creamy and more crystalline. I also may not have boiled it down enough. But once it softens a bit, it's just as tasty and satisfying as ice cream should be. So, summer, bring it on. 
 
...If you have one, of course. If not, you could just sit down and eat this pan of brownies all by yourself, and not feel one bit guilty. 
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Well, maybe a little. But the fact remains that these are some of the healthiest brownies I've ever made. And some of the easiest. It's one of those stick-everything-in-the-food-processor-and-push-the-fun-button recipes. I, food-processor-less, made do quite well with a blender. 


The recipe comes from a friend back home in Michigan, who made them with dried cherries. I put chocolate chips in mine, and the next time I make them, I'm going to make a mint icing for the top. Feel free to accessorize your brownies as you wish. 

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Here is the trick, though. These brownies have a (15-oz.) can of black beans in them. No flour + beans apparently equals delicious. I was skeptical at first, dear reader, but believe me when I say I am no longer. 

Here's the recipe, from the Whole Foods website. 

Flourless Brownies
makes 16
Ingredients
1 (15-once) can unsalted black beans, thoroughly rinsed and drained
3 eggs
1/3 c. melted butter
1/4 c. cocoa powder
pinch salt
2 tsp vanilla extract (for a truly gluten-free dessert, make sure the extract is gluten-free as well)
1/2 c. plus 2 Tb sugar
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped walnuts


Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter an 8-inch baking pan. Put everything in the blender except the nuts and chips, and blend until smooth (make sure the bean skins are broken up really well). Stir in the nuts, chips, cherries, what-have-you. Put in the pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until just set in the center. Et voila! A delicious and nutritious treat. Your high-school health teacher would be so proud. 
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~The Weng