Crunchy Ice Cream "Casserole"

I asked for this recipe many moons ago at a choir potluck picnic. It's so simple, full of texture (crunchy! gooey! creamy!), and just screams summer... but melts quickly so beware!

Bring this to your next picnic or summer party and I can guarantee that your friends will be asking for the recipe just like I did 10 years ago. Enjoy!

Crunchy Ice Cream "Casserole"
1.5 c. flour
1 c. oats (uncooked, old-fashioned or quick oats will do)
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1.5 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 c. melted butter (2 sticks)
12-oz. jar caramel ice cream topping (calls for entire jar but I rarely use that much)
1/2 gallon ice cream of choice (butter pecan, vanilla, etc. are all good options)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, chopped nuts, and melted butter in a bowl with a spoon until evenly moistened. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until brown. Cool and crumble. Try not to eat it all!

Spread half of the crunchies in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Spoon over top approximately half of the caramel topping, then top with an even layer of the full carton of ice cream (softened slightly). Spoon remaining half of caramel topping on top, then sprinkle with the remaining half of the crunchies. Cover with foil and freeze until set. Cut and serve!

Caramel Apple Pie Ice Cream

Confession: I've had the freezer bowl of my ice cream maker attachment in the freezer since, oh, July. I waited all summer for the perfect recipe, but then life got busy.

I needed to use up the rest of my apples and had recently made my favorite apple cake recipe when it occurred to me that apple ice cream with apple cake might just be the perfect combo.

I found this recipe on allrecipes but made it my own. Hope you like it. It's gooood.

Caramel Apple Pie Ice Cream
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 T butter
3 T sugar
1 t. cinnamon

3 c. whipping cream – I used 3 c. half and half
1 1/2 c. half and half – I used 1 1/2 c. 2% milk
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract
2 t. cinnamon

4–6 oatmeal cookies – I used soft store-bought ones and gently tore them into small pieces
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chopped apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook until the apples have lightly browned and the sugar has begun to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Combine cream (or half and half, if substituting), half and half (or 2% milk, if substituting), sugar, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl; mix to blend well. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

When the ice cream has finished, stir in the cookie pieces, caramelized apples, and walnuts. Add the caramel by the spoonful while stirring to evenly distribute.

Serve on this cake. :)

Fall Treats: Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Glaze

My friends Amanda and Margaret and I went apple picking out in Loudoun County and had a lot of fun doing so... but all those apples! What to do with them? Once I found this recipe, it was clear: make this recipe four times. :) I became a little obsessed with this one!

I made it into cupcakes several times (cook it for much less time), but my favorite is just as a Bundt cake. This is the perfect apple cake: crunchy exterior, moist interior, and a sweet glaze. Of course it's from epicurious!! We went apple picking too late for Golden Delicious to still be around, but I just used a combination of several varieties (York, Crispin') and it was perfect.

Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Glaze
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1 cup + 1 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (about 3 1/2 ounces)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Transfer 3 tablespoons flour mixture to Bundt pan and tilt to coat. Set pan aside. Place apples and 2 tablespoons flour mixture in another medium bowl; toss to coat apples. Combine 1 cup brown sugar, vegetable oil, 1 cup sugar, eggs, and 3 teaspoons vanilla in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture is thick, about 4 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining flour mixture. Fold apple mixture and pecans into batter; transfer to prepared Bundt pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer cake in pan to rack. Let stand while making caramel.

Melt butter in heavy small skillet over medium heat. Whisk in remaining 1 cup brown sugar, then milk. Continue to whisk until topping is smooth and blended and comes to boil, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon 1/4 cup hot caramel topping over bottom of warm cake in pan. Let stand until topping is absorbed into cake, about 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto platter. Pour remaining warm topping over cake. Let stand until cool, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome. Let stand at room temperature.)

Bake Sale: "Gold Bar" (i.e., Caramel, Roasted Almond) Brownies

I made these brownies as part two of my bake sale goodies, and they sold equally as fast. Tip: label your brownies as homemade and use the buzz words caramel and roasted almonds, and they'll be gone in a flash!

I have just been so pleased with all of Fran's recipes so far, and this was possibly the most delicious brownie I've ever had. Something about watching the caramel bubble as it cooked in the oven stirred me deeply! If you're not an almond fan, by all means, omit them, but they really add a nice crunch and depth, especially roasted. But the brownie base itself is just awesome plain too.

Apparently, the Gold Bar is one of Fran's best-selling chocolate bars. She started making these brownies in her shop with the leftover Gold Bar scraps, but this recipe is for the home baker without an endless supply of Gold Bars. :)

Gold Bar Brownies
1 c. store-bought caramel sauce
8 oz. (1 2/3 c.) whole almonds
1 lb. semisweet chocolate
1.5 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 stick + 2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. + 2 T. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
1.5 t. vanilla extract
3/4 t. instant espresso powder (I omitted)
3 large eggs
1 3/4 c. cake flour, sifted then measured

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a 9x13" sheet pan. Place whole almonds on a separate baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes or until fragrant. Let cool then roughly chop into 1/4-inch pieces. Set aside.

Finely chop 12 ounces (not all!) of the semisweet chocolate and all of the unsweetened chocolate (1.5 ounces) for melting. In a separate pile, chop the remaining 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks, to serve as chocolate chips.

Melt the finely chopped semisweet and unsweetened chocolates in a double boiler or a good pot over low heat. Remove when nearly melted and continue stirring until smooth.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and the two sugars until light and very fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla and the espresso powder (if using espresso powder; if not, just go to the next step).

Add vanilla/espresso mixture to butter mixture and beat to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions and scraping the bowl several times. Pour in the melted chocolate and beat to combine.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and FOLD in the sifted cake flour by hand until no traces of white remain (it might take a little while). Fold in the 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate chunks and toasted almonds (I actually skipped the almonds at this point and placed them on top of the brownie batter once it was in the pan instead). The batter will be very thick. Evenly spread the batter in the prepared 13x9" pan.

Spoon the caramel sauce in tablespoon-sized dollops over the top. Using a table knife drawn through the batter, swirl the caramel into the batter to marbelize. (Toss on the almonds now if you haven't already!)

Bake for 45 minutes. When tested with a toothpick in the brownie portion (not the caramel!), it will have moist crumbs when done. Let cool in the pan one hour (important!) and cut into squares.

Welcome to molten caramel heaven!