Coconut Chocolate Chip Frozen Custard

In college, I was introduced to Serendipity. The movie first, then the ice cream shop. (It was Thanksgiving Day 2001 and two hungry piccolo players who just marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade were just trying to eat at ANYWHERE THAT WAS OPEN, but the wait at Serendipity was just too long. My Thanksgiving dinner ended up being cheesecake from some random diner and I don't even like cheesecake. But I digress.)

When I heard that a Serendipity was opening in DC, it was high on my list of places to visit and we ended up going on my birthday. I'll probably stick to the frrrrozen hot chocolate next time (the sundaes were 90% whipped cream, which is not my favorite), but two ginormous lunchtime sundaes sure was a funny sight to see!

Uhh, is there even any ice cream under there??

Anyway, years ago, my mom bought me the Serendipity book, but, without an ice cream maker, all I could do was drool on the pretty pictures. Well, fast forward 10 years and even with an ice cream maker, all I usually do is drool on the pretty pictures. :) But, if you like coconut cream pie and have an ice cream maker, I highly encourage you to MAKE THIS, adapted from that book. It tastes like summer and the guts of a coconut chess pie (which we were obsessed with while on our honeymoon even though it was possibly here that the waitress stole our credit card number then bought three airline tickets... small price to pay, right?). Mom already designated it as her requested birthday dessert for later this month!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Frozen Custard
Makes one generous quart
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 c. milk (I used 2%)
3 large egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light cream
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c. sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

Combine coconut milk and milk in a medium nonstick saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside.

Combine yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

Temper the eggs by adding half the milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture and quickly whisk until blended. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 5 to 10 minutes. Be extremely careful not to overheat, as it is very easy to curdle egg yolks—the correct consistency will be ruined.

Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the cream. Pour the mixture into a clean bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, add the vanilla extract and freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Five minutes before ice cream is finished churning, add coconut and mini chocolate chips. Remove the ice cream with a spatula and eat immediately or store in a plastic container in the freezer. (If ice cream is too soft, store in a plastic container in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours before serving.)

Farewell, summer!

My Birthday

I'm super late (although I started this post on 7/25 so at least there's the illusion of being posted in my birth month), but it's now become a tradition to share my birthday desserts every year.

We attended a wedding in NY on the Hudson the day before my birthday, so although my birthday was spent in a car, we did intentionally stop to get a peanut butter cup sundae (with "peanut butter puddles" ice cream) in Hershey, PA at one of my favorite ice cream establishments.

Yeah, so I'm sort of anti-Hershey, but the roads were paved brown so it made me happy.

On our way home, we stopped for dinner at Chef Geoff's downtown. Their Dark Chocolate Tart with Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream was divine! Sooooo rich though. Not for the quasi-chocoholics—only the hardcore ones. (And, as in previous years, I still had a birthday cake waiting for me at home... oof.)

The following day, M really REALLY outdid himself and took me to Restaurant Eve for dinner. We didn't do the tasting menu, but had a wonderful dinner in the bistro and the most faaaaabulous peanut butter chocolate dessert (see a theme?) imaginable: The Butterfinger.

Specifically, "'Butterfinger' Napoleon of Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mousse with Vanilla Ice Cream."

Holy cow. HOLY COW. It was more salty than overly sweet and definitely the highlight of my entire meal (and birthday). It was so good that it needs a close-up shot.

Until next year...

Anniversary

I think I might belong in chocolate blog prison, but I bought a store cake for our second anniversary. The horror! Take me away, baking police. (In my defense, we had only been stateside for some 24 hours and jet lag had taken its toll.)

But, I doubt you've had the Wegmans chocolate cake. If so, you might understand. Soooo fudgy. The frosting is so good, and I generally HATE frosting. They make mini cakes that could totally pass for the top tier of a wedding cake, except this is anniversary #2 and the small wedding cake tier was SO last year. And the bigger cake costs less per pound... like my rationalizing? :)

Happy 2nd anniversary, sweetie!

inkpad eats Maine

If you aren't planning a trip to New Hampshire/Maine, the following might be boring. Similarly, if you don't like other people's silly travel pictures, move right along. Otherwise, here's what we indulged in while on a recent vacation! (eleventy billion lobster rolls are excluded; we're talking SWEETS!)

First stop was my aunt and uncle's house in New Hampshire. The main goal was relaxing (which we totally needed, by the way) but on one occasion, we wandered into nearby Plymouth for an afternoon out. Surely a small college town (the other PSU) had ice cream...

Introducing Sweet Kathy's, Plymouth, NH, a few shops down from Anderson's Swedish Bakery (of note: hubz and I both have Swede in us)

M had the monster "Iditarod" sundae, thankyouverymuch. I had the much more modest scoop of Coffee Kahlua Brownie. I was very tempted by the blueberry ice cream, considering where we were, but I decided that could wait until Maine.

Another outing was to nearby Lake Winnipesaukee. Certain areas have definite tourist traps, and Kellerhaus, near campy Weirs Beach, is certainly no exception, but it is a MUST STOP. An ice cream Smörgåsbord?!


We had dough boy, peanut butter chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, butterscotch, hot fudge, chocolate jimmies (I call them sprinkles, but when in Rome, er, New England...), M&Ms, spanish peanuts, walnuts, whipped cream, an American flag (random)...

Then we bought some cashew and peanut turtles to go...

Next stop: Maine! I solely determined our coastal route based on this place: The Harbor Candy Shop in Ogunquit, ME. I couldn't decide what to get on my first visit and bought an impulse Dark Caramallow.


And the Bread & Roses Bakery next door was fabulous. (We liked these Magic Bars enough to get them on the way back to the airport too!) Coconut, buttery crust, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, oats, nuts. Sounds like magic to me.

We looooved the sweets at locally owned 3 Dogs Cafe (the website will send you into a sugar coma) in Rockport, but devoured them too quickly to take a picture. Let's just say a HUGE rum ball coated in Oreo crumbs, a peanut butter cup that was really like a flattened buckeye ball, and an elephant ear for M. Yummmm. And we sort of like Labs. I think they do too. A lot. Seriously.

Since you can't do Maine without blueberries, let me recommend the wild blueberry pie at Cappy's in Camden, ME. Small and very sweet berries. Delicious with ice cream. My horrible picture does it no justice!

And, I guess the last sweet of note was wedding cake. ;) (congrats, you know who!)

We highly, highly recommend NH and ME! For sort of more than food.

(I promise to never again put so many links in a post. Oh wait. My London review is coming soon...)

Birthday

Ever wonder what a chocoholic would eat on a day all about her? (July 18, so I'm a little behind...)

This (Michel's Chocolate Bar, basically a large Kit-Kat bar with hazelnutty goodness).


This (they forgot my birthday candle and brought out another scoop of homemade ice cream, with a candle this time, with our check).

And this (both the Chocolate Truffle Cake from my coworkers and mom's Inside-Out Chocolate Bundt Cake, yes, with ice cream).

Oof.

inkpad Eats NYC

So I thought it would be fun to do a food review of my most recent trip to NYC. Since a very young age, I would write down EVERYTHING I ate while on vacation. This could include a stale bagel at the Holiday Inn, but if I ate it, it went on my list. Forget what I saw. It's always been about what I ate. But since this is a chocolate blog, it'll be about the sweets I ate.

After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we decided to grab lunch at the famous Lombardi's in Little Italy. Since there was a wait (even at 2:30), we hopped on across the street to Rice to Riches, one of those trendy shops that only NYC can pull off. Inside, you'll find any type of rice pudding imaginable. I don't think I even like true rice pudding, but this stuff tastes much more like the flavor it imitates rather than rice pudding, except of course for the texture. I sampled the "Sex, Drugs, and Rocky Road," but M and I decided on the "Fluent in French Toast" rice pudding. It was heavenly. And filling.

After eating too much pizza, we walked through SoHo and stopped at Vosges Haut-Chocolat for a sample. They are known for their odd chocolate pairings, like their famous Mo's Bacon Bar. What really attracted me though were their exotic caramels. Mmmmm. A little too pricey though.

Our next stop was the Chelsea Market, where I coveted a vat of Nutella. But, I was good. We still had Billy's...

The thing with Billy's is that, like my friend Annie complains of NYC cupcakeries, it's chocolate with vanilla, chocolate with chocolate, mix and match, and repeat. I also saw a red velvet and a lemon, but where's the variety in that? In any case, M and I each got a cupcake and I stood at the window with my nose pressed against the glass to learn their famous frosting technique. It's all in the wrist (and it was too sweet).

We then huffed it back to Midtown to change at the hotel and meet our friend Heather for dinner at Landmarc in Tribeca. Excellent steak and cute mini desserts, but you'll have to take my word for it... Heather hates looking like a tourist in her own city, so I didn't take pictures for fear of her throwing herself at my camera. But, she had the cotton candy ("It's not on the menu," Heather proudly stated), M had the mini chocolate mousse, I had the mini crème brûlée (crazy, I know!), and our check came with handmade caramels. Delicious and fun!

The next morning, we met my friend Annie for brunch at Norma's in Le Parker Meridien. Holy moly, kids. Come hungry!

Annie got the famous Waz-Za Waffle ("Fruit Inside, Fruit Outside, Crackly Brûlée Top"):

M got a standard Belgian waffle (what a chicken!), aka whipped cream with some waffle:

And I, my friends, got the PB&C Waffle 'Wich ("Chocolate Waffle with a Peanut Butter and Toffee Crunch Filling"). Um yeah, and I ate the whole thing:

I think I'm still on a sugar high. Norma's was full of tourists, but I think that's the point.

As if that weren't enough, my buddy ieatDC made me go to Levain Bakery (such hardship) and Annie was really excited to take us there. Um, yeah, the cookies are as big as that cookie on the opening screen on their website. Crunchy on the outside, doughy on the inside. This is my new must-go place in all of NYC. I got a chocolate chip walnut and M got the chocolate chocolate chip. (Yes, we really had a role reversal this trip... my chocolatey-ness is wearing off on him!) The funny thing about this shop is that they have a webcam that posts your pictures on their website. I found several with me in it and I'd post one, but it's mostly of my obscenely large forehead. Who wants that? Speaking of large...

THEN, it wouldn't be a trip to NYC to see Annie without a stop at Grom, gelato straight from Heaven (or Italy, whatever). It was a beautiful spring day, the glass doors were open and inviting, and the Italian man behind the counter told me what I was going to sample, and who am I to deny him? M and I split a cup of Extra Noir Chocolate and Crema di Grom (egg cream, "meliga" biscuits, and dark chocolate from Ecuador). It was the perfect end to our trip.

On the way to catch the bus home, we stopped in both Neuhaus and Jacques Torres Chocolate. The stupid Neuhaus people wouldn't stop talking about American Idol long enough to give us a sample, so we left. Jacques Torres was a lot of fun—chocolate covered Peeps, chocolate covered Cheerios that Annie says are surprisingly good, and lots of baked goods.

All in all, we had a great trip, and I'm just glad we walked 10 miles that first day or I would have been forced to buy two bus tickets on the way home!