Dulce Delicious: Ritz Toffee Ice Cream

Happy Summer everyone! Oh wait, it’s not summer yet? Well for me it finally is and I couldn’t be happier about it. This semester has finally come to a close and let me tell you, it was a hectic one.

To celebrate summer, I decided to make some ice cream. This time, I made a flavor of my own creation. I wanted to combine vaguely savory and very sweet flavors.

Who doesn’t love Ritz crackers? Eat one and you will eat a whole sleeve.

Drowning in caramel…Not a bad way to go

When I was younger, this was one of the first recipes I made by myself. I remember being so proud of making these “cowpies” as I thought they were called. I’d show them off to my whole family like they were French pastries.

Smothered in some milk chocolate, these Ritz crackers are getting a makeover

I made a batch of Ritz toffee bark to be a crunchy mix-in to my ice cream base, which would be…dulce de leche.

Originally, I was going to go through the all-day process of simmering sweetened condensed milk into that delicious caramel heaven. But then I realized I could just buy it instead! Trader Joe’s makes jars of dulce de leche to save me all that aggravation.

Thanks Trader Joe’s. I love everything about you, especially your cookie butter. And now dulce de leche!

While the Ritz toffee bark cooled, I made the ice cream  base. This time, instead of a custard (egg-based) cream, I decided to just go with cream.

So much better. Disasters avoided everywhere in the kitchen.

It looked gorgeous.

Isn’t it funny how people who are obsessed with food somehow find a hue of brown to be gorgeous? Well it was.

I chilled it lab-style, over an ice bath. Brought me right back to my afternoons spent in the fume hood…oh wait that was last week.

My lab professor might actually be proud of my non-failure for once.

Then into the ice cream maker! It didn’t take long to churn because the bowl has been in the freezer for about 2 months. I quickly chopped up the bark and  folded it into the soft-serve ice cream. It started to melt very fast but I tried to get as many pictures as I could.

Churn baby churn!

Taste wise, it exceeded my expectations. It was perfectly crunchy and smooth  with the rich taste of creamy toffee-ness. The Ritz bark has a great buttery snap and the chocolate is milky and melty. The ratio of ice cream to toffee is pretty much 1:1, in every spoonful.

Fresh out of the machine and swirled to perfection

Something I really liked about this flavor is that you don’t have to eat a ton of it to get the full flavor effect. It’s more of a small dish ice cream than a full bowl type.

I’m ready to dig in! How about you?

In my original plan, I was going to add a swirl of chocolate or maybe some chocolate chips. And I actually tried to. But after two attempts and two bowls of seized chocolate my patience was wearing thin. Maybe another day I’ll whip out the double broiler and give it another go.

But as for this batch, I would call it a success! Sweet and sweet, just like ice cream should be.

A few of my favorite things: ice cream, teal glass and my family’s kitchen table

As my Alanna fun fact today I would like to introduce my pet hamster, Beaker. He is a dwarf hamster, but he doesn’t look to dwarf-like to me. He is a grouchy little meatball, but we get along great (I wonder if that says something about me). For the summer, I got him a bigger house, and he is settling into his new pad by trying to escape every time I say hello to him. Here is my little guy, doing what he does best, sleeping and biting.

My little meatball. He’s a bit camera shy

He is an escaping mastermind

I am beyond delighted to be able to start making ice cream for real now, instead of just thinking about it from my dorm room. Please check back soon for my next flavor, or better yet, subscribe!

Have an awesome mother’s day to all you moms! Especially mine, who wins all time mother of the year for the 31st year straight. Love you mom.

As for everyone else, thanks for reading and scoop ya later!