This is one recipe I was really excited for! This is the first time I ever made ice cream and I know it’s not going to be last! Especially since I haven’t returned Bek’s ice cream maker attachment and maybe I’m not going to for a bit…..shhhhhhhhhhhhh. One of our book companies sent us some free books and one of them was Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams At Home and I am just tearing into that puppy! It has some really amazing flavor combinations and I can’t wait to try some of them. Especially the weird ones.
But okay back to this ice cream, which was AWESOME! I used the new olive oil we just started carrying in bulk at the store. It’s Greek and it is delicious.
I followed Dorie’s directions about temperature and I’m so glad I did because I would have totally overcooked this. I was expecting it to thicken to the consistency of pudding, like when I’ve made cream pies or pastry creams and that was not the case. But I did the back of the spoon test and it passed and the temp was right at 180, so I dumped it through my little strainer right-quick and got it into the ice bath.
There wasn’t very much left in the strainer so I felt pretty confident that I didn’t overcook it too much. I put it into the ice cream maker (after several trips to Bek’s to collect all the damn pieces!!!) and left it churn, churn, churning away while Tristan and I watched yet more Friday Night Lights. We’re in the 3rd season and I gotta say, it’s still pretty compelling.
After the churning was over I put it in a Glad container and stuck it in the freezer to hang out until the next day. Bek and I had a private cooking class to teach for a couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and we used this ice cream for the dessert. We pulsed some almond cookies in the food processor and then sprinkled some amaretto over the cookie crumbs to make them sticky before we rolled some big ol’ ice cream balls all up in there. Yum! A little drizzle of some bittersweet chocolate sauce, a healthy dollop of whipped cream, and a crispy Anna Thin Almond cookie and we are in business baby! Soooooooooooooooo good!
When I told the couple the flavor of the ice cream, they seemed really skeptical but after tasting it they were totally on the olive oil ice cream team. I brought some home for Tristan who also gave me a weird look and said “I’ll try it” with a lot of trepidation but he ate the whole dish with what I can only call gusto. I loved this one guys! I thought the flavor was really subtle and super creamy and delicious. If you know it’s olive oil ice cream you can taste it in the finish but it’s not overpowering at all. I would make this again for sure and try it with another olive oil to see how different the flavor would be. Bek thought it would be really good with lemon olive oil and I agree wholeheartedly! 
I agree that the description is so strange and I received looks here as well. You have to try it to love it! And love it you will.
You may have convinced me to try it… I’m still a little skeptical!
Very good looking presentation! Next time I’m going to cut the vanilla in half so even more olive comes through.
That serving dish is impressive!
Isn’t it? It belongs to Bek’s mom and we always swipe it to use for events. We hadn’t returned it yet after the last one so we decided to make the sundae look really special.
Once you learn how to make ice cream at home, it gets kind of addictive
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is a great book (I am making her roasted rhubarb today with my CSA rhubarb) – I also love David L’s The Perfect Scoop.
I agree… Very dramatic serving dish!
Nice presentation! We liked this recipe a lot. I may not have been able to tell it was olive oil if I hadn’t known it was in there.
Ice cream making is fun, I agree, and your olive oil ice cream looks very impressive in that glass serving dish. Homemade ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cookies – just wonderful !
Have a great weekend!
P.S.: I just loved the expression that you used in your comment last Friday about being “naan-ed out”
I so want to try this! No ice cream machine for me right now (moving to Europe soon, where the plugs are all wonky), but once we come back stateside, it’s ON!
This one was a great recipe for your first ice cream and I am so glad you enjoyed it! It looks beautiful with the chocolate drizzle.
P.S. You are going to love Jeni’s book!
Congrats on making your first ever ice cream. I love my ice cream maker and we use it all the time in the summer. Looks like you are off to a good start, your presentation is perfect.
We had a lot of “trepidation” as well in our families but everyone was game (hey, it wasn’t sardine rilettes…..) and everyone liked it. Kudos for having such a gourmet start to your ice cream making adventures. The toppings you added sounded and looked lovely. Nana and I are looking forward to a summer of ice cream adventures ~
Could not agree more, this was so good! I bet the bittersweet chocolate drizzle really complimented the flavor.
Nice job! I’m really enjoying seeing everyone’s take on serving this ice cream.
I need to get a kitchen thermometer – I think that would’ve solved my problem. I love the look of your sundae, the almond cookies with amaretto sound excellent.
Maggie, Your Ice Cream looks wonderfully creamy and rich!! Love your presentation!!
Another winner Maggie!! Everyone seems to like the way that you present your creations and I have to agree. I went to that wild mushroom workshop and learned some good stuff!
I now have about 10 different mushrooms that I will hunt for. I was given some Oyster mushrooms to try and they were very good.
We will have to try making some ice cream when you come home.
Love Dad
Maggie, You had too much fun with this one. I bet your anniversary couple almost had a stroke when they heard “olive oil” ice cream. That might have been a time for a little, little white lie. But, it ended well. I liked the cookie-pulsing idea – could be used with any flavor. Yeah, I think I’ll be making ice cream/gelato/sorbet a lot this Summer. I’m heading for Colorado next week and I’ve been told to bring Little Darlin’, my ice cream maker. What ice cream recipe books to you suggest?
Well I only have the one – Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. I made the backyard mint ice cream from it the other night and it was delish! I really want to try the lemon-blueberry frozen yogurt and I want to try a lemon-basil ice cream as well. Also, my lavender plant is huge so I was thinking blueberry-lavender too. I have a lot of ideas. Further up in the comments Cher mentioned a book called The Perfect Scoop which I noticed a lot of people mentioned in their posts on this recipe. I think I’m going to check that one out too. Hope you and Little Darlin’ have a great time this summer!
I was in the minority, but I didn’t flip over the ice cream. I used a good Greek olive oil too. However, I’m glad you enjoyed it so much (and the anniversary couple). The sundae you made with crushed cookies and chocolate sauce sounds great. Now that I rescued the never-before-used ice cream maker from the freezer, I have to try more flavors. The backyard mint you mentioned in the comments sounds wonderful. I have lots of herbs growing, more than I can think up what to use them for. Share your ice cream experiments with us, please!