lemon ice cream

As I see it, there is often a great divide between desserts: light and refreshing versus rich and decadent. Lemon ice cream paradoxically defies these categories, as it managed to be both light and rich, creamy yet refreshing at once. It retains the potency and palate-cleansing aspects of sorbet but also the richness of ice cream. The best comparison I can make taste-wise is frozen lemon curd, which sounds awesome to me.
It is ice cream for between the seasons, when we’re almost out of winter and awaiting spring jk New Orleans doesn’t experience winter and our spring lasts for about five seconds before melting into a sweltering summer that doesn’t end. But the weather has been slightly pleasant lately so I guess we’re somewhat in-between seasons? Regardless, it’s the perfect display of citrus (winterish but tastes like summer) in a warm weather-friendly form.

Plus strawberries (which, apologies, probably aren’t in season yet in most normal places) make the perfect topping.

Lemon Ice Cream
adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

Makes about 1 quart

Lemon Syrup
2 t0 3 lemons
2 tablespoons sugar

Ice Cream Base
2 cups whole milk, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Zest of 2 lemons (reserved from above)

For the lemon syrup: Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from 2 of the lemons in large strips and set aside. Squeeze enough juice from the lemons to make 1/2 cup. Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and cover and refrigerate until chilled.

For the ice cream base: In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons milk with the cornstarch to make a smooth slurry, making sure there are no lumps.
Whisk the cream cheese and salt together in a medium bowl until smooth.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, and lemon zest in a large (4-quart) saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and continue boiling for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the tightly sealed bag in the ice bath (don’t submerge the top if you’re paranoid like me). Let stand, adding more ice if needed, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Remove the lemon zest. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and turn on the machine.  Pour the lemon syrup through the opening in the top of the machine, and continue to spin until the ice cream is thick and creamy (my machine takes 25-30 minutes).

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Let the ice cream soften slightly before serving.

Variations: Jeni suggest a few variations and add-ins: candied ginger, crushed Lemonheads candy, crumbled amaretti, or browned slivered almonds. Add whatever you want; lemon is a good base for many different flavors.

chocolate brioche bread pudding

Are you too chocolated out from Valentine’s Day? The answer is no, because it’s impossible to have too much chocolate, although this bread pudding tests the limit.


My uncle spied a recipe for chocolate brioche bread pudding in the Times-Picayune and requested it for Super Bowl Sunday. Like a dutiful niece, I obliged. (Any excuse to make a dessert, particularly a rich chocolate one, I take.) It hails from Beth Biundo, pastry chef at local restaurant Lilette. (We love our bread pudding in New Orleans.) The first challenge* was finding brioche. Three grocery stores later,  I  my dad succeeded. The brioche loaf is sliced and diced,  then toasted a bit so it can soak up more of the pudding mixture. (The “stale bread” effect.) Magically, when you combine excessive amounts of carbs, sugar, and fat brioche, cream, sugar, chocolate, and eggs, you get a delicious dessert! Shocking. It is rich rich rich, so much so that whipped cream is necessary to lighten the texture. (It always amuses me that cream is used to “lighten” desserts, but texturally, not nutritionally, it does.) Unlike some bread puddings, which overlap with the baked french toast species in texture, this is truly a pudding. Prior to baking, I thought the pudding mixture too much for the amount of bread, but trust me, it bakes up into a true bread pudding with the bread absorbed into the chocolate pudding. This is not exactly diet material, and don’t even think about trying to make it be.

*The other challenge associated with the bread pudding was its appearance. It’s not winning any awards anytime soon. (I spared your delicate sensibilities the more…unappealing ones.) But don’t let its appearance deter you!

Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding
adapted from Beth Biundo via The Times Picayune

1 pound loaf brioche, cubed (1/2-inch to 1-inch cubes) and toasted in a 300° oven until dry and crisp but not dark (brioche is best, but challah or croissants can be substituted)
2 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, medium-finely chopped
5 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
whipped cream, for serving

In a large saucepan, combine the cream, milk, and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and stir until melted.

In a large bowl (large enough to hold all the brioche cubes), whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and salt. Slowly pour the cream/chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. When completely combined, fold in the brioche cubes. Cover, refrigerate, and let the mixture soak at least 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325° F.

Generously butter a 9 x 13-inch pan. Pour in the bread pudding mixture. Set the pan into a larger pan and pour about 1/2 inch of water into the larger pan. Bake until firm, set, and just starting to puff, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Serve warm. Freshly whipped cream is an almost-necessity due to the density and richness and intensity. Better yet, the original recipe suggests bourbon milk punch ice cream (or bourbon whipped cream).

Storing: The bread pudding will keep, refrigerated, for up to a week. It is very fudgy and pudding-y cold, or reheats nicely.

speculoos buttons

Looking for a sparkly, festive New Year’s Eve dessert? Speculoos are little cookies spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves–think of the Delta Airline Biscoff cookies. They dress up nicely with sugar around the edges (I used uncolored raw sugar, so the cookie’s rims aren’t as pretty as the ones on the cover of Bon Appetit are), a dollop of thick white frosting, and a scattering of colored sugar or sprinkles. If you are more patient than I am, you will have perfectly round cookies too. They are good keepers, as I made them for Christmas Eve and they’re holding up well, and as cute as a button (pun intended).

Speculoos Buttons
adapted from Dorie Greenspan for Bon Appetit, December 2012

Makes 90 (!) cookies, according to Dorie Greenspan, but 3-4 dozen, according to me

You can make these as tiny as you want, and I’m thinking the ones Dorie Greenspan made must have been microscopic. I chose to divide the cookie dough in half instead of thirds so the cookies would be a bit larger, but do as you wish.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white
Sanding or other decorative sugar (I used raw sugar)

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Sprinkles, colored sanding sugar, or dragées (optional)

For the cookies: Whisk together the first 6 ingredients (flour, salt, and spices) in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer (or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) at medium speed, beat together butter, both sugars, and molasses until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla; mix  until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Scrape dough from bowl and divide in half or thirds, depending on what size you want your cookies. Using your palms, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch log. Wrap logs tightly in plastic or parchment paper and freeze for at least 3 hours. (For neater edges, remove logs from freezer after 1 hour and roll on counter.) At this point, you can freeze the logs for up to 2 months.

Arrange racks in top and bottom thirds of oven and preheat to 375° F. Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk egg white in a small bowl to loosen and lightly brush all over 1 log. Evenly sprinkle the log with sanding sugar, rolling the log in the excess. Using a long, sharp knife, slice the log into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Transfer to 1 baking sheet, spacing about 1/2 inch apart, and place in the freezer or at least the fridge while you cut the next log. (The cookies hold their shape better if you bake when dough is cold.) Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes, until tops and edges are golden brown and centers are almost firm, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool before icing. 

 For the glaze: Mix powdered sugar and 7 teaspoons (2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) cold water in a large mixing bowl (glaze will be very thick, but add more water if it is overly stiff). Spoon about 1/2 teaspoons glaze onto each cookie (alternatively and more neatly, fill a resealable plastic bag or pastry bag with glaze and cut a small hole in 1 corner; pipe glaze in an even circle around edges of cookies, then fill). Decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, or dragées, if desired. Let stand on rack at room temperature for at least 30 minutes for glaze to set. 

Storing: Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.

spiced bundt cake

This warm, richly flavored bundt cake starts with vanilla bean brown butter (nothing bad can possibly come from that) and is replete with all the classic baking spices (and even some black pepper) and citrus zests to contrast with the warmth. It’s deep and complex yet not overwhelming. A dusting of snow-like powdered sugar and a drizzle of apple caramel sauce complete the holiday look and taste.

Spiced Bundt Cake with Apple Caramel Sauce
adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2012

The apple caramel is entirely optional. I found the apple cider vinegar to create and interesting flavor profile but the full tablespoon to be too acerbic. I recommend toning it down (or even omitting it).

The almonds lend little flavor-wise but add a nice depth and a contrast in texture. To make the almond flavor more pronounced (something I would have done if I thought of it earlier), toast the slivered almonds before grinding them with the flour.

Apple Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup fresh apple cider
1/4 cup heavy cream
1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon was too acerbic for my taste; see headnote)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

Cake
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups slivered almonds
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I used only a heaping 1/4 teaspoon and wish I’d used more)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
3 large eggs
5 large egg yolks
1 cup whole milk

For caramel sauce: Combine sugar, cream of tartar, and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring gently if necessary, until sugar dissolves. Cook, without stirring and occasionally swirling pan for even cooking, until mixture turns a dark amber color. Immediately remove from heat, and  slowly add apple cider, cream, vinegar, vanilla, and salt (mixture will bubble vigorously), whisking to combine. Return pan to medium heat and bring to a vigorous boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring to dissolve any hardened bits, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

For cake: Center a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Generously coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick spray or butter and flour, tapping out any excess. Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Cook, stirring often, until butter foams, then  smells nutty and turns brown (do not burn). Carefully remove vanilla bean; pour brown butter into a shallow medium bowl and chill until slightly firm, about 1- 1/2 hours.

Pulse flour and almonds in a food processor until almonds are finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Whisk in baking powder and next 7 ingredients; set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat chilled brown butter and sugars (brown, white, and powdered) in a large bowl, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in lemon and orange zests. Add eggs and yolks one at a time, beating to blend between additions, and beat mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Reduce speed to low. Add half of dry ingredients; mix until almost blended. Add milk and mix until almost blended. Add remaining dry ingredients; mix until batter is just blended and smooth. Scrape into prepared pan, and tap pan gently on counter to even out.

Bake until a tester inserted near the center of cake comes out clean and cake is dark golden brown and has begun pulling from sides of pan, 55-65 minutes. You may need to cover the cake with foil as it’s baking to ensure it doesn’t become too browned.

Transfer pan to a wire rack. Let cake cool in pan for about 25 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Dust cake lightly with powdered sugar. Warm caramel sauce, and drizzle sauce over cake, allowing it to drip down sides. Serve remaining sauce alongside.

Storing: Cake will keep, airtight at room temperature, for up to 4 days. Caramel sauce will keep, stored in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 1 week.

brown butter snickerdoodles

I had intended for these cookies to serve as a natural segue into fall baking. Nothing too dramatic: only one spice (the baking classic, cinnamon) for a foretaste of the spice-laden autumnal and winter baking that is to come. Cinnamon always stars in  snickerdoodles, which are a whimsical riff off sugar cookies. This particular variation, dreamed up by two creative geniuses in their new book, caught my attention for an addition that is at once ingenious yet entirely appropriate: brown butter. It’s these kinds of little twists on classics, ones that make me wish I’d thought of it first, that make me love the Baked books.
A gentle introduction into fall flavors might be fitting for the middle of September, when I made these, but now a month later, it’s past that point, decidedly the season to break out the pumpkin and apples full-force. Nevertheless, I think you should make a place for these. The best word to describe these cookies is warm, with nutty brown butter, cinnamon both in the dough and, as per usual, cracking around the exterior, and brown sugar to add depth. All the aforementioned are not found in your average snickerdoodle yet harmonize together here into a crispy-around-the-edges, chewy-in-the-middle  fall cookie.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
adapted from Baked Elements

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies

1 cup (2 sticks | 8 ounces) unsalted  butter, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it bubbles, foams,  turns deep-brown, and smells nutty, about 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently to brown the butter evenly. Don’t let it burn! Pour the brown butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment to bring the butter to room temperature, about 6-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and milk together.

Once the butter is tepid, add 1 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, drizzle in the egg mixture; raise the speed to medium and continue to beat until thoroughly combined and very light and creamy. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, mixing after each addition until barely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, gathering it into a mound in the middle. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. You can also freeze the dough, double-wrapped in plastic and foil, for up to 1 month.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon until the mixture is uniform in color.

Scoop the dough into about 2-tablespoon sized balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Space the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets and press them down slightly with your fingers. Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are set around the edges and slightly cracked or wrinkled. Don’t overbake–snickerdoodles are best chewy.

Let the cookies cool on the pan set on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then transfer to cookies the racks to cool completely.

The snickerdoodles can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.