On the Lamb threw a Speakeasy last night… complete with Bathtub Gin and Juice, Pork and Wild Boar Sliders and Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream. There was bourbon and scoundrels as far as the eye could see. Before we get down and dirty with my new favorite ice cream flavor, here’s a peek at what setting up a roarin’ Speakeasy looks like.

A Speakeasy requires a guest list, a password at the door, and a cash box for cashmoney.  

The menu.  Stellar.  

I think every good Speakeasy should have the option to play Spin the Bottle… don’t you? 

As the night progressed, we would come to know these strawberry flavored marshmallows very well.  

Silly games for a party full of strangers.  

We are the ladies of On the Lamb and we require pretty dresses.  

We had streamers on the ceiling.  No… these streamers did not hang themselves.  We hung them.  Every one. 

Ever go snooping in a medicine cabinet?  Yea…. me too.  We have candy in our medicine cabinet.  Everybody wins. 

Brioche buns for the pork and veal sliders.  Shut up.  So good!

We run a tight ship.  Our night was all planned out.  

And before we got the hungry grumpies from all our prep work, Rachel made us lunch.  Bless her soul. 

The Speakeasy was a raging success.  Pictures of the evening will be up shortly.  I was running around with food and cocktails, not my camera.  Thank you to everyone who shared their evening with us.  You people made our gathering amazing!  Y’all know how to bring the fun!  Thank you for your support and your thirst and your appetites.  

If you’d like to know more about On the Lamb and be on the mailing list for our upcoming events, check out onthelambfb.com.  Oh!  Daily Candy likes us too.. RAD!

Now let’s get down to business.  We have some ice cream to talk about… just about the best ice cream ever!  Bourbon soaked cherries in a gorgeous vanilla ice cream.  Take a few days to soak dried cherries in bourbon.  They’re amazing in desserts, in cocktails, in your face… you can’t go wrong.  

This ice cream base is Alton Brown’s recipe.  I love that it is devoid of eggs.  Sometimes ice cream bases with egg yolks get a little too… eggy for me.  In this recipe, the cream is heated to 170 degrees F, then cooled overnight and churned the next day.  It works out wonderfully!  The bourbon in this recipe really works to keep the ice cream pretty soft even when it’s in the freezer.  Dreamy.  Do it.  

Cherry Bourbon Ice Cream
     adapted from Alton Brown

     makes 1 quart of ice cream

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups half and half
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cherry preserves (not jelly. preserves)
1 vanilla bean split and scraped
1/4 cup bourbon soaked cherries, roughly chopped
1 to 2 cups of bourbon for soaking cherries, 2 Tablespoons bourbon for the recipe

Make bourbon soaked cherries by combining 1/2 cup dried cherries with 1 to 2 cups of bourbon. Let the mixture sit in a clean jar with a lid, for at least two days. Once the cherries have plumped up you can make this ice cream with the cherries and a bit of the bourbon… and you can sit around just sipping on the rest of the bourbon. Deeelicious.

Combine all ingredients except the chopped cherries and bourbon, in a large saucepan over medium heat. Place a candy or frying thermometer in the milk mixture. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. This is pretty hot for milk. If your milk breaks a bit, don’t worry too much. It’ll work out in the end.
Once 170 degrees F is reached, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the vanilla bean and add the chopped cherries and bourbon.  Stir to combine  and  place mixture in a lidded container and refrigerate overnight. This will allow the flavors to mellow and improve the texture of the milk.
Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine but will increase in volume and be the texture of soft serve ice cream. Place the mixture in a container with a lid and freeze for at lease one hour before serving.

Let’s just close out eyes and pretend we’re sitting under an orange tree. An orange tree heavy with fruit… but with the occasional late blooming blossom. There are honey bees too. Just a few. The friendly kind. The kind of honeybees that remind you that life is full of creatures big and small… and we all have tasks to do.

Let’s just hang out under our orange tree for a while. Right here in the shade, greeted by little spots of sun as the wind spreads the leaves.

It’s nice here.

Sweet. Thanks. I’m glad you’re here.

Simple.  Big.  Bright.  Tangy.  A game changer, taking your day from overcast to bright and shiny with just a sip.  

Thank you to Tracy and Sunset Magazine for the inspiration.  

Super Citrus Smoothie

     adapted from Sunset Magazine

     Print this Recipe!

Here’s what you’ll need for one big smoothie:  

A juicer

A blender

2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

the juice of 1/2 a grapefruit (save the other half for tomorrow’s smoothie?) 

1/2 cup fresh orange or tangerine juice

2 tablespoons honey

heaping 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 frozen banana (they blend better when frozen)

1/2 cup ice cubes

In a blender, combine juices, yogurt, and honey.  Blend for a few seconds.  Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth.  This recipe makes one giant smoothie.  Yumtown. 

Let me lay out some facts for you:

My bed has an electric blanket on it this winter.  My fears of spontaneous combustion are usurped by my complete inability to actually get out of my warm bed.  

Yes… I’m totally writing this from bed.  Try and stop me.  This cozy just won’t quit. 

I have exactly zero interest in turning on my oven for the next week… mostly because my oven isn’t in arms length of my bed.  I really don’t want to get out of bed.  

Yes… I’m talking a lot about my bed right now.  Maybe I’m obsessed.  Maybe this is unhealthy.

But!  There is one reason I’m getting out of bed tomorrow.  Vacation.  Holy hell!  I’m going on vacation!  I’m going to a gorgeous spa/ bed and breakfast situation in San Luis Obispo… all by myself.  There’s a bathtub.  Not just any bathtub… but a soaking tub… next to a fireplace.  Oh.  My.  God.  I only plan on leaving that soaking tub in an extreme prune state.  

If you’re in San Luis Obispo and you think you can lure me out of my soaking tub… we should totally have lunch!

Before all the soaking begins… here’s a deep purple Blackberry Granita.  I suggest eating in in bed, under the covers, while watching your third Netflix romantic comedy.  Don’t worry.  No judgements.  This granita just tastes better that way.  

This recipe was inspired by two things:  the need to put a stop to my Christmas cookie binge, and my desire to have a dessert without actually having to turn my oven on.  

The result is surprisingly comforting.  Sweet blackberry ice combined with lightly sweetened soft whipped cream.  It’s uncomplicated, refreshing and simply delicious.  

Blackberry Granita with Whipped Cream

Print this Recipe!

3 cups water

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 heaping cups frozen blackberries (un-thawed)

juice of 1 lime

2 teaspoons vodka (optional)

whipped cream (sweetened as much as you like)

In a medium saucepan heat water and sugar until sugar dissolves.  Add frozen blackberries and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat.  Stir to break blackberries up a bit as they cook.  

Once blackberries are broken and cooked, place half of the blackberry and liquid mixture in a blender.  Pulse and blend until a berries are broken down into a puree.  Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot containing the other half of liquid and berries, and strain the puree into the pan.  The end result is berry pieces, whole berries, blackberry liquid and the juice from the puree.  

Add lime and vodka (is using).  The vodka helps the mixture not freeze so solid, but is not entirely necessary. 

Place mixture into a 9×13-inch pan and place in freezer.  Set timer for 1 hour.  After 1 hour, scrape any ice crystals that have formed towards the center of the pan.  Set timer for another hour and again scrape the ice crystals towards the center of the pan.  Continue until all of the liquid has formed ice crystals.  

Serve with soft whipped cream.  Yum!

I have this nasty little habit that shouldn’t bother you in the least… unless of course you’re one of the unlucky people in the world that might have to share a pint of ice cream with me.  

See… I’m a picker.  I will shamelessly pick out every good morsel of ice cream chunky goodness from a pint, leaving only half melted ice cream for you.  Cookie Dough Ice Cream is only Cookie Dough Ice Cream until I get my paws on it for five minutes.  After a cool five minutes, that pint is just a sad excuse for vanilla ice cream.  Don’t even get me started of Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream.  I’ve got enough skills to dig out every ounce of peanut butter in seconds flat.

It’s a shameless habit.  It’s terrible and selfish… and it’ll never change.  I can’t help myself. 

Cookie No-Dough Ice Cream may have just solved my ice cream picking issue.  Instead of having vanilla ice cream with chunks of cookie dough embedded within it, this ice cream… the entire ice cream is the flavor of cookie dough!  Holy heck balls!  That’s amazing.  Yea.. it is. 

This ice cream is thickened with egg yolks.  Some ice creams are thickened with cornstarch.  I think egg yolks are the way to go, creating a super luscious and velvety ice cream.  The thing with thickening custards with egg yolks is that they’re very easily over cooked.  I do it all the time.  I did it with this batch of ice cream.  

There’s a point after you’ve tempered the egg yolks, when you’re reheating the whole custard, stirring constantly, and you’ll test the concoction to see if it coats the back of a spoon.  Coat the back of the spoon with custard.  Run a finger down the center of the custard, and if a line remains separating the two custard halves, then your custard is thick enough.  170 degrees F is you have a nifty thermometer.  

Now… if you overcook the custard, it’ll look a little grainy.  Why?  Because the egg yolks cooked.  Yikes!  Not to worry.  All is not lost.  Simply run the custard through a fine mesh strainer before cooling and freezing.  Run it through a strainer twice if you have to.  No shame in that.  Keep on trucking!

Ooooh… and this is the ice cream maker I use.  I kinda love it. 

Cookie No Dough Ice Cream

     recipe from Claire at The Kitchy Kitchen (how cute is she!?)  ((seriously!!!?)

     Print this Recipe!

I like you.  I like you a lot.  I mean it… and I don’t think I’ve told you in a while.  Sweet.  I’m glad you’re here.

Would now be a good time to tell you that I have a serious, though not lasting, aversion to my kitchen these days?   I have an even more serious aversion to my oven.  For reals.

It’s just that… well, it’s summer!  There seems to be so many museums to visit, brunches to have, friends to laugh with, wine to drink… and somehow none of this fun takes place in my kitchen.

Amazingly, and through the miracle that is my freezer, I’ve managed to throw together a lovely and waaaay super easy summer recipe.  It’s apple pie meets snow cone, minus the cone, plus a hint of awesome.

If it’s summer in your part of the globe… please please please make this.  Remember when you were a kid and used to freeze juice in the ice cube tray?  Dangit!  Why were those cubes always so rock solid!?  This Apple Pie Granita is the adult version of such childhood endeavours.  Super sweet!

Apple Pie Granita

recipe from um… Emeril Lagasse

Print this recipe!

3 cups natural, unfiltered apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

big pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of ground allspice

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan over medium high heat.  Heat and stir until all of the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes.  Pour into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.  Place in the freezer until icy around the edges, about 1 hour.  Using a fork, scrape the icy shards towards the center of the dish.  Freeze again for another hour and again scrape the icy shards.  Continue freezing and scraping until slushy throughout.  Eat standing at the open freezer door, or place in small dishes and serve immediately.

I love a good weekend project, especially when that project involves my fingers in loads of cookie dough.

I’ll admit that I may be waaaay behind the times on this trick.  It’s the sort of trick that super moms have on lock to make them look even more awesome than they already are.  Since I haven’t yet produced other people with my body, this trick is just now hitting my radar.

The idea is this:  one day… (say, maybe a lazy Saturday morning) whip up a couple batches of your favorite cookie dough.  Dollop that cookie dough onto a cookie sheet, all close like.  Throw the entire cookie sheet into the freezer.  Freeze the dough balls, then throw them into a zip lock bag and back into the freezer.  You know what that means?  All you have to do is flick on the oven and throw in a few dough balls anytime you want fresh baked cookies!  Dang this livin’ is easy!

This frozen dough ball situation is key and here’s why:

You and the family can have  fresh baked cookies any and every night.

Surprise guests?  No problem at all… you just happened to be whipping up a batch of fresh cookies.  Taaadaaa!

Bake ‘em directly from frozen…. do it!

Frozen dough balls in the middle of the night?  I won’t tell a soul.  Can I be honest?  I eat the dough balls more often than I actually bake the cookies.  In fact… be right back.  Dough ball for breakfast.

Full disclosure:  I’ve eaten three cookie dough balls in the writing of this post.  I’m not done yet.

You might also try these recipes for you cookie dough freezing pleasure:

Oatmeal Cherry White Chocolate Cookies

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

White Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from King Arthur

makes 2 dozen cookies

Print this Recipe!

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour if you’re feeling extra nutty

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts, again… if you’re feeling nutty.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl, whisk it together and set aside.  Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar and softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat until creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add vanilla extract.  Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition.  Add dry ingredients all at once and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if using.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.  Drop cookie dough by the tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet.  Place them very close together so that as many cookies balls as possible fit on the tray.  Put the cookie sheet in the freezer and chill dough balls until frozen through, at least 3 hours.  Remove the sheet from the freezer and place dough balls in a freezer safe bag and place back in the freezer until ready to bake.

When ready to bake cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place frozen dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Leave a few inches in between the cookies, giving them room to spread.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or  until golden and irresistible.

Lovely friends… hi.  Dear readers… hello.

Let’s talk about keeping it classy.  Hot dang! I try hard to keep it classy.  Holy smokes… do I ever fail sometimes.

Let’s discuss classy versus not classy, and what the heck chocolate dipped bananas have to do with anything.

Classy:  a tastefully short summer sundress.  Not class:  booty shorts that awkwardly bunch in the crotch.

Classy:  gracefully switching from wine to water at the company picnic.  Not classy:  maybe getting drunk and punching the sous chef in the face.  Oops.

Classy:  How much I love listening to public radio.  Not classy:  How much I love to watch The Real Housewives of  New Jersey.  Guilty… but why do they yell so much?

Classy: Enjoying mini chocolate dipped bananas on a summer afternoon.  Not as classy:  Trying to gnaw your way through a giant chocolate dipped banana.  It’s just not pretty friends.  Let’s try to avoid this scene this summer.  I think we all know why.

In case you’re wondering what I’ll be eating all summer, the answer is homemade kettle corn and these little lovelies.  Gracious heavens, how have I not come to these sooner!?  Use the best chocolate you can get your hands on.  I used a Valrhona 70% chocolate.  How about nuts!?  Heck yes!  I liked chopped honey roasted peanuts, but walnuts or toasted pecans would be lovely too.

Mini Chocolate Dipped Bananas

Print this recipe!

3 firm but ripe bananas

9- 12 wooden popsicle sticks or lollipop sticks

2 cups chocolate chips or chunks, melted

1/2 cup nuts of your choice, pulverized in the food processor or finely chopped.

Peel three firm bananas and slice each banana into thirds or fourths.  Each banana slice should be about 3 inches tall.

Place wooden sticks or lollipop sticks through the center of one end of the banana slice, about 2 inches deep.

Place of a tray or plate, making sure that the bananas do not touch, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for four hours, or overnight.

Using a food processor, pulse the nuts until they are chopped very fine.  You can also do this by hand, it just takes a bit longer.  Place in a bowl and set aside for the dipping.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler.  Simmer 3 inches of water in a pot, place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and, once the water is simmering, place the bowl of chocolate over the simmering water.  The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.  Stir the chocolate pieces  occasionally until they’re all melted.

Remove bananas from the freezer, dip in chocolate, roll in nuts and place on a foil lined baking sheet.  When all the bananas are dipped, return to the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.  Once hard, wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until you’re ready to snack on them.  Yum!  I think they’re best eaten when thawed at room temperature for about 7 minutes.

Exactly one year ago I was rockin’ out with a mug of this stuff.  I was also saying things like “totally tubular!”  and “radical!”, wearing acid wash jeans, and hair-spraying my bangs into a tall wave across my forehead.  Ooooh 2008.

Banana Pudding Ice Cream. Rad, right?

I woke up to an utterly dreamy California morning on Tuesday.  The soft morning sun was just streaming through my bedroom window, the birds were singing good morning, and I knew that I had a whole basket of clean laundry for the week ahead.  Pretty sweet morning, right?

Sure… the only problem was that my brain was entirely unwilling to join  the sunny spirit.  Nope.  I felt like on  big stale loaf of bread.  After an extended love affair with my snooze button, I determined, behind closed eyelids, that the only thing that would change my circumstance was streusel topping.  On the shuffle from my warm bed to the kitchen counter I decided that blueberry muffins with streusel topping would flip the light switch in my brain.

There was only one problem with my blueberry muffin plan.  I had not a blueberry in sight.  No fresh.  No frozen… just a whole lotta outta luck.  After rifling through my freezer and fridge I emerged with the tail end of a bag of frozen raspberries, and half a jar of strawberry jam.  I figured that, brought together under the welcoming umbrella of streusel topping, these two would simply have to work.  Not but thirty minutes later, puffy streusel topped muffins found their way out of the oven and into my face.  While they didn’t pay that pesky credit card bill, or make that much needed dentist appointment, they at least kept me from crawling back in bed for a handful of hours.  Sometimes, that kind of help is just enough.

It’s not every morning that you jump out of bed ready for the world, fully equipped to make blueberry muffins.  When those morning escape you, I promise that with a little jam, the remains of your frozen fruit collection, and loads of streusel topping, you just might be able to set things right.

I’d like to think of these muffins as Anything Muffins.  Really, whatever kind of berry and whatever kind of jam will do you just fine in this recipe.  If it sounds good to you, it’ll most likely taste good coming from your oven.  Don’t deny yourself a warm fruity muffin just because the blueberry escapes you.

Raspberry and Jam Muffins aka Just about anything muffins.

adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook

Print this recipe!

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2- 1 cup frozen or fresh raspberries (or whatever berry you might have in your freezer or fridge, use as much of the bag or as little as you have left)

3 Tablespoons strawberry jam (or whatever fruit jam you have on hand)

For the topping:

3 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Put a rack in the upper third of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.  Generously butter muffin cups or line with cupcake papers.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat; remove from heat.  Whisk in milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until well combined.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk mixture and stir until just combined.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the berries and the jam.

Divide batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

For the topping:

Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 18-22 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges of muffin tops and carefully remove from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My favorite part of my sixth grade history text books were not the pictures.  Oooooh no… too easy.  I loved the little timelines at the end of a lesson, the kind of timeline that so neatly wrapped up the life and struggles of so many people.  Distill the entire American Civil Rights Movement into a timeline.  The progression of people and actions becomes so tidy and clear.  Aaah, thanks for the timeline.

I sometimes like to think of my life in timeline form.  I pick a theme and timeline it out in my head.  Yes, this happens.

Let’s timeline out my favorite ice cream flavors from the 1980’s to the present.  Not nearly as socially crucial as civil rights, but still somehow important.

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{ 1983- Strawberry Ice Cream is the only flavor in my world}  {1987- Whoa!  Bubble Gum in ice cream!?  Yes.  Want!}  {1990-  Rocky Road is the only way to go}     {1994-  Is it still Mint Chocolate Chip if it’s not green?  I say yes!}  {1999-  Cherry Garcia, will you marry me?}  {2005-  Going retro with Rainbow Sherbet, success!  {2009-  Enjoying the clever stylings of Brownie Bottom Coffee Ice Cream Cupcakes.  Consider them little cups of perfect fun right from the freezer.  For reals.}

Now that I can check “make an ice cream timeline” off my list of things to do today, let’s talk Ice Cream Cupcakes. Yes.  Yes!  Yes!!

I’ve made Ice Cream Cupcakes before.  They were deliciously bite-sized and made of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  This time around, Ice Cream Cupcakes have grown in size and matured in flavor.  Combine chewy chocolate brownies with coffee ice cream, chocolate ganache and whipped cream.  What a fine world it is.  Summer is sneaking up on us, and here’s what we’re gonna do about it.

Brownie Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

You’ll need:

24 foil cupcake liners

Brownie Batter

1/2 gallon of your favorite ice cream flavor.  I chose Coffee Ice Cream

An ice cream scooper, small spoon, and warm water

A freezer

Chocolate Ganache

Whipped Cream

Here’s the Step by Step Situation:

First make the brownie batter.  Line two cupcake pans with the foil cupcake liners.  Into each cupcake liner, scoop 1 Tablespoon of brownie batter.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 6-8 minutes until the brownie is cooked through.

Let the brownies cool in the cupcake pans to room temperature.  Once cool, place in the freezer (still in the cupcake pans) for 30 minutes.  When you place the cupcake pans in the freezer, remove the ice  cream you’re using and place in the refrigerator to soften.

When ready to assemble the cupcakes, remove the cupcake pans with foil lined brownie cups from the freezer.  Remove the ice cream from the fridge.  Run the ice cream scooper under hot water and working quickly, portion a small scoop of ice cream into each foil lined cup, while still in the cupcake pan.  The cupcake pan will help the Ice Cream Cupcake hold its shape.  You may need to rinse the scooper under hot water in between scoops for easy portioning.  Quickly smooth the scoops of ice cream with the back of a small spoon also rinsed in warm water and return the ice cream cupcakes quickly to the freezer.

Let the newly formed Ice Cream Cupcakes refreeze for 45 minutes to an hour.  In this time you can make the chocolate ganache and whipped cream.  Let the ganache come to just around room temperature, and let the whip cream rest in the fridge until serving time.

Once the cupcakes are refrozen and nice and firm, remove from the freezer and top with a teaspoon of chocolate ganache.  Smooth over the cupcake.  Return once again to the freezer.

To serve, remove the cupcakes from the freezer about 5 minutes before you’d life to serve them.  Finish with a dollop of whipped cream and serve.  Carefully peel the foil from the cupcake and enjoy… with napkins.  Yum!

Fudgy Brownie Bottoms

Bon Appetit October 1991

Print this recipe!

• 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
• 1 1/8 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cupcake pans with foil cupcake liners. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a bowl set over simmering water, creating a double boiler.  Heat until melted and smooth. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients.  Scoop 1 Tablespoon of batter into each foil liner. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes before scooping the ice cream on top.

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks)

1/4 cup heavy cream

Put chocolate chips in a small bowl.  Bring cream to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan.  Pour cream evenly over chocolate.  Let stand for one minute to soften, then stir until smooth.  If frosting is too loose to spread, let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, frosting will continue to thicken as it stands.  Scoop by the teaspoon full onto the ice cream cupcakes.  Spread and refreeze until ready to serve.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

dash of vanilla extract

Whip heavy cream for 3 minutes.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue to whip until thick whipped cream forms.  Dollop onto Ice Cream Cupcakes just before serving.