Baked Ice Cream: A Fun and Tasty Science Experiment

Photo by theimpulsivebuy

Who says you can’t bake your ice cream and eat it too! This recipe for Baked Ice Cream can be both a fun science experiment and tasty treat for kids and adults alike!

Here is what you’ll need:

Adapted from Planet-Science

What you need:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 3 large cookies
• Aluminum Foil
• Baking tray
• Mixing bowl
• Mixer

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. First make the meringue by separate the egg whites. Put the three egg whites in a mixing bowl and whisk with a mixer. Add in the sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue to whisk until it is completely mixed. The result should be light and fluffy.
3. Cover a baking tray in aluminum foil and place the cookies onto it.
4. Put a scoop of ice cream on top of each cookie.
5. Cover the cookie and ice cream with meringue.
6. Bake them in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown. Then take them out and they are ready to serve!

While you're eating your ice cream experiment, you can talk about the science behind it and ask questions like: why did the ice cream not melt? The answer is because the meringue serves as insulation. For more information on this experiment or a how to video check out Planet Science.

4 Ice Cream Floats for Spring

It's spring! Finally, winter is over and warm weather is on its way. We're celebrating the spring equinox with a list of our favorite ice cream floats.  Here are 4 floats to try this spring:

Root Beer Floats

Photo by Stacy Spensley

This one is a classic, but it never seems to get old. Make them by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a glass of root beer.

Orange Creamsicle Float

"Orange Float" by Putri A. Suciwulandhari

Citrus flavored drinks are the perfect way to bring in the spring season. Plus they taste delicious paired with vanilla ice cream! Grab some orange soda, orange slices for garnish, and some of our Udderly Vanilla to make one.

Strawberry Float

Photo by Lotus Head

Strawberry floats make us think of warmth and sunshine! This recipe from The Taylor House is simple and tasty.

Birthday Cake Floats

If you have a spring birthday, these ice cream floats are great as party drinks or as a sweet gift to yourself! You can get the recipe from Shaken Together.

Saint Patrick’s Day Desserts

Saint Patrick’s Day is on Monday, but if you’re like us, you are probably celebrating the holiday early this year. The holiday is one of our favorites because it gives us one more excuse to enjoy some of our mint ice creams and milkshakes. (As if, we needed an excuse.) Here are some of our favorite treats to make for St. Patty’s Day:

Photo by Phil Denton

Clover Ice Cream Sandwiches

Adapted from Taste of Home

These clover-shaped ice cream sandwiches not only look cute but taste delicious too!

What you’ll need:
Shamrock-shaped Cookie Cutter

1 egg

6 tbs. butter

1 ½ tsp. milk

¾ tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. salt

1 ¼ tsp. baking powder

¾ cup sugar

1 ⅓ cup flour

¼ cup baking cocoa

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Directions: 

1. First you must make the cookies to create your sandwiches. Mix togethet the butter and sugar then add in the egg, milk and vanilla. In a separate, larger bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Then combine the two mixture in one bowl. 
2. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 
3. Remove from fridge and roll out dough on flat, nonstick surface until dough is about 1/4" thick. 
4. Press the Shamrock Cookie Cutter on the dough and pull out the cut cookie pieces. 
5. Place on non-stick cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. 
6. Remove and wait 10-15 to cool. Then scoop the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream onto the middle of one cookie and place another cookie on top.

If you are looking for some other delicious St. Patty's Day treats below are some of our other favorites:

St. Patty's Day Ice Cream Cupcakes from Bubbly Nature Creations
For those Irish Cream and ice cream lovers, these are the perfect little treats.

Mint Brownie Ice Cream Push Pops from A Pumpkin and a Princess

The push pop form makes these a great, less-mess St. Patrick's Day treat for kids.

Mintmoolicious Milkshake
Of course, we can't forget our very own green milkshakes!

How to Make Mardi Gras Ice Cream Sundaes

Photo by michelle.schrank

Today is Mardi Gras! The holiday has been around for hundreds of years and marks the last day of the Carnival season.  It is the last big feast before Lent, so naturally there is a lot of Mardi Gras food. 

One in particular is the King Cake, which symbolizes the Three Kings and is often stuffed with a trinket that is said to bring good luck to the person that finds it. There are many different versions of the King Cake, but the one most associated with Mardi Gras is decorated in 3 symbolic colors: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

We put a little spin on the traditional King Cake with this recipe for Mardi Ice Cream Sundaes!

What you’ll need

King Cake

Vanilla Ice Cream

Caramel

Directions

First you’ll need to make the iconic Mardi Gras cake, better known as the King Cake. You can find a HomeCooking recipe for King Cake here. After letting the King Cake cool for about an hour, chop a slice of cake into bite size pieces in a small bowl. In sundae bowl place a few pieces of chopped King Cake in the bottom.  Layer it with 2 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream.   (You may use Mint or Raspberry Ice Cream for Mardi Gras colors or you can put a few drops of green and purple food coloring in your vanilla ice cream.) Top the ice cream with some more cake.  Drizzle it with caramel and enjoy!

Do you have any fun Mardi Gras recipes that involve ice cream? Feel free to share in the comments!