Okay, first things first: Cake Batter Truffle Ice Cream!!! You guys, this stuff is magic and I’ll yammer on and on about it in just one second because next things next: new website! OMG! Why has it taken me this long?? There are still quite a few kinks I need to iron out but I figured if I kept waiting for it to be perfect I’d never make the switch. I have a whole post dedicated to introducing all the fun stuff going on here so moving right along to thirdsies, and probs most importantly:
Yep, we have ourselves a bambino! Mr. James Felix Anderson finally arrived on July 18 (8 days late, not that I was, like, counting or anything) and we’re celebrating his one month birthday today by eating scoop after scoop of this ridiculously awesome Cake Batter Truffle Ice Cream. This dreamy concoction is kind of like cookie dough ice cream–except that we used cake batter truffles in lieu of cookie dough.
I repeat: we used cake batter truffles in lieu of cookie dough. Yes, wrap your mind around that glorious-ness and know that it was such a good decision
Also: sprinkles. Because what is a birthday celebration without sprinkles?
Warren has been badgering me for ages to make this ice cream. It came to me in a literal dream months ago and when I woke up and told Warren that such things had come to pass he pretty much salivated on the spot.
Mostly because he adores Cake Batter Truffles. They are our go-to potluck dessert (well, when we’re not making Peanut Butter Pie) and my co-workers regularly demand that I bring in a double batch for every holiday.
I have a feeling that Felix will be demanding these truffles when he gets old enough to devour them straight from the mixer. Also, I could just nibble on those chubby cheeks for hours. Newborns must be required to be all sorts of cute in order for their parents to survive the long, sleepless nights, endless diaper changes, and general zombie-ness.
Though I am so glad that what all my mom pals told me held true for us–the first two weeks are THE WORST (seriously, THE WORST) but by one month, life settles back to a new kind of normal.
Our new normal looks a lot like pure chaos at the moment–basically like Buy Buy Baby exploded in every corner of our house–but we are getting into the groove. We were lucky enough to have our dear friends supply us with a steady stream of meals for the first three weeks so we didn’t even think about cooking until recently.
And “cooking” mostly involves eating Trader Joe’s frozen Indian food. I mean, we put it in the oven so that’s kind of like cooking, right?
But back to Cake Batter Truffle Ice Cream. Because those little chunks of truffles are so totally ace with our favorite vanilla base (Jeni’s Ice Creams, you never fail us–remember Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Ice Cream? Or Lemon Biscotti Ice Cream?).
While you don’t need to make a full batch of the cake batter truffle filling, I think you should just so you can make leftovers into actual cake batter truffles (just roll the filling into balls and dunk into melted almond bark–be ready to be hailed as a conquering hero by anyone who eats them)!
Pretty much wanted to face plant into this cone.
And cones make the best kind of messes.
Kind of like this grumpster:
Seriously, I can’t even with that face! I love how concerned he looks pretty much all the time.
Long story short, thanks to dear little Felix things will likely be a little sporadic around these parts for the next little bit. But, I am so excited to be in this new space with all sorts of fun newfangled additions and can’t wait to get back into the kitchen!
Until next time, I strongly encourage you to pull on your party hats and whip up a batch of this ice cream. It does summer (and Felix!) proud.
Cake Batter Truffle Ice Cream
Ingredients
- For the Vanilla Ice Cream Base:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1½ ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1¼ cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (or more!) Cake Batter Truffles, crumbled or rolled into marble-sized balls
- ⅓ cup rainbow sprinkles
- For the Cake Batter Truffles:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Funfetti (or yellow) cake mix, dry
- 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
- 3 tablespoons milk, more if needed to reach play dough consistency
Instructions
- For the Vanilla Ice Cream Base:In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons milk to form a slurry. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix the cream cheese and salt together. Set aside. Put the rest of the milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a large, heavy bottomed pot (like a stock pot). Bring to a boil and boil for exactly four minutes (I set my phone’s timer to make sure it was accurate). It will boil and foam like crazy.
- While the milk is boiling, put a ziplock bag in a tall, wide container (I used my blender) and fold the top over the container’s edge so you can safely pour the boiled ice cream base into the bag. Set aside. After four minutes, take the pot off the heat and add the cornstarch slurry. Return to a boil for one minute, take off the heat again. Add the cream cheese to the boiled milk and whisk any clumps out.
- Pour into the prepared ziplock bag, seal it, and submerge in an ice bath. If you’re making the ice cream the same day, just make sure the base is very cold before adding it to the machine. I just refrigerated it overnight. Add the base to your frozen ice cream barrel and swirl for 15 minutes. The base should be frozen, a little more liquid than soft serve.
- At this point, drop in chunks of cake batter truffles (instructions below--I kind of crumbled it with my fingers and added some marble-sized balls) and ⅓ cup of rainbow sprinkles. Transfer ice cream to a bread pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight. Let ice cream sit on the counter for 10 minutes before serving.
- For the Cake Batter TrufflesIn a stand mixer or large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until well combined. Add vanilla extract then add flour, salt, cake mix, and sprinkles and mix together. The mixture will have a sandy texture. Add milk and mix until dough comes together without falling apart--a play dough consistency. Add a little more milk if the mixtures is too dry. Use 1½ cups of the truffles to crumble into the vanilla ice cream base (though we may have used closer to 2 cups to get lots of truffle chunks)!
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