Homemade Cookie Dough and Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream Cake

Homemade Cookie Dough and Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream Cake

Parker’s 11th birthday was a couple days ago.  Happy Birthday, Parker!

This kid of mine doesn’t like chocolate.  Huh?  I know.  But one of the things he LOVES is cherries, all kinds.  He LOVES maraschino cherries.  So I recently made maraschino cherry ice cream, just to make him happy, because we often have ice cream and there aren’t any flavors he likes.  Well, I think what is really happening, is he is turning into the kind of person who would rather have savory/salty things than sweets.  How dare he! ;)

I guess when a kid is this awesome, you take them as they are. ;)

Here’s the recipe for the maraschino cherry ice cream, it’s a super simple recipe and if you like maraschino cherries, this ice cream is perfect.  Parker was pretty happy!

Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup 2% milk

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

*1/3-1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice (from a 10 oz. jar)

*about 24 maraschino cherries, chopped

In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar with 1 cup cream over medium-low heat.  Remove from heat and add it in a large bowl to the remaining cup of cream, the milk, almond extract, cherry juice and chopped cherries.  Whisk all ingredients together well.  The mixture will be cold enough that you don’t need to chill it.  You can put the bowl over an ice bath for 15 minutes or so, if you want it colder.  I just added it right to the ice cream bowl and began churning it.  Churn according to your ice cream makers manufacturer’s instructions, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove the soft ice cream from the bowl and store it in an airtight container in the freezer.  *I used close to 1/2 cup of juice from the jar of cherries and 24 cherries, which wasn’t the whole jar because a few of them had been eaten before the ice cream was made. ;)

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I made the ice cream a few days before Parker’s birthday.  The boys all enjoyed some the day I made it.  After asking Parker what he wanted for his birthday—no one here likes cake—he just kept hummin’ and hawin’ about it and couldn’t decide on anything.  The day before his birthday, I decided to make him an ice cream cake. 

I started with a crust base, which I made up using animal crackers.  I really like how it turned out!  Sometimes we get tired of the same ol’ graham cracker crust.  After making the crust, I stuck it in the freezer for a while.

Animal Cracker Cookie Crust, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

about 5 1/2 ounces (150 grams) crushed animal crackers

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pulse the cookie/crackers in a food processor (it was about 2 cups of cookies) until they become fine crumbs.  Add the sugar and pulse a few times.  Add in the melted butter and the vanilla and pulse until the crumbs are all moistened.  Spread evenly and press down in a 9 inch square pan.  Can be used for a cheesecake or ice cream cake or any kind of crust you’d like!

Parker doesn’t totally hate all chocolate, he really just doesn’t like too much of it and he really doesn’t like dark chocolate.  I’d recently made some eggless chocolate chip cookie dough, which there was still some of in the fridge.  Normally, I’d make homemade ice cream, but we happened to have half a gallon of plain vanilla ice cream in the freezer, so I decided to soften it up and add some of the cookie dough to it.  Why did I make edible cookie dough?  Because Sam had gone to the dentist and then to the store with me afterwards and decided he wanted chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  Can you believe there was none at the store where we went?  I promised Sam I’d make him some cookie dough he could have in some vanilla ice cream. 

I took little balls of the cookie dough and froze them, then stirred them into the vanilla ice cream.

I stirred about one cup of the cookie dough balls/chunks/nuggets into about half a gallon of vanilla ice cream.  (There’s probably another two cups of cookie dough balls in the freezer for use another time!)  The now-chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was spread over the animal cracker crust.

After letting the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream layer freezer for an hour or two, I softened the remaining maraschino cherry ice cream and spread it over the cookie dough ice cream.  It was probably about a quart and a half of cherry ice cream.  Once that had frozen for a couple hours, I spread Cool Whip over the top and let it freeze more.  I know, Cool Whip—it’s a hit here and I wasn’t planning on eating any of the ice cream cake.  Okay, I tasted a little.   Anyway.  The ice cream cake---it tastes great, if you like those cherries.  I don’t hate them.  I just don’t like what has happened to the cherries. ;) 

I am/was so happy that a neighbor recently gave me this great cake pan she didn’t want anymore.  It’s a 9-inch square pan with a removable bottom.  It was perfect for this ice cream cake!

Kevin put the 11 cherries on the top.  (I couldn’t find the candles and I think Parker was much happier with the cherries anyway.)  I told Kevin to just put six cherries in one of the “1’s”, but he didn’t like the idea of having them be uneven, that’s why there’s one in the corner.  I like the way the sliced ice cream cake came out with perfectly visible pieces of the cookie dough and the layers all prominent. 

Here’s the quick, edible/eggless cookie dough recipe.  I would probably halve it next time as this made a lot.  So unless you have a great use for this much edible dough, go with half. 

Edible/Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk (I used skim)

1  1/2 cups (180 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugars.  Add the vanilla and milk and combine.   Add the flour and salt and mix just until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.  (I will last a couple weeks.)  After the dough has been refrigerated for a couple hours, you can roll it into little, tiny balls and freeze them for use in ice cream.

Parker wanted a wallet for his birthday.  We surprised him with a $50 bill hiding in it!  Next birthday—Kevin, October 5th and Taylor October 12th.  Whatever will they want? ;)

A Little Cute Boys Photo Intermission **And A Fantastic Craft Idea**

Little Pilgrim Sam wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesdays With Dorie has been postponed (for convenience sake) until Friday.  We can make and post any TWD recipe we’d like, one we’ve missed or that was made before we joined the group and we aren’t posting until Friday in case it was something we want to make for Thanksgiving.

So I thought I’d post some fun photos of my boys, since my blog is called Baking AND Boys! and sometimes I don’t put enough of “the boys” on here.  (There might also be a picture or two of our doggy, Chip, but never fear, he’s also a boy!) ;)

Chip can often be found longingly looking out the window wishing he was outside in the cold.  So we bought him a little gated pen that he can go out and sit in (and not run away or get eaten by wild, ferocious beasts!

He gets to go out quite often, but he has to share the “pen” with a couple others who need corralled! ha

Poor little doggy, gets so much attention.  It’s a tough life!  (His little face looks like he’s saying “help”.) (Fencing our property is at the top of our list come this next spring/summer so the pup can have free run outside.)

The boys have taken up playing with clay (not Playdoh), the real stuff.  Parker has a project for school and needed to sculpt a few things.  I got out some old clay I had that was probably more than 6-7 years old.  It was a little tough, but still workable.  They liked it so much, we bought them another pack of 30 colors of new stuff.  They have created quite the creatures and spent lots of quality time playing with it (instead of electronics, which drive me crazy!).

**On a side note, smartest idea I had (I think I should get paid for my idea—ahaha)—take an old plastic shower curtain (that isn’t yucky), or even buy a new one-they are cheap, and cover your table when the kids want to paint, use markers, play with clay, etc.  It perfectly protects the table and wipes clean with no problems!  Fold it up when done and put it away for the next time.  I don’t even care if anyone else comes along and tells me they already thought of that—I thought of it all on my own and am pretty proud of myself.  (It doesn’t take much, ha.)**

Yes, I do have one more son, the oldest, Scottie, age 13, is often not found when I have the camera out.  Little stinker!  (He is in the picture with the dog in his pen and is actually a big help when the dog needs to be taken outside.)

We kind of like our little Chippy Poo.  (He’d be so mad if he knew I put that in here---haha.)

Kevin had a birthday back in October.  I didn’t post any pictures then, but I love this one that looks like the house is going to burn down while he’s blowing out candles. ;)  He’ll be delighted that I posted this---or maybe moreso this one---

He really likes cheesecake!

We had our first real snow of the season last week.  It was still only about an inch or so.  But that didn’t stop Taylor.  He built a castle out on the deck that he was pretty proud of.

Chip is often found sitting with his little paws crossed.  Cracks me up.  That or he’ll run ahead of me into the room and get a ball in his mouth and just sit there like he’s been waiting for me to play ball with him.  He acts like he’s been sitting there waiting all day when he really just got there a second before me.  Such a funny doggy!

Okay, I think I’m done for now.  Stay tuned for more delicious treats—coming right up!  Wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season.  I’m so grateful for my family, they mean the world to me!  We have been given so much, our home, our health, great family, friends, etc.  Thank you also all for reading my blog, I feel that it is often my sanity in life! ;)