Chai

Final Rating: *****
Nickname: Please Chai to Control Yourself

I made this on Rowyn's moving day, as an afternoon reward for everyone who helped shift furniture and whatnot. The full story of both iterations can be found here: A Tale of Two Ice Creams.

I started with this Elise.com recipe, but I was a bit random on spices. Put in cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves, then numerous shakes of pre-made "chai spice."

Version 1 ***:
Followed above recipe, but with 4 egg yolks instead of 6. Still too eggy. Very thick and custardy, which didn't seem appropriate for the flavor.

Version 2 *****:
Simplified and left out eggs entirely. Steeped spices then tea in 2c regular cream and 1c milk. Strained and stirred in sugar. Chilled and froze.
This comes out much lighter and more melt-in-your-mouthier, and therefore all around better. Do this again for other tea-related recipes.

They're both yummy, though. This was my mom's favorite flavor, and prompted a quote from Rowyn's mom along the lines of "this is the sort of thing that makes you believe in heaven."

Blueberry

Rating: ****
Ben & Jerry's recipe, pg. 59
Blueberry and cream flavors seem kind of separate
Maybe should have juiced the berries more for mixing in the initial juice with cream
(even though we then pureed the berries in the blender).

Honey Lavender

Rating: ****
From this Epicurious recipe.
No sugar, just 2/3c honey.
2t dried lavender flowers.
Steep flowers in hot cream for 15 min. then strain.

I used milk instead of half-and-half, also didn't measure the lavender.
Came out very soft and creamy. Mom's favorite so far.

Lacey and I made this with lavender we picked in Portland and dried on the dashboard of the van on the drive back to California.

Cookies 'n' Cream

Rating: *****
Straight from Ben & Jerry's book, page 88.
I added about 4 oreos more than the suggested 1 cup.
Way better than store-bought C&C.
(Made this for Rowyn's game night.)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Rating: *****
From Ben & Jerry's book, combining:
Jerry's chocolate, page 45
Chocolate chip variation, page 45
Peanut butter variation, page 47
Awesome!
(Would be better with mini chocolate chips, though, instead of regular.)
(Made this for Rowyn's game night.)

Key Lime

Rating: *****
Here's the About.com recipe I used.
1.5c cream
6 egg yolks
15oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2c key lime juice (8-10 med. limes)
simmer cream, then beat into egg yolks
stir over low heat to thicken
cool, then stir in condensed milk and lime juice

Didn't have key limes, so used regular (8 "large").
Didn't seem limey enough at first, but was good once frozen.
Condensed milk comes in 14 oz cans, so I added 1/4 cup more cream.
Also crumbled in 3 graham crackers at end of machine cycle (this is a must!!!)

Strawberries with Chocolate Swirls

Rating: ****
Ben & Jerry's Sweet Cream base (pg. 28) + 2t. vanilla
Strawberries as in strawberry recipe (pg. 54): 1 pint (chop small, no mashing) + 1/2 lemon juice + 1/3 c. sugar, sit in fridge for an hour.
Chocolate sauce: 2/3 c. semi-sweet choc chips, + 1/4 c. milk (should have been cream)
Start the basic ice cream in the ice cream maker.
Add strawberries at end, no juice, no mashing.
Pour out ice cream into container, mixing in chocolate sauce and strawberry juice as you go.
Ended up kind of melty, but maybe because weather was so hot when we made it.
Also, looks kind of messy. Good in concept, but not very presentable.
Next time, try just making thin layers of ice cream and sauce, without really mixing much. There are probably some tricks to doing this.

Ginger

Rating: ****
Regular vanilla base (e.g. from Ben & Jerry's), no vanilla bean.
Grated in one little chunk of fresh ginger, added about a 1/2 tbsp of powdered ginger.
Diced some candied ginger and added at end.
Seems to get more gingery after it's frozen.
Also, seemed to get kind of grainy, maybe from sugar off of candied ginger? And from the chunks of fresh ginger?
Next time: skip fresh ginger, use more powdered, see if can get candied ginger w/out extra sugar on it. It's delicious but really wants to be smoother.