a happy mistake … Bittersweet Chocolate Sour Cream Ice Cream

Last Friday was National Gum Drop Day, another in the long, often times puzzling, list of made up food holidays. I thought I had an idea for this one. I really did. I did not. While working on the Peco Brittle (peanut-coconut brittle) a few weeks back, I remembered something else my friends mother used to make that I thought was delicious: Gumdrop Cake. As I recall, it was a simple chocolate cake baked in a square pan, studded throughout with gumdrops and slicked with a simple chocolate icing. I seem to remember I liked it. I think I was wrong. It is horrid. And it kind of threw me off my game for a few weeks.

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a perfect end to summer … Roasted Peach Sour Cream Ice Cream

Peaches are my very favorite fruit, without a doubt. My birthday is in mid-August, exactly the time when peaches hit their peak in my area. It’s serendipitous so to celebrate, I usually buy a big bag at the farmers market and gleefully eat my way through. Nothing makes me happier. This year there was a bit of a kink in this plan. I was in France for my birthday and by the time I got home, peak season had passed. I’d also missed the sour cherries, the apricots and the best of the blueberries but this is the price I pay to travel during the best fruit months of the year. I know this. I accept this.

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freeze a classic … Cream Soda Sherbet

I’ve never been much of a soda drinker. The six Diet Cokes a day? Not me. Once in a while, I’ll make an exception. For example, there’s always whiskey in my Coke and I have a real soft spot for Squirt, that deliciously sweet grapefruit soda that is my go-to when I’m not feeling well. I also occasionally enjoy a spicy ginger ale and a cold cream soda. Man, I do love a cream soda.

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three times the fun … Coconut Tres Leches Ice Cream

Today is Cinqo de Mayo, the day that commenmorates the victory of a Mexican battalion against French military forces in 1862 near the city of Puebla. It’s not a national holiday in Mexico, however, large celebrations do take place in some areas of the country, primarily in the state of Puebla. Growing up in Arizona, it was always bigger than Mexican Independence Day in September and we always celebrated it with margaritas and enchiladas. Classy. This year, rather than enchiladas, I’ve been on an ice cream kick. Big time. Earlier in the week it was horchata with strawberries, today it’s a take on one of the best cakes ever: Tres Leches.

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