LUCKY CHARMS ICE CREAMfeatured

I didn’t grow up with sugared cereal. Nope. The only cereals you would find in our cupboards were Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat or Grapenuts. Gross. Unfortunately for me, my mom wasn’t down with processed foods before that was even a “thing.” Saturday mornings were the hardest. I would wake up, eat my bowl of shredded wheat and watch Jem and the Holigrams. I knew I was being ripped off. I saw the commercials for Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese, Pop Tarts and every sugared cereal imaginable. I wasn’t dumb. I knew those were superior.

It took 13 years before my brother and I finally broke my Mom’s iron will and immunity to grocery store tantrums. She caved and started buying one box of sugared cereal a week. It was a start. One problem. My brother was a teenager and by the time I would make it to breakfast, he was already sitting in front of cartoons with a mixing bowl filled with the entire box of cereal. Jerk. Luckily, Mom got wise and realized you can’t stop a teenage boy, so she just started buying each of us our own box of cereal and writing our names on it. High five Mom.

I wish I could take credit for the cereal milk idea in the below recipe, but no dice. It belongs to Christina Tossi, the genius behind Milk Bar in NYC. You can leave this step out if it’s too much for you, but trust me, it’s worth it. The ice cream will taste like all of your Saturday morning cartoon dreams if you do this step.

Recipe: Lucky Charms Ice Cream with Cinnamon/Sugar Dipped Cones  |  Soundtrack: Matt & Kim

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 Cups Cereal Milk
• 1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 8 Large Eggs Yolks
• 2 1/2 Cups Lucky Charms

Cereal Milk

• 2 1/2 Cups Captain Crunch, crushed to the texture of gravel
• 4  1/2 Cups Cold Milk
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Salt

Directions:
To Make the Cereal Milk:

In a pitcher, add in the Captain Crunch and pour in the milk. Stir vigorously. Let steep for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. The milk will drain fast initially and then become thicker and starchy towards the end of the straining process. Let the sieve rest over the bowl to try to get as much milk our of the cereal as possible.

Whisk the brown sugar and salt into the milk until dissolved.

To Make the Ice Cream:

In a large sauce pan, add the cereal milk, cream and half of the sugar and cook over high heat until  stirring occasionally until it boils, about 5 minutes.

While this was cooking, whisk egg yolks and the remaining sugar until pale yellow, about 30 seconds.

When cream mixture comes to a boil, remove it from the heat. Using a liquid measuring cup, take half of the cream mixture and slowly add it to the egg mixture whisking the entire time to make sure the eggs mixture doesn’t curdle. Keep whisking until it is completely incorporated. Turn the heat back on to low. Whisking continually, stream the yolk mixture back into the pan.

Using a wooden spoon, cook mixture until the temperature reaches 165-180° on a candy thermometer. Mixture should be slightly thicker and coat the back of a spoon.

Pour base into a clean container with a lid and cool for 12-24 hours.

Once cool, pour into ice cream maker base and follow manufacturers instructions. Add in the lucky charms the last minute of churning.

To Make the Cones:
Melt a half a stick of butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, make a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Dip the top of the cone in the butter and then in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Top with ice cream.

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