Banana Frozen Yogurt for Dogs

Posted on July 12, 2018July 11, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

Summer afternoons get pretty hot for this fluffy pupper in our old house with no air conditioning. We keep cool with walks in shady parks, romps in the kiddy pool and this two-ingredient doggy frozen yogurt stuffed into Kongs. Made with just banana and plain yogurt, it’s a simple, healthy and refreshing summer treat!

Ingredients

Makes enough to fill 2 large size Kongs.

1 ripe banana, mashed
½ cup plain yogurt

Method

Mash banana in a small bowl and mix well with the yogurt.
Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.
You can serve the frozen yogurt to your dog now but it will be more of a soft serve consistency. For a longer lasting treat, fill a couple of Kongs (or other dish your dog can eat directly out of) and stash in the freezer for a few hours.

Since there isn’t any added sugar, the frozen yogurt is going to freeze up quite hard and will be difficult to scoop. If you can’t freeze it right into something your dog can eat out of, just leave it out on the counter until it thaws out a bit and becomes soft and scoopable again before serving.

All photos by me.

Birthday Cake Ice Cream

Posted on April 26, 2018April 24, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

My best friend and I recently had a disagreement about whether cake and ice cream were best or worst served together. I said I always dreaded cake and ice cream time at birthday parties when I was growing up because I hated having them on the same plate but was too shy to ask to have them one at a time. Something about cold, soggy cake and crumb-filled ice cream eaten with a fork just filled me with a sorrow I have yet to recover from. He said all of those things were amazing and the best part of childhood. We absolutely could not find common ground on the topic. With his birthday coming up this weekend, I decided to make him something special: birthday cake ice cream with the cake crumbs stirred right in.

Ingredients

1 box of rainbow chip cake mix
- (+ 1 cup water)
- (+ ½ cup vegetable oil)
- (+ 2 eggs)
1½ cups whole milk
¾ cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla paste or extract
1 handful of rainbow sprinkles

Method

Prepare and bake the rainbow chip cake in a 13×9 pan, according to package instructions.
Meanwhile, bring the whole milk, sugar and salt to a simmer over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Beat the egg yolks lightly in a bowl.
Temper the eggs by slowly stirring a ½ cup of the warm milk mixture into them, beating constantly, then stirring this egg mixture into the milk mixture.
Cook over low heat, stirring often, until this mixture starts to thicken and reaches a temperature of 175°F. You’ve made custard!
Strain into a small, heat-safe bowl to catch any lumps of egg yolk that didn’t temper properly and chill in the fridge until cold.
Once cold, stir in the heavy cream and vanilla and churn in an ice cream maker.
While the ice cream is churning, crumble half of the cake into bite-sized chunks.
Place the cake crumbs and fully churned ice cream into a large storage container with half of the sprinkles and fold everything together. Sprinkle remaining sprinkles on top, lightly press a sheet of cling wrap down onto the surface of the ice cream, place the lid on the container and freeze overnight.

All photos by me.

Boozy Chai Tea & Baileys Ice Cream

Posted on October 7, 2017March 13, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

I bought an ice cream maker last week and got experimenting right away! While trying to come up with the perfect fall flavour to bring to Friendsgiving potluck this weekend, one that wasn’t too obvious (looking at you, pumpkin spice), couldn’t be found at the store, and wouldn’t be out of place next to a slice of pie, I eventually landed on chai tea & Baileys. I’m glad I waited for the perfect idea, because this one’s a real winner! It tastes just like the holidays.

Ingredients

1½ cups whole milk
¾ cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup loose leaf chai tea
- fairly inexpensive at Bulk Barn
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream
1-2/3 cup heavy cream

Method

Add milk, sugar and salt to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar while bringing to a simmer.
Remove mixture from heat and stir in the tea leaves. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes.
Strain mixture into a clean, medium sized saucepan, making sure to press the tea leaves to get every bit of liquid out.
Bring back to a simmer.
Beat the egg yolks in small bowl and temper with the milk mixture. (Slowly stir about ½ cup of milk mixture into the egg yolks, then add the egg mixture back to the milk to slowly bring the eggs up to temperature and not curdle them. Don’t worry if some curdles, we’ll strain again later.)
Cook over low heat, stirring almost constantly, until you have a nice custard thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (or until it reaches 175○F). Do not allow custard to come to a boil. Strain into a medium bowl and chill in the fridge until cold.
Stir in the Baileys and heavy cream.
Churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. (I got my ice cream maker here.)
You can eat it now but it will be better if you freeze it overnight. Scoop into a suitable container and press cling wrap down onto the surface.
Optional: garnish with cinnamon.

All photos by me.