Diced! – Echo – Pina Ghoulada Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Crumble and Redrum Glaze

• Zak – The winner receives their choice of a four piece setting or set of three serving bowls from their new Moso line. This is made from biodegradable bamboo and comes in a choice of four stylish colors. Look for a review of this product in the near future. Check them out here.
• Chobani – The leading brand in Greek Yogurt, the winner will receive a case of their choice of flavor of Greek yogurt. I’ve been using quite a bit of Chobani in my cooking lately and love it. Look for those recipes soon. Check out the selection at: http://chobani.com/products
• Microplane – Microplane will provide the winner with four items: Microplane Elite Series Fine Grater, Home Series Coarse Grater, Bartender’s Garnishing Tool, Cut-Resistant Glove. I recently reviewed these products here. Check out their products at their facebook page: www.facebook.com/microplane
• Youcopia – Maker of organization products, they would like to offer the winner a choice of a product from their web site. I recently reviewed the Bake Stack.

Today’s contestant, Echo is new here on the Rantings of an Amateur Chef but is bringing the fight to the other contestants. Check out her blog Wine to Walnuts and her entry below…

I’ve made it – the FINAL ROUND OF DICED!  I am so excited to contribute my (hopefully) WINNING dessert entry – if you vote!  Without further ado, let’s get cookin…

Dessert is not my strong suit.  I’m not a big fan unless its flourless chocolate cake, and when given pineapple, dark chocolate, and oatmeal as my required ingredients, I was admittedly a bit confused as to what to do.  I’m not a big pineapple fan either.  Then it came to me, as it usually does, over alcohol – I LOVE pina coladas.  There’s an idea – now how to make that into a dessert?  How about ICE CREAM!?  Well, crap, I don’t have an ice cream maker.  But that didn’t stop me.

With All Hallow’s Eve (my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE HOLIDAYYYY) right around the corner, childhood memories have been coming back – and with them, I remembered making ice cream in science class with rock salt, ice, and a few ziplocks.  Perfect!  And I’ll never pass up a chance to let Halloween shine.  I scream, you scream, we all scream…

… for ice cream!

Pina Ghoulada Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Crumble and Redrum Glaze!

serves 4

Ingredients:

The Ice Cream
1 1/2 c. fresh or canned pineapple
1/2 c. + 1 Tbsp. pineapple juice
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. corn starch
1 1/4 c. whole milk
1/2 can coconut milk (or 1/4 c. powdered coconut milk)
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. heavy/whipping cream
1 c. rock salt

The Crumble
1 c. oatmeal
1 Tbsp. dark chocolate chips
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter

The “Redrum” Glaze
1/4 c. spiced rum
2 Tbsp. grenadine
1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preparation:

First of all, a little note – sorry about the lack of pictures!  Of course this is the week my camera decided to cross over to the other side.  I hope my words paint a pretty enough picture for you!

In a medium saucepan, bring the pineapple, pineapple juice, and 1/2 c. sugar to a boil, crushing the pineapple with a spoon as you go.  Mix the remaining tablespoon of pineapple juice with the corn starch and then pour into the mixture once it comes to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until it has thickened a bit (about 2 minutes).

In another saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil.  Whisk your egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl, and then SLOWLY pour in the heated milk while whisking vigorously to create your custard.  Pour this back into the saucepan and cook on low/medium heat until thickened to a consistency a little thicker than honey but not as thick as yogurt – or, if you’re fancy schmancy (as I am obviously not) until a thermometer reads 175 F – it’ll take about 2-4 minutes.  Add your pineapple mixture and vanilla to this, then pour into a container to allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the heavy cream and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours to cool down.

Now for the fun part… ready for a work out?  Obviously if you have an ice cream maker, put this in there and start creamin’ – more power to you.  Otherwise, time for a little Halloween magic!  Fill a ziploc bag with your ice cream mixture, then fill a larger ziplock with ice and rock salt.  Place the smaller bag (sealed of course) inside the ice/rock salt bag and start SHAKIN! – I could try and put it into words, but instead, here’s a great video: http://youtu.be/M3-OAwhIvU0?t=1m5s

See, now you’re an ice cream magicmaker!

Put that ice cream in the freezer and toss your oats, brown sugar, butter and dark chocolate in a sautee pan, heating on medium until a little crunchy and caramelized.  While doing that, heat the rum, grenadine and sugar in a small saucepan.  Once thickened enough, put your ice cream in a bowl, top with the crumble, psycho-splatter some redrum sauce on there and enjoy a bite.

If you liked this recipe,  VOTE OR ELSE!  Just kidding – maybe… muahahahah…

Happy scaring, and I hope you enjoyed these little tricks to make this treat all from scratch and wow even the most discerning of witches.

Happy Halloween!
Echo