Bachan's Backyard Mint Brownie Ice Cream
A refreshing treat just in time for an October heat wave.
Last Thursday, the A’s played their last game in Oakland. I had a meeting at an elementary school in East Oakland that morning, and as I was driving by the Colesium at 8:30am, I felt a stab of sympathy and sorrow for the many true A’s fans out there. The cars were already lined up at that hour, the fans coming from across Northern California to bid farewell to their beloved hometown team.
I’ve never thought of myself as an A’s fan, even though I’ve been to a lot of games over the years, including many $2 Wednesday games in the mid-aughts. But even a diehard New York sports fan like me, who holds professional sports at an emotional arms-length1, could plainly see that what has happened to Oakland with the A’s is just wrong. Predictable and unsurprising, yes. But still wrong.
Later that evening, as I was deciding what recipe to make this week, I was still thinking about the A’s. When I landed on fresh mint ice cream as this week’s flavor, it seemed fitting given the color congruity between fresh mint and the distinctive A’s green. So even if fresh mint ice cream isn’t exactly green, making a batch is my own small, tribute—however ineffectual—to the memory of the Oakland A’s.
Speaking of things that are green (trying to shift from the bummer vibes), my mother-in-law texted me this photo from Berkeley Bowl earlier today:
But I stand by the point I made last week! I’ve never seen ‘em in real life!
Aaaaanyway…this week we’re making this David Lebovitz recipe, but subbing out the chips for these brownies. There’s currently a heatwave in Northern California—unusual for this time of year…or maybe not so unusual anymore—with temperatures reaching the upper 90s both yesterday and today. I feel like fresh mint ice cream will be a nice refreshing treat to counter the heat.
I got the mint from my mother-in-law’s (my kids Obachan) backyard, which inspired the title of this post. That stuff grows everywhere!
Imparting the fresh mint flavor is quite simple. Just heat some milk, sugar, and cream, and let the mint steep for an hour before straining.
The part that’s not so simple: tempering the eggs.
I know I’ve complained that making custard is difficult, but honestly, after doing it a few times over these past few weeks, it’s getting easier and less worrisome / intimidating.
As you can see, it still has a greenish color, but the inclusion of those egg yolks makes the color a bit...well, not so attractive.
With the mixture cooling in the fridge, it was time to make some brownies. Now I know I was talking some mess about mix-ins last week, saying it’s just too much work. As with the key limes, I generally stand by my point: when it comes to making ice cream at home, making a mix-in feels like too much to a lazy cook like me.2
But that fresh mint taste! It really does go well with chocolate.3 I’ve made fresh mint chip ice cream before, and it’s been great. But I was feeling like I needed to up the ratio of chocolate. Hence the brownies. I chose the Smitten Kitchen recipe because they hold their softness, even when frozen.
With the brownies made, it was time to churn.
The churn at the start:
The churn at the end:
So how did it come out?
In a word: outstanding!
I think the reason this is one of the best ice creams you can make at home is that it is usually hard to find fresh mint ice cream in stores or at ice cream shops. Most mint ice cream uses mint extract, which is nice, but has more of a candy taste. Like Wrigly’s Spearmint gum or a mint Lifesaver. To me, fresh mint ice cream has an herbal quality that just tastes so much better. It’s really delicious. And with the fudgy chocolate brownie added in, the taste was, as I said, outstanding.
The consistency and scoopability were also pretty spot on too. You need to let homemade ice cream sit out for at least five minutes before scooping, but other than that, it scooped up nicely and had a good consistency. Perhaps not as chewy as the recipes with stabilizers like xanthan gum, but still really good. And no eggy flavor that I could detect.
The one clear area for improvement was not including enough of the brownie mix-in. I was afraid of adding too much of the brownie, that I might overwhelm the ice cream somehow. But the ice cream could have taken on a lot more of it just fine. We ended up supplementing with some of leftover brownie that I didn’t mix in. So it all worked out in the end.
In sum, you can’t go wrong with this flavor on a hot day…or any other day for that matter: it’s cool, refreshing, and delicious! I’m chalking it up as both a victory and redemption for David Lebovitz. Excellent recipe my dude!
Next week’s flavor is TBD. Maybe Black Sesame, maybe something else. You’ll just have to wait and see!
Until then:
Well, for the most part. I definitely got pulled back into the Knicks last year during the playoffs, and was emotionally invested in them winning.
By lazy, I mean I like my recipes to be as simple as possible. Cooking dinner in a single pot or on a single sheet pan is the only way I like to roll. I dislike having to cook using many different pots / pans.
When I was a kid, I thought I didn’t like the combination of mint and chocolate. At some point in my late twenties, I ate a York peppermint patty. I then spent the next week telling everyone within earshot about how delicious mint and chocolate taste together. People were like, You’re just figuring this out now?