We used the birthday party as an example but, really, any event where you need to serve ice-cream can benefit from the tip(s) below. Honestly, we wish we’d have known about it sooner!
Letting it sit out to defrost for a few minutes isn't a solution. It only results in a malty perimeter, leaving the icy core untouched.
Do what I did when I worked in the pastry kitchen at fine-dining restaurants (which just happens to be the same thing folks at mix-in places like Cold Stone Creamery and Marble Slab do.Mash up that ice cream.
Take your ice cream out of the freezer. Let it soften for a few minutes, but no more than 5—you want to thaw it just long enough to extricate it out of the container.
Place the ice cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment.
Mix on medium until the ice cream is smooth and creamy.
Be careful not to mix too long—it will* get soupy.
Hold on.
Your ice cream is already in the mixing bowl. So why not, you know, mix something into it?
Take a cue from Cold Stone and blend in anything you'd try as a topping for ice cream—crushed cookies, chopped fresh fruit or berries, toasted nuts, candy, chocolate—even crushed sugar cones.
Also, if you do not have a stand mixer you can break the ice cream up, still it in a bowl and use a potato masher. It takes longer but it DOES work too.
Article Source: Epicurious
WHY…YESSS I DO.
Exactly.
LOL
+1 :p
Yummy :p