Monday’s Menu Recipe Magazine: Frozen Delights

Hot summer days always seem to call for the perfect icy cold dessert. Frozen Delights, a compilation for the best ice creams, pops, bars, bombes, smoothies and cocktails from Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Country  Living and Woman’s Day, give you plenty of options to choose from! The magazine offers a huge variety, including treats with fewer than 250 calories!They also share reviews on ice cream machines, ice creams, pop molds and the best smoothie blenders – including links to the products and prices.

Now…for the good stuff! The magazine was broken down into seven different sections: Fun Pops, Dreamy Pies, Creamy Sundaes, Quick Ice Cream Cakes, Pint-Size Treats, Make It Homemade and Blender Drinks.

Fun Pops – these are the ultimate kid-friendly treat! The recipes are filled with fresh fruit, Greek yogurt, juices and give readers great ideas to use for sticks – we’ve got lots of funky swizzle sticks – they’d be so much fun to find in the middle – better than those goofy jokes on wooden sticks!

Dreamy Pies – yes, please! As much as I’m a fan of traditional fruit pies, I’d be much happier with a slice of Banana Caramel Pie! How can you go wrong with layers of vanilla, chocolate chip, dulce de leche light ice creams, bananas, hot fudge and nuts? The layered Chocolate-Raspberry Pie looks fantastic, and I’ve added the Cool Lime Pie to my must-try list.

Creamy Sundaes – I can honestly say I found a new one – Buttered Berry Sundae – what?!!! Sautéed fresh berries in butter and sugar (and orange-flavored liqueur if you wish) until they soften then pour over ice cream – seriously, that sounds so over the top I must try it! This section also includes grilled fruit Sundaes that look amazing. This section includes recipes for several different sauces from traditional hot fudge to a variety of fruit sauces.

Quick Ice Cream Cakes – To me, this was the most daunting section. The sampling of cakes all look amazing, but they also appeared, at least in the pictures, to be very time consuming. Then, I started to read through the ingredients, and directions, and I have to admit, they really were…wait for it…a piece of cake! The trick is all in the layering of ingredients, and, on super-hot days, or on our typical afternoon thunderstorms, this looked like the way to go. I opted to try making an ice cream bombe, simply because, being a person who loves ice cream and toppings, I had everything I needed right in my kitchen.  We went with the vanilla ice cream, toffee chips, then coffee ice cream in the center, covered with a chocolate shell topping – it was amazing!!!  Next time I’d love to try one with lime sherbet, then vanilla ice cream, then watermelon sherbet mixed with mini chocolate chips – how cute would that be?!

Pint-Sized Treats – A fabulous assortment of ice cream sandwiches and bars using homemade, or store bought cookies and brownies, mini pies – the mini creamsicle pie looks awesome, and profiteroles (ice cream filled cream puffs!).

Make it Homemade – Granitas are one of my absolute favorite ways to use up left over fruit, so I was really happy to see these included because not only are they easy, they are a perfect way to keep cool in a healthy way.  Make a simple syrup of ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar, cool, then puree with syrup in a blender filled with cubed fruit.  We love to combine fruits like watermelon and lime or honeydew and strawberries. Pour into a loaf or brownie pan and freeze.  After it’s frozen, scrape it up with a fork and serve (it’s great with a splash or rum for the grownups!). The great part about this sections granitas, sherbets and frozen yogurts is that they can all be made in a pan, so no worries if you don’t have an ice cream machine. There are also several ice cream recipes in this section that do require you to have an ice cream machine, so break it out, dust it off and get to work – the butter pecan sounds devine!

Blender Drinks – Ahhh, the true pleasures of summer…sitting out on the porch after the sun goes down, and the kids are in bed, and sipping on an icy cold drink to take the sting out of too much summer sun.  The selections include orange-ginger margaritas, toasted-coconut coladas, lemon ice and a sweet tart that I’m definitely going to try! And for the kids, there are fantastic recipes for banana split shakes, malts, floats and fruit-filled smoothies that are sure to please them as much as any trip to the local ice cream parlor.

I love the Frozen Delights recipe magazine, and can’t wait to make my way through all the sections – because, after all, it’s officially summer!

Frozen Delights (Hearst Communications) can be found in your local grocery store,  in book stores, or online in hard copy or for your ereader at  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/frozen-delights-2012-hearst/1111514536,  for $6.99

– So FL IT Mom, Erin