Ice Cream Sundays - {tin roof sundaes}

Recently, DH & I have decided to go low-carb - cutting out most or all sugar, flour & starchy vegetables like potatoes.  However, as I've been following this diet for a few weeks now, a strange phenomenon has occurred: I've become obsessed with ice cream.  I have found myself - on more than one occasion - actually waking up out of sleep taking a big bite of imaginary ice cream from a dream.  I suppose it's true - we always want what we can't have.

Part of the problem is I just discovered the best ice cream book imaginable - The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz (see Book Nook post here).  So, as I try more and more recipes, I'll be sharing them with you, here in this space.  Sundaes on Sundays!  Maybe not every Sunday, but there are so many recipes from the book that this could turn into a weekly thing.  We'll play that by ear, for now.  I am trying to lose some weight as opposed to gaining some, after all!

Anyway, for this week's Ice Cream Sunday:  Tin Roof sundaes - tin roof ice cream, with marshmallow hot fudge sauce served in meringue nests.  Sounds divine, yes?!

These sundaes had 5 components: the ice cream base, the fudge ripple swirl, chocolate-covered peanuts, hot fudge sauce & meringue nests.  The ice cream is supposed to have the chocolate-covered peanuts swirled in, but we have a 7-year-old whose orthodontist told us no nuts, so we kept them out so that they could be sprinkled on top instead.

The tin roof ice cream is great.  Creamy vanilla swirled with dark chocolate syrup.  It's so good, with or without the chocolate covered peanuts.  DH and I polished the rest of it off today while the Bachsters were busy watching a movie - we're so sneaky!

The hot fudge is yummy - it's very hard to mess up this recipe since it's mostly marshmallows.  I think this would be great on a single-flavor-profile ice cream - it's a little busy (but in a good way!) on the tin roof.  Sadly, my meringue nests (aka vacherins, en francais) got sticky when stored overnight.  The Bachsters loved them.  I threw mine out because it was too sticky and tough.  I'll definitely make them again, but next time will just prepare them a couple of hours before serving, so that I don't have to store them.  Also, I think they'd be great with a fruit-based ice cream or frozen yogurt, even a sorbet.  They have a creamy, indulgent taste (I know, because I totally licked the bowl clean when I made them) that lends itself to these flavors.  Vacherins, we shall meet again under better circumstances, I promise!

DH and I agreed that we would allow ourselves a bit of room from the low-carb lifestyle on the weekends.  You've got to treat yourself every now and then, right?!  The perfect scoop is the perfect treat to look forward to (and maybe even dream about) all week long!

 
-Cheryl