Ice Cream Bread?

While doing research recently, I came across a recipe for Ice Cream Bread on the Taste of Home‘s website. It had a four-out-of-five star rating. 

I glanced at it and remembered I had flagged an e-mail about this recipe from the Taste of Home‘s public relations folks. It caught my eye then because, besides sounding interesting, the recipe makes a mini-loaf. Readers are always asking me how to pare down recipes or make smaller versions of some of their favorite foods.

 

But when the recipe turned up again this week on a Facebook post by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Food Editor Nancy Stohs, I knew I couldn‘t ignore it any longer. Though I must admit my first thought was, this is just plain odd. You‘re supposed to eat ice cream cold. And aren‘t there better uses of ice cream, which in my house is a real treat? And, besides, who wants to waste good-quality "full-fat" ice cream (as the recipe recommends) making bread?

 

But I just had to try it.

 

The bread is made by stirring together ice cream, sugar and self-rising flour. That‘s it. (Don‘t fret if you don‘t have self-rising flour; you can make your own as noted in the recipe.)

 

I tested it using two different ice creams: Southern Butter Pecan Crunch and Triple Brownie. Both were the deluxe versions of store brands and both were on sale. I didn‘t want to waste $4 on a pint of premium ice cream when I could get nearly a half-gallon for $2.50.

 

An Internet search turned up all sorts of comments and recipes that used a variety of ice creams. Some even added fruit, like blueberries and bananas, to the batter, with good results.

 

The first thing you need to know: The ice cream needs to be softened so it mixes easily with the flour. Scoop out what you need, place in a bowl and let it sit out a good 30 minutes. The rest is gravy: Mix the two with sugar, spoon the batter into a loaf pan sprayed with nonstick spray and then bake.

 

Easy as pie.

 

Although mine seemed to take longer to bake, the end results were fine. The bread tasted sweet. I expected the butter pecan bread to taste the best, but it had a floury taste. The triple brownie tasted much better.

 

A coworker noted that one use for this bread would be to serve it with more ice cream.

 

Tempting, isn‘t it?

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ICE CREAM BREAD

 

Makes: 1 mini-loaf (6 servings) / Preparation time: 5 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes plus cooling time

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup butter pecan ice cream or favorite ice cream, softened

3/4 cup self-rising flour (see cook‘s note)

1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a mini (5 3/4-inch-by-3-inch-by-2-inch) loaf pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the ice cream, flour and sugar. Transfer to the loaf pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Cook‘s note: As a substitute for self-rising flour, place 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour to measure 3/4 cup.

From Taste of Home (www.tasteofhome.com). Tested by Susan M. Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen.

Analysis per 1 slice:

217 calories (17 percent from fat), 4 grams fat (2 grams sat. fat), 18 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 217 mg sodium, 8 mg cholesterol, trace of fiber.