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What excited you most about starting school? Was it new clothes? New pencils and notebooks? Picking the coolest folders available? Maybe it was seeing your friends again after a summer apart?
For me it is all of the above! I loved buying school supplies (I still do!)! Nerd alert. I also loved finding a new shirt or pair of socks that made me look forward to school again. Seeing my friends after a long, hot summer filled my stomach with butterflies. What would have made this pre-school experience even more exciting? Being able to walk around Diagon Alley with my friends as we shopped for school supplies like Harry and his friends!
After a summer on lock-down (literally) for Harry Potter, he is rescued by his best friend Ron Weasley and his brothers and flown off to the The Burrow. Then Ron and Harry meet up with Hermione to stroll the streets of Diagon Alley before life gets stressful, snakey, and secret-filled during another year at Hogwarts!
Today’s Cooking Through Fiction treat is inspired by those few moments of joy and relaxation when the Trio enjoyed heaping scoops of strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams.
“Harry, Ron, and Hermione strolled off along the winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver, and bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry's pocket was clamoring to be spent, so he bought three large strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they slurped happily as they wandered up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows.” Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling
Strawberry-and-Peanut-Butter Ice Cream
Serves 8
Level of Difficulty: As Easy As Getting into Trouble with the Trio
Ingredients
For the Ice Cream Base:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Strawberry Ice Cream:
1 pound strawberries stems removed
2-4 tablespoons granulated sugar or raw sugar (see note below)
1/2 vanilla bean split lengthwise (optional)
For the Peanut Butter Ice Cream:
¼ cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (no-sugar added, if possible)
How to Make
For the Strawberry Add-in:
Preheat oven to 400.
Quarter the large strawberries and halve the smaller ones.
Place the strawberries in a 9-inch pie plate or 8x8 baking dish.
Sprinkle the sugar over the strawberries and toss several times. Nestle the vanilla bean into the strawberries (if using).
Place the strawberries in the oven and roast for about 15–20 minutes, stirring once during the baking time. The strawberries are done when they have softened and the juices are thick and bubbly.
Allow to cool slightly then squeeze the vanilla pod over the strawberries, and stir in the vanilla bean flecks, discard the pod.
Cool completely and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
For the Ice Cream :
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip the cream until stiff peaks occur, be careful not to over whip. The cream will be done when you pull the beaters out and the cream stands at attention.
In another large bowl, whisk the vanilla into the sweetened condensed milk. Gently fold in the whipped cream with a spatula, slowly incorporating the two mixtures together so it stays light and full of air.
Divide the mixture in half.
In one half, mix in your strawberries. Try a swirling motion so as not to completely mix the flavors, creating more of a ripple effect.
In the remaining half, stir in the peanut butter in a similar way. Think ripple, not mushy mix.
Transfer the mixtures to insulated tubs or paper containers and freeze for 4–6 hours.