I don’t think I’ve had a dessert that wasn’t frozen in ages. Wait, that’s not true. I inhaled most things in the Tartine window. But I don’t think I’ve made a non-frozen dessert in my own kitchen in quite a long time. Glass jars of local heavy cream just keep making their way into my fridge. I repeatedly make plans to bake a hot berry cobbler, pour cold cream on top, and then eat the entire bowl while moaning. However, the cream keeps jumping into my ice cream maker instead. I don’t know how it gets there, I swear! At this point, I can feel the dog judging me for making ice cream before 8am.
Have you heard of Christina Tosi’s wonderful dessert invention cereal milk? The great and lovely Christina (are all dessert wizards named Christina?--YES) soaks our favorite childhood cereals in milk. After a pinch of salt, a touch more sugar and straining, she serves it cold. I’ve never had the pleasure of going to Momofuku for her desserts, but it's on my bucket list. The fruity pebbly cereal milk is the loveliest shade of peach. Captain Crunch makes a pale yellow cereal milk. It’s equal parts adorable and genius. As if it couldn’t get any better, sometimes she churns it into ice cream. Cereal milk ice cream! My brain goes wild with ideas of things to infuse in milk. We’re not big cereal eaters in this house, but graham cracker eaters, we are—especially the cinnamon ones! (Not-so-shameless plug of my Graham Cracker Fried Chicken here).
I love Tosi’s version of cereal milk ice cream because it doesn’t rely on eggs. Would you really want an egg-y flavor in your cereal milk? No way! To ensure the ice cream stays soft, she uses gelatin. I took it a step further and stirred in a touch of PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese. This way, the ice cream can last overnight in the freezer while staying soft and scoop-able. Although, David Leite’s interview with Tossi mentions that ‘any restaurant that gives a damn will melt any unserved ice cream and re-churn the next day because freshly churned tastes best.’ I love her sentiment, but I also love that I can make this ice cream a day in advance.
This ice cream couldn’t be easier to make. If you can pour milk over cereal, you can make this!
Nabisco Honey Maid Cinnamon Graham Crackers soak in milk for 20 minutes. They eventually dissolve into the milk. After straining, stir in the cream, brown sugar, salt, gelatin, and cream cheese. See the recipe below for complete instructions.
Graham Cracker Ice Cream
A wonderfully flavored homemade ice cream recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 sleeve of Nabisco Honey Maid Cinnamon Graham Crackers (~12 whole crackers)
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon powdered gelatin
- 2 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the graham crackers. Pour the whole milk on top, and stir until the graham crackers break down. Let stand for 20 minutes. The graham crackers will fully dissolve.
- Meanwhile, add the gelatin to a small bowl, and pour 1 tablespoon of cool water on top. Stir until dissolved and let sit for 5 minutes.
- In another small bowl, add the cream cheese and microwave it until very soft and beginning to melt. Stir this into the gelatin.
- Pour the graham cracker mixture through a fine sieve, and press the mixture gently against the sieve to extract all of the milk. Stir in the cream, salt and brown sugar. Finally, stir in the gelatin-cream cheese mixture. Whisk this mixture very well to dissolve the brown sugar and gelatin.
- Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturerâ??s instructions. Mine took 15 minutes to freeze into an almost solid mass.
- Serve the mixture immediately, or freeze for 30 minutes to firm up slightly. Serve with extra cinnamon graham crackers if you like.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 384Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 91mgSodium: 253mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 0gSugar: 23gProtein: 6g
Sandra Garth says
I could eat this everyday and twice on Sunday!
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
What a great, creative recipe! I love it!
Trang says
Woah! This looks so yummy! I've been telling myself to make something beside vanilla all summer, may have to try this one out :)
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
YESSSSS-you're so brilliant!! I love graham crackers and now all I can think of is how much I want this ice cream!! (and how jealous I am of your local cream in your fridge!)
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog says
Oh my goodness, this looks seriously incredible and delicious! Cannot wait to try this one out!
Carrie Pacini says
My late night craving since my childhood is graham crackers in milk - this looks wonderful.
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
The rumors are absolutely true -- all Christinas are geniuses. I didn't know any Christinas growing up, or surely I would have befriended them for their brilliance alone. But now that we're BFFs, my Christina quota has been filled for life. And I promise I'm not just saying this because you made Graham Cracker ice cream after Christina Tosi (another fave).
Doni says
The gelatin absolutely ruins this recipe. I have no idea why she includes it.
Christina Lane says
Hi Doni, did you make the recipe? It's a common ingredient in artisan ice cream these days. Gelatin makes it super smooth and creamy. I think you'd like it :)