I have no clue why I decided to try this recipe. Ice cream bread. Yes, exactly. WTF.
It sounded like some sort of Frankenfood. And given that it originated in a Southern Living cookbook, I guess it kind of is. It’s the type of thing you might see Paula Deen whip together; the type of thing you can’t believe she would make but secretly would like to try.
Because when you think about it, ice cream contains many of the ingredients you need for baking: fat, sugar, eggs and flavouring. All that’s missing is the flour, and that’s all you add to a pint of ice cream to make “ice cream bread.” Still totally weird, I know.
Given that I was going to use my coworkers as guinea pigs, I had to use a crowd-pleasing flavour. Unsure of the “biscuit-like” texture some bloggers have used to describe the bread, I added some chopped chocolate. I wanted a slice to be a sweet treat rather than…a slice of odd bread.
It still ended up tasting a little like a chocolate biscuit. The flavour of the ice cream really mellows out, and you couldn’t taste the raspberry swirl at all. But I think you could have a lot of fun with this recipe given that it’s so easy. Chocolate ice cream with mini marshmallows and graham chunks for a s’mores bread? Strawberry ice cream with strawberry chunks to form the base of a strawberry shortcake? Surround yourself with some kids (I’m sure they would get a kick out of baking with ice cream), and I think you could take this recipe from weird to fun.
Ice Cream Bread
Adapted from The Hungry Housewife
2 cups/500 mL/1 pint full-fat ice cream, softened
1 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Add softened ice cream and stir until just combined. The softer your ice cream is, the easier it will be to mix.
Scoop batter into the loaf pan and and smooth out.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
