Baby, It's Cold Outside

As a cold, winter storm hits Southern California, I do what any native son would do -- I make ice cream. Well, maybe not necessarily ice cream per se but a very close relative -- the Dole Whip. Yum!

You see, I love frozen treats. And you may have read about my affliction to the pineappley goodness of a Dole Whip in my "Ode to a Dole Whip" poem I posted earlier this year. So it made sense -- to me anyway -- to enjoy one on this rainy night.

One major problem that needed to be overcome is that I'm not a fan of doing Disneyland in the rain. But I am now able to overcome that hurdle because I am the proud owner of a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker from Williams-Sonoma, which I received as a birthday present from my very thoughtful wife.

The instruction manual came with some recipes for vanilla and mint & chip varieties of ice cream but I decided that I needed to use it first to make the aforementioned Dole Whip. I had the recipe at one time but no longer did so I searched online for one. I found a good one from a well-respected place -- Dole. On its website, the company has the recipe for a Pineapple Icee Whip. The description and ingredients sounded about right so I had to try it.

Kathy had gotten the ingredients during her last trip to the grocery store. I decided to try a half recipe since it looked like it might produce more Dole Whip than my ice cream maker could handle.

I put the crushed pineapple, sugar, lemon juice, lime juice and pineapple juice in the blender to try to make it as liquidy smooth as possible. Placing this batch in my pre-frozen bowl, I started the mixing and freezing process. I'd add some heavy whipping cream to it and watched it spin its magic for the next 20 minutes or so.

The taste and consistency was pretty close to the Disneyland treat that I love. It was pretty simple to make -- and judging by the instructions, anyone can make it, though it will probably take longer than the half an hour I spent re-creating it in my ice cream maker.

I'll get to other ice cream flavors in good time but there's nothing like warming up to a frosty Dole Whip on a cold day. It is a slice of the tropics melting in your mouth and it makes me think of warmer days hanging out in Adventureland at Disneyland or visiting Kathy's relatives in Hawaii.

Such yummy goodness!
Matt