At a family dinner about a month and a half before Christmas, Ryan's side of the family agreed that we would do all homemade gifts this year. I was excited--in this day and age of Pinterest, coming up with DIY gifts is much easier. Although Ryan and I tossed several ideas around, we ultimately settled on ice cream.
Ice cream seemed a much safer choice than some of the projects I wanted to undertake and I've proven that my best creations come from the kitchen. Thankfully, every member of Ryan's family is a fan, so we figured we couldn't go wrong.
Although these gifts took quite a bit of time, I had so much fun preparing them. I found some adorable pint containers online and my friend Paige created labels for me that I put on each of the pints.
Each of the three couples got the following:
1 pint of Banana Pudding Ice Cream
1 pint of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
1 pint of Coconut Rum Ice Cream with Toasted Coconut
1 pint of Chocolate Liqueur Ice Cream (to be posted soon!)
Additionally, we wanted to give them some non-ice cream accompaniments, such as this hot fudge sauce. I love the hot fudge you can buy at the store, but the homemade stuff is even better! I was sure to use high quality chocolate which definitely added to the flavor of the finished product.
Our final additions to the gift were homemade waffle cones and gingerbread chocolate syrup. The gingerbread chocolate syrup was a serendipitous addition that I hadn't planned on...when I went to borrow the waffle cone maker from Stef at Cupcake Project, she had just finished attempting a batch of Chocolate Gingerbread Fudge that had, for whatever reason, refused to solidify. With no use for the syrup, she offered it to me. Too tasty to throw away, I bottled it up and included it in the gifts...and the remaining syrup I could not stop attacking with the spoon. I've never tasted such a delicious mess-up!
Ryan was the master behind the waffle cones. He used this recipe from Cupcake Project and made a variety of rolled cones as well as flattened cone pieces to include in the gifts. We could not get over the stellar flavor of these. I realize a waffle cone maker is a novelty item but I'm tempted to get one because the homemade cones are so good. (Thank you Stef for letting us borrow your maker!!)
All in all, our ice cream gifts were a hit! Even if you don't have an ice cream maker or any intentions of DIY gifts, I recommend making a batch of this homemade hot fudge sauce to serve with your favorite desserts!
One Year Ago: Cranberry, Caramelized Onion, and Goat Cheese Dip
Two Years Ago: Grammy's Chocolate Cookies


Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce
seen on Annie's Eats
*makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
-4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
-3 tbsp unsalted butter
-2/3 cup water
-1/3 cup sugar
-6 tbsp corn syrup
-pinch of salt
-1 tbsp rum (or vanilla extract)


Directions:
1. Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add chocolate and butter and heat slowly, stirring with a spatula, until smooth and melted.
2. Meanwhile, heat the water to boiling in a small heavy saucepan. Once chocolate/butter is melted, add to boiling water. Stir in sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Increase heat and bring mixture to a boil. Adjust heat so that the sauce is maintained at the boiling point. Boil for 9 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Stir in rum.
*If not using immediately, store in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat by microwaving in 15-second intervals until shiny and smooth.