An Elegant Way to Celebrate National Ice Cream Month

While flipping through Food & Wine magazine the other day I came across a recipe for Apple-Butter Ice Cream served with Gingersnap cookies. Mmmm, I thought, that sounds interesting. It reminds me of the wonderfully delicious satisfying combination of Apple Pie and Ice Cream. If you crave the combination but don’t want to turn on your oven to make an apple pie in this hot weather, you might find this a great summer substitute. Also, by the way, July is National Ice Cream Month, so here’s a treat to celebrate it. Ronald Reagan designated National Ice Cream Month in 1984. He recognized the popularity of ice cream in the United States and also appointed the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day.

Try this recipe using our incredibly smooth and perfectly spiced Graves Mountain Apple Butter: Apple-Butter Ice Cream with Ginger-Chocolate Ganache
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/3 cup apple butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
Gingersnaps, for serving

Soften the vanilla ice cream in the microwave at high power for 10 seconds. Transfer the softened ice cream to a medium bowl and flatten it with a rubber spatula. Spread the apple butter on top and fold the ice cream over the apple butter 2 or 3 times. Freeze the ice cream until it is firm, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chopped chocolate at high power in 10-second bursts. Whisk the heavy cream into the chocolate. Put the grated ginger in a fine strainer set over the chocolate ganache and press to extract as much of the ginger juiced as possible. Whisk the ginger juice into the chocolate ganache. For a caramel-like sauce, substitute dulce de leche for the melted chocolate.

Scoop the apple-butter ice cream into bowls, drizzle with the ginger-chocolate ganache or caramel sauce and serve with gingersnaps.