The "Best" Chocolate Ice Cream

 Summer means making time for more cooking and baking, for which it is otherwise nearly impossible to dedicate time during the school year. And with the warm weather, one of my favorite things to make is ice cream. I tried this wonderful recipe that claims to be the best chocolate ice cream ever, and it really is absolutely delicious. And one of the best things is that you don't even have to use an ice cream maker, because the consistency is thick enough that it sets without needing one. An added bonus, there are no eggs, which means you don't have to deal with troublesome custards and pouring mixtures through sieves and all of that. A very simple recipe with incredible results. I took lots of pictures, of course.

I use Baker's semisweet chocolate, both for its quality and its convenient one-ounce squares that make measurements a lot easier.

Cupcakes

So I actually love cooking and baking (mostly because I love eating so much, God bless my fast metabolism). I started really getting into culinary arts when I was around 10, and since then, Food Network has kind of been the only channel I watch on TV.

So now that it's summer, I have some more time (not a lot, admittedly) to dedicate to cooking and baking. Tonight, I made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, a recipe by Ina Garten found here.

I've always loved cupcakes, and there's something childishly charming about them. They are so heavily associated in my memory with my elementary school days when I would bake lots of cupcakes and bring them to class on my birthday. Plus, they are just so quaint and adorable, and it's always comical how emasculating eating a cupcake can seem, especially with adults. Maybe I am just immature or have a petty sense of humor, but I think it's funny. Even the word cupcake itself sounds childish. I love it.

Anyway, I baked some cupcakes, and of course, I took photographs while I was baking. Because...well, because.

scoopin' some batter 

(Choosy moms choose Jif or something right? Am I the only one who finds this slogan mildly sexist? Are women the only ones who are meant to buy peanut butter? Hey I bought this jar all by myself, and I'm not a mother.)

peanut butter frosting, mmmmm

me being annoyingly, intrusively up-close while the cupcakes cooled

I only ended up eating just one, because I ate so much batter and frosting, but whatever, it was worth it~