12 Recipes with 4 or Fewer Ingredients

A few weeks ago, I went to see Mark Bittman (AKA The Minimalist) speak about his new book Food Matters. It got me thinking about the minimalist's approach to ice cream and sorbet making. People often have the misconception that it's a long process with lots of complicated ingredients. In fact, many of the recipes on this site can be prepared in less than 20 minutes (pre-freeze time) and contain just a few basic ingredients. 

Scroll over the photos to see the flavors.

Culture of Content Creation Video

Over the summer, my friend Eve filmed me making ice cream and talking about blogging and social media for an online project commissioned by Elastic Lab about the culture of content creation. Watch as I whip up a batch of Rocky Road in my tiny kitchen and try to sound profound about the internet and food. There's a whole bunch of bloggers and podcasters who've been featured in the project. You can see the entire series here. Good work, Eve!

Sweet Potato Brown Sugar Ice Cream

The people have spoken. They wanted sweet potato brown sugar ice cream, and I have (finally) delivered. This is my very first Official Fall Flavor. I'm pretty sure that means the leaves will now change, the temperatures will drop, and I'll have to start wearing socks again. I have to confess summer is my great love, but if we have to say goodbye, autumn is a worthy rebound. After all, who wouldn't want to lock lips with this seasonal sweet treat?

If you like pumpkin pie, you'll like this recipe because it tastes awfully similar. Instead of using brown sugar in with the ice cream base, I decided to mix in candied brown sugar bits.  It's like finding the marshmallows in your Lucky Charms. 

Black Tea Orange Marmalade Ice Cream

This dessert may be frozen, but the flavor makes me think warm and fuzzy. Imagine curling up with a cup of English Breakfast or Earl Grey (heavy on the cream) and a muffin smeared with orange marmalade. Except, you know, it's ice cream. This frozen fix really does taste like tea with cream and sugar. It's swirled with the sweet citrus of orange jelly and the bitterness of bits of orange zest. The only question that remains: Is it best served in a mug or a bowl?

I have to give credit to a long lost high school friend for inventing this flavor. She mentioned it on Facebook, and I immediately knew I wanted to try it. Thanks for the inspiration, Lauren!