Extend Summer With Michelle Bernstein's Ice Cream Recipes

MIAMI, FL — South Florida celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein has created two new ice cream recipes that are sure to keep summer alive as we head into fall. Bernstein tellls Patch that she came up with the recipes during a recent vacation.

One is called "Fried Mayfield Ice Cream in Phyllo" and the other is titled: "Lemon-Berry Ice Cream Pie."

See also: Michelle Bernstein Dishes On TV, Favorite Eats

"I knew that I wanted to come up with some fun ice cream treats. I had always dreamt of doing my own style of fried ice cream, but wasn’t sure how to go about it," the popular host of "Check Please South Florida" and "SoFlo Taste" explained in a recent interview with Patch.

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Bernstein sampled a number of flavors from Mayfield Creamery before choosing two that she wanted to use in the recipes — Mayfield's Signature Vanilla and Lemon Ice Box Pie.

"I’m a vanilla lover. I mean I guess I’m a little bit of a simpleton and the vanilla made me crazy," she acknowledged. "I really wanted to put the dream of doing the fried ice cream together with their really tasty vanilla because it’s super vanilla forward, but it tastes very natural."

Bernstein said she tried the recipe a few different ways before coming up with her “Fried Mayfield Ice Cream in Phyllo." She incorporated warm honey, pomegranates and candied nuts.

"First I started with the traditional way, which I think I did once on TV — a traditional fried ice cream, but of course, I wanted to do something a little bit more that spoke to me," she said. "And so, the idea of something more kind of in a Middle Eastern, Mediterranean style with pommegranites and wrapped in the phyllo dough. It just reminded me of something close to home that I would make."

Tip: "You want this to stay in your freezer, and at the last minute make sure your oil is good and hot when you drop it in," she said. "It takes seconds. It’s literally 30 seconds, 40 seconds for the phyllo to turn golden. It’s not enough time for ice cream to melt."

For the second recipe, she wanted to create something a dessert that reminded her of pie using lemon ice cream.

"Sure enough it just kind of came together and who doesn’t like pie? And who doesn’t like berries with lemon? Its funny. I always serve berries with lemon," she explained.

Bernstein likes straight-forward flavors and she loved the lemon ice cream for her recipe.

"I didn’t find it to be too tangy at all," she said. "I wanted to bring in a little bit of tanginess with the berries, and I was playing around with a girlfriend, and I said 'You know: It’s pie season. Let’s do something with pie.'"

She also liked the fact that Mayfield ice cream is made with cream from the company's own dairy farm.

"Their ice creams just work beautifully in a lot of different sorts of recipes," Bernstein explained. "Because they’re straight forward, they speak to the ingredients that they are. So, it’s really great cream and it’s their own cream, from their own dairy farms, and then it’s whatever flavor they’re adding. They’re not confused, where you find a lot of ice creams are out there, that to me have a little too much going on."

Mayfield's is available at Publix stores. You'll find Bernstein's complete recipes below:

Fried Mayfield Ice Cream in Phyllo

Ingredients

• 4 sheets of phyllo dough
• 1 egg, whisk
• 1 carton Mayfield Signature Vanilla ice cream
• ½ cup of your favorite honey
• ¼ cup pomegranate seeds

Cinnamon-sugar

• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup chopped candied walnuts
• vegetable oil for frying

1. Prepare a small cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper and lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Warm the honey together with the pomegranates over low heat just until the honey loosens and becomes pourable.
3. Thaw phyllo dough according to package instructions. Keep covered with damp paper towels as you work as the phyllo tends to dry out quickly.
4. On a clean dry work surface, lay out one sheet of the phyllo dough; using a pastry brush, spread a thin layer of egg wash onto the phyllo dough all the way to the edges. Layer another sheet of phyllo dough on top and brush the surface lightly with egg wash. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough lengthwise in half forming two long rectangles.
5. Using a small scooper (about 2 tablespoons) (Ping pong ball size), place a scoop of Mayfield Signature Vanilla ice cream at the top end of one the dough rectangles, fold one corner to form a triangle around the ice cream and continue folding the triangle upon itself, until the entire piece of phyllo is used. Pressing lightly around the edges after each fold to ensure the dough is tightly sealed.
6. Transfer the triangles onto the prepared cookie sheet and place immediately into the freezer after each triangle is formed.
7. Repeat with all the phyllo dough.
8. Freeze overnight.
9. When you are ready to serve, Heat oil to 350°F.
10. Remove triangles from the freezer and fry immediately for about 30-45 seconds or until golden.
11. To serve, drizzle with warm honey and pomegranates and dust with the cinnamon sugar and candied nuts if desired.

Lemon-Berry Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 9.5-inch pie plate

Graham cracker crust

• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons melted butter

Filling

• 1-quart Mayfield Lemon Ice Box Pie ice cream
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 cup blackberries halved
• 2 cups lightly sweetened whipped cream, for garnish
• 2 cups fresh raspberries for garnish
• 1 cup blackberries for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Remove Mayfield lemon ice cream from freezer to allow it to soften slightly.
2. In a medium size bowl, combine graham cracker and sugar. Add the butter and combine. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Bake at 325°F for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack until cool enough to handle the pie plate, about 10 to 15 minutes. Place the pie plate in the freezer and allow to chill until cold to the touch, another 15-30 minutes.
3. When the graham cracker crust is cold, make the filling.
4. In a metal bowl, fold together the softened ice cream with 1 cup raspberries and 1 cup of the blackberries (halved) using a rubber spatula. Allow the berries to evenly distribute into the ice cream.
5. Spoon the pie filling into the pie crust and spread it out in an even layer. Place in the freezer overnight.
6. When you are ready to serve, spread an even layer of whipped cream over the pie filling and top with as many berries as will fit.
7. If the pie is still very cold and stiff, place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes for easier serving.

Photo of Michelle Bernstein by Michael Pisarri