Christmas Tree Shaped Ice Cream Recipes

CHRISTMAS TREE ICE CREAM CONES

Steps:

• Slice the pound cake crosswise 1/2 inch thick. Place an ice cream cone open-side down on 1 slice and stamp out a round of cake; remove the round to a plate. Repeat until you have 8 rounds of cake. (Save the cake scraps for another use).
• Turn a cardboard egg carton upside down. Cut a hole big enough to snuggly fit the pointy side of a sugar cone in 8 of the cups with a sharp paring knife. Insert 1 cone into each prepared hole. Fill the cones with ice cream, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top. Press the cake rounds on top of the ice cream to cap it off. Place the egg carton in the freezer while you make the meringue.
• Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a heatproof stand mixer's bowl above the water, but not touching the water.
• Whisk the sugar, egg whites, vanilla and salt in the stand mixer bowl. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue to whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are slightly frothy, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until the meringue is cool and can hold very stiff peaks, about 6 minutes. Add the food coloring and beat until just combined.
• Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a small star piping tip (see Cook's Note). Working with 1 cone at a time (leave the remaining in the freezer so the ice cream does not melt), place round-side down on a wire rack-lined baking sheet then pipe small stars all over the cone until completely covered. Decorate with sprinkles. Transfer to a plate and freeze while you decorate the remaining cones. Alternatively, use a small offset spatula to spread the meringue onto the cones and then decorate with sprinkles. Freeze until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

CREAM PUFF CHRISTMAS TREE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil over medium heat. Add flour and salt; stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny., Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2-in. apart onto greased baking sheets. (You will need about 62 puffs to make the tree.) Use a moistened finger to smooth any peaks., Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool., For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar and rum extract if desired until stiff peaks form., Insert round tip #7 into a pastry or resealable plastic bag; fill with the whipped cream. With a sharp knife, cut a small slit in the side of each puff. Insert pastry tip into slits; fill each puff with whipped cream. Refrigerate for up to 2 hours., For icing, combine confectioners' sugar and enough cream to achieve desired consistency. Stir in food coloring if desired., To assemble tree: Separate puffs according to size and shape, choosing the flattest ones for the bottom layer and the smallest ones for the top. Spread the bottom of 18 puffs with icing. Place on the serving platter, forming a 9-in.-diameter solid circle. , For the second layer, spread icing on the bottoms of 18 puffs, then position above the space of the base layer of puffs. , Continue building tree in this manner using about 14 puffs in third layer, about seven puffs in fourth layer, about four puffs in fifth layer and one puff on top., To decorate: Insert round tip #7 into a pastry or resealable plastic bag and fill with remaining icing. Drizzle over tree. Trim with cherries if desired., The completed tree may be loosely covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.