ice cream cake is the way to my heart

It's been deathly hot here in Southern California and I've been tempted to make ice cream. However, I don't have an ice cream maker and the heat has made me too lazy to actually get all SCIENCE (ice + salt, anyone?) to make it that way.

However, looking at other people making their own ice treats has motivated me.

Here are two ways to beat the heat:
The first comes from CRAFT blog, via Élena Nazzaro:

The second comes from the blog Posie Gets Cozy, on how to make your own homemade mint ice cream, for that extra burst of coolness:

2 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups fresh mint leaves, washed and bruised
1 14-oz. can sweetened, condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
About 1 1/2 oz. of chopped dark chocolate

In large saucepan, stir half-and-half together with heavy cream. Add mint leaves and bring just to a simmer. Let simmer for three minutes, then remove from heat. Let mint leaves sit in cream mixture for fifteen or twenty minutes, depending on how minty you like things and how strong your mint is. Strain mixture into a bowl, discarding mint leaves. Stir sweetened, condensed milk into cream mixture until it is dissolved. Add vanilla and chill mixture for at least an hour (most recipes tell you to chill your cream mixture for several hours, but we didn't have that kind of time and it still worked out fine — but if you have the time, do it, since you want this mixture to be very cold).
Freeze ice cream in your ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. When the ice cream is thickened and frozen, add chopped chocolate and stir well. Transfer the soft ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for several hours, until hardened.

Mouthwatering! Tell us your favorite ice cream treats!