Darienne

I am closest to the Toronto area. Is it on the FN coming out of Toronto? I have never encountered it.

I'd like to make this, but only have access to frozen wild blueberries. Is there something I should do to the berries to help prevent bleeding when I add them? So far I've only used them in blueberry pancakes, and I always get bleeding, even when I add them at the very last minute and stir very lightly. ← Omg, I totally forgot about this recipe. I have tons of blueberries in the freezer too. But, I'm sure the WW points on these would be too high. No blueberry muffins for me, but please enjoy. This recipe is so good. ← I'm wondering if this recipe made in loaf pans would freeze well. I need to make things to freeze ahead at this point and wondered about blueberries. I still have 2 pounds unfrozen. Thanks.

Just discovered that today is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day in the USA. I wonder if this might be extended to Canadians too!

I don't get the magazine but perhaps the library carries it. Our small regional library does not. Thanks.

This sounds like a good idea. Perhaps scoring the sheets in two would help with breakage. And making sure the cookies were very cold before spreading them with the ice cream. I have scored the cookies in the sheet into rectangles and this gives a good edge on them. However, I need to make a good template to do this properly. I think someone somewhere makes a scored pan but a homemade thingy will do for now.

From Trader Joes: Chocolate covered orange pieces and chocolate covered raspberry pieces...can't recall the exact shapes...except to say they were awful. Muffins from Tim Horton's. I cannot imagine why they make such dreadful muffins!

I'm up for breakfast at your house...

We have this extended weekend coming up at the farm with a great horde of folks and dogs coming. I would like to make some ice cream cookies ahead of time. Chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream (Alton Brown's) or gelato (cornstarch recipe). Questions: * I have made DL's Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies and they are fine. However, I intend to spread them in 11X17 baking sheets and cut them into rectangles. Rounds? Too much fiddling, in making, filling and wrapping. Bad idea? * At what point in the ice cream process do you fill them?* How long ahead of time can I make and freeze them with ice cream in them? A couple of weeks? * I'll double wrap them... Has anyone actually made ice cream sandwiches? Thanks.

Thanks. I suspect that you are correct. Now my next question is: I must make another batch of ginger this week. What proportion of the syrup to make the new batch could safely come from this past batch?

I took a look at your work and they look so wonderful, simply fantastic. Any chance you could share the recipe and the chestnut sour cherry? I know it would create a,"wow, you made that?" at my work place. ← oli, My recipes are at work but will send soon, thanks ← You made all these incredibly beautiful desserts at your work place? I wish you worked near where we live! Is it a major restaurant or pastry store or catering outfit?

I've got a jar that has been on the pantry shelf for a year. I poured the hot syrup into a scalded quart canning jar, topped with a sterilized lid and tightened the ring and the "dimple" appeared when it was cool and is still there. I have some apricot syrup from that candying process that is probably more than two yeas old and is still good - I opened one of the pint jars last week to make a glaze for a pie and it was fine. Once opened, I have kept the stuff in the fridge for many months - have never had anything grow in or on it. I usually transfer it to a squeeze bottle to make it easier to dispense. ← Thank you. It's too late I guess for the scalding process...I had already poured it into a plastic container. Or could I heat it again and then do the scalding glass, etc, etc.? If it is simply too late to redeem it, I'll simply keep it in the fridge as it is. Or divide it into two smaller containers and freeze some. It's always a question in the end of space... Just keep on learning...keeps the brain in a functioning whirl.

My question is about storage of ginger syrup. Just finished another batch of ginger and have leftover syrup as usual. - Roughly how long could I store it just in a dark place, like a cupboard or plastic container (I have a large Rubbermaid container in which I keep all the assorted ingredients like citric acid, cocoa butter, confectioner's sugar, food colorings, etc.) - Roughly how long could I store it in a fridge? - Roughly how long could I store it in the freezer? Thanks.

Many thanks, kind sir.

OK. I like that definition. I can comprehend it with having to sit in a darkened silent room. Plain simple language. Understandable example. Now, Paul, my Ice Cream mentor (along with Jon), please do the same for stabilizer and emulsifier. And I take it that one ingredient can be both stabilizer and hydrocolloid? Marshall lists under stabilizers: "cellulose gum (the primary hydrocolloid)...polysorbate 80 (the emulsifiers)". Do any familiar ingredients play that role? You know, stuff like cornstarch, cream, etc. Thanks.

That's a lot of booze...I usually use about 1 or 2 T per quart, for flavor when necessary and for texture. My ice cream or sorbet always has a pinch of salt. I'm just not as maniacal as others, seeing as I'm a home cook. Funny how no one ever seems to complain about my ice creams or sorbets - as a matter of fact, they usually ask for more . ← You are completely correct. That is a LOT of booze. Could that be part of the yummy taste? I didn't realize that it contained so much liqueur until I was actually making it. I have a difficult time sometimes getting the recipe into my head before I use it. Bad, bad habit. Each time I castigate myself and tell myself to read and digest the recipe carefully before being in the middle of it. Obviously myself does not listen well. I am not only a home cook, I am a 'late come to it in life' home cook. With no background in cooking. My Mother didn't like to cook. I came to my marriage being able to make a simple salad dressing and that was it. My DH taught me how to cook. As for folks liking what one makes...even the mistakes are devoured with gusto!

Thank you for the information. Truthfully, I have never cooked before by percentages...in fact, I spent most of my adult years cooking as little as possible. This obsession with cooking is still new to me and I have so much to learn with no background to fall back on. It will come...slowly... My best bet currently is to do just what you suggest, try it as written, and then make notes. A longtime habit. And go back and reread all the information I can find on the topic. ← To return to the Pomegranate Gelato: Did the ice cream maker thing last night and it tasted delicious. This morning, it was still soft, softer than any other made so far. And that on...well, I couldn't help myself...on 2 tablespoons of cornstarch instead of the 1 1/2 it called for or the 3 I was wanting to use. One other adjustment I made, following as always the excellent advice of Paul, was to substitute a couple of tablespoons of corn syrup in the sugar amount called for. It called for a pinch of salt. It called for liqueur. 1/3 cup in fact. Maybe that's why it is so soft. Not too soft, but any softer and it would be. Next time I work in the milk solids according to Paul's formula: 25G/QT. Who knew? It certainly is more fun than writing reports.

If you prefer the texture of philly style ice cream, and plan to eat it right away, and are happy to adjust your serving temperature to whatever suits any given ice cream recipe ... then you can get away with just milk, cream, and sugar. But if you want additional control over texture, then you're going to be adding emulsifiers and stabilizers. Period. That's what the eggs are in French style ice cream. Emulsification, stabilization, texture modification. I just don't happen to think eggs are the most elegant choice for this purpose, begause they taste like F'ing eggs! I don't want my ice cream to taste like cooked egg yolk. Egg custard does create a wonderful texture. I haven't found a perfect substitute, so I minimize the eggs rather than eliminate them. I find that I don't taste them when there's only a couple per quart. I make up the difference with minute amounts of hydrocolloids, which are able to modify texture without adding or diluting flavors. With this kind of combination, I can get the precise texture I want, without any flavor penalty. The resistance to deflation and ice crystal formation is just a fringe benefit. Some other ingredients I use pretty religiously: -nonfat dry milk. It lets you control the disolved solids, which influences the sense of body, and also the freezing point. A little bit helps keep the ice cream from being rock hard at normal serving temperature (6 to 10 degrees F). -alcohol, either as vodka or as vanilla extract (which I make with vodka). Fine tunes freezing point without affecting body. May also intensify some volatile aromas. -salt! Balances and intensifies most other flavors. I think it's criminal to leave it out of desserts. My ice creams have about 1/10 % salt by weight. Too little to notice; enough to make a difference. ← Thanks as usual, for the excellent information Paul. I googled 'hydrocolloids' to see just what they are...once again...and to get some examples of same. Found a download of many of the pages of the 6th edition of Marshall, Goff & Hartel and tried to read them...all before breakfast too. Heavy going for those of us who are becoming increasingly intellectually challenged...

Thank you for the information. Truthfully, I have never cooked before by percentages...in fact, I spent most of my adult years cooking as little as possible. This obsession with cooking is still new to me and I have so much to learn with no background to fall back on. It will come...slowly... My best bet currently is to do just what you suggest, try it as written, and then make notes. A longtime habit. And go back and reread all the information I can find on the topic.

Just made the mixture for Pomegranate Gelato. In my own inimitable way, I did not read the recipe CAREFULLY before starting...just zipped through it...and then realized that it called for only 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 3 1/2 cups of liquid: milk, cream, pomegranate juice, lemon juice & liqueur. Gosh I thought. Surely that's not enough cornstarch. DL's Fleur de Lait calls for 3 tablespoons for 3 cups of liquid. As the mixture was cooling, I went back into my Gelato recipe folder and called up one recipe after another. So, although some of them called for 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, many called for only 2. OK. So now we see if it will work or not. My gut instinct was telling me to reheat the mixture with another tablespoon of cornstarch, but my more investigative side said: nope, give it a chance. You'll eat it even if it doesn't come together. I suppose I could also reheat and add cornstarch to it even after it's been in the ice cream maker???

Now that is brilliant!!!!

I like this trick and use it in some recipes. In a couple of cases when I've used too high a proportion of the dry milk the results tasted bitter, so I try not to go too far. Another approach is one Michael Laiskonis uses ... he reduces and browns cream instead of butter. It's a bit more effort, but the yield in milk solids vs. fat is much higher ← Thanks Paul. I read about Laiskonis reducing and browning cream in his blog. At least I can understand what it means now.

Thanks. Found it. A practical and clear application of the browned butter issue.

Well, that's a lot of useful replies. Now I have to try it. I saw it on the Bake-Off for Shortbread Cookies and thought it was about time I figured out what it was. Thanks

I looked it up on search and on google and just got more enmeshed in too many answers to figure it out. Please tell me if it has many variants, if it is one thing, how you make it, why should you make it, etc. I'm learning as fast as I can........

Interesting that Darienne mentioned sugar above, I wonder if there is a direct trade-off between salt and sugar content in these products across regions. ← I have never thought about the salt content issue, although it is obviously critical to our health, but have been following the sugar issue for some years now. A friend brought us a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream a couple of years ago, and I found it not like our Canadian version. Talked to the folks at the Ontario Liquor Board and they explained that Bailey exports their product made with a different formula to Canada and the US, the US obviously having more sugar in theirs. And so on and so on. I am horrified by the salt content problem, although like probably the majority of folks on eGullet, we eat very few packaged foods. Hmmmm...I know also that the American standards for ingredient disclosure in foods are stricter than the Canadian standards...so who knows what we are ingesting in Canada even in basic ingredients.