"The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz on ice cream

[alanamoana]

even with full fat yogurt, i drain the yogurt for a few hours to overnight through cheesecloth to get rid of excess moisture. i think this might be your problem.

you can always use middle eastern yogurt called: kefir or labne...this is tangy, delicious and already drained. sort of like an extra thick sour cream, but with cultures. delicious!

[McAuliflower]

even with full fat yogurt, i drain the yogurt for a few hours to overnight through cheesecloth to get rid of excess moisture.  i think this might be your problem.

you can always use middle eastern yogurt called: kefir or labne...this is tangy, delicious and already drained.  sort of like an extra thick sour cream, but with cultures.  delicious!

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Was wondering about draining. The recipe implies that draining wasn't required if using the Greek style yogurt. But draining makes sense- I likely have an excess of ice?

:checking previous posting: tejon drained her yogurt and had the same issue.

Huh- freezing kefir... We have alot of Kefir in town. Though I don't think its the same as what you are talking about. Ours is produced by Nancys yogurt and is a runny drinkable yogurt. But very tangy. Definitely not drained tho. Likely a name bastardization by the Nancy's people?

thanks!

[tejon]

Yep - I used Mountain brand full fat yogurt, drained overnight. The texture was the same as labne by the time I ended up stirring in the sugar and vanilla.

[lisa_antonia]

Apricot

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/apricot.jpg">

Roasted Banana

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/bananaic.jpg">

Honey Lavender

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/honeylav.jpg">

Panforte, Green Tea, Lemon-Specaloos, Turron.

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/tartufi.jpg">

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/tartufi1.jpg">

[John DePaula]

Apricot

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/apricot.jpg">

Roasted Banana

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/bananaic.jpg">

Honey Lavender

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/honeylav.jpg">

Panforte, Green Tea, Lemon-Specaloos, Turron.

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/tartufi.jpg">

<img src="http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/lcampbel/images/tartufi1.jpg">

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Wow, Lisa, that all looks wonderful! Someone has been busy! Great pix.

[AnnaC]

I made the Salted Butter Caramel this past weekend; when I discovered that somehow only fine sea salt was in my boyfriend's cabinets, I used Kathy's suggestion on modifying for that and it worked perfectly. Suffice it to say that there is no more.

Which means that it's time for more ice cream this weekend! I was planning on trying David's recipe including the cookie-dough mix-ins (as a favor to someone whose absolute favorite treat is DQ's cookie-dough blizzard) but left the book at home like a big dummy. Called around to the local B&Ns, Sur La Tables, locally-owned places and NOTHING!

Which means it's the frozen yogurt for us unless anybody has more search tips. Any more ideas on preserving the texture after freezing overnight? I'll be using whole-fat Greek yogurt, drained.

[BeeZee]

Search tip: check your local public library. I often check out cookbooks to decide if I want to purchase them. This one's a keeper.

[juliachildish]

Speaking of the library, that's where I just got my copy! Although I'm sure, after looking through it, that it's going on my birthday list. So many exciting flavors, and I love the mix-in suggestions and recipes, because I am a big big fan of chunky ice cream.

So far I have tried the strawberry sour cream and the milk chocolate. I very much liked the strawberry sour cream, and found that it actually firmed up really fast. I don't usually even like strawberry ice cream, but this one really tasted like strawberries. I didn't think it was extremely sour, but it was enough to cut the sweetness. And I think the brand of sour cream I used-organic, without any thickeners-was particularly sour, so that may have helped.

I added brownie (the chewy brownies from the back) and cocoa nibs to the milk chocolate ice cream. I think the brownies do, as promised, keep their chewiness and flavor in the ice cream, which was a pleasant surprise. However, two cups might have been a little too much for some people-I sort of taste the brownie more than the ice cream. It is a nice background for the brownie though! And the cocoa nibs were a welcome crunch. I did have a little trouble getting this one to firm up-but I think that might have been because I have a cheapo Donvier ice cream machine, the kind where you freeze the canister, and I only let it freeze for six hours in between the strawberry and milk chocolate ice creams.

[John DePaula]

Well I knew I had to do something about the ever increasing variety of containers in my freezer. Since today was Sunday, I thought why not have an old-fashioned Ice Cream Sundae Social. I served the following:

Ice Creams & Sorbets

Roasted Banana Ice Cream

French Vanilla Ice Cream

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream (made with home grown Fraise des bois berries)

Chocolate Coconut Sorbet

Toppings

Classic Hot Fudge (made with Valrhona Guanaja – simply wonderful)

Candied Sour Cherries

Fresh Fraise des bois berries (tiny wild strawberries from my garden)

Ripe Bananas

Toasted Almond Slivers (slivered almonds with Kirschwasser and a little sugar, toasted)

Whipped Cream

70% Dark Chocolate Chips

What a wonderful evening; we were all kids again enjoying our hot fudge sundaes!

(One nice thing about this type of party: you can do everything ahead of time and just enjoy your guests when they arrive.)

[emmalish]

Well I knew I had to do something about the ever increasing variety of containers in my freezer.  Since today was Sunday, I thought why not have an old-fashioned Ice Cream Sundae Social

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Clever! I'm dying to try a new recipe, but I've still got three containers in the freezer. There IS a limit to how much ice cream a single woman needs in her freezer at any given time.

This brings up something I've been wondering about anyway – how long do homemade ice creams keep fresh?

[John DePaula]

Well I knew I had to do something about the ever increasing variety of containers in my freezer.  Since today was Sunday, I thought why not have an old-fashioned Ice Cream Sundae Social

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Clever! I'm dying to try a new recipe, but I've still got three containers in the freezer. There IS a limit to how much ice cream a single woman needs in her freezer at any given time.

This brings up something I've been wondering about anyway – how long do homemade ice creams keep fresh?

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That’s a good question and I’m not exactly sure of the right answer. I think that because these recipes don’t use any stabilizers, they’re meant to be eaten fairly quickly. Surely they’ll last several weeks; however, the texture may degrade over time becoming more grainy.

Loved that scene in the Albert Brooks / Debbie Reynolds movie Mother when she offers her son some ice cream and he complains that it has gone bad. No it’s still good under the protective covering of ice, she replies. Too funny!

[alanamoana]

homemade ice cream is meant to be eaten within a couple of days. you can increase the shelf life by placing plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming...but as john says, the texture does degrade after a while.

[David J.]

I made the Gianduja Stracciatella Gelato and served it in a bowl made from David's Ice Cream Cone recipie.

I used some of my bulk Callubeut dark chocolate for the stracciatella to ensure it was top quality.

The cone batter was pretty thick and not that easy to spread into an even circle on the baking paper, but it was managable. Not owning a cone form I pressed the circles over an upturned bowl. This proves that you don't require a press to make cones or bowls on your own.

It all worked out rather well and my wife pronouced the gelato superb.

[ejw50]

just got my copy can't wait to try some out. Love the pics on this thread.

[foodie52]

Just got back from his class. It was lots of fun. Here are some photos. David made:Parsley icecream. Chouquettes. Chocolate mocha sorbet in tuille.

He also made a fabulous olive oil icecream with a chocolate souffle cake and a cranberry orange chutney.

[juliachildish]

Am I the only one who's been making ice cream???

I made the chocolate-peanut butter ice cream a week or two ago, and while it is very tasty, I realized while churning it that it's really more of a winter ice cream. It's been hovering in the 110's here, temperature-wise, and so I can only handle this ice cream's richness when it's paired with a vanilla or some fruit. Also it froze rock hard, much harder than the other ice creams I've made from the book.

I also made the French-style vanilla and the olive oil. The vanilla was very good, of course, but almost a bit tooo rich. I think I might go for Philadelphia-style next time.

I decided to try the olive oil on a whim and because it sounded sort of refreshing. While cooking the custard, I used a whisk instead of a spatula, because the spatula hadn't worked that effectively for me with the vanilla. Even then, I had a few cooked egg pieces that I had to be careful to not push through the strainer-the same happened with the vanilla. I'm keeping it on just below medium heat and stirring constantly, but I think next time I'm just going to cook it on a double boiler. It'll take longer, but I have an egg phobia!

Anyway, the olive oil ice cream tastes undeniably of olive oil. The first spoonful is a bit of a shock, but after that I thought it was very good. It's much better paired with some peaches than it is by itself, I think, just like how you wouldn't eat olive oil on its own. I gave some to my mother to try, and she described it as "too avant-garde", but I think I would make it again, as long as I had some good summer fruit to pair it with.

[Tri2Cook]

Am I the only one who's been making ice cream???

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Nope, I make ice cream pretty often during summer. I just haven't been making ice cream from the book this thread is about. I have the custards for a rose ice cream (made with rose petals from my neighbor's garden, she also gave me a big pile of rhubarb a few days ago so I've been busy with that as well) and a pomegranate ice cream chilling in the fridge right now.

[tejon]

Not at all! I just made some Dried Apricot-Pistachio Ice Cream the other day. My husband really loves dried apricots, so it was mostly for him (not a huge fan here). I have to admit, it was quite tasty. Little flecks of wine soaked apricot and the slight crunch of pistachios. Nice combination. Oh, and it made much more than the 3 cups indicated - I got a little bit over a quart after processing.

[jende]

This topic is killing me. I LOVE ice cream and have been thinking about buying David's book for months, but I'm wondering if my $50 Cuisinart ice cream maker will do the trick. I've only used it a couple of times -- the sorbet I made was very good but an ice cream I tried was icy.

I'm hoping that I just had a bad recipe, but I'd hate to buy the book and get disappointing results.

Anyone else using the Cuisinart? (I think it's the ICE-20)

[Kerry Beal]

This topic is killing me. I LOVE ice cream and have been thinking about buying David's book for months, but I'm wondering if my $50 Cuisinart ice cream maker will do the trick. I've only used it a couple of times -- the sorbet I made was very good but an ice cream I tried was icy.

I'm hoping that I just had a bad recipe, but I'd hate to buy the book and get disappointing results.

Anyone else using the Cuisinart? (I think it's the ICE-20)

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Should work just fine, the recipes are great and there is lots of advice in there on how to avoid icy.

[tejon]

I use that exact Cuisinart. Works really well, though the ice cream comes out on the soft side when you're finished (this happens with all cylinder style ice cream makers, not just this model). I usually pop the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for another few hours to firm things up. Also, make sure the ice cream base is *very* cold when you start, and that the freezing cylinder has been in the freezer for at least 24 hours before processing.

Edited June 26, 2007 by tejon (log)

[jende]

Thanks for the tips. I just ordered the book, so I'll see how it goes. I'm really excited to get in on all the good ice cream-making action!

[bloviatrix]

I churned up a batch of the sour cherry frozen yogurt yesterday. The yield was considerably less then the 3 cups stated. It was still quite soft last night when I sat down to try it.

[Shaya]

I love this book. I got the KA icecream bowl attachment this year for Mother's Day. I want to be able to tailor what I serve to my kids...I stay away from refined white sugars, and tend to use goat milk as it sits better with one of my kids.

So far I have had a lot of fun making berry sorbets. I made a banana icecream using a custard base too. But as soon as I got my hands on David's great book I knew I had to start with the roasted banana ice cream. It's wonderful. I used organic cane sugar throughout the recipe and used whole-fat goat milk; I think the goat milk balances the sweetness with a bit of tartness. However, I doubt most people would perceive its impact if they were not told about it... It was a huge hit with the whole family.

Roasted Banana Caramel Goodness...in the cuisinart - one could stop the recipe right here and eat the whole lot

Roasted Banana Ice Cream - served soft as I churned it while making dinner and ate it within an hour of being chilled

[weinoo]

I saw a beautiful display of sour cherries at the farmer's market and brought home a few baskets.

Here they are ready to meet their maker .

So I thought I'd better make some of David's Vanilla - here's the base.

And I ended up with this ,

Which I'm calling NYS Sour Cherry "Soup" with Vanilla Bourbon Ice Cream & Bing Cherry Sorbet.

Edited July 2, 2007 by weinoo (log)