"The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz on ice cream

[BeeZee]

What about steeping anise in the milk/cream before blending? Not too much, but maybe a little would enhance that flavor of the raki?

[Darienne]

I just got the Perfect Scoop from our local library...have to try books out before I buy them...and it fell open at 'Orange-Szechwan Pepper Ice Cream'. Doo doo doo doo....this is a wonderful omen. Tonight I'll make it.

This book is a keeper and a winner and I am going to buy it at once.

WOW!

Edited June 8, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

I just got the Perfect Scoop  from our local library...have to try books out before I buy them...and it fell open at 'Orange-Szechwan Pepper Ice Cream'.  Doo doo doo doo....this is a wonderful omen.  Tonight I'll make it.

This book is a keeper and a winner and I am going to buy it at once.

WOW!

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The joys of living in the middle of nowhere. I have to order the book and it can take weeks.

Finally made the Orange-Szechwan Pepper Ice Cream. Wimped out and used only 2 TBSP of crushed Szechwan pepper instead of 3. It is incredible. Delicious. Amazing. :

[John DePaula]

I just got the Perfect Scoop  from our local library...have to try books out before I buy them...and it fell open at 'Orange-Szechwan Pepper Ice Cream'.  Doo doo doo doo....this is a wonderful omen.  Tonight I'll make it.

This book is a keeper and a winner and I am going to buy it at once.

WOW!

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The joys of living in the middle of nowhere. I have to order the book and it can take weeks.

Finally made the Orange-Szechwan Pepper Ice Cream. Wimped out and used only 2 TBSP of crushed Szechwan pepper instead of 3. It is incredible. Delicious. Amazing. :

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That sounds really wonderful, D. I'll have to make that one soon.

By the `way, while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, you can find several DL recipes online...

[Darienne]

That sounds really wonderful, D.  I'll have to make that one soon.

By the `way, while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, you can find several DL recipes online...

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DH came home and we tried the ice cream together. I think I could have been more heavy handed on the orange zest even and am not sure about using that 3rd TBSP of pepper. The pepper creeps up on you and stays a l-o-n-g time.

I should admit...it could make a big difference...that I used a Philadelphia base for the ice cream instead of the DL custard one. I usually do in my ice creams. We find them rich enough and one of our sons cannot tolerate eggs at all.

All in all, it was incredible and like nothing I have ever tasted before in a cold dessert.

[Darienne]

After my heady success with a modified Orange-Szechwan Pepper ice cream, I am ready to go for the Fleur de Lait, mostly because it is so unusual, made with cornstarch.

I see that mukki announced that s/he had Fleur de Lait cooling in the fridge, 9 April 2008, but s/he never reported back. Has anyone else tried this ice cream and if so, how was it? And do you suppose that one might feel free to add some extra bits to it? Well, I am going to make it straight the first time...and then add 'stuff'.

[Darienne]

Is there no one else out there making ice cream in this ice cream time of year?

Because I am making the rounds of the chiro and massage therapist almost daily...don't ask...I take Mr. Lebovitz with me to read in the waiting rooms. Found a recipe for Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet. Remembering that there was almost a full litre of buttermilk sitting in the fridge from a sour cream event from a couple of weeks ago, I decided that the Lemon Sherbet was my next project.

Now, I don't like the taste of buttermilk, and I didn't like the resulting sherbet all that much because for me the buttermilk taste came shining through. DH liked it which stunned me because he doesn't like sherbet or buttermilk. Who knew?

Then I added some toasted walnuts to the sherbet. Aha! Now even I liked it. I can't think of a suitable word to describe the taste of walnuts, toasted or not,...a sort of non-sweet taste, mealy?, earthy?...someone help me...but the contrast made the sherbet perfectly delicious...IMHO.

Next projects: the Fleur de Lait and the Leche Merengada.

[Tri2Cook]

Is there no one else out there making ice cream in this ice cream time of year?

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I'm almost always making ice creams and other frozen desserts, just not from the book this thread relates to (which I don't happen to own). I enjoy reading what everybody else is doing with it though.

[wannabechef]

I wanted to make the passion fruit sorbet recipe in the book. It calls for "passion fruit pulp" and also tangerines. Two questions:

1) does anyone know where you can buy passion fruit pulp or passion fruit themselves?

2) has anyone made this one with success?

[Darienne]

Is there no one else out there making ice cream in this ice cream time of year?

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I'm almost always making ice creams and other frozen desserts, just not from the book this thread relates to (which I don't happen to own). I enjoy reading what everybody else is doing with it though.

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I was not chastising anyone...I just wanted someone else to play with.

As for passion fruit puree. Boiron makes it and you can order it from their distributor. In Canada I would buy it from Qzina .

Edited June 17, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[jm chen]

Is there no one else out there making ice cream in this ice cream time of year?

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I recently made the cinnamon, tea, and coffee ice creams for the first time, and the cheesecake ice cream again.

The cheesecake is great because it's ridiculously easy, you don't have to make a custard, and you can blend/churn/serve in the same evening without any chill time between blending and churning. Everything's already cold. I made it before dinner and served it after. I love his recipe for peanut butter for the same reason.

For the cinnamon, tea, and coffee, they are all the same technique: warm up cream and put the items in it, cover and steep for an hour, strain the things out and go custardward from there. Thank goodness for my Thermapen, I can usually hit the right point where everything's cooked and thick but not yet curdled. Between his instructions in the front of the book, the safety net of the instant-read thermometer, and the part where I just skip the ice bath, I have found custards to be far less horrifying than they used to be.

The coffee flavor was very subtle. Next time I might crack the beans a bit, or steep for longer. I also tried to cheat by using espresso powder instead of the "finely ground beans" he calls for to add a little texture constrast, but... der... the powder dissolved, which is of course what espresso powder is intended to do.

The black tea flavor was a little bitter, but I let it steep longer than the recipe called for (a shopping trip ran long), and some people really loved it. It is kind of weird, creamy at first and then that black sharp taste. Your mileage may vary.

The cinnamon was lovely, though again, fairly subtle.

All very light in color, incidentally.

[Darienne]

I recently made the cinnamon, tea, and coffee ice creams for the first time, and the cheesecake ice cream again.

The cheesecake is great because it's ridiculously easy, you don't have to make a custard, and you can blend/churn/serve in the same evening without any chill time between blending and churning. Everything's already cold. I made it before dinner and served it after. I love his recipe for peanut butter for the same reason.

This all sounds very good...but I just might have to make the cheesecake ice cream very soon. In fact, I have some cream cheese on hand for something I didn't make last week and it might just go into some ice cream immediately.

This book is just wonderful. David Lebovitz: I think I love you.

[Desiderio]

Ahh my first batch of ice cream from the book is on the way. I made the Guinnes one, only I used a local Milk Stout instead, because I work with them and I wanted to see if I can make something special for them. Anyway, the custard tasted delicious!!! I cant wait to taste it, I used El rey irapa, which has a malt flavor and is perfect with beer.

I love the book, I just got it but the recipes are wonderful, I want to try the olive oil and the pecorino and pear one, wow, what about the fresh figs!!!! Ahh if I only had more time!!

[Darienne]

Made the Cheesecake Ice cream. Very nice, but never going to be my favorite. DH loved it, but then he likes more sugar in things than I do. As it was cooling, I added more lemon zest and even some lemon juice, but it was still too sweet for me. Added some deeply toasted (aka almost burnt) slivered almonds and that helped a lot. But still... The Orange-Szechwan Pepper is my favorite to date.

Made the Candied Cherries. Didn't really care for them. Maybe I did something wrong. But maybe I just don't like candied cherries. I loathe Maraschino cherries.

The DH loved the cherries and he likes Maraschinos also. Perhaps it has a lot to do with childhood eating patterns. Ed's Mom was French Canadian and only the French Canadians could love Sugar Pie. My Mother didn't bake and I had very little sugar as a child and can't even eat a Butter tart. Ed ate sugar or syrup on his French toast...and I had salt. Curious.

So onto the next. I am very curious about the Rice Gelato.

I wonder if the sweetness content in the recipes is aimed primarily at the American taste bud? Any thoughts on this?

Edited June 21, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[pnwradar]

I wonder if the sweetness content in the recipes is aimed primarily at the American taste bud?  Any thoughts on this?

Some of the recipes are definitely sweeter, and some are almost savory. I've made nearly all the recipes in the book, with notes in the margins refining many of them to my taste. And I've found a lot of variety in folks' sweet tooths -- some really like the mouth puckering super-lemon, others really like the malted milk and cheesecake.

My favorite is the black pepper ice cream, made with some bright tellicherri peppercorns. I use really good quality slow-pasteurized whole milk (4%) and heavy cream (36%) from a local dairy, and modified the basic custard to use 2c milk and 1c cream, as we found it too heavy with more cream.

How did the Fleur de Lait and the Leche Merengada turn out for you?

-jon-

[Darienne]

Some of the recipes are definitely sweeter, and some are almost savory.  I've made nearly all the recipes in the book, with notes in the margins refining many of them to my taste.  And I've found a lot of variety in folks' sweet tooths -- some really like the mouth puckering super-lemon, others really like the malted milk and cheesecake.

My favorite is the black pepper ice cream, made with some bright tellicherri peppercorns.  I use really good quality slow-pasteurized whole milk (4%) and heavy cream (36%) from a local dairy, and modified the basic custard to use 2c milk and 1c cream, as we found it too heavy with more cream.

How did the Fleur de Lait and the Leche Merengada turn out for you?

-jon-

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Hi Jon,

Embarrassed to say that I have not made the Fleur de Lait or Leche Merengada yet. The Cheesecake Ice Cream and other things...like two varieties of ginger and a bag of Clementines to candy...got in the way. So many things to make...so little time. I will report back when I have made them. If they are very sweet then DH will love them and I won't.

I would imagine that the Black Pepper could well be an orangeless variety of the Orange-Szechwan.

As far as I have ever been able to find out, we cannot buy 36% cream or slow-pasteurized milk. Actually I have never even heard of slow-pasteurized milk. Learn something new every day.

And kudos to you for having made almost every recipe in the book. I am still using the library copy and awaiting my own copy in the mail. Can't write in the margins yet!

[lolafeasts]

I love, love, love this book. The recipes are fabulous and I've never had any problems with them. I've recently made both the gianduja (sp?) gelato and the fig ice cream. My fig ice cream ended up being fig and raspberry due to a fig shortage but it was still incredibly delicious.

I do however find some of the recipes to be very sweet so I often cut back on the sugar by a quarter cup or more; I haven't found this to have any negative effects. The panaforte and matcha green tea icecreams have been particular favourites of mine and the basic vanilla (the custard based one) is absolute perfection.

I'd love to make the pistachio apricot icecream but I'm having a hard time finding un-salted pistachios. Does anyone know of a source that will ship to Canada? Thanks!

[merstar]

I'd love to make the pistachio apricot icecream but I'm having a hard time finding un-salted pistachios. Does anyone know of a source that will ship to Canada?  Thanks!

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Check out this site - they ship to Canada:

http://www.nutsonline.com/nuts/pistachios/...p-unsalted.html

[binitahp]

I'd love to make the pistachio apricot icecream but I'm having a hard time finding un-salted pistachios. Does anyone know of a source that will ship to Canada?  Thanks!

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If you have an Indian grocery store nearby, then check there. They usually carry raw, unsalted nuts.

[Darienne]

I'd love to make the pistachio apricot icecream but I'm having a hard time finding un-salted pistachios. Does anyone know of a source that will ship to Canada?  Thanks!

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If you have an Indian grocery store nearby, then check there. They usually carry raw, unsalted nuts.

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We have no Indian grocery store in our nearby small city, but we do have an Asian one which carries mostly Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/etc. Whatever Indian foods we can get will be there. I am going to check on the unsalted pistachios.

It is great that the Nuts Online ships to Canada, but by the time you paid for the nuts in CDN$, and the S&H, and possible duty stuff, if they choose to nail you, you could have paved your ice cream maker in gold.

I don't suppose you could get most of the salt off/out of the pistachios? Foolish question, no doubt.

[pnwradar]

Try it with the salted nuts, it might suit your less-sweet taste. If not, the salt is nearly all on the surface, so a quick rinse under the tap should remove it. I don't remember whether the nuts I bought were salted or not -- just grabbed a bag from the grocer's shelf, and shelled them at home, trying to not nibble what I needed for the recipe.

If your grocer has root beer extract (probably on the shelf near the vanilla), stir a teaspoon into your basic 1qt custard recipe. Tastes much like a root beer float.

-jon-

[LizD518]

I'm planning on picking up ingredients for ice cream on the way home as I have a craving today. I'm thinking a dark chocolate with dark rum and toasted almonds - maybe some shredded coconut in there too if I feel like it!

I have the book at home, but the only chocolate recipe I have made was the sorbet (fabulous). Anyone have a particular recommendation of which one I should use?

[Kerry Beal]

I love, love, love this book. The recipes are fabulous and I've never had any problems with them. I've recently made both the gianduja (sp?) gelato and the fig ice cream. My fig ice cream ended up being fig and raspberry due to a fig shortage but it was still incredibly delicious. 

I do however find some of the recipes to be very sweet so I often cut back on the sugar by a quarter cup or more; I haven't found this to have any negative effects. The panaforte and matcha green tea icecreams have been particular favourites of mine and the basic vanilla (the custard based one) is absolute perfection.

I'd love to make the pistachio apricot icecream but I'm having a hard time finding un-salted pistachios. Does anyone know of a source that will ship to Canada?  Thanks!

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Where do you live in Canada?

[Darienne]

A friend and I were just looking at DL's book, drooling over the recipes. She has a troop of grandkids coming next weekend and would like to make ice cream with and for them...except for the cost.

'Could you not incorporate butter into the ice cream and thus cut down on the cost of the heavy cream. It would be much cheaper to use a lower % cream/milk and add butter somehow.'

Now, if RLB can add butter to lesser % cream and make it into whipping cream, why couldn't you add butter to a lesser % cream and make it into heavy cream and from there into ice cream. So I said I would ask on my forum and let her know. She loves to experiment with everything. (She'll probably try it anyway.)

I don't know. Can you? Thanks.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't suppose you could get most of the salt off/out of the pistachios?  Foolish question, no doubt.

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It's not foolish at all. It's pretty easy to rinse off all or at least most of the salt. Then just dry most of the moisture with a clean towel and toast them a bit.

Bulkfoods.com carries unsalted pistachios and ships to Canada. Their shipping costs aren't bad at all and include all taxes, duties, fees, politician salaries, etc. in the shipping cost... nothing due on delivery.