"The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz on ice cream

[Tri2Cook]

'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.'

←

If the recipe calls for heavy cream and milk in equal quantities that works out to ~20% fat and 18% cream works just fine as a less expensive sub. Apparently there are scientific reasons why it's not exactly the same (beyond the obvious 2% fat difference) but it's always worked fine when I've done it.

[Desiderio]

Made some tiramisu ice cream the other day with homemade mascarpone it was fabulous, I swirled it with a mocha fudge sauce, yummy.

[Pam Brunning]

Made some tiramisu ice cream the other day with homemade mascarpone it was fabulous, I swirled it with a mocha fudge sauce, yummy.

←

That sounds good. I made a big pot of raspberry yesterday with raspberry vodka and freeze dried raspberries with milk/whipping cream 50- 50. It is great, really creamy and soft scope straight out of the freezer.

[Darienne]

Made some tiramisu ice cream the other day with homemade mascarpone it was fabulous, I swirled it with a mocha fudge sauce, yummy.

←

That sounds good. I made a big pot of raspberry yesterday with raspberry vodka and freeze dried raspberries with milk/whipping cream 50- 50. It is great, really creamy and soft scope straight out of the freezer.

←

What more needs to be said?

Mascarpone, tiramisu, mocha (chocolate & coffee) fudge, raspberries, vodka, whipping cream...

[lolafeasts]

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone!! For the meantime I think I'm going to try rinsing the grocery store ones and if that fails I'll have some shipped.

Where do you live in Canada?

←

At the end of the world in Halifax (transplanted from Toronto)! Actually, that really is not fair to the city, we have some wonderful things out here and I am absolutely in love with our farmers market. Some things are just hard to access with out a car! I'm still slightly bitter about the lack of quality public transportation around here.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone!! For the meantime I think I'm going to try rinsing the grocery store ones and if that fails I'll have some shipped.

Where do you live in Canada?

←

At the end of the world in Halifax (transplanted from Toronto)! Actually, that really is not fair to the city, we have some wonderful things out here and I am absolutely in love with our farmers market. Some things are just hard to access with out a car! I'm still slightly bitter about the lack of quality public transportation around here.

←

Do they have a middle eastern store - I've had my best luck finding pistachios there?

[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?

←

Made the Philadephia-style chocolate with Penzey's cocoa powder and 72% chocolate from Trader Joe's. Not super-star level indgredients, but it came out really rich and deep. I can only have a few spoonfuls at a time - which is good for my waistline! Unfortunately, I can't really taste the rum, but the amount I put in keeps the texture at just the right softness for scooping.

[Darienne]

Made the Philadephia-style chocolate with Penzey's cocoa powder and 72% chocolate from Trader Joe's.  Not super-star level indgredients, but it came out really rich and deep.  I can only have a few spoonfuls at a time - which is good for my waistline!  Unfortunately, I can't really taste the rum, but the amount I put in keeps the texture at just the right softness for scooping. 

←

Congratulations.

I must admit that I pretty much always make my ice creams, whatever flavor, using the Philadelphia base. It's not as rich, satisfies me and the DH pretty well, and doesn't leave me with dozens of frozen egg whites in little dated containers in my freezer. I guess it works because my inclusions and flavorings are usually pretty punchy.

[jayhay]

I've been on a frozen yogurt kick lately. I made strawberry, blueberry, & mango in the last few weeks & we've loved them all. For the mango, I followed the strawberry yogurt recipe in the book, substituting frozen mango cubes, & using a little more lemon juice. I find the recipes just a little sweet, so tend to cut the sugar slightly. I use Liberty 2.5% fat organic yogurt & find the finished product to be just rich enough to satisfy, yet lets the fruit flavour shine through. Love this book!

[Darienne]

I've been on a frozen yogurt kick lately.  I  made  strawberry, blueberry, & mango in the last few weeks & we've loved them all.  For the mango, I  followed the strawberry yogurt recipe in the book, substituting  frozen mango cubes, & using a little more lemon juice.  I find the recipes just a little sweet,  so tend to cut the sugar slightly.  I use Liberty 2.5% fat organic yogurt & find the finished product to be just rich enough to satisfy, yet lets the fruit flavour shine through.  Love this book!

←

All other ice cream plans went out the window and I followed jayhay's lead. Made DL's Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. Loved it. Big time. My first. It's just the beginning.

[prairiegirl]

Rancho Vignola

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!

←

Get ahold of Rancho Vignola.

Edited to say they are in BC

Edited July 9, 2009 by prairiegirl (log)

[Darienne]

Two things:

One! My book has FINALLY arrived. I ordered it on June 17th. Ooops! This is Canada.

And I found two sources of Matcha tea so that's my next plan to make.

[binitahp]

Has anyone tried the Turron Ice-Cream (page 66)? I'm thinking about making it for a dinner Tuesday evening and would like to know if it tastes good enough to serve alone or should it be accompanied with another dessert?

[maui420]

hey everyone,

new guy here who just got a ice cream maker for a present. i have a question....in a recipe that i am following for vanilla gelato, it states to add mile, sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla bean to a pot and heat at medium until bubble form around the edges. would anyone happen to know at what temp this process is complete?

also, i like the ice cream to be on the less creamy side, so i assume id have more milk to heavy cream ration and less time for the mixture in the churner (thus incorporating less air?)

thanks all! hope to be updating this thread with pics of my progress!

[frazali]

Longtime reader, first time poster...

Just finished churning the mango sorbet, and it's in the freezer. I made it for my mom, but of course had to put some aside for my husband (and for me to sneak a taste).

I had to omit the rum unfortunately, since my mom can't tolerate alcohol - will this have any affect on the texture?

I love reading all of your reviews, and I'm looking forward to trying more!

[LizD518]

Longtime reader, first time poster...

Just finished churning the mango sorbet, and it's in the freezer. I made it for my mom, but of course had to put some aside for my husband (and for me to sneak a taste).

I had to omit the rum unfortunately, since my mom can't tolerate alcohol - will this have any affect on the texture?

I love reading all of your reviews, and I'm looking forward to trying more!

←

Welcome!

Omiting the rum in the sorbet might make it more icy / hard, but just let it soften for about 5-10 minutes in the frigde, or even on the counter. It will be fine.

[frazali]

Thanks, Liz. I will report back when we indulge!

[Darienne]

Ice Cream updates:

Did not make the Matcha Ice Cream. An eGulleter on the 'Matcha' thread suggested that my Matcha powder might not be expensive enough to be of a good enough grade to use. So I let it go for the time being.

HOWEVER I did just make the Fleur de Lait, the ice cream made with cornstarch. I made two small changes. As per usual, I substituted 2 Tablespoons of corn syrup for the sugar. The second change was not planned. I used the entire amount of sugar called for before I came to and realized that I usually cut down all sugar amounts in our ice cream. So I added some cardamom to lessen the sugar taste and the result was delicious and reminiscent of an Indian dessert.

Very good. Very rich and creamy. I was surprised with 2 cups of milk and only 1 cup of heavy cream.

Next?

[BeeZee]

I made the cheesecake ice cream tonight. Also made a batch of dulce del leche so I swirled that in along with some broken up cookies. Very tasty base for so few ingredients. The lemon zest really makes it.

[Darienne]

Today at lunch the Fleur de Lait passed the acid test. And was found rich enough. Rich enough is very important, especially to folks who find sherbet not rich enough.

Interesting to compare the richness of ingredients of a few ice creams:

* DL's Fleur de Lait: 2 cups whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream

* Alton Brown's Serious Vanilla: 2 cups 1/2 & 1/2, 1 cup heavy cream

* DL's Philadelphia Style Vanilla: 3 cups heavy cream or 2 cups heavy cream & 1 cup whole milk

* DL's New York style vanilla: 1 cup whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream AND 6 large egg yolks.

WOW!

Next the Fleur de Lait goes through my current Alton Brown Serious Vanilla process, that is adding the various inclusions which I regularly put into the AB ice cream, most importantly, the Orange-Szechwan Pepper ingredients in this lighter ice cream and see what the DH and others think.

[pnwradar]

new guy here who just got a ice cream maker for a present. i have a question....in a recipe that i am following for vanilla gelato, it states to add mile, sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla bean to a pot and heat at medium until bubble form around the edges. would anyone happen to know at what temp this process is complete?

also, i like the ice cream to be on the less creamy side, so i assume id have more milk to heavy cream ration and less time for the mixture in the churner (thus incorporating less air?)

For steeping vanilla or other flavors, I bring the soup to 120F and let it sit (covered) for an hour or two -- the whole time slightly concerned this is smack in the middle of the "danger zone" for food holding. Then I remove the vanilla pod, add egg yolks, and raise to custard temp (155-160F, 170F if I'm serving immune-compromised guests). I use a non-contact infrared thermometer ($35 at the local industrial supply shop) to measure stovetop liquids.

I'm not sure what "less creamy" means. Less richness means less fat, by using lighter fat content cream or replacing some cream with milk. You can tweak "mouthfeel" by adjusting sugar content or adding alcohol to alter the freezing point of the product, which will affect the size of the ice crystals formed during freezing -- making sure your freezer bowl and product are both fully chilled before spinning will help greatly here, as faster freezing in the machine means smaller crystals and a smoother mouthfeel.

The air content is determined by the machine physics (the dasher speed, angle of the blades, etc.), so running the batch for a shorter time will just yield less-chilled product. Home ice-cream machines typically incorporate the same air as the super-premium ice creams. In Europe, gelato tends to mean even less air and freshly made (that day, usually), but in America it's a marketing word to justify a larger pricetag. That said, there are countertop "gelato" machines from Italy which my local chef friends swear by.

-jon-

[pnwradar]

Did not make the Matcha Ice Cream.  An eGulleter on the 'Matcha' thread suggested that my Matcha powder might not be expensive enough to be of a good enough grade to use.  So I let it go for the time being.

After a similar discussion with friends last fall, I bought some *really* expensive matcha powder, some really cheap stuff, and the moderately expensive stuff I've always used.

In ice cream, they all tasted nearly the same -- the cheaper stuff was a little better, having a stronger "green grass" flavor. In hot tea, totally the opposite -- the cheap stuff was unpalatable, the top-shelf stuff was tastiest.

On a different note, the parallel saffron "experiment" showed higher quality saffron made way better ice cream, where quality didn't relate to price. The supermarket stuff was mediocre, and ridiculously overpriced. The saffron from Penzey's was much better, and the bulk saffron I bought online from an importer was amazing.

-jon-

[Darienne]

Did not make the Matcha Ice Cream.  An eGulleter on the 'Matcha' thread suggested that my Matcha powder might not be expensive enough to be of a good enough grade to use.  So I let it go for the time being.

After a similar discussion with friends last fall, I bought some *really* expensive matcha powder, some really cheap stuff, and the moderately expensive stuff I've always used.

In ice cream, they all tasted nearly the same -- the cheaper stuff was a little better, having a stronger "green grass" flavor. In hot tea, totally the opposite -- the cheap stuff was unpalatable, the top-shelf stuff was tastiest.

On a different note, the parallel saffron "experiment" showed higher quality saffron made way better ice cream, where quality didn't relate to price. The supermarket stuff was mediocre, and ridiculously overpriced. The saffron from Penzey's was much better, and the bulk saffron I bought online from an importer was amazing.

-jon-

←

Thank you Jon for that information. I just might try the Matcha ice cream soon.

In the meantime I have made the chocolate biscuits for ice cream sandwiches, and now want to add chocolate to the cornstarch Fleur de Lait. Busy, busy, busy.

[Darienne]

What I would like to do is to turn DL's wonderful Fleur de Lait into Fleur de Lait Chocolat, but I am not at all sure how to go about it. I have not much experience in this field and don't know if cocoa would be better or melted chocolate and how to figure out how much of what to use.

Cocoa has no cocoa butter in it and melted chocolate has lots. And cocoa needs sugar and chocolate needs less. I could certainly experiment and get it right after a try or two, but you guys are here to help the newbies like me....please..... right?

Thanks.

[pnwradar]

I didn't find any notes anywhere about chocolate cornstarch ice cream, so you might be a pioneer!

Adding fat as cocoa butter will change the mouthfeel -- might make it better, who knows. To keep the texture the same, use cocoa solids (powder) only. "Dutch Process" cocoa powder is less acidic than regular, and brings a milder flavor.

First I'd try thoroughly whisking 4T (1/4c) quality dutch-process cocoa powder into the milk/sugar, then adding the cream/cornstarch as normal. Then a second batch melting 1/3c bittersweet or semi-sweet chips into the milk/sugar. A third batch with 3T chips and 2T cocoa powder. Compare the mouthfeel of the different products then play with the amount, type, and brand of cocoa to see how the product changes.

I usually use less sugar/sweetener than I think I need, and "sneak up" on the final result. I'll melt, modify, and re-freeze the product until it's dialed in. My best chocolate desserts tend to be less sweet than commercial versions, letting the cocoa flavour be the star.

-jon-