"The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz on ice cream

[John DePaula]

I've now made the roasted banana ice cream, the Aztec "Hot" Chocolate ice cream, and the nectarine sorbet. All are delicious. Both batches of nectarine sorbet totally overflowed the machine, so I wonder if I'm churning too much or if this particular recipe is just a little overgenerous with the quantity. Haven't scooped it from the freezer yet so I don't know what the consistency's going to be like. We'll see.

The Aztec hot chocolate is amazing, though. I only used two teaspoons of powdered ancho so it's not in there as a discernable flavor of its own. Though my husband, who served himself an extra scoop, said "The heat builds up if you eat a lot of it."

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I think that David said that different machines have different levels of 'overrun' i.e. incorporate different amounts of air. My machine always makes less than the recipe's indicated amount and it sounds like yours makes more.

[MelissaH]

I made a batch of pear sorbet today. I used the pears I got last week at the farmer's market, as they were finally perfectly ripe. I can't remember what kind they were, but they were described as "similar to a Bartlett," green with a dark red blush, and quite crisp.

Half a dozen pears weighed about 2.25 pounds. That's what I had so that's what I used. I started by peeling, coring, and cubing them. I put them in a saucepan with about half a cup of water and let them cook, covered, for about ten minutes till they were soft. I turned the heat off, and then realized that my husband had used the blender last night, and it hadn't made its way into the dishwasher. So instead of blending the cooked fruit, I got out the food mill, fitted it with the finest disk, put the mill over a 4-cup pyrex spouted measuring cup, and milled the cooked pears into pearsauce. (Had I realized from the beginning that our blender was dirty, I would have saved myself the peeling and coring. In fact, next time I won't bother, even if the blender's clean.)

The recipe said that the result would be about 2 cups of puree. I had a little bit more than that. I stirred in a slightly heaping 1/3 cup of sugar (recipe said 2/3 cup) and the juice from half a lemon. And then instead of the extra water, I stirred in three good-sized ice cubes, both to add a little extra liquid and to cool the mixture. I covered the measuring cup with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about an hour, at which point I got the freezer bowl out of the deep freeze and put the ice cream maker together. It took less than half an hour to spin and freeze. Served directly from the freezer bowl, no waiting.

End result: silky, smooth, pear-y, and almost creamy. Definitely a keeper.

MelissaH

Edited August 17, 2007 by MelissaH (log)

[David Lebovitz]

I've now made the roasted banana ice cream, the Aztec "Hot" Chocolate ice cream, and the nectarine sorbet. All are delicious. Both batches of nectarine sorbet totally overflowed the machine, so I wonder if I'm churning too much or if this particular recipe is just a little overgenerous with the quantity. Haven't scooped it from the freezer yet so I don't know what the consistency's going to be like. We'll see.

The Aztec hot chocolate is amazing, though. I only used two teaspoons of powdered ancho so it's not in there as a discernable flavor of its own. Though my husband, who served himself an extra scoop, said "The heat builds up if you eat a lot of it."

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I think that David said that different machines have different levels of 'overrun' i.e. incorporate different amounts of air. My machine always makes less than the recipe's indicated amount and it sounds like yours makes more.

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John: Yes, machines do vary in how much 'overrun'' they produce. I tested the recipes in 3 various machines and got different volumes from the same recipe, but they were all within about 1/2 cup. Also, letting the ice cream or sherbet keep going after you think it's fully-churned often results in more volume since much of the overrun occurs during those final few minutes.

[SondraG]

Not sure what took me so long to get to this book and a new ice cream maker (Cuisinart Ice 20), but now I'm really excited. So far I''ve make the Philly vanilla and a couple of sorbets. The vanilla texture and richness is terrific.

For those of you who have made both the Philly and custard style, which do you prefer? The Philly is plenty rich for me. If the custard style is richer, it may be too much for my taste.

I think Coffee will be my next venture.

Thanks for advice, and this terrific thread.

[John DePaula]

Not sure what took me so long to get to this book and a new ice cream maker (Cuisinart Ice 20), but now I'm really excited.  So far I''ve make the Philly vanilla and a couple of sorbets.  The vanilla texture and richness is terrific. 

For those of you who have made both the Philly and custard style, which do you prefer?  The Philly is plenty rich for me.  If the custard style is richer, it may be too much for my taste. 

I think Coffee will be my next venture.

Thanks for advice, and this terrific thread.

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I totally agree, Sondra. The custard style is fun to make and delicious but just a bit too rich, for me anyway. Glad you're enjoying your new ice cream maker!

[Sartain]

Made my first batch from David's book yesterday - the Fig ice cream. The flavor was solid, although a bit more "milky" than "fruity." Maybe it was the figs. Next time I might boost the fig amount and/or up the lemon juice called for.

Also, the recipe does not call for straining the fig puree, so the texture is seedy. I will try straining next time.

Regardless, I loved it. Purple and figgy is how I like my summers!

[Lindacakes]

I did chocolate sorbet to go with a key lime pie. It was amazing to watch my guest consume it. I've never seen anyone eat like that before.

It worked wonderfully in spite of the fact that I'd left the sugar out and had to go back and add it at the end.

I used Valrhona cocoa and Valrhona semisweet chocolate, and for fun I used black cocoa for 1/3 of the cocoa.

Extremely impressive stuff.

[SondraG]

Oh, fig ice cream and chocolate sorbet, you guys are being adventurous. They both sound luscious. DH is not a chocolate fan, so I haven't tried any chocolate versions, but will this weekend.

I made Coffee Ice Cream, using the Philly Vanilla as a base, just added two teaspoons of good espresso powder to the cream and sugar while warming. It was very good. I used this recipe because the custard based ice creams are just too rich for me.

Today, I made the Peach Ice Cream, and WOW! I was afraid that there was too much liquid in the peaches, but it turned out beautifully. The color is beautiful, texture very nice, and the sour cream and small amount of lemon juice give it a creamy, smooth, very fruity taste.

I'm really kicking myself for not getting into ice cream making sooner.

Next up, Roasted Banana. Yum.

[jende]

I made a berry sorbet (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries) following David's blackberry sorbet recipe. It was so easy to make and came out tasting delicious, and with a great texture and mouth feel.

I'm so glad I discovered this book. My previous attempts at ice cream were always disappointing, but everything I've tried from this book has been delicious. I think I'm doing the chocolate sorbet next.

[caseyell]

OK..you all have convinced me to buy the book. I have a lovely little Italian ice cream machine and always resort to the same few recipes. Time to broaden the repertoire.

[SondraG]

OK..you all have convinced me to buy the book. I have a lovely little Italian ice cream machine and always resort to the same few recipes. Time to broaden the repertoire.

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Glad you could join us. I'm a little late this Summer getting started on ice cream, but am making up for lost time!

I made Roasted Banana today, love it. Rich, yummy. Tomorrow I am going to do the Pina Colada Sherbet.

Please post your experiences too.

[jgarner53]

We did the fig ice cream, too, last week (Husband made it). I thought it a bit lemony, but loved the crunch of the fig seeds in it!

I made the mint ice cream this week and swirled in some melted 61% E. Guittard chocolate to make it Straciatella. Oh, man is this good! I love the flavor of the fresh mint leaves!

The only hard thing with this book is deciding which recipe to try next!

[SondraG]

I have Pina Colada Sherbet churning as I write. Oh my, it is the most beautiful color and tastes divine (the pineapple and coconut milk are just the perfect marriage). I used a gorgeous golden pineapple and Meyers Dark Rum. Yummy!

[jende]

As a service to those of you who've been using this book a little too much (like me) I thought I'd let you know that I made the chocolate peanut butter ice cream using whole milk instead of heavy cream and it turned out great.

The texture is maybe a little looser, but still very good and the flavor is wonderful. I also used chunky peanut butter (Koeze) and that was fine, too.

[John DePaula]

I made the Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream yesterday but with a slight variation from the recipe. Instead of the vanilla extract called for by the recipe, I used about 1-1/4 teaspoon of Pandan Essence*. I wanted something a little different to go with my Coconut Layer Cake.

First of all, I have to say the recipe was especially creamy even though there were no eggs. I'd been wanting to try the Philadelphia-style to compare to the custard-style ice creams and personally, I prefer the Philadelphia-style. To me, the custards are just a bit too rich.

Next, I'd say that making ice cream doesn't get much easier than this. Very quick to put this together.

The pandan essence was just wonderful in this ice cream. And Wow! this sure went well with the cake.

Next time, I may try this base with Fiori di Sicilia oil...

* You can find pandan in the Thai section of your local Asian supermarket. You can also get frozen pandan leaves but I was never successful in extracting much flavor from them.

[Kerry Beal]

John,

Where did you get the Fiori de Sicilia oil. sote23 has been looking for some.

[kaneel]

I got mine from the king arthur catalog.

[John DePaula]

John,

Where did you get the Fiori de Sicilia oil.  sote23 has been looking for some.

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I got mine from the king arthur catalog.

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That's right, I got mine from King Arthur. It's really a lovely spice; wonderful in cakes, too.

[Abra]

Oh, I love the idea of using fiori di Sicilia in ice cream. Instant creamsicle!

[Priscilla]

Book and discussion both inspiring.

On the wknd. we made Chocolate Sorbet (excellent: I love water as a chocolate-delivery system... like the best fudgesicle from the ice-cream truck of childhood dreams), and Roasted Banana ice cream -- very good, although as Abra notes not 100% creamy for some reason -- it has been suggested to me that its remainder could be worried down with a little homemade hot fudge sauce. I can do that.

All eclipsed in a startling surprise upset by modest Banana Sorbet, originally added in due to insufficient ripe-banana attrition. Absolutely heavenly. Will be making frequently for, like, the rest of our lives.

[Tri2Cook]

Roasted Banana ice cream -- very good, although as Abra notes not 100% creamy for some reason --

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I thought the same so I made it again but instead of sticking with the original recipe I blended the roasted banana mixture with a custard base and all that extra fat from the cream and yolks did the trick. It was like a smooth, creamy spoonful of banana bread.

[Priscilla]

Hot Fudge Sauce, the one with brown sugar and both cocoa and chopped chocolate: Best. Hot. Fudge. Ever. Just delicious.

Never has a homemade hot fudge sauce napped ice cream as perfectly, and running thickly only so far down w/o running all the way off is a VERY important aspect of hot fudge, to me.

At least, if one is trying to emulate Bob's Big Boy hot fudge sauce, a personal benchmark.

Roasted Banana had quietly improved in texture... a very good combination with the sauce, the caramel in the bananas resonating nicely with the brown sugar in the hot fudge.

[Deborah]

This thread inspired me to buy a ice cream machine and David's book this week and I am so happy with the results! This was my first attempt making ice cream and honestly, it was so good, that I question whether I'll buy store-bought ice cream again.

I purchased the Cuisinart Ice-30 and decided to try the Chocolate and the Malted Milk Ball ice creams. Both were very rich and creamy and had unbelievably intense flavor. I can't wait to try more of the recipes in this book.

Here's a quick snapshot taken after each had a full night in the freezer:

[Deborah]

I think I'm hooked! My husband loves Peanut Butter cups so here is David's Peanut Butter Ice cream with chopped up peanut butter cups in it. This was fabulous!

[Lindacakes]

If you're like me, Deborah, you won't ever buy your ice cream again. I can't stand the taste of it since I've started using this book.

I really have to thank David Lebovitz -- before this book I thought it was my cheap (the kind everybody has) ice cream maker. Now I know better.

For as often as I eat ice cream, I don't mind planning for it and having superior ice cream. I never eat or drink dairy that isn't organic -- which is probably why I don't like store bought ice cream any more. Too chemically, too sweet, too too.