"The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz on ice cream

[emmalish]

I'm more likely to buy vanilla ice milk than ice cream, so I'm sure I'll be happy with the lighter version of the recipe. I've got a bit more syrup to use up, so I'm going to make another batch of the philly vanilly as soon as I finish up one of the existing containers in my freezer.

I mixed up the strawberry sour cream ice cream last night and churned it this morning, so I now have THREE big containers of ice creamin my freezer. I'm a single gal, I really don't need that much at any one time. Really.

Instead of just pulsing the mixture so there were bits of strawberry, I puréed it and strained out the seeds. So yummy. Next time I might do the same and then add in a few bits of strawberry at the end. I was tempted to swirl some of the fudge ripple into it.

[John DePaula]

I'm more likely to buy vanilla ice milk than ice cream, so I'm sure I'll be happy with the lighter version of the recipe. I've got a bit more syrup to use up, so I'm going to make another batch of the philly vanilly as soon as I finish up one of the existing containers in my freezer.

I mixed up the strawberry sour cream ice cream last night and churned it this morning, so I now have THREE big containers of ice creamin my freezer. I'm a single gal, I really don't need that much at any one time. Really.

Instead of just pulsing the mixture so there were bits of strawberry, I puréed it and strained out the seeds. So yummy. Next time I might do the same and then add in a few bits of strawberry at the end. I was tempted to swirl some of the fudge ripple into it.

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Emma, I like to make lots of flavors but don't necessarily want to eat all that ice cream. So one Sunday, I threw together a few toppings and called up some friends: Instant Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social. Very big hit!

[emmalish]

Emma, I like to make lots of flavors but don't necessarily want to eat all that ice cream.  So one Sunday, I threw together a few toppings and called up some friends:  Instant Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social.  Very big hit!

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John, I saw that upthread – I thought it was a great idea! Unfortunately it's rainy and cold in Vancouver right now. I'm going to wait for nicer weather to have an ice cream party. In the meantime, the ice cream is mine... all mine!

[John DePaula]

Emma, I like to make lots of flavors but don't necessarily want to eat all that ice cream.  So one Sunday, I threw together a few toppings and called up some friends:  Instant Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social.  Very big hit!

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John, I saw that upthread – I thought it was a great idea! Unfortunately it's rainy and cold in Vancouver right now. I'm going to wait for nicer weather to have an ice cream party. In the meantime, the ice cream is mine... all mine!

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[LizD518]

What do you guys think will be the result of using Splenda or Splenda for Baking on the texture? I know sugar helps depress the freezing point - do you think it would be too hard with the Splenda?

[emmalish]

Sorry LizD518, I've never worked with Splenda so I have no idea. I'm sure someone else will have an answer for you.

I'm having some of the strawberry sour cream ice cream right now – great strawberry flavour with a nice tang from the sour cream (I think someone else said the same thing upthread...?). And it's great with the fudge ripple too (had a little on the side).

I've almost finished the first batch of fudge/caramel/vanilla, so I'll make another batch this weekend and use up the last of the syrups. And then the next one I want to try is the chocolate sorbet – I never did get around to trying it last summer.

[paulraphael]

I just got the book and am curious about the method Mr. Lebovitz recommends for making custard. I've always whisked the egg yolks and sugar together, and heated the milk/cream separately.

He suggests mixing the sugar with the milk and cream before heating.

Are there advantages to this? Or significant differences between the two outcomes?

I'd be inclined to keep doing it my way unless there's a compelling reason to switch. It seems to me that it's easier to temper the yolks without any curdling when they're already well liquefied, and when they have the added thermal mass of the sugar.

Thoughts?

[jumanggy]

Hi Paul, I've noticed that too but I haven't tried making ice cream base with the sugar and the yolks together, so I can't tell you if there's a difference. It doesn't curdle-- it's smooth and what I strain out are all tiny bits of egg white.

Anyway, I finally got the book and I made Blackberry Swirl Ice Cream, a variant of the Raspberry Swirl. (Please don't mind the blog-related title, heh)

[Tri2Cook]

Nice Jumanggy! I miss having local wild blackberries. The abundance of local wild blueberries helps console me a bit though.

[SondraG]

Made the sour cream strawberry this weekend. Love the texture and flavor. Next time, will reduce the sugar, and will not process in the FP. I think it releases too much liquid at that stage, and cuts the berries up too finely - even though I pulsed carefully only 3 times. Will just cut the berries up in quarters, the ice cream machine does break some of them up during churning.

[LizD518]

Made the zesty sorbet a few days ago. I substituted lime juice & zest for half of the lemon. Really good, but it froze really hard any icy, probably because I used the minimum mount of sugar. However, it is fabulous with a splash of blueberry (or other) vodka poured over it. Yum!

[John DePaula]

Made the zesty sorbet a few days ago.  I substituted lime juice & zest for half of the lemon.  Really good, but it froze really hard any icy, probably because I used the minimum mount of sugar.  However, it is fabulous with a splash of blueberry (or other) vodka poured over it.  Yum!

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You could add some of that vodka to the mix prior to freezing and it would likely make it less hard and icy...

[abooja]

I just mixed a batch of gianduja gelato which will get frozen and stracciatella'd tomorrow. It smells absolutely divine, like a melted Baci. It just seemed wrong to toss out all those lovely toasted, ground hazelnuts once they were done steeping. Is there any reason not to keep at least some of them in there, or have they been spent at this point? I even considered toasting some more and adding them in once the mixture is frozen, but wanted to stick to the recipe this first time around. Has anyone left in the hazelnuts and, if so, how'd it turn out?

[CSY]

I just mixed a batch of gianduja gelato which will get frozen and stracciatella'd tomorrow.  It smells absolutely divine, like a melted Baci.  It just seemed wrong to toss out all those lovely toasted, ground hazelnuts once they were done steeping.  Is there any reason not to keep at least some of them in there, or have they been spent at this point?  I even considered toasting some more and adding them in once the mixture is frozen, but wanted to stick to the recipe this first time around.  Has anyone left in the hazelnuts and, if so, how'd it turn out? 

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hi Lisa,

Tips fr. Pamela:

Gelati(hazelnut)

[abooja]

hi Lisa,

Tips fr. Pamela:

Gelati(hazelnut)

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Wow, thanks, CSY! Gelato tips from a cookbook author. Awesome.

I still think I'll leave this batch nutless for now and just add the melted chocolate. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be making it again and again.

[abooja]

I just churned the gianduja stracciatella (unemployment does have its merits) and it is fantastic!! Aromatic and perfectly sweetened, each drop packs an enormous amount of flavor. I'm so happy I finally tried it. I can't wait to see how it sets up in the freezer.

Next time, I'm adding in some toasted hazelnuts and reducing the amount of melted chocolate to perhaps 3 ounces. I'd rather the crunch of the hazelnuts than stracciatella, though it is close to perfect the way it is right now. Highly recommended.

[LizD518]

I made the French Vanilla this weekend with a couple of very small tweaks...used 2% instead of whole milk and only 4 egg yolks, 'cuz that's how many I had. It came out superb. The texture is absolutely perfect and the flavor is rich and almost buttery. I used a tahitian vanilla bean and homemade extract from the same beans as well.

[abooja]

I made a second batch of gianduja stracciatella with chopped hazelnuts and, you know what? It wasn't as good as the first batch. Way too chewy, like eating a candy bar, and I added less than a cup. I also overcooked the custard a bit. While it didn't curdle, it was way too thick, so much so that I added a bit of cold cream to the cooled mixture before churning. Still, it was too dense and not very cold, like the first batch. Think I'll stick to the original recipe, and replace my instant read thermometer. It fell into a pot of cooking fresh mint custard and never fully recovered.

[jayhay]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I'm having a problem making the Coffee Ice Cream in the book.

I decided to make the recipe a little lighter, by using 2% milk & half & half, instead of whole milk & heavy cream. After heating the milk mixture with the whole coffee beans, I see it has curdled. I don't think it boiled, if that might be a consideration.

Can I rescue this, & carry on with the recipe, or should I throw it out & start again, using the proper dairy?

[jayhay]

Well, I carried on with the Coffee Ice Cream, after straining out the curdles with a fine strainer, & it was delicious! I needn't have worried, it's a very forgiving recipe.

Yesterday I made Super Lemon Ice Cream, & it's another winner. Creamy, tart, & oh so easy to make.

[emmalish]

I had a craving for vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup last night. I had vanilla ice cream, but no syrup. I held off as long as I could, but I finally gave in and made the Lean Chocolate Syrup...

I almost made the fudge ripple recipe, because I've made it before and it's delicious, but I wanted to try one of the syrups. They all looked good, but the description says this is David's favourite all-purpose chocolate sauce. I glanced through the ingredients and the description, and it looked good and I had everything, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It was late, apparently I was on auto-pilot. The recipe said it makes 2 cups. Sounded great... so I pulled out my small saucepan and started adding ingredients... 2 cups water, 1 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup light syrup... do you see the problem? It's already waaaaay more than 2 cups. I just kept adding things to the saucepan until it was dangerously close to the top (and yeah, it did boil over). What a mess. Totally wasn't thinking. Delicious chocolate sauce though!

Edited January 12, 2009 by emmalish (log)

[emmalish]

I made the salted butter caramel sauce the other day. I've been having it with ice cream, pie, brownies, you name it. Yesterday I thought, hmmmm, I bet it would be great with some sliced granny smith apple! SOOOOO good! I'm addicted. Is it wrong that this is basically my supper tonight?

[jm chen]

Yesterday I made Super Lemon Ice Cream, & it's another winner.    Creamy, tart, & oh so easy to make.

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I just made this one and it's really excellent. Thinking of serving with semolina cake for an upcoming dinner party.

There are so many great recipes in this book that don't involve messing with custard, so I tend to stick with those, but my husband requested Rum Raisin a few weeks back so I made an exception. OMG that was tremendous, tremendous stuff. Just the right richness, and the rum-soaked golden raisins had this great tangy-rummy thing going on.

[wannabechef]

Just came across this thread today. I bought The Perfect Scoop a few weeks ago and have had great success so far.

First I made the dried-apricot-pistachio one. It came out incredible. One thing I was surprised about was how much of the wine flavor (you steep the dried apricots in wine first) came through in the ice cream. So pick a wine you like for this one!

I've also made the plain chocolate custard (was one of the best chocolates I've had), cinnamon ice cream (could have been a bit more "cinnamony) for me, and oatmeal-rasin is sitting in my freezer currently. The oatmeal-raisin flavor has an oatmeal-praline mixed in and I botched my first attempt by burning the sugar. It really is tricky - esp since you are carmelizing pure sugar with no water mixed in. It burns really fast. The second pass came out great and after sitting in the ice cream a while it gets nice and chewey.

On my list to make are green tea, chocolate brownie, and then some of the flavors with peanut butter in them. This is really great fun. I also want to try making my own cones eventually.

One question for David if he still posts here, or anyone else. I have an idea for a flavor I want to try but am not sure what to use as the base. I want to make a flavor based on the Turkish liquor called Raki - which is similar to the Greek ouzo. It has an anise, black licorice type flavor. I figure maybe I can use vanilla as a base and then just add the liquor. I want the flavor of the Raki to really come through though, but don't want to add so much that the ice cream doesn't freeze enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for me here?

Thanks!

~WBC

[paulraphael]

I want the flavor of the Raki to really come through though, but don't want to add so much that the ice cream doesn't freeze enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for me here?

You don't need any vanilla at all. Just mix up your base of choice without flavoring.

I'd cut back a bit on the sugar, since sugar (along with alcohol) softens the ice cream, and since the liqueur probably has some sugar of its own. you can also substitute fructose for regular sugar, which will give you more sweetness with even less sugar.

What's the alcohol content of the Raki? That's important. For 80 proof booze, I start with 2 or 3 TB per quart. If that doesn't get enough flavor, I'll flame some of the booze, add that, and then top off with a bit of unflamed booze (to taste).

It takes a bit of experimenting to get a flavor right.