Home Made Ice Cream (2002–2012)

[bigchef]

I just wonder if the bottom should be reincorporated into the milk before it is strained and added? Or maybe that would add way to much of that flavour. The russians have a baked milk drink made in the crockpot over hours and hours. I may use that milk in conjunction with the recipe you mentioned above. Some vanilla bean as well. :-)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

It adds a lot of the flavour to the final product if you bring up the bottom stuff - but try it. You may find that it's a flavour you like, along with the vanilla and a teensy hint of bourbon.... Ultimately, if it's a good flavour, it doesn't matter if you follow the recipe to the letter as long as you keep track of what you did.

[Tri2Cook]

I just checked my book in case I was remembering incorrectly. The milk is definitely cooked on it's own prior to the sugar or anything else joining the party so any recipe that says otherwise is that person's own adaptation. It's a 4 ingredient recipe, the "burnt" milk, some cream, sugar and egg yolks. You cook the milk, pour it off of the burnt solids and make a traditional custard with it, the cream, the sugar and the eggs. 74.98% milk (weighed after it's been "burnt" and poured off of the solids of course), 6.96% cream, 16.02% sugar and 7.04% egg yolk. His recipe is based on a 5kg batch but it scales down easily since he gives the ratios in every recipe. It's one of the best cookbook purchases I've made in terms of how much I've actually used it and learned from it.

[bigchef]

Hi all! I think I may have cracked it. Place whole milk in the slow cooker and cook on low for 18 hours or until it reaches a lite golden color.

Place in high walled pot and prepare as per "burnt" milk but whisk now and again to get some specs from the bottom.

Deeply caramalise sugar before use.

Cook with double cream, egg yolks, vanilla (and bourbon if desired) and strain as per usual.

Add beurre noisette (unstrained)

MMMMMMMM what flavour!

[vice]

74.98% milk (weighed after it's been "burnt" and poured off of the solids of course), 6.96% cream, 16.02% sugar and 7.04% egg yolk.

Are these percentages supposed to add up to 100? I figure they should if everything is scaled to the total batch weight. Then again, I guess there could be as much as 5% loss in the process.

[Tri2Cook]

I'll have to check the book again, I didn't scale off of the percentages when I did the recipe, I just did a 1/4 batch based on the ingredient weights given.

[oli]

Hi all! I think I may have cracked it. Place whole milk in the slow cooker and cook on low for 18 hours or until it reaches a lite golden color.

Place in high walled pot and prepare as per "burnt" milk but whisk now and again to get some specs from the bottom.

Deeply caramalise sugar before use.

Cook with double cream, egg yolks, vanilla (and bourbon if desired) and strain as per usual.

Add beurre noisette (unstrained)

MMMMMMMM what flavour!

I am following this closely and will try it soon. When you say "Deeply caramalise sugar before use." are you saying caramalize the sugar and then add it to the "burnt milk"?

Are you calling the burnt milk the "double cream"?

Thanks

[bigchef]

no the recipe contains milk, double cream, sugar, vanilla, egg yolks. The milk is "baked" in the slow cooker first and "burnt". The sugar is caramalised and the milk + vanilla + brown nutter is added to it slowly. Then add the yolks and cream. Cook then strain. Cool and churn

Edited June 16, 2011 by bigchef (log)

[bigchef]

What if I toasted milk powder in a pan till golden and added that as well? So far the icecream is AMAZING. I just wonder how much further I can push it.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Try it - powdered milk has more concentrated sugars in it than fresh/liquid milk, so you'd probably get a fairly intense caramelization by dry-toasting it. Then you might even be able to skip the step of "baking" the milk in the crockpot - if it works the way I think it will, you'll end up with instant baked milk.

[Kerry Beal]

Try it - powdered milk has more concentrated sugars in it than fresh/liquid milk, so you'd probably get a fairly intense caramelization by dry-toasting it. Then you might even be able to skip the step of "baking" the milk in the crockpot - if it works the way I think it will, you'll end up with instant baked milk.

Ideas in Food uses a pressure cooker to caramelize milk powder.

[ChrisZ]

If you want to take it in a slightly different direction, you can caramelise white chocolate in an oven, then melt it into your base. In one of those funny coincidences that happen, last week in a local bakery they were giving out free caramelised white chocolate macarons that had broken, then when I got home there was a caramelised white chocolate mousse being made on Masterchef...

The macaron was delicious, definitely white chocolate but also definitely caramel too.

[Mjx]

What if I toasted milk powder in a pan till golden and added that as well? So far the icecream is AMAZING. I just wonder how much further I can push it.

Toasting powdered milk adds a great flavour (I've done it when jury-rigging a replacement for condensed milk, when I'm in places whre it's unavailable), but it seems to make it less soluble (you see small, distinct tan flecks in the milk mixture); this may be because I've used powdered whole milk, and perhaps the toasting polymerizes the fat in it. I keep meaning to try this with skim milk powder, but haven't gotten around to it. If you try this, let me know how it goes.

[pep.]

I'm making the adapted recipe from Cannelle et Vanille, but I had trouble "burning" the milk even on high heat. I used a large pot with with a relatively large diameter instead of a dedicated milk pot (as I don't have one). Was that the reason? Or did I stir too much? In the past, I've burnt milk accidentally several times, so I was flabbergasted that it didn't work this time.

In the end, I poured off most of the milk, then the residue turned brown quickly. Then I re-added the rest of the milk and let it simmer for a minute or two (probably not long enough to really get the flavor). I had added a vanilla pod before and in the finished ice mix, I can barely taste the burnt milk aroma, if at all.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Pep, when burning milk it's best to stir as little as possible, or to burn in small volume batches and blend these together at the end of the process. Personally, I'd never try with more than 1L of milk at a time, simply because larger volumes take forever to achieve that nice caramelized flavour.

[pep.]

I did try with 0.9 liters (I added the rest after the milk had reduced by half without burning)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Hmmm. Very odd - I'm always able to burn milk or caramelize it in batches of 1L or less; it takes about an hour, and I stir maybe twice if I'm burning it. I don't have a dedicated milk pot, just a nice stainless steel one that's fairly easy to clean up afterwards. Maybe try adding a pinch of baking soda before you start the burn - that acts as a catalyst for the caramelization reaction.

[pep.]

OK, maybe I was too hasty (it's certainly been less than an hour, maybe 30 minutes)? But I will try the baking soda next time.

[jrshaul]

A stroke of good luck at a garage sale brought me a like-new electric ice cream maker for all of $3. I proceeded to freeze the liner, throw in a mixture of 2.5 cups whole milk, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 cup sugar, and a bit of maple syrup and corn syrup (it seemed sensible at the time) to test it, and it appears to be working flawlessly. It was a little bit grainy, but I chalk that up to not actually using any cream - it was, after all, a system test, and I didn't want to waste a pint of the good stuff on an appliance of unknown provenance.

I've never made ice cream before, though, and would be up to some idiotproofed suggestions. Especially those that involve apples (I have a temporary surplus), peaches (ditto), grapefruit (especially if it has campari in it,) and sour cream (don't ask.)

[KaffirLime]

Well if it was me and I wanted to make ice cream I'd throw out the apples, peaches, grapefruit, sour cream, cornstarch, sugar, maple syrup and corn syrup. I'd probably just start with some milk, eggs, cream and vanilla

[Chris Hennes]

Agreed (though I'd add some sugar, too).

[rlibkind]

And since you appear into fruits, consider sorbets. Just remember to add a little corn syrup in addition to the sugar (regular Karo, for example, which is NOT a high fructose corn syrup) for its hydroscopic quality, I.e., helps to prevent big ice crystals. A tablespoon of alcohol (I like a complementary eau de vie, but vidka works) keeps it softer if you put it in the deep freeze because it lowers the freezing point. Running your fruit purées thru a chinoise or other fine mesh strainer helps, I think, make a more elegant sorbet; that's essential with fruits like blackberries.

A gelateria here in Philadelphia regularly makes a grapefruit-Campari sorbet that's popular. I'd use a couple extra tablespoons both because of its lower proof and because you like the flavor.

And a couple tablespoons of sour cream might turn it into an unusual sherbet.

[weinoo]

Yep- I'd start by making a Philadelphia style vanilla ice cream. Sorbets are easy - and grapefruit Campari is indeed a favorite of mine... click.

[SylviaLovegren]

If you cooked the apples with cinnamon and pureed them, then mixed them with the sour cream, some brown sugar....might make an interesting frozen thing.

A fun mixture for an ice/granita is cantaloupe or honeydew melon (or similar) puree with a bit of anisette. Touch of lemon juice and sugar syrup to taste.

For some obscure reason I got rid of my little ice cream maker when we moved. Drat!

[lesliec]

The basic recipe I use was certainly stolen from somewhere, but I feel it's sufficiently generic that I don't feel guilty.

I've added all sorts of things to it - fresh ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, liquorice (not all at once, but there's a thought ...).

Start with 250ml of milk, another 250ml of cream and 150g of sugar. Add your chosen flavouring and bring just to the boil. Turn off the heat and let the mixture stand for an hour (or more) to infuse. Your taste will determine both how much flavour you add and how long you let it stand, which might mean you'll have to make a few batches before you're truly happy - for me, two or three cinnamon sticks, or one split vanilla pod, are about right.

Bring the cream/milk back up to a simmer. Whisk together six egg yolks. Study the Internet or ice cream-making books for advice on the art of tempering to avoid flavoured scrambled eggs (actually, do that before you start this part). Once the milk/cream/eggs are all in your pot together, keep stirring until the mixture coats the back of your spoon or spatula (run your finger over the back of the implement; if it leaves a distinct, persistent track, you're there), then strain the mixture into another 250ml of cream. Some recipes will tell you this should be sitting over a bowl of ice, but I don't bother. Mix all together and allow to cool before covering and putting in the fridge for several hours (overnight is good). Pour into your ice cream maker and churn until it's done (about 40 minutes in mine).

The only caveat about including Campari or other alcohols - your ice cream won't set as firmly.

Have fun. And consider making a pavlova with the spare egg whites.

Edited July 16, 2012 by lesliec (log)