Home Made Ice Cream (2002–2012)

[tan319]

I made a COMPLETELY KILLER peanut butter ice cream last week to go with a new dessert ( features milk chocolate, of course)

Can I get that with some marshmallow creme topping?

Well, yes you could.

I've been thinking about the marshmallow angle since Saturday, when I test drove the new item as a special.

I was using raspberrys on top of dots of chocolate sauce and blackberries on top of dots of raspberry coulis for some acid to cut the richness of all that peanut butter and milk chocolate( milk chocolate cake disc hollowed out, filled with a milk chocolate cream, hidden by a milk chocolate/peanut crocant square, very thin, ice cream on top).

So, thinking about the marshmallow thing, either I'm going to do a hot marshmallow creme, maybe bruleed or, remembering this really cool concept I saw on my El Bulli '98/2002' CD rom, do a filled marshmallow, with a really thick raspberry or mixed berry sauce.

You make the marshmallow, pipe it out, let it set up, then inject it with the puree.

That would be interesting.

Of course, a lot of room for error in the plating comes up!

[thecuriousone]

Hi All- I'm writing in a semi-panic. My favorite ice cream recipe involves a custard. I worked really hard not to overshoot, the thickening point, however I ended up with miniscule chunks of what I think are scrambled eggs. CAn I simply strain i t or will I end up with grainy ice cream if I try to use this custard base? Any help would be appreciated. I plan to churn this ice cream tomorrow.

Thanks again.

as an fyi- the recipe includes 8 egg yolks, 1.25 cups of sugar, 2.5 cups of milk and 2.5 cups of heavy cream.

[claire797]

Hi All-  I'm writing in a semi-panic.  My favorite ice cream recipe involves a custard.  I worked really hard not to overshoot, the thickening point, however I ended up with miniscule chunks of what I think are scrambled eggs.  CAn I simply strain i t or will I end up with grainy ice cream if I try to use this custard base?  Any help would be appreciated.  I plan to  churn this ice cream tomorrow.

Thanks again.

as an fyi-  the recipe includes 8 egg yolks, 1.25 cups of sugar, 2.5 cups of milk and 2.5 cups of heavy cream.

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I've had this happen before. In my case, straining worked just fine. There's enough fat in that recipe to prevent graininess even if you're missing some egg yolk.

[MichaelB]

Strain it. You'll need a fine chinois -- or cheesecloth.

[foolcontrol]

Put it in the blender or hit it with an immersion blender. That is what we do at the cooking school.

[ludja]

Put it in the blender or hit it with an immersion blender.  That is what we do at the cooking school.

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Then, strain it...

[thecuriousone]

Thanks to all who replied. I will blend, then strain.

May you all have a peacful holiday with family and/or friends...............

[KatieM]

Glad you posted this question. I was going to post along similar lines. I always strain my base through a chinois, but my question has to do with the optimal thickness/temp to bring the creme anglaise to. My recipe says 170-180F. That seems like a pretty wide window to me. And the well-defined-track-on-the-back-of-the-spoon test doesn't seem to be infallible to me either. I haven't made an ice cream I haven't been pleased with yet, but I'm just wondering if I could make it any better.

Would a thicker custard base make an ice cream that is firmer at room temp? Or am I on crack?

[Woods]

Glad you posted this question. I was going to post along similar lines.  I always strain my base through a chinois, but my question has to do with the optimal thickness/temp to bring the creme anglaise to.  My recipe says 170-180F.  That seems like a pretty wide window to me.  And the well-defined-track-on-the-back-of-the-spoon test doesn't seem to be infallible to me either.  I haven't made an ice cream I haven't been pleased with yet, but I'm just wondering if I could make it any better.

Would a thicker custard base make an ice cream that is firmer at room temp? Or am I on crack?

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You have to heat the mixture to 180* to cook the eggs. You are making creme anglaise so it should not be too thick. I heat to 180 and strain and have had no problems. Good luck! Keep asking questions!

[culinary bear]

In the UK, we're meant to heat to 71C for at least ten minutes (now a legal specification if we're using unpasteurised yolks).

*does calculations in head* that's 160F. Personally I find that the base I use :

1135ml double cream

1135ml whole milk

400g sugar

24 egg yolks

30g glucose

20g trimoline

starts to thicken at about 74C, which should equate to about 170F.

Also, be aware that ice-creams always have a better texture if the base is left to ripen for a period of about 12-24 hours before being churned.

What happens is that the semicoagulated (thickened) proteins swell and take up water from the base, leading to a smoother mouthfeel and better texture. Think of it as syneresis in reverse (syneresis is what happens when you severely overcook scrambled eggs - the proteins contract and squeeze out water, leaving you with that white milky liquid).

If I've accidentally slightly overthickened a base, I pop it in a barblender and then put it through a fine chinoise - it suffers very slightly in texture, but not a great deal.

[pissaladiere]

I bought my Cuisinart ice cream maker last summer. I used it for all sort of fresh fruit sorbets (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, plum, peach, pear) with excellent results. I've only made ice cream with it a few times. Both times the result has been rather grainy and icey. I have made a custard of eggs, heavy cream and whole milk and combined this with pureed strawberries. Any suggestions on getting a creamy rather than icey texture.

[merstar]

Do you chill the custard until it's extremely cold, preferably overnight? If not, the custard is probably taking too long to freeze, and hence, the ice crystals.

Also, is your ice cream canister being left in the freezer long enough before processing, and is your freezer cold enough? The minimum is 0 degrees F. Your ice cream maker should include guidelines on how long to freeze the canister according to how cold the freezer is. For example, with my ice cream maker (I have the Krups La Glaciere), I need to freeze the canister for at least 22 hours at 0 degrees, (although I usually freeze it longer, about 24 - 32 hours). For a colder freezer, the time would decrease accordingly.

Edited June 27, 2006 by merstar (log)

[pissaladiere]

I'm pretty sure that this was not the problem. I did refrigerate the custard overnight. I am sure that the bowl was frozen as it had been in the freezer for several weeks. I do add a little bit of alcohol to my sorbets, should I also do this with my ice cream?

[nymerical2]

Certainly chill your base overnight and then 'spin' the ice cream the next day. Also, try and avoid using the puree, it will only thin out your custard base. Spin the ice cream base and fold in chopped strawberries or whatever your preference. If you are going to use a puree, compensate by adding more yolks to your base for thickness.

[Nishla]

I was having this problem constantly. It turns out my freezer wasn't cold enough. My cousin had the same problem, and apparently he had to turn his fridge/freezer down so much that his milk froze.

[Pork Belly]

By just pureeing the strawberries and adding it to the custard releases too much water into the ice cream base, causing your ice cream to be icy. I've had luck with either one of the following methods:

Crush the strawberries and mix it with some of the sugar and let it stand room temperature for about an hour to allow the berries to release some of its juice Chill and add to the cold custard. I use all cream for the custard.

or

Quarter the berries and cook it with some of the sugar for about 20 minutes until jam like. Chill and mix in with the chill custard. I generally use 1 part milk to 2 parts cream for the custard.

Hope this will give you a smooth rich ice cream.

[miladyinsanity]

Pissaladiere, alcohol should help. Have you tried adding corn syrup?

[Ling]

Do you have a refractometer (sp?) I think all the restaurants who make ice-cream and sorbets have one to check the consistency.

[miladyinsanity]

Do you have a refractometer (sp?) I think all the restaurants who make ice-cream and sorbets have one to check the consistency.

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For sorbet, there's the egg test.

Wash an egg, then float it in the cooled mixture. If it floats high enough that a 'dime-sized' part of the egg is above the liquid level, you've got enough sugar.

[Lee Ratliff]

As others have said, make sure the mix is cold. Warm mix is a common cause of iciness. Make sure the strawberries are also cold before you add them. Since you did cool your mix, the problem could be a lack of dissolved solids. Adding a half cup of dry milk per quart will improve the texture. Or replace some of the milk with evaporated milk.

Pureed fruit will dilute the mix, so compensate by using more cream and less milk. Or just slice the fruit instead of liquifying it. The fruit chunks can get icy, so prevent this by adding 1 part sugar to 4 parts sliced strawberries and marinate for 6-8 hours. Drain the liquid and add the pieces about one minute before the ice cream is done. The sugar will penetrate and prevent the fruit from icing up.

[gingersweetiepie]

through the course of my brief pastry career, i was taught dinstinctly different things when it comes to ice cream.

one chef made ice cream bases with half and half, claiming they could be melted down and rechurned indefinitely without affecting texture.

a second chef taught me that heavy cream bases could be rechurned up to three times without a problem; i disagree.

chef #3 says she had no opinion because ice creams bases were to be made, spun and served within the span of a couple of days. she used zero stabilizers but served ice creams that sat in the freezer for up to a week.

the final chef froze whole pints of cream before even making bases (to which i laughed, and then quit)

during a conversation, someone asked "if bases can be melted down and rechurned, why not make bases in bulk and then freeze them to be thawed and churned as necessary?"

i was stumped. freezing heavy cream is a no-no but i had no answer for freezing cooked, unspun ice cream base (not that i'd do it anyway.) any ideas, opinions, answers?

Edited August 24, 2006 by gingersweetiepie (log)

[chefpeon]

Not knowing any better, I froze a ton of ice cream base because I knew I would never have time to spin it all before it went bad.

When I needed it, I thawed it and churned it with no problems! Also, I use a ton of heavy cream in mine...very little half and half.

I think this is the deal:

You can't freeze heavy cream by itself.

But when the heavy cream is cooked with eggs, sugar, etc, as ice cream bases are, then you CAN freeze.

I also know (from personal experience) that you can freeze heavy cream that's already been whipped. I do this all the time because it's just too darn expensive to waste. I thaw the whipped cream in the fridge, then re-whip. It comes out great.

[gingersweetiepie]

thanks. i'm still very wary of such a practice but still unable to say why.

i come from a place where its just drilled into you: freeze nothing. it's a guiding rule that many probably wouldn't disagree with, but it still makes me a blind sheep. it's important to understand why we do things; if i have no answer for the guy's question (see above), then i have no business training anyone in the future.

[chefpeon]

Funny! I come from a place, where, if you didn't freeze anything, you'd be completely

screwed!

[JeanneCake]

I also know (from personal experience) that you can freeze heavy cream that's already been whipped. I do this all the time because it's just too darn expensive to waste. I thaw the whipped cream in the fridge, then re-whip. It comes out great.

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And all this time, I've been making ganache and freezing it (don't ask me about the logic of using the cream and chocolate just to "save" the cream - there isn't any logic in this thinking)! Thanks for the tip, Annie