Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

[rtrunk]

I'm surprised not to see a thread about Bauer's new ice cream book. So I thought I'd start one.

Speaking as an ice cream novice, it's a revelation. Not just because the recipes are easy to make and taste good, but because Bauer has an artist's eye (or palate?) for flavor combinations. I've made 10 or so flavors and they're all great.

[ElsieD]

I'm very interested in this thread. I have been thinking about buying this book but have resisted until I hear what others have to say about it. How does it compare to The Perfect Scoop? What is the texture of the ice cream like, and how hard does it freeze? Is it hard to scoop? I find home made ice cream often is.

[Darienne]

Hi Elsie,

I went to Amazon.com to read the reviews...although I would buy it on Amazon.ca. There are some complaints about the recipes and the format, but overwhelmingly the reviews are positive.

You get it and tell me how you like it.

Have enjoyed using DL's Perfect Scoop, but mostly for the flavor angle. Once I discovered making ice cream with cornstarch (Mark Bittman), I pretty much stick with that, with my own tweaking. Am trying to gear up to paulraphael's level of expertise using his ingredients.

[JAZ]

This Splendid Table show featured Jeni and her book; I think there are a couple of recipes included.

When we were in Cleveland last month, we tried out several flavors of ice cream and sorbet at her store and were very favorably impressed.

[rtrunk]

I'm very interested in this thread. I have been thinking about buying this book but have resisted until I hear what others have to say about it. How does it compare to The Perfect Scoop? What is the texture of the ice cream like, and how hard does it freeze? Is it hard to scoop? I find home made ice cream often is.

I haven't read the Perfect Scoop, but I have The Ultimate Ice Cream Book and Frozen Desserts . Jeni's is a must-have in my opinion. Her recipes are designed for home machines and she has a good explanation on how she formulates her ice creams so that you can develop your own flavors.

But most of all, she has some really inventive flavor combinations. She seems to have a knack for knowing what goes together, what looks good together. Sweet corn with blackberry and goat cheese with roasted cherries are now on my permanent list of flavors.

In my machine and freezer the texture is good -- scoopable but not too soft.

[chriscook]

I've made several flavors as well, though not any of the more unusual ones yet. I made the base vanilla first and found it to be a bit too sweet for my taste. I brought the sugar levels down in subsequent attempts and have been really happy with them since then. Adding the starch (I'm using tapioca starch) really gives it smooth texture.

I also appreciated the way she describes the ingredients in the base (starch, cream cheese, syrup, etc.) and why each one is used.

[PetersCreek]

I mentioned in another thread or two that I recently purchased the book and I've been pleased with the results so far...although I've only made three of the recipes. One of those I've made twice: The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World.

I too went to the trouble of buying tapioca starch and tapioca syrup. It could be my imagination but it seems to have improved the consistency slightly.

[rtrunk]

I too went to the trouble of buying tapioca starch and tapioca syrup. It could be my imagination but it seems to have improved the consistency slightly.

I just ordered tapioca starch and guar gum. I expect to do a lot of experimenting. Oh darn, that means there will be a lot of ice cream to eat.

[LindaK]

Would you recommend this book, over others, if someone was looking for a first book for making ice cream?

It sounds like a good balance of technical info and recipes.

[chriscook]

I would recommend it. There's nothing really complicated about making the ice creams, and she has some interesting flavor combination ideas.

Plus, assuming that the recipes in it are similar to what she sells at a retail level, the book will pay for itself in once batch of ice cream. The local market down the road street sells Jeni's ice cream for $10 a pint.

[Darienne]

My cookbook allowance must be carefully spent and I've decided not to buy the Jenni Bauer book. I already own DL's The Perfect Scoop and Gail Damerow. Ice Cream: The Whole Scoop.

The reviews on Amazon.com state that Bauer uses pretty much the same base for all her ice creams and adds specific ingredients for individual recipes. I downloaded about 8 different recipes from the net and found that to be true. I wanted to find Bauer's chocolate and salty caramel recipes and both are online.

For a first ice cream book I would recommend DL's The Perfect Scoop. More importantly, for me at least, I would recommend reading Mark Bittman's posts on making ice cream using cornstarch instead of eggs, and then looking up the eG posts by paulraphael for further tweaking information.

[FoodMan]

My cookbook allowance must be carefully spent and I've decided not to buy the Jenni Bauer book. I already own DL's The Perfect Scoop and Gail Damerow. Ice Cream: The Whole Scoop.

The reviews on Amazon.com state that Bauer uses pretty much the same base for all her ice creams and adds specific ingredients for individual recipes. I downloaded about 8 different recipes from the net and found that to be true. I wanted to find Bauer's chocolate and salty caramel recipes and both are online.

For a first ice cream book I would recommend DL's The Perfect Scoop. More importantly, for me at least, I would recommend reading Mark Bittman's posts on making ice cream using cornstarch instead of eggs, and then looking up the eG posts by paulraphael for further tweaking information.

I sort of agree. Once you know the base recipe, you are pretty much set in making a myriad of flavors without the book. I've been using her base recipe since I first read about it in Food and Wine a few years back. The texture is always great IMO and scoopable, but not too soft. My latest batch was a cherry pit (noyaux) ice cream using Jeni's base and it is spectacular. That being said, I honestly felt that paying the $14 for the book is the least I could do to pay her back. You still get a lot of good flavor combination ideas and some serving suggestions (like ice cream sandwiches).

I have not tried any of her frozen yogurt recipes yet though. Has anyone tried those?

[LindaK]

Over in David Lebovitz's blog, he talks about the book and his experiment with her recipe for chocolate ice cream. He posts an adapted version of the recipe, too.

[ElsieD]

I've been thinking about getting this book but my fridge ice cube maker is broken and I don't want to pay $$ to get it fixed. Which leads me to this question: I have read that you must cool her bases down quickly using ice cubes. Why is that? Why can't I cool it in the fridge overnight, say, and freeze it the next day?

[rtrunk]

It's not really necessary (unless you're the impatient type ). I cool it down in a big bowl of cold water (from the tap) until its cool, then refrigerate.

I also find the texture is better if you let the mix sit for several hours in the fridge.

Ron

[Carlton]

I just got this book last week. The first recipe I made was the Roasted Pistachio. IT came out really good though I will probably follow chriscook's suggestion of reducing the sugar as it was a little sweet for my tastes. I used cornstarch but have tapioca, will try it in the next one.

[FoodMan]

It's not really necessary (unless you're the impatient type ). I cool it down in a big bowl of cold water (from the tap) until its cool, then refrigerate.

I also find the texture is better if you let the mix sit for several hours in the fridge.

Ron

I agree. I never bother with the quick cooling and always let the mixture "mature" in the fridge overnight at least. Works better for my schedule and makes better ice cream.

I just tried The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World recipe and it is delicious. It has coffee to emphasize the chocolate flavor, but the flavor of the coffee does not stand out. All you get is dark pure chocolate and of course it has a great texture right out of the freezer.

[jane@eatyourbooks]

Even though I have several other ice cream books that I love (Perfect Scoop, Passion for Ice Cream, Ices: The Definitive Guide) I do want to get this one based on the fantastic Lemon cream ice cream I made from a recipe on Food52. I like her techniques such as adding cornflour and cooling the mix in a freezer bag dunked in an ice bath. The texture was amazing, so soft and smooth. Based on all the plaudits above I think it's worth adding to my collection.

[Darienne]

It's cold and frozen in the cold frozen far north and we've just returned from the Southwest where I gave in and bought Jeni's book. Finally started to look at it last night. Now I've reread this thread, and will finish reading DL's thread plus all 93 comments AND then start in on the recipes.

There's not a lot of ice cream posting at this date but I shall begin. Two days ago I did make DL's Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream...so simple to throw together and everyone loves it. We're demolishing a foundation wall in our century farmhouse and we need a dust annihilator.

Two days ago, DH misread the grocery list and bought a double container of cream cheese when all we needed was cream. Could this have been a prophetic move on his part?

[Carlton]

Made the Gorgonzola Dolce ice cream the other day. Put it together with some microwaved walnut sponge cake and caramelized bananas. It disappeared pretty quick.

[janeer]

This is an adaptation of Jeni's basic recipe, with prickly pear (VERY pink) and of her praline mix-in, made with pine nuts

[jmolinari]

Has anyone tried using greek yogurt in Jeni's frozen yogurt recipes instead of straining regular yogurt? Seems like it would save time, but i wonder why she calls out specifically to strain regular...