Ice cream & Sorbet recipes and tips

[Chufi]

I recently bought a new icecream maker (the Midas - it´s fantastic! no electricity, just pour your base in and 25 minutes later you have gorgeous icecream.) Anyway, after making regular vanilla and chocolate I want to experiment a bit. I want to make a vanilla icecream with raspberry coulis swirled through, and then I saw a tin of coconut milk in the cupboard, and wondered if I could use some of that instead of the milk and cream in the vanilla recipe? Will that work or does coconut milk freeze differently from milk/cream and will the texture be different?

Edited July 6, 2008 by Chufi (log)

[weinoo]

I had some really good luck with my two latest frozen delights...Grapefruit/Campari Sorbet and Rum Vanilla Ice Cream - Philadelphia style. I'm using the Gelato machine by Lello and it works beautifully.

The rum vanilla is simply 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup milk (heated) infused with vanilla bean, 3/4 c. sugar, rum and a dash of salt. It's very smooth and creamy. The sorbet is grapefruit filets, sugar, lemon juice, campari and a dash of salt...all whirred together in the blender. It also has excellent texture and strangely, these two go very nicely together...almost like a grapefruit creamsicle - with booze .

Oh, and I bought the newest ice-cream scoop, by Zyliss - and it works like a dream.

[Chufi]

I want to make a vanilla icecream with raspberry coulis swirled through, and then I saw a tin of coconut milk in the cupboard, and wondered if I could use some of that instead of the milk and cream in the vanilla recipe? Will that work or does coconut milk freeze differently from milk/cream and will the texture be different?

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so, here's what I did: 250 ml of heavy cream, 150 ml of milk, 150 ml of thick coconut milk, about 125 grams of sugar and 3 large eggyolks. I made the custard with the milk and cream and only added the coconut milk after the custard had cooled a bit. I swirled in the raspberries when the icecream was half frozen, but I should not have, I think it would have been better to serve the raspberry sauce on the side. the icecream was AMAZING, with a very faint coconut flavor but so rich and creamy and delicious. Next time I'll add some pureed banana maybe... or lime juice.

[emmalish]

weinoo, that looks amazing. The ice cream looks just perfectly creamy. Where did you get the recipe for the sorbet?

[weinoo]

weinoo, that looks amazing. The ice cream looks just perfectly creamy. Where did you get the recipe for the sorbet?

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Most, if not all, of the sorbets I make are based on the techniques explained in an article from the July/August 1995 issue of Cook's Illustrated, called, interestingly enough, Secrets of Creamy Fruit Sorbets. The article explains that basically it's all about how much sugar used being the basis for creamy fruit sorbets. In general, for every 2 cups of fruit puree or juice, use about 3/4 to 1 1/4 cups of sugar...balancing the sweetness with up to 2 T of lemon juice. Alcohol also helps with the texture too. And for my purposes, I tend to err on the side of less sugar.

Of course, different fruits have different sugar contents - and depending on the fruit's ripeness, that varies as well...for instance, mangoes and oranges have around an 11% sugar content, while grapefruit has 6%, according to McGee in The Curious Cook.

My grapefruit sorbet was 2 cups of pureed grapefruit sections, 1/4 cup water, almost a cup of sugar, 3T campari, 1T lemon juice and a pinch of salt - blended till the sugar dissolved - no need to make a simple syrup for any sorbets, imo. Some of the zest may be grated in as well.

Another important factor in making sorbets (and ice creams, for that matter) creamy is to make sure the mixture is as cold as possible before freezing it. So, I always refrigerate the mixture overnight (or, make it early in the morning and refrigerate if for at least 4 hours) - to me, this helps the flavors "marry" and gets the mix as cold as it can be before actually freezing it.

[emmalish]

Thanks, Mitch!

[Mary Elizabeth]

Tri2cook--I usually use half and half, at 11% butterfat, which books say is similar to Italian whole milk. But for the ice cream below, I used a mix of whole milk (3%) and cream (33%) that totaled 13% butterfat, and the ice cream had a definate fresh cream flavor that the half and half didn't have, and that I don't think can be attributed to a difference of 2% butterfat. Just to throw that into the mix. I'm not a food scientist.

paulraphael--I use Rosle stainless steel containers, 2.5 liter, cynlindrical.

trekflyer--Rose Levy-Barenbaum recommends Cobasan. I used it for years, then stopped, and I noticed the ice cream was grainier, so started again. Contents are glucose, emulgator(?!), water.

Sold by Albert Uster Imports.

For this ice cream I use a Musso 3 liter.

[Mary Elizabeth]

Rosle stainless steel containers are sold at www.cookswares.com, under "kitchen containers." The people here are very nice to deal with. They will special order anything.

[RuthWells]

An abundance of fresh blueberries in our house led to blueberry sorbet. I used a mint-infused simple syrup for the sweetener. Fabulous flavor combination!

[emmalish]

paulraphael--I use Rosle stainless steel containers, 2.5 liter, cynlindrical.

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Those are gorgeous. I love Rosle, but I can really only afford a few smaller pieces (love my $80 can opener!)

[paulraphael]

After a lot of research (conducted mostly on my unwitting employer's dime) and seven trials, I finally got a basic vanilla ice cream recipe that I like:

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2135.html

From the recipegullet description ...

I wanted to create an ice cream base with the smoothness, body, and stability of an egg yolk-ladden, very rich, custard-based ice cream--but without the strong egg flavor or the greasy film that these ice creams can leave in your mouth.

I turned to some of the tricks used by pastry chefs. There are two yolks per quart, instead of the usual six or more. There are also added milk solids, and very small amounts of gelatin, starch, and alcohol. The recipe is a bit more complex than typical homemade ice cream, but I think it's worth it. It has a full body, a natural and creamy melt, and it will last several days in the freezer without deflating or getting icy. It will be a bit too hard to serve when it's at freezer temperature, but not rock-hard like typical home recipes.

This recipe will work best with a slow-turning machine that doesn't introduce a lot of air (overrun). It will give you between 3/4 and 1 quart of 15% butterfat ice cream.

[pansophia]

For ice cream storage, we've been using the 32 oz deli container shown here. They seal really well, almost always hold the whole batch (and what they don't hold, is a treat for the ice cream maker!), and work well in the freezer.

We also have a bunch of the 16oz for soups and stuff. Love them!

[kermie]

I've just recently come across a super simple recipe from a b&b of all places and this icecream/sorbet is to die for. it was originally made with berries (but she says any fruit will do - and I am starting to experiment a bit now that i know the recipe is soo good.

it tastes like a sorbet but rounder.

a pound of fruit

half pound of icing sugar

half lemon (may need a teeny bit more if the fruit is super sweet)

250ml of double cream (although i've been using single as its easier to find in holland)

heat the fruit till its soft, strain into the icingsugar and lemon - cool

lightly whip the cream and add to the cooled mixture. mix well.

put in a tub and thats it. you don't need to put it into a machine or anything else. it comes out of the freezer perfectly soft. i have found if you take it in and out of the freezer a lot, let it melt and put it back it starts to form ice crystals but thats the worst of it.

have tried with blackberries, strawberries, raspberries so far, will try other combos next.

the color is outstanding as well.

[Heartsurgeon]

If anyone is interested, i can list my 3 favorite recipes:

Meyer Lemon Ice cream

Black Walnut Ice cream

Fig Ice cream

i have yet to master a really fine Pistachio ice cream..primarily because i have not been able to get really good unsalted pistachios...

[Danielle Lauer]

My version of Black-n-black (Guinness and blackberry brandy):

Guinness milk chocolate ice cream with blackberry sauce.

Sweet and tart!

[emmalish]

Danielle – YUM. That sounds amazing.

And Heartsurgeon, I had a helluva time finding unsalted pistachios too. Not for ice cream, but for a biscotti recipe. Why are they so hard to find?

[hathor]

I meant to take a photo, but we ate the ice cream before I remembered! I scored some mountain strawberries and made a strawberry gelato, with a splash of balsamic and a sprinkle of candied pink peppercorns.

Candied pink peppercorns are my new favorite flavor, sweet with a burst of floral heat.

[jk1002]

I took a shot a "Cereal Milk" flavor based on the Momofuku recipe (Martha Stewart Website has it). I toasted 4 cups of cornflakes and blended that with a quart of milk. Let it steep for 15 minutes after which it had a thick custard like texture. I pushed it through a sieve, added half a cup of sugar and a quarter cup of corn syrup, pinch of salt and mixed it with a hand mixer.

It taste good, very sweet but that's how I ate my cereal when I was a kid, may tone it down a bit and may also push it through a chinois to get a more milk like consistency when it melts in the mouth.

Now its in the freezer, turning rock hard. I know I probably wasn't churning long enough, probably 15 minutes rather then 25 but it had a soft serve like consistency at that point - should have red instructions earlier - doh!.

The combination of corn syrup and milk without eggs or much cream I snagged out of the A16 cookbook. They are saying these types don't keep well in the freezer.

I don't want to add eggs as this would alter the flavor of the cerial milk, any ideas?

Did someone try the "inverted sugar" trick out of Johnny Iuzzini's book? Does it help much? He doesn't seem to use much, looks to me more like fine tuning then a complete turn around which is what I need.

Cheers

JK

[eternal]

Is there any concern with letting the batter sit for 24-48 hours? We made some batter on Friday and I just now got around to putting it in the ice cream machine. I just put the attachment in the freezer and plan on doing the second batch tomorrow morning. I'm thinking that with fresh milk, cream and cooked eggs everything should be sanitary for at least that amount of time but some recipes say "refridgerate for 1-12 hours". Should I be worried at all about going to 48 hours?

[From Lab To Kitchen]

Eternal, I've left the ice cream mix in the fridge for 24+ hours and had no issue with it, in terms of texture or sanitation. Typically I always leave it in for that long, since it cuts down the actual freezing/churning time to only about 15 minutes.

And jk, I also tried my hand at Momofuku's cereal milk ice cream, although I made mine as an egg-based custard with Honey Bunches of Oats. Didn't toast the cereal either, just let it sit for an hour or so in the milk and cream before making the custard as I usually do. Turned out well, although people felt a bit grossed out when they figured what the flavor was. I guess they don't like the idea of eating someone else's "leftover" cereal milk I want to try recreating Momofuku's old-fashioned doughnut ice cream next!

[Tri2Cook]

Pulling this thread up from the depths to ask about gelato di riso. Somehow this is something I've only recently heard of and I want to investigate. Yeah, I've already googled it but, in usual google fashion, there are 1,342,916.7 different recipes that are each different. For example, the person who told me about it had it in Italy and remembers it being similar to frozen rice pudding with cinnamon but all of the recipes I found didn't have cinnamon. Can anybody point me in the right direction or is this one of those things that, if you went to Italy, might be different at every vendor?

[frozendesserts]

Hello,

I was looking at the label of Anderson's Ice Cream tub. They have cream powder in the ice cream. And usually Non fat milk powder is added to include the solid content of ice creams.

Just how would the powder rehydrate and combine into the liquid without the ice cream feeling gritty?

[frozendesserts]

Gelato di Riso is Risotto Gelato?

Ices Italia by Linda Tubby has a recipe Gelato di Riso Con mascarpone. Maybe you can use that for reference or any other risotto gelato. And infuse cinnamon in the milk?

[djyee100]

Pulling this thread up from the depths to ask about gelato di riso...

Pamela Sheldon Johns has a recipe for Florentine Rice Gelato in her Gelato! cookbook. She reverse-engineered it from her favorite gelato di riso at a gelateria in Florence. The recipe has intrigued me, but I've never tried it. I can't get my head around rice in ice cream. Here's the recipe online:

http://leitesculinaria.com/9550/recipes-florentine-rice-gelato.html

[paulraphael]

Just how would the powder rehydrate and combine into the liquid without the ice cream feeling gritty?

Tri2Cook mentioned it in another thread but in case you didn't see it, dry milk powder disolves completely. Once in solution it will be as smooth as ordinary milk. It's one of the ingredients that tends to clump when mixed. You can avoid this by stirring it together with your other dry ingredients (including the sugar) before trying to disolve it. Another solution is mixing in a blender, but unless you're making very large quantities I think this is just extra work.

You'll notice most pastry chefs using some portion of dry milk in their recipes. It's a killer ingredient.