Best Ice Cream Recipes

[adrober]

Forgive me if this has been asked before (I tried doing a search, but the only thing that came up was--weirdly enough--mashed potatoes):

I just bought an Ice Cream Maker, and while the bowl is spending its initial 24 hours in the freezer, I'd like to gather up as many killer ice cream recipes as possible.

So foodies, let's have it: what are your best, killer, knock-your-socks-off ice cream recipes?

Thanks!

[Mayhaw Man]

This Watermelon with Chocolate Seeds in recipe gullet sounds pretty swell. Rachel Perlow made it and entered the recipe, maybe she can tell us. I need to crank up my ice cream maker and this might be a good time to do it.

I went to recipe gullet and there were 7 recipes, including a couple of pretty off the wall ones (Michael Laskonis's Balsamic Vinegar was pretty odd, but on the other hand it might be great).

[bleudauvergne]

I've also been thinking of ice cream. Why does it have to be sweet? I would like to serve it between courses, you know, like sage sorbet. Yesterday I had a thought of fois gras ice cream with fig preserve and basalmic vinegar sauce. But the recipe hasn't come to me yet, so I'll get back to you.

[Moopheus]

Why does it have to be sweet? I would like to serve it between courses, you know, like sage sorbet.

Aside from making ice cream sweet, sugar also acts as an antifreeze agent, part of what makes the texture of ice cream what it is. You could use less sweet sugars, like dextrose or fructose, or perhaps add a touch of alchohol. Without anything, you'll get a very hard sorbet that you won't like very much.

[bleudauvergne]

So if I were to add a touch of good cognac, perhaps...

[tryska]

or salt? no?

[Moopheus]

Salt would provide a similar anti-freeze effect, for basically the same reason, so it might work, but might also might mean putting in an unpleasant amount of salt. It would be like seawater sorbet. That's just a guess; I've never tried it. You might have to do some experimetns to see what happens.

[Mayhaw Man]

I just made the custard for Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream. I found the recipe on epicurious (there were a shitload of choices) and it also appeared in the June 2001 Gourmet. The reviews on it were great. I will let you know tomorrow might after I eat the entire batch (this is the only true way to judge ice cream-standing in your kitchen eating it from the container while the container remains in the freezer-any other method pales by comparison )

[adrober]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I went with a basic vanilla bean recipe I found in the cookbook that came with the maker. It came out earth-shatteringly great. I wrote about it on my website.

I'll make sure to try some of your suggestions next!

Thanks,

Adam

[bleudauvergne]

Hey that was great!

[Steve Martin]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I went with a basic vanilla bean recipe I found in the cookbook that came with the maker. It came out earth-shatteringly great. I wrote about it on my website.

I'll make sure to try some of your suggestions next!

Thanks,

Adam

I suggest putting sugar in

[Gifted Gourmet]

I suggest putting sugar in 

Maybe he likes his vanilla bean ice cream on the savoury side ....

[adrober]

Ha. Oops. Add sugar with the eggs!

Unless you like vanilla quiche ice cream !

[FoodMan]

for 99% of the ice creams I make I use St. Jacque's Praline ice cream recipe from The Complete Technique. All I do is vary the flavoring. For a lighter ice cream (usually fruit flavored) I sometimes use Alton Brown's recipe for vanilla.

Elie