Coffee Ice-Cream anyone?

[tan319]

I think fat, in ice cream at least, brings more to the mouthfeel part of the quotient, smoothness, etc.

Ted, I just reading earlier on baking911.com that the egg yolks in ice-cream act as an emulsifier. Therefore, because they help disperse fat droplets evenly, the ice cyrstals are forced to be smaller resulting is a much smoother end product with a more desirable 'mouth feel'. This explains why lower fat ice-cream (at least those made at home) just don't cut it.

You're right about the change in coffee taste when I put in milk. I never thought to look at it way. Thanks.

An emulsifier, yes, that too.

it's funny that as much of a technophreak that I am, I'm not much on the food science end of things.

My basic approach is intuition.

My eggless ice creams have great mouth feel too, but I do stabilize them 99% of the time.

So there will be no crystalization.

Any low fat ice cream made at home in the kind of machines most of us would be using would probably not end up having a great mouthfeel.

Lowfat ice creams usually use a lot of emulsifiers and such to give you that.

You could achieve it, you would just have to source out that stuff and develop/use a formula to get it right.

I would say, why bother?

Enjoy yourself!

[tan319]

The 3 TBSp might look like a lot but if you're using an egg yolk based recipe, those yolks really soften the blow.

I make a coffee cardamom ice cream that has yolks in it, and although I make a base that is a bit more "industrial", I use 600 grams of brewed espresso and 100 grams of beans for the infusion.

This is to make 4 quarts but you get my drift?

Good luck on your journey!

Ted, I LOVE the coffee and cardomom idea. How much cardomom do you use for your 4-quart batch?

Thanks, mags.

I use 5 crushed pods and infuse for a least an hour, along with the beans, etc.

If I need the flavor to come up I just season with salt.

You have to be careful with cardamom.

[Michael Laiskonis]

I think fat, in ice cream at least, brings more to the mouthfeel part of the quotient, smoothness, etc.

And yes, it mellows the bitterness out, just like cream in your coffee, no?

I think that's the reason (bear with me, now), why a lot of chefs are using what I call the more "industrial" recipes for ice cream.

Using dry ingredients such as nonfat dry milk powder, and other things that get some people riled up.

You still have richness but flavor cuts thru more.

Mind you, I use yolks in most recipes still, but sometimes don't, like in the Peanut butter ice cream, there's more than enough fat in that!

Salt is very important.

I season almost everything that I make for dessert with it.

Cory and I were just discussing this the other day. While fat does indeed contribute texture, so does (perhaps more importantly so) the proper balance of fats and of dry matter to water. Emulsifiers in the form of commercial gums and such can play a role, but shouldn't be overused. My approach to ice creams, which over time have evolved to contain less fat, allow for much more delicacy and finesse- 'feeling' but finishing cleaner, flavors have a better clarity, and they also tend to hold better and are easier to handle when it comes to presentation...

[tan319]

I think fat, in ice cream at least, brings more to the mouthfeel part of the quotient, smoothness, etc.

And yes, it mellows the bitterness out, just like cream in your coffee, no?

I think that's the reason (bear with me, now), why a lot of chefs are using what I call the more "industrial" recipes for ice cream.

Using dry ingredients such as nonfat dry milk powder, and other things that get some people riled up.

You still have richness but flavor cuts thru more.

Mind you, I use yolks in most recipes still, but sometimes don't, like in the Peanut butter ice cream, there's more than enough fat in that!

Salt is very important.

I season almost everything that I make for dessert with it.

Cory and I were just discussing this the other day. While fat does indeed contribute texture, so does (perhaps more importantly so) the proper balance of fats and of dry matter to water. Emulsifiers in the form of commercial gums and such can play a role, but shouldn't be overused. My approach to ice creams, which over time have evolved to contain less fat, allow for much more delicacy and finesse- 'feeling' but finishing cleaner, flavors have a better clarity, and they also tend to hold better and are easier to handle when it comes to presentation...

amen!

[yorkshirepud]

Ted,

I agree. If you going to have ice-cream, have ice-cream!

Michael,

Is their a formula you’ve found to achieve the perfect balance of fats? I see recipes that use as little as 2 eggs and as many as 8. All of course, will offer a variation of richness. I also see no pattern to the dairy used. Even those not attempting to be ‘light’ will sometimes use just light cream and half and half, depending upon the actual flavour (fruit, chocolate or whatever).

I do remember reading if the only dairy used is whipping cream, this will produce a ‘greasy’ cream.

phaelon56,

Thanks for the info on coffee. I do have a recipe that calls for roasted beans which I will have to try out. Is there a particular bean (not necessarily brand) you’d recommend?

Edited June 3, 2004 by yorkshirepud (log)

[yorkshirepud]

I just got done making the base for the WS coffee ice-cream recipe. Oh my, it tastes very good. I went ahead with the 3tbsps of espresso powder and it's spot on. Thanks for reassuring me it would be okay. Can't wait to try it churned tomorrow.

Gifted Gourmet, are you still doing it this weekend?

[MGLloyd]

Since I homeroast my own coffee, which I then use for drip, press or espresso, this has gotten me thinking about using ground coffee as the flavoring agent. I wonder just how successful that would be, in terms of the liquid base extracting the flavor components from the ground coffee. Best to mix the coffee into the custard base as it cooks, or to mix it into the base as it freezes? Hmmm.....

[Bicycle Lee]

it doesn't matter how you do it, just DO NOT use a recipe that calls for freeze dried coffee...

I like to steep and french press the cream and coffee grounds...but that's just me.

[JanKK]

Ok ..since we've gone from talking about expresso to fat ;) ....let me ask a question ...

I've recently tried Vanilla Ice Cream recipes from both Sherry Yards and Claudia Fleminings books. They both have LOTS of egg yolks --8 in one, 12 in the other. I have no trouble tempering the yolks with the hot cream/milk ...they look just fine. When I start heating them again, they still look fine .....but every time, by the time it's thickened enough to coat a spoon, it starts to get what looks to be egg bits in it. Not big lumps ....just little bits.

Now, the first couple times this happened, it was just a little bit. I strained it (as the recipe called for --so they must expect a little??) ....and the ice creams turned out fine. However, yesterday when I made my base, it was quite "eggy" ---I did finish and freeze it, and it tasted ok, but it left a sticky feel in your mouth. Decided to try again today .....and it was so bad, I tossed it.

Sooo.............am I cooking it too long? Not long enough? Any clues from all you ice cream makers??

[tan319]

did you add the sugar to the yolks w/o whisking right away?

Or too early all together?

Sugar let on yolks w/o incorporating will "burn" the yolks, kind of blistering them, could cause some pebbling that will be harder to strain.

Otherwise, maybe get a cheap digi thermometer with a probe and make sure your temp is hitting 181 to 185f or 85c, then get into an icebath pronto.

Please forgive me if you're already familiar with all of these techniques.

[JanKK]

did you add the sugar to the yolks w/o whisking right away?

Or too early all together?

Sugar let on yolks w/o incorporating will "burn" the yolks, kind of blistering them, could cause some pebbling that will be harder to strain.

Otherwise, maybe get a cheap digi thermometer with a probe and make sure your temp is hitting 181 to 185f or 85c, then get into an icebath pronto.

Please forgive me if you're already familiar with all of these techniques.

Nope ...had read that before about sugar and egg yolks, so did whisk them together right away. Will certainly give the thermometer a try ... I didn't realize there was a specific temperature. So it may have been a case of over-cooking?

Thanks, Ted .......and no need for forgiveness! I appreciate any and all advice ...better to hear it again than not at all! :)

[tan319]

Yes, temp is as stated above.

Have to keep the mix moving all the time too.

I use a zig zag pattern that some one showed me as an apprentice, hitting the corners of the pot too.

When I don't use a thermometer, I bring my spoon up and watch how the mix drips off the spoon.

When I see it drip in a tight manner, like a bead of oil in a way, I know I'm there.

Even using a thermometer, I eyeball my mix.

[nightscotsman]

You could also try using a hand blender on the mix when it's cool. Just try not to incorporate any air.

Also, make sure you are using a very fine strainer.