Ice Cream, Gelato, Sherbet--Cook-Off 11

[Eden]

I asked if anybody has a tried & true butter almond or butter pecan recipe, or something similar... It looks like our taste buds are on the same track. 

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That's probably what put it in my head

Per 'Ice Cream! the Whole Scoop' Butter Pecan is made by adding either "butter crunch candy" plus pecans OR candied pecans, to a vanilla base made with brown sugar and a teensy bit of butter.

I wonder what the butter does to the mix in terms of texture etc since we work so hard to avoid "buttering" in making ice-cream.

from the same source "Butter Crunch Ice cream" (a generic name for Butter Brickle?) is made by mixing "butter crunch candy" into either a plain vanilla or caramel ice-cream base. I don't know - caramel seems like too intense a base & vanilla too plain. My taste memory says it was somewhere between them. More like the vanilla made with brown sugar & maybe even a bit of butter as above...

[Smithy]

It's been a while since I made it, but Cherry Garcia was a hit around our house. (Sorry, I wasn't doing photos at the time.) The only problem with it was that the children visiting kept competing over who got to add something next - ice, salt, ice, salt.... eventually the level of freezing stuff came up so high that it got into the canister. The ice cream was a touch salty, but still good.

[snowangel]

As I reported here, we made strawberry ice cream! Twice, in fact. Once immediately after picking the berries, and again on Sunday for a party.

I used a recipe from my great grandmother's recipe file. Cream, berries, not much sugar on the berries to which you take a potato masher, and two eggs. I use a Donvier, because it is what I have.

[Toliver]

Don't have a picture of it but I made Alton Brown's "Serious Vanilla Ice Cream" for the 4th of July. It was served with some "Texas Brownies" that my mom made and was a match made in heaven.

My brother was a little too impatient for the ice cream to be "done" and so we had soft serve ice cream with the brownies.

[Patrick S]

We made another fruit sorbet, watermelon this time. Very refreshing, perfect for a hot summer evening on the patio.

[Mallet]

In Complete Techniques, Jacques Pépin mentions that sorbets are best made in a food processor. Apparently, using a regular ice cream maker beats in too much air into the mixture and changes the color and taste of the fruit. He even goes so far as to say that melon sorbet is ruined if done in an ice machine.

That's good news for me, because all I own is a food processor ! I'm trying a melon sorbet right now but it took longer to freeze than I anticipated: I guess that means sorbet for breakfast.

[Pan]

We made another fruit sorbet, watermelon this time. Very refreshing, perfect for a hot summer evening on the patio.

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That looks really nice, Patrick.

I'm wondering whether with a really sweet fruit like watermelon, you'd be sparing with the amount of sugar added. I could imagine simply freezing unsweetened watermelon juice and having a terrific cold dessert that way.

[Patrick S]

In Complete Techniques, Jacques Pépin mentions that sorbets are best made in a food processor. Apparently, using a regular ice cream maker beats in too much air into the mixture and changes the color and taste of the fruit. He even goes so far as to say that melon sorbet is ruined if done in an ice machine.

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Pepin is entitled to his own opinion, of course, but I'd have to disagree. I made my sorbet in an ice cream machine, and the melon color and taste shine right through. They do not appear in any sense to have been ruined.

[Mallet]

We made another fruit sorbet, watermelon this time. Very refreshing, perfect for a hot summer evening on the patio.

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That looks really nice, Patrick.

I'm wondering whether with a really sweet fruit like watermelon, you'd be sparing with the amount of sugar added. I could imagine simply freezing unsweetened watermelon juice and having a terrific cold dessert that way.

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I tried a cantelope sorbet yesterday according to Pépin's recipe in Complete techniques, the basic proportions being:

flesh of one 3 lb melon

1/3 cup sugar (more or less depending on sweetness ripeness)

1/3 cup lime juice

2 tbsp honey

I used the initial proprtions (having never made sorbet and not wanting to frig around the first time ) and turned out pretty nice, but probably could have used even less sugar/lime juice.

I would think a minimum amount of sugar is necessary.. doesn't it help prevent crystallization or something?

[Susan in FL]

Smithy and anybody else interested, the recipe for white chocolate macadamia ice cream is now in RecipeGullet.

[Patrick S]

Strawberry and framboise granita. I pureed 18ozs strawberries with 2T each water and lemon juice, 1T each framboise liquer and vodka, and 1/2C sugar. The puree was poured in an 8x8 pan, placed in the freezer, and stirred every 30 minutes or so for about 4 hours. A teensy bit sweeter than I'd like, but still nice.

[Sandra Levine]

I made a good Philadelphia-style banana ice cream the other day. I whizzed a pint of very rich Butterworks heavy cream and one and one-half bananas, in chunks in the blender until the mixture was smooth, then added sugar to taste, about 1/4 - 1/3 cup and a splash of rum and stired until all was blended. Then, into the Donvier for 20 minutes, turning the paddle two or three times every 3 minutes or so.

Very simple and pure.

[bloviatrix]

I made blueberry-thyme sorbet yesterday. Next time I'll be a little less generous with the thyme used to infuse the sugar syrup, it's a little too strong. But, the color is lovely (I use ascorbic acid powder to keep it from getting muddy) and it has a great texture.

[a geek]

In the past week I've been inspired to make my first two batches (thanks, thread). One was a basic vanilla from the Greens Cookbook. I find it a bit eggy (4 yolks) but love the fresh vanilla taste. I think it also was two parts heavy cream to one part milk, and has frozen quite solid.

The second batch was an adaptation of Alton Brown's Banana Ice Cream at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/re...36_27213,00.htm

I used splenda and honey (50/50) in place of the corn syrup and maybe two parts whole milk to one part cream. Also added a crumbled up milk chocolate bar and lots of cruhed walnuts. Then, I kept tasting and adding milk until the sweetness was acceptable (think I went nuts on the honey). Turned out extremely well as the bananas I had were insanely ripe.

I'm loving the texture right out of the machine - all of these freeze so hard. Any way to moderate that? Also, any other folks experimenting with alternative sweeteners? I've got great strong honey from the local farmer's market which imparts a very warm taste.

[M. Lucia]

I haven't been able to participate in the cook off as my ice cream maker is in storage, but I have been following closely being the ice cream fiend that I am. And because I have this problem with homemade ice cream.

I love homemade ice cream the day it's churned, great flavor, creamy texture.

However, I stopped making ice cream except a few times a year. It's because after a day or more in the freezer it's rock hard and then melts immediately.

So a major crystallization problem, I guess. And when I say time in the freezer, I mean any time longer than the couple hours or so after it's intially churned (just what it take to get it to firm up).

Is it my ice cream maker (an inexpensive one)?

How does the recipe affect this, eggs/no eggs/ how many eggs?

Or is it simply a matter of preservatives?

[RETREVR]

One of the best ones I have made at home is a Tuaca icecream with a blackberry sauce.

Every time I have a big function with creme anglais on the menu, I make a bunch of extra cream "by accident" and then just throw it into the maker with whatever flavoring I feel like.

[FoodMan]

In the past week I've been inspired to make my first two batches (thanks, thread).  One was a basic vanilla from the Greens Cookbook.  I find it a bit eggy (4 yolks) but love the fresh vanilla taste.  I think it also was two parts heavy cream to one part milk, and has frozen quite solid.

The second batch was an adaptation of Alton Brown's Banana Ice Cream at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/re...36_27213,00.htm

I used splenda and honey (50/50) in place of the corn syrup and maybe two parts whole milk to one part cream.  Also added a crumbled up milk chocolate bar and lots of cruhed walnuts.  Then, I kept tasting and adding milk until the sweetness was acceptable (think I went nuts on the honey).  Turned out extremely well as the bananas I had were insanely ripe.

I'm loving the texture right out of the machine - all of these freeze so hard.  Any way to moderate that?  Also, any other folks experimenting with alternative sweeteners?  I've got great strong honey from the local farmer's market which imparts a very warm taste.

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I am no expert by any means and the following might only apply to those machines with the freezer bowl. So, please correct me if any of this makes no sense.

I made the Alton Brown as written recipe many times. It produces a thick creamy ice cream, even after freezing. I'm guessing using the Splenda/honey mixture and the "I kept tasting and adding milk until the sweetness was acceptable" really caused the "rock hard" consistency. Homemade Ice cream needs a good amount of fat, sugar and air in it to remain scoop-able.

My general observations about the rock-hard ice cream situation:

This happened twice to me and I learned my lesson well. The first time around I tried mucking around with a low fat strawberry ice cream based on Alton Browns "Serious Vanilla". Well, I mixed in a good doze of blended strawberries and used less cream. The result was rock hard.

The second time was a rich Charlie Trotter coconut ice cream. So, fat is no problem here. The recipe had cream, four or so yolks and made about 1/2 a quart (2 cups) of ice cream. That was the problem though, it was too little of an amount to make in my Krups with the frozen bowl. As soon as the mix hit the bowl it froze in under 5 minutes. No air was whipped in it and the result again was rock hard. The next time around I made a double batch and enjoyed an awsome ice cream.

In both situations the ice cream was still edible after letting it sit on the counter for 10 minutes and then scooping out.

So, what I learned was:

1- I need fat in my ice cream base

2- If a recipe makes less than 1 quart, make a bigger batch! (BTW, I do the same with the PH chocolate ice cream I showed above).

Hope this helps.

Elie

[Busboy]

Not much wisdom to add but I thought I might add a bit of encouragement to anyone considering taking the ice cream plunge.

We made ice cream Saturday, nothing special, just vanilla 'scream meant to be drizzled with dulce de leche and served alongside a clafoutis. We didn't even have real vanilla bean, just McCormick's.

My traitorous wife had brought some Ben and Jerry's into the house and at some point I thought I'd do a taste test between Ben's and mine, fearing the results, as I have great respect for B&J's.

Boy, was I glad to be wrong. The homemade stuff was just at a different level, taste, consistency, whatever. It was a lesson in why doing it yourself is worth it, almost every time, and how even a home cook can beat up the mass market boys if you've got a little time Staurday morning.

So, if you're wondering whether it's worth it, it is.

[FoodMan]

I have a good crop of spearmint in my backyard. Last night I made a mix for mint ice cream to be churned today. The plan is for it to be served in profiterols (sp?) with chocolate sauce, if timing is tight, then just chocolate sauce. More on this later.

Elie

[Jennifer Iannolo]

We featured a Lemongrass Cilantro Sorbet last month on Gastronomic Meditations, and the aromas coming from the pan as the milk was heating had me in a frenzy. (I get really excited about cilantro. And lemongrass.)

I prefer tastes that are less on the sweet side, so I actually made this with 1/2 cup sugar instead of the full cup the recipe calls for.

It also makes a great summer cocktail when mixed with a bit of vodka.

[McDuff]

I had to go to an internal "pastry summit" at work yesterday, and wanted to hurl out the car window on the way home. What amateurish dreck.

So when I got home, I made some nice chicken wrapped in pancetta and thrown in tomato sauce, served over farfalle with some nice stravecchio, an angel food cake with strawberries, and coffee gelato, using a CI recipe and my hand cranked Donvier.

I can now give the authoritative answer for how long one must keep the can in the freezer in order to get to back-to-back batches of ice cream.....8 years!

[rajsuman]

Yay! My first time at an eGullet cook-off! I made this Lychee Ice Cream with the following changes:

1) Substituted 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 cup of creme fraiche

2) Omitted the vanilla essence

It was wonderful! The only thing I would do differently is forget about adding the chopped lychees - as I suspected, they turned into hard icy bits when frozen. It might work better with pureed lychees.

Edited July 13, 2005 by rajsuman (log)

[eje]

We featured a Lemongrass Cilantro Sorbet last month on Gastronomic Meditations, and the aromas coming from the pan as the milk was heating had me in a frenzy.  (I get really excited about cilantro.  And lemongrass.)

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That does sound very tasty, except I don't really like milk. How about coconut milk instead? Anyone ever used that in sorbet or gelato?

-Erik

[Jennifer Iannolo]

Erik, that actually sounds quite decadent. I love coconut milk, too (crikey, what don't I love??). I'm going to check with my chef and see what she thinks. (Waiting for her to get her butt in here!!!)

Stay tuned. Anyone else here have ideas? Now my palate is curious.

[Eden]

That does sound very tasty, except I don't really like milk.  How about coconut milk instead?  Anyone ever used that in sorbet or gelato?

one of our favorite, and easiest, ice-creams is just equal parts coco-loco (cream of coconut) and rice-dream (or milk if you don't dislike it/have dairy intolerant friends as we do)

it's dreamy and the coco-loco provides all the sugars and stabilizers you need...