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

[Chris Amirault]

It's own beautiful self;

a few really, really good raspberries;

a couple of excellent anisette cookies.

[AmyKay]

Terrasanct, chocolate gelato sounds great! I love chocolate & would love to hear how yours turned out. I love putting fruit and/or berries with chocolate.

I am glad to report that I did have some success with my cherimoya sorbet! The flavor was very light, creamy, and sweet with a subtle lemony-berry flavor. I think that this might be really good with some strawberries added in. The Cherimoya fruit did lend some of its natural creaminess so that we thought it was more like a desert with cream than one without, which was the goal. No one's going to mistake this for ice cream, but it is a nice alternative!

I was surprised at the color that I ended up with. The flesh of the fruit is pale yellow, and as I was taking all the seeds out it was starting to brown just slightly, sort of like a banana. I added some lemon early on to try to slow that down. Maybe it was the lemon, maybe not, but it turned out to be a really soft, light shade of pink. Pretty!

Edited July 29, 2005 by AmyKay (log)

[Eden]

This thread inspired me to make chocolate gelato.  I'm not sure if I've ever made it before, and it's not something I can buy here.  It's not done yet, but the custard tastes great!  What would you serve it with?

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a spoon sorry irrisistable...

something like orange-almond cake, or Brandied cherries would go well. I'm partial to chocolate on chocolate, so serving it with a really good chocolate cake/torte/babka would also be good.

[Pan]

I think chocolate gelato would go really well with cantuccini aka biscotti da Prato. Or you could use some thin butter cookies. Or how about if you put some hazelnuts in it? I could go on...

[Terrasanct]

I thought about toasting some hazelnuts and maybe even putting on some whipped cream. It's SO chocolatey--it has both bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder in it. I just used Hershey's cocoa powder, and a mix of Scharffenberger and Trader Joe's dark chocolates. It's very intense.

My raspberry bushes just quit last week, but maybe...hmmm...I've got some frozen and could make a nice coulis.

[Terrasanct]

Well, I served it with the coulis and whipped cream, with little orange cookies. Two small scoops...next time I'll go with one scoop. It was rich enough to put someone into a chocolate coma.

We liked it.

[bushey]

Made my first batch (ever) of homemade ice cream last night, in my new Panasonic ice cream maker. I used Mark Bittman's recipe from "How to Cook Everything", opting for half-and-half and a little bit of 1% milk, bittersweet chocolate, and 6 egg yolks. The total volume of liquid was 3 cups, which is the largest capacity the ice cream maker will hold.

Started the whole process too later to see my results last night. I just put the ice cream maker in the freezer, turned it on, and checked it this morning before work. As I packed the ice cream into containers we all tasted a bit......man, is it good. Not terribly creamy, but delicious chocolate taste. After I put it away in the freezer to harden, my oldest daughter said "I don't have a good feeling about that ice cream." That's herspeak for "If anyone else wants some of this they'd better have it soon, before I eat it all."

[Kim WB]

Thank you all for the inspiration..I bought a cheap $50 cuisinart IC maker at Linens and Things on Friday, got a basket of overripe white peaches at the farmers market on Sat, and today, Sun, mada a simple , wonderful white peach sorbet ( using martha stewarts recipe). A new toy...thanks!!

[viva]

I bought the shiny Cuisinart and made a batch of strawberry-orange sorbet with a little Grand Marnier mixed in. I love the pour-spout in the center of the lid, as basically it allows me to reach my spoon in while the sorbet was being made. You know, for quality control.

While I'm on the sorbet subject, there was a dessert that I had at several different restaurants in Paris wherein sorbet was served with a dose of vodka, limoncello, or champagne on top. Anyone know what this might be called? Is this served States-side and I've missed it for 30 years?

Not knowing any French, I only ordered it thinking "sorbet...good. liquor...good."

[Terrasanct]

I'm still on the gelato kick. I made a very simple lemon gelato tonight. The only ingredients were cream, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. It didn't require cooking. I subbed Splenda for the sugar since I'm not really supposed to have sugar, and left out the zest because I didn't have any. It was very good, light and delicate.

[Abra]

I can't wait to go back and read all 6 pages - but I'm pretty sure no one would have asked this.

I love Punt e Mes (a very herbaceous red vermouth) and I'd love to capture those flavors into a gelato or sorbet, either sweet or savory (it's both by nature). But I'm afraid that if I use enough to get the flavor, it won't freeze.

Can anyone give me some proportions, based on using some other comparable liquor, just to get me started?

[Mayhaw Man]

OK, tonight I got busy with a little Watermelon Sorbet. I followed Rachel's recipe, excepting the corn syrup (this watermelon, which I stupidly failed to take a photo of, was incredible- a watermelon of the Sugar Baby variety-grown by a neighbor who should have a bottomless supply for the next couple of weeks). I used turbinado sugar instead of white (I got 10 lbs. during a recent trip to cane country) and it gave the sorbet a nice, light, mollasses flavor. The stuff was really, really good. I highly reccomend it.

Sugar Baby Watermelon Sorbet

[Terrasanct]

That looks good.

[MelissaH]

Calling all geeks here:

My husband just got a new toy: a refractometer, ostensibly for his homebrew habit. This is a gizmo that measures the density of liquids: you put a couple of drops on a glass surface at the end of a tube, close a "door" over the top to make a thin layer, point it at the light, look through the eyepiece at the other end, and read the density in degrees Brix off the scale.

Homebrewers care about density of liquids because by comparing the density of the wort (unfermented beer) with the finished product, one can determine the approximate percent alcohol in the beer. But...it struck me the other day that this refractometer might also be a great tool to check the density of sorbet mixes, to see that the sugar content is high enough that the sorbet won't be icy but low enough that the sorbet will actually freeze. Has anyone out there used a refractometer for sorbet purposes? Will this refractometer (reads from 0 to 32 degrees Brix, I think) measure in the range I'd need? And will my husband be upset with me for prostituting his beermaking tool for other purposes? You don't have to answer that last question.

Thanks,

MelissaH

[Toliver]

If anyone is interested, the Food Network currently has an "invent an ice cream flavor" contest in conjunction with Häagen-Dazs®:

"Scoop! - Ice cream contest rules and reg's"

One lucky winner will see his/her ice cream flavor roll out nationally.

[Kim WB]

I'm one of those less than inspired cooks who need a recipe...can anyone recocomend a cookbook for ic's and sorbets prepared in a home electronic maker...beyond the instruction booklet from cuisinart?

[Anna N]

I'm one of those less than  inspired cooks who need a recipe...can anyone recocomend a cookbook for ic's and sorbets prepared in a home electronic maker...beyond the instruction booklet from cuisinart?

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I really like Williams-Sonoma "Ice Cream". It is a small but beautifully illustrated book and the recipes I have tried have been successful.

[Marmish]

I'm one of those less than  inspired cooks who need a recipe...can anyone recocomend a cookbook for ic's and sorbets prepared in a home electronic maker...beyond the instruction booklet from cuisinart?

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I really like Williams-Sonoma "Ice Cream". It is a small but beautifully illustrated book and the recipes I have tried have been successful.

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I'll second that. The Chocolate Raspberry Truffle may be my favorite ice cream of all time.

[Terrasanct]

Today I made a different kind of chocolate gelato, peach/spice gelato, and pear sorbet. I served the sorbet tonight for dessert. I wanted it to taste something like old fashioned pear crisp. In ramekins I melted a small amount of Dilletante caramel sauce, and sprinkled over it some granola. Scooped the pear sorbet over that and topped with lightly whipped cream. It was very good.

The chocolate gelato turned out a little insipid. Is it possible to soften/melt gelato or ice cream and refreeze it? I was trying to make something with less cream, but it has too many ice crystals. Any ideas?

[Misa]

The chocolate gelato turned out a little insipid.  Is it possible to soften/melt gelato or ice cream and refreeze it?  I was trying to make something with less cream, but it has too many ice crystals.  Any ideas?

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I should think you'd be able to do that, but let it melt down completely, then refreeze.

[Eden]

I know you can do this with sorbet, but am not as certain re ice-cream. try it & let us know what happens!

[Terrasanct]

It was just an experiment--I wanted to see what chocolate milk would turn out like. I added about a quarter cup of cream and some melted Callebaut unsweetened for some extra richness. Not rich enough.

So I'm trying to figure out if I want to cook it with eggs like a custard or just add more cream. I think I'll have to heat it up, whichever way I go with it.

[trillium]

I'm one of those less than  inspired cooks who need a recipe...can anyone recocomend a cookbook for ic's and sorbets prepared in a home electronic maker...beyond the instruction booklet from cuisinart?

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Chez Panisse Desserts. Bonus is, you get other recipes too. But about 1/3 are for icecreams and sorbets.

regards,

trillium

[bloviatrix]

I was planning on making nectarine sorbet. But Russ Parson's article on fruit ice creams in this week's LA Times inspired me to infuse my sugar syrup with cardamon. I don't think I used enough as the cardamon is a little too subtle, but the texture is out of this world - very creamy. And the color is a lovely pale peach.

[Terrasanct]

I re-did the failed gelato. Melted it, stirred in unsweetened Valrhona, some cream, cocoa powder, and 4 beaten egg yolks. It turned out much better--rich, creamy, no ice flakes. And I managed to make it sugar-free. I'm sure it will freeze as hard as a rock, but it's very rich.

I'm confused as to the actual definition of gelato, though. Whenever I've looked it up online, I've found varying, even opposing ideas of what it is. Can someone enlighten me?