Here is a picture of it. Pretty cool. And it looks a lot like me!
Check it out, you can buy one at 1xRun. YOu have to act fast because it goes off the market in a few hours!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Cool Ice Cream Art
Graphic artist Travis Cain sent me a picture of some ice cream art he made. It is for sale at 1xRun..
Here is a picture of it. Pretty cool. And it looks a lot like me!
Check it out, you can buy one at 1xRun. YOu have to act fast because it goes off the market in a few hours!
Here is a picture of it. Pretty cool. And it looks a lot like me!
Check it out, you can buy one at 1xRun. YOu have to act fast because it goes off the market in a few hours!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream
After a long hiatus I return. More often than not, you are likely to find me using Twitter. You can see my tweets here or follow me.
The 5th Annual Slow Food Atlanta Ice Cream Social was last weekend, and as you can guess, yours truly was a competitor. This was the toughest year yet. Nationally recognized restaurants like Miller Union and Top Chef Master Hugh Atchinson's 5 & 10were there. Of course, both of them won with virtually identical recipes for corn ice cream with blueberry compote. They both were really good. Laurent Tourondel's BLT Steak Atlanta also won for their rhubarb and strawberry ice cream (more rhubarb than strawberry and so refreshing). One amateur also got an award. She won for Lemon Basil Chocolate Chip.
Apparently, I decided not to make all the winning flavors this year. My original ice cream flavor was corn. I was inspired by 5 & 10's corn soup. I couldn't get it right. I also tried to do a caramel corn flavor that didn't work either. The corn flavor was too intense. From talking to both Miller Union and 5 & 10, I picked up some pointers on how to incorporate corn into the ice cream. I will try it again soon and post the recipe.
The other flavor I was considering was lemon verbena chocolate chip. Not quite lemon basil, but close. I happen to have a huge lemon verbena plant in my garden that has yet to be used.
The flavor I chose was Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream. If you have ever had Thai iced tea, then you know why this would make a great ice cream. It tastes like tea, but is served with cream and is sweetened. There is an earthy flavor that cannot compare to traditional tea. It also has some star anise in it. Bonnie Heath took photos of the event for Slow Food Atlanta. She is the owner of that awesome picture of my ice cream at the top of this post. Click this link to find all of the Ice Cream Social pictures as well as Bonnie's other work on her Flickr site.
My recipe is very easy and you will love the flavor. It really is very good, but you have to be able find loose Thai iced tea. You can find Thai tea at an Asian supermarket or online.
I paired this ice cream with salted caramel sauce. This caramel is slightly unusual because of the addition of sour cream. I won't post the recipe because it is poached directly out of the Baked cookbook. It is the recipe for the Chocolate Caramel cake.
Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream:
60 grams of Thai Iced Tea (roughly 10 tablespoons)
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
- Put the cream, milk, and 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan and heat to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Turn off the heat add tea and steep for 10 minutes.
- Beat the remaining sugar in a bowl with the egg yolks and whole egg and salt.
- Return the tea to the heat and temper the eggs. Then add the eggs into the milk/cream mixture. Stir constantly until the temperature reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. You will not get all of the tea out, but that is okay.
- Cool over a water bath to room temperature.
- Set aside in the refrigerator overnight.
- Freeze in your ice cream machine. Serve with caramel sauce.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
I am flavorless
Anyone have an idea for me for this year's ice cream social? My first idea did not fare so well and I do not think it will be usable even if I adjust it.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream, Take 2
Last time this I made peanut butter and jelly ice cream I used a peanut butter ice cream base and added small jelly sandwiches. As we found out, the peanut butter makes the ice cream very hard. After researching and consulting with some ice cream experts, no one has a good solution for this problem. So how do we capture the flavor PB&J without the excessive hardness?
The answer is quite simple and comes via a suggestion by Mrs. Fellow; namely to make a reverse version of the ice cream - jelly ice cream with peanut butter sandwiches. Our refrigerator was filled with strawberries and raspberries on the verge of being too old. They made the perfect base flavoring for the ice cream.
This recipe is almost identical to my basic strawberry ice cream, but with increased egg content. The eggs may take something away from the fruit, but the debate over Philly style vs. custard will have to wait for another day. Although it is called "jelly" ice cream, it is nothing more than a simple fruit base. When combined with peanut butter, it tastes like jelly. You may choose a different fruit or fruit combination. As with all fruit ice creams, the amount of sugar has to be adjusted for the ripeness of the fruit. You may even want to adjust the quantity of fruit puree based on your tastes and the type of fruit used.
The tasters who have had both versions were unanimous that the peanut butter ice cream based version was better, but everyone who ate this one loved it.
Don't forget, you can now follow me on Twitter! Click here!
For the berry puree:
This recipe probably makes more puree than you will need, but with all living things, the quality depends on the grower, the season, etc. You may need extra puree to get the right taste. The 1.5 cups that I used worked for me, but you may want more (or less) fruit flavor. Mix it any way you want, that is part of the fun of making ice cream, but remember to start with less than you actually need. You can always add more, but you can't take any out.
12 oz fresh raspberries
12 oz fresh strawberries
1/3 cup of sugar
For the peanut butter sandwiches
Peanut butter
6 slices of bread
For the jelly ice cream:
6 Egg yolks
½ cup (or more as needed)
1 1/3 cup of cream
2/3 cup of milk
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 ½ cups of strawberry-raspberry puree
1 tsp. lemon juice
The answer is quite simple and comes via a suggestion by Mrs. Fellow; namely to make a reverse version of the ice cream - jelly ice cream with peanut butter sandwiches. Our refrigerator was filled with strawberries and raspberries on the verge of being too old. They made the perfect base flavoring for the ice cream.
This recipe is almost identical to my basic strawberry ice cream, but with increased egg content. The eggs may take something away from the fruit, but the debate over Philly style vs. custard will have to wait for another day. Although it is called "jelly" ice cream, it is nothing more than a simple fruit base. When combined with peanut butter, it tastes like jelly. You may choose a different fruit or fruit combination. As with all fruit ice creams, the amount of sugar has to be adjusted for the ripeness of the fruit. You may even want to adjust the quantity of fruit puree based on your tastes and the type of fruit used.
The tasters who have had both versions were unanimous that the peanut butter ice cream based version was better, but everyone who ate this one loved it.
Don't forget, you can now follow me on Twitter! Click here!
For the berry puree:
This recipe probably makes more puree than you will need, but with all living things, the quality depends on the grower, the season, etc. You may need extra puree to get the right taste. The 1.5 cups that I used worked for me, but you may want more (or less) fruit flavor. Mix it any way you want, that is part of the fun of making ice cream, but remember to start with less than you actually need. You can always add more, but you can't take any out.
12 oz fresh raspberries
12 oz fresh strawberries
1/3 cup of sugar
- If you are using fresh berries, hull them and halve them (quarter the big ones). Toss them with 1/3 cup of sugar and let them sit for a while. The sugar will bring out the natural sweetness in the berries.
- Cook the berries with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt over medium heat stirring frequently. You can do this over lower heat, you have to wait longer, but the berries will not require as much attention. When they reach the consistency of loose preserves they are done.
- Puree the berries in a blender then strain to remove the seeds.
- Set aside.
Make sure to adjust the sweetness of the berries. If they need more sugar, add it here. It is important to perfect the flavor of the puree before adding to the milk. This way, it is easier to get the right amount of sweetness. Otherwise, you have to try to add sugar to your cooked custard. This can be problematic because if you don't adequately incorporate the sugar the final product can become grainy. On the other hand, by adding the extra sugar in this step, you can rewarm the puree to ensure it is incorporated properly.
For the peanut butter sandwiches
Peanut butter
6 slices of bread
- Spread the peanut butter on the bread and create sandwiches.
- Using a heavy-bottomed saucepan, frying pan, or baking sheet press firmly to flatten the sandwiches.
- Wrap the sandwiches in aluminum foil and freeze for at least one hour.
For the jelly ice cream:
6 Egg yolks
½ cup (or more as needed)
1 1/3 cup of cream
2/3 cup of milk
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 ½ cups of strawberry-raspberry puree
1 tsp. lemon juice
- Pour the milk and cream and half of the sugar into a pot and bring to a slight simmer stirring occasionally.
- As the milk and cream are heating, place the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar (and salt if using) and beat until it is a pale, frothy liquid.
- Once the milk/cream mixture is simmering, remove it from the heat and temper the egg mixture by adding a small amount of the hot milk/cream and stirring thoroughly. Repeat this process a couple of more times to ensure that the eggs have warmed up. You should use about 1/3 of a cup of hot cream mixture in total. Then pour the complete egg mixture into the cream pot.
- Return the pot to the heat and stir constantly until the custard reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Strain into a bowl and combine with the fruit puree.
- Cool the custard to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
- Freeze in your ice cream machine.
- During the freezing process, remove the sandwiches from the freezer, cut into squares no bigger than 0.5 inches by 0.5 inches. You may want to remove the crusts. Add the peanut butter sandwiches during the last minute of freezing.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream
I was really excited when you picked this to be the next recipe. Peanut butter is a very versatile flavor that is easy to make into a bunch of different tasty teats. Chocolate, bananas, marshmallow, granola, honey, and jelly are some of the best add-ins. I was originally going to make a peanut butter ice cream sandwich. Fortunately for you, a dessert I was supposed to make last weekend that never materialized left me with 4 pints of strawberries. So my plan was to make some sort of peanut butter and jelly flavor. Yesterday morning in the shower I was lamenting that I if made the PB&J flavor I wouldn’t be able to make ice cream sandwiches. Then it hit me, why not put the sandwich inside of the ice cream? Mrs. Fellow loved the flavor idea and immediately began directing my effort. So today’s flavor is peanut butter ice cream with jam sandwich pieces. Ben and Jerry would be proud. I am happy to report that this flavor will knock your socks off. You won’t believe that something so mundane as a PB&J can be transformed into this masterpiece.
I made my own strawberry jam for this recipe. Make your own jam with your favorite fruit flavor. Store bought jam will also work, but you do have to thicken it more. Simmer it on the stove to reduce its volume. It should be so thick that you have trouble removing the cooled jam from the container. This helps concentrate the flavors. More importantly, it allows you to really pile on the jam in the sandwiches without it oozing out of the sides during pressing.
As for the bread, plain supermarket white bread is what is best to use. Sunbeam, Pepperidge Farm, and Sara Lee brands are good choices. Avoid bread that is too crusty because it makes it more difficult to press the sandwiches. I recommend leaving a small gap between the jam and the edge of the bread. This will help avoid the sticky mess if the jam oozes out when the sandwich is pressed. I also recommend removing the crusts when cutting the sandwiches into bite sized pieces because jam coverage is not uniform at the edges. Besides, isn’t it mandatory to remove the crusts from your PB&J?
Lastly, I tested this recipe three ways – untoasted bread, toasted bread, no bread. All three were outstanding, but none of the tasters could differentiate between the toasted and untoasted bread versions. The thick jam made a difference. It is nearly chewy when frozen and was a nice textural compliment to the ice cream.
May 1, 2008 UPDATE: After being in my freezer for a few days, this ice cream has become very hard. I don't think I have ever made one that is this difficult to scoop. You may want to thaw it for a few minutes on the counter before serving it.
Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwich Ice Cream:
For the Jam:
4 pints of strawberries
3 cups sugar
1 generous tablespoon lemon juice
1. Wash and hull the strawberries. If any berries are too large, cut them into smaller pieces.
2. Put the berries, sugar, and lemon juice into a saucepan. Stir frequently until the sugar becomes liquid.
3. Simmer this stuff for about 30 minutes. The temperature should eventually get to more than 24o F.
4. Remove from the heat and cool.
This makes about 2.5 cups of super concentrated jam. Extra jam can be frozen or canned.
The sandwiches:
6 slices white bread
Jam
1. If the jam has totally cooled, briefly warm it in the microwave to loosen it a bit; it should be still be thick, but easier to spread.
2. Make sandwiches using generous amounts of jam. Be sure to leave ¼ inch border on the bread.
3. Put the sandwiches in aluminum foil and cover loosely. Using a heavy bottomed skillet or saucepan press the sandwiches to reduce their thickness.
4. Cover tightly and place the sandwiches in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
5. Remove the sandwiches from the freezer and cut off the discard the crusts. Cut the remaining sandwiches into ¼ - ½ inch squares. Return the pieces to the freezer for another hour or two.
For the ice cream:
2 cups whole milk
2 cups cream
6 egg yolks
¾ cup of sugar
½ teaspoon of vanilla
¾ cup peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon of salt (optional)
1. Pour the milk and cream and half of the sugar into a pot and bring to a slight simmer stirring occasionally.
2. As the milk and cream are heating, place the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar (and salt if using) and beat until it is a pale, frothy liquid.
3. Once the milk/cream mixture is simmering, remove them from the heat and temper the egg mixture by adding a small amount of the hot milk/cream and stirring thoroughly. Repeat this process a couple of more times to ensure that the eggs have warmed up. You should use about 1/3 of a cup of hot cream mixture in total. 4. Then pour the complete egg mixture into the cream pot.
5. Return the pot to the heat and stir constantly until the custard reaches 175F.
6. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peanut butter.
7. Cool the custard to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
8. Freeze in your ice cream machine. Add sandwich pieces in the last minute of the freezing process. If you opt to skip the bread and instead use just the jam, than create small blobs of jam and put them into the ice cream after it comes out of the ice cream machine. This is when the ice cream is still in its soft serve stage. If it gets too hard, do not worry, you can put some ice cream in a freezer container, put down a layer of jam, then more ice cream, then more jam, then more ice cream. This will create a ripple effect when the ice cream is scooped.
I made my own strawberry jam for this recipe. Make your own jam with your favorite fruit flavor. Store bought jam will also work, but you do have to thicken it more. Simmer it on the stove to reduce its volume. It should be so thick that you have trouble removing the cooled jam from the container. This helps concentrate the flavors. More importantly, it allows you to really pile on the jam in the sandwiches without it oozing out of the sides during pressing.
As for the bread, plain supermarket white bread is what is best to use. Sunbeam, Pepperidge Farm, and Sara Lee brands are good choices. Avoid bread that is too crusty because it makes it more difficult to press the sandwiches. I recommend leaving a small gap between the jam and the edge of the bread. This will help avoid the sticky mess if the jam oozes out when the sandwich is pressed. I also recommend removing the crusts when cutting the sandwiches into bite sized pieces because jam coverage is not uniform at the edges. Besides, isn’t it mandatory to remove the crusts from your PB&J?
Lastly, I tested this recipe three ways – untoasted bread, toasted bread, no bread. All three were outstanding, but none of the tasters could differentiate between the toasted and untoasted bread versions. The thick jam made a difference. It is nearly chewy when frozen and was a nice textural compliment to the ice cream.
May 1, 2008 UPDATE: After being in my freezer for a few days, this ice cream has become very hard. I don't think I have ever made one that is this difficult to scoop. You may want to thaw it for a few minutes on the counter before serving it.
Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Sandwich Ice Cream:
For the Jam:
4 pints of strawberries
3 cups sugar
1 generous tablespoon lemon juice
1. Wash and hull the strawberries. If any berries are too large, cut them into smaller pieces.
2. Put the berries, sugar, and lemon juice into a saucepan. Stir frequently until the sugar becomes liquid.
3. Simmer this stuff for about 30 minutes. The temperature should eventually get to more than 24o F.
4. Remove from the heat and cool.
This makes about 2.5 cups of super concentrated jam. Extra jam can be frozen or canned.
The sandwiches:
6 slices white bread
Jam
1. If the jam has totally cooled, briefly warm it in the microwave to loosen it a bit; it should be still be thick, but easier to spread.
2. Make sandwiches using generous amounts of jam. Be sure to leave ¼ inch border on the bread.
3. Put the sandwiches in aluminum foil and cover loosely. Using a heavy bottomed skillet or saucepan press the sandwiches to reduce their thickness.
4. Cover tightly and place the sandwiches in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
5. Remove the sandwiches from the freezer and cut off the discard the crusts. Cut the remaining sandwiches into ¼ - ½ inch squares. Return the pieces to the freezer for another hour or two.
For the ice cream:
2 cups whole milk
2 cups cream
6 egg yolks
¾ cup of sugar
½ teaspoon of vanilla
¾ cup peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon of salt (optional)
1. Pour the milk and cream and half of the sugar into a pot and bring to a slight simmer stirring occasionally.
2. As the milk and cream are heating, place the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar (and salt if using) and beat until it is a pale, frothy liquid.
3. Once the milk/cream mixture is simmering, remove them from the heat and temper the egg mixture by adding a small amount of the hot milk/cream and stirring thoroughly. Repeat this process a couple of more times to ensure that the eggs have warmed up. You should use about 1/3 of a cup of hot cream mixture in total. 4. Then pour the complete egg mixture into the cream pot.
5. Return the pot to the heat and stir constantly until the custard reaches 175F.
6. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peanut butter.
7. Cool the custard to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
8. Freeze in your ice cream machine. Add sandwich pieces in the last minute of the freezing process. If you opt to skip the bread and instead use just the jam, than create small blobs of jam and put them into the ice cream after it comes out of the ice cream machine. This is when the ice cream is still in its soft serve stage. If it gets too hard, do not worry, you can put some ice cream in a freezer container, put down a layer of jam, then more ice cream, then more jam, then more ice cream. This will create a ripple effect when the ice cream is scooped.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Ice Cream Social 2010
This Saturday, June 18th is the Fourth Annual Slow Food Atlanta Ice Cream Social. Last year, my Maple Bacon ice cream secured second place. This year, my flavor is even better and more of a crowd pleaser.
Some of the best pastry chefs in Atlanta will be there including the ones from three of best restaurants in Georgia - 5&10, Restaurant Eugene, and Miller Union. Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene has performed on Iron Chef! Here is a list of the competitors I know will be there:
5&10
Buckhead Bottle Bar
Burge Organice Farm
Cacao Atlanta
Canoe
Fresco Pops
Jonathan Hosseini
Leon's Full Service
Lotta Frutta
Miller Union
Murphy's
Restaurant Eugene
Rob McDonald
Rosebud
Shaun's
Watershed
The Social is in the same location as last year - St. Philip's Cathedral Garden at 2744 Peachtree Road in Atlanta, GA from 12:30 to 2:00pm. I think there still may be a few tickets left. Go to this link to buy them, come out and support me in my quest to be the best ice cream maker in Atlanta.
The competition is certainly going to be tough but this fellow is up for the task.
Some of the best pastry chefs in Atlanta will be there including the ones from three of best restaurants in Georgia - 5&10, Restaurant Eugene, and Miller Union. Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene has performed on Iron Chef! Here is a list of the competitors I know will be there:
5&10
Buckhead Bottle Bar
Burge Organice Farm
Cacao Atlanta
Canoe
Fresco Pops
Jonathan Hosseini
Leon's Full Service
Lotta Frutta
Miller Union
Murphy's
Restaurant Eugene
Rob McDonald
Rosebud
Shaun's
Watershed
The Social is in the same location as last year - St. Philip's Cathedral Garden at 2744 Peachtree Road in Atlanta, GA from 12:30 to 2:00pm. I think there still may be a few tickets left. Go to this link to buy them, come out and support me in my quest to be the best ice cream maker in Atlanta.
The competition is certainly going to be tough but this fellow is up for the task.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Ice Cream T-shirts
Check out my new friend Matt over at RIPT - http://riptapparel.com. He makes a new t-shirt everyday. Today's shirt is an Eskimo trekking through and ice cream cone village.
Many of you know I am also an MBA student. From a business standpoint, Matt has a great idea for driving traffic to his site and for keeping his customers coming back. Not only through the ever-changing designs, but because of his strategy to reach out to bloggers like me who talk about subjects close to the shirt designs. This is innovation, and as you can tell from my recipes, this fellow loves it!
BTW, I read a couple of Matt's readers' comments. Some of his readers don't like the idea of grape ice cream. I know you rarely see it anywhere. I have been playing with a recipe for it lately. It works, but only when you have the right add-ins. I'll post something on this later. The recipe is super secret for the moment as I am a contestant in the Ice Cream Social again this year. Last year I finished second. This year, I am prepared to win so I can't disclose the recipe in advance.
Follow me on Twitter my user name is IceCreamFellow. I spend a lot more time making comments there than here on the blog.
Many of you know I am also an MBA student. From a business standpoint, Matt has a great idea for driving traffic to his site and for keeping his customers coming back. Not only through the ever-changing designs, but because of his strategy to reach out to bloggers like me who talk about subjects close to the shirt designs. This is innovation, and as you can tell from my recipes, this fellow loves it!
BTW, I read a couple of Matt's readers' comments. Some of his readers don't like the idea of grape ice cream. I know you rarely see it anywhere. I have been playing with a recipe for it lately. It works, but only when you have the right add-ins. I'll post something on this later. The recipe is super secret for the moment as I am a contestant in the Ice Cream Social again this year. Last year I finished second. This year, I am prepared to win so I can't disclose the recipe in advance.
Follow me on Twitter my user name is IceCreamFellow. I spend a lot more time making comments there than here on the blog.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Update
Sorry it has been a while since I last posted anything of significance. I really have not had a lot of time to make ice cream. Nonetheless, I have found a few minutes to make a couple of outstanding desserts.
I entered the Domino's Sugar Baking Contest in Atlanta that benefited the charity Share our Strength. I did not win, the judges were not fans of my Maple Cheesecake. However, I was voted "Crowd Pleaser." Winning the overall amateur competition prize would have been nice, but I am very happy with the results. The attendees picked my cheesecake as the best dessert over every other contestant, including the professionals. I am glad I could make people happy and even happier that I can help out a good cause.
The other baking I did was for a party at a friend's house. The last time I was there, I made the frozen chocolate cherry torte so the bar was set pretty high. I am happy to report I was able to deliver another great dessert. I made the Sweet and Salty cake from Baked One of my friends dubbed it the PMS cake. I won't post the recipe, but I will suggest you buy the book if you like to bake.
The next Slow Food Atlanta ice cream social is around the corner. Anyone who has a good idea please drop me a line at ice.cream.fellow@gmail.com.
Last, but not least, please enjoy these pictures of puppies eating ice cream.
I entered the Domino's Sugar Baking Contest in Atlanta that benefited the charity Share our Strength. I did not win, the judges were not fans of my Maple Cheesecake. However, I was voted "Crowd Pleaser." Winning the overall amateur competition prize would have been nice, but I am very happy with the results. The attendees picked my cheesecake as the best dessert over every other contestant, including the professionals. I am glad I could make people happy and even happier that I can help out a good cause.
The other baking I did was for a party at a friend's house. The last time I was there, I made the frozen chocolate cherry torte so the bar was set pretty high. I am happy to report I was able to deliver another great dessert. I made the Sweet and Salty cake from Baked One of my friends dubbed it the PMS cake. I won't post the recipe, but I will suggest you buy the book if you like to bake.
The next Slow Food Atlanta ice cream social is around the corner. Anyone who has a good idea please drop me a line at ice.cream.fellow@gmail.com.
Last, but not least, please enjoy these pictures of puppies eating ice cream.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Another Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream
So, for reasons I won't get into right now, I made two cheesecakes, four caramel sauces, two fruit purees, and two flavored whipped creams last week. After eating six pieces of cheesecake with every possible combination of sauces I settled on what I liked. The problem was what to do with the remaining sauces and fruit purees. Of course I had to turn to ice cream.
This isn't a hard one to make, but it does take a lot of steps. Mix caramel, reduced balsamic vinegar, strawberry puree, and vanilla ice cream and bing bang boom you have a truly great result. Mrs. Fellow's one spoonful turned into a bowl's worth. It perfectly balances the flavors of every component. You can taste each flavor and yet they combine to create something entirely new.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberry-Balsamic-Caramel
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Don't bother with white or expensive balsamic vinegars. This is a frozen dessert, the taste will be masked by your tongue. Any supermarket brand will do. I used the one sold at Costco. If you insist putting an expensive balsamic vinegar in the ice cream, go ahead, just skip this step. Real $100+ balsamic vinegars are superior products and do not need the be reduced very much, if at all.
Strawberry Puree:
You may need to adjust the sweetness of the berries, but be careful to minimize the amount of sugar you use. Remember that you will be adding caramel to the puree so the sweetness can get overpowering if you aren't careful. If I were pureeing strawberries for other reasons, I would probably add a bit of lemon juice for acid. This is not necessary here because the reduced vinegar will take care of the acid component.
To make the Strawberry-Balsamic Caramel:
Two things will jump out at you about this sauce. First, is that it won't be as thick as caramel, even when refrigerated. Don't worry, it works in the final product. Second, the color is dark. Balsamic does that. Don't worry, it makes a dramatic contrast to the vanilla ice cream.
Putting it all together:
This isn't a hard one to make, but it does take a lot of steps. Mix caramel, reduced balsamic vinegar, strawberry puree, and vanilla ice cream and bing bang boom you have a truly great result. Mrs. Fellow's one spoonful turned into a bowl's worth. It perfectly balances the flavors of every component. You can taste each flavor and yet they combine to create something entirely new.
Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberry-Balsamic-Caramel
Make some Caramel Sauce
Make some vanilla ice cream (either 13 EGG or the CLASSIC)
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Don't bother with white or expensive balsamic vinegars. This is a frozen dessert, the taste will be masked by your tongue. Any supermarket brand will do. I used the one sold at Costco. If you insist putting an expensive balsamic vinegar in the ice cream, go ahead, just skip this step. Real $100+ balsamic vinegars are superior products and do not need the be reduced very much, if at all.
- Put the balsamic in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the reduction is so thick that you can run a spoon over the bottom and leave a temporary trail. When it cools it should be like syrup. If it isn’t, heat it again and keep going. You should have less than half a cup.
- BE SURE TO DO THIS IN A WELL-VENTILATED AREA. Otherwise, your house may smell like vinegar for a while.
1 cup balsamic vinegar
Strawberry Puree:
You may need to adjust the sweetness of the berries, but be careful to minimize the amount of sugar you use. Remember that you will be adding caramel to the puree so the sweetness can get overpowering if you aren't careful. If I were pureeing strawberries for other reasons, I would probably add a bit of lemon juice for acid. This is not necessary here because the reduced vinegar will take care of the acid component.
- Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until boiling. Simmer until berries are soft (about five minutes).
- Put the ingredients of the sauce in a blender and puree. Be careful and hold the lid on tight when blending hot things.
- Pour the contents of the blender through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds.
2 pints of strawberries, stems and leaves removed
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
To make the Strawberry-Balsamic Caramel:
Two things will jump out at you about this sauce. First, is that it won't be as thick as caramel, even when refrigerated. Don't worry, it works in the final product. Second, the color is dark. Balsamic does that. Don't worry, it makes a dramatic contrast to the vanilla ice cream.
- Mix one cup of the strawberry puree with 3/4 cup of the caramel and 2 tablespoons of the balsamic reduction. You may find this easier to do if the caramel is warm.
- Cool (if necessary), then refrigerate until cold.
Putting it all together:
- After you make the ice cream, place about 1/3 of the finished product in the container. Spread out a layer of the caramel.
- Repeat for the next 2/3 of the ice cream alternating with layers of the caramel.
- Put the full container in the freezer for an hour or so to firm everything.
Monday, January 4, 2010
13 Egg Vanilla
Unlucky thirteen. Actually, thirteen is very lucky for your mouth in this ice cream.
Before we get too far into this let me address one important issue - use of vanilla beans. This fellow is not abandoning his philosophy that vanilla extract is all that is necessary for great vanilla ice cream. If you recall from one of my earliest posts, I talked about the value of vanilla extract and how it is the real flavoring behind nearly every vanilla ice cream you will ever eat. I stand by that statement. There really isn't a need to ever use vanilla beans when making ice cream; however, I had some sitting around, so I put them to work.
This recipe is an adaptation from Ann Amernick's "The Art of Dessert." With the exception of the eggs and flavorings, Ms. Amernick's recipe uses the base that I favor the most - 2 cups of milk and cream and 3/4 cup of sugar. When it comes to eggs, she asks for 225 grams of egg yolks, which she says is 11 - 12 eggs. In order to get there, I needed 13 yolks. I suggest you use the same amount and forget about the scale. There is no reason to really measure to the gram. She is pastry chef and is used to working in metric volumes because baking is science and requires a degree of precision that is not necessary in ice cream. So please use your baker's dozen of egg yolks and enjoy the most unctuous of vanilla ice cream.
Her book is fantastic, Ms. Amernick is certainly an artisan to be admired. I made the complete recipe for the Apple Marmalade Sandwiches with Cranberry Coulis and Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream. The results were well received, although Mrs. Fellow thought it too orangey for her taste. I would make it again in a second. Unfortunately, something about her methodology for making ice cream prevented me from completely following her recipe.
Her recipe calls for the cream and milk to be brought to a boil, then removed from the heat. The eggs are tempered and whisked into the milk and cream. From what I have read and my own experiences, when the milk and cream comes to a boil, the fat separates from the liquid and cannot be reincorporated. The result is bad. So I opted to follow my usual method of heating.
I won't go into the details of this recipe too much. the ingredient list is as follows:
2 cups whole milk
2 cups cream
13 egg yolks
3/4 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
If you read my blog regularly, than you know how to make custard. If not, refer to my vanilla ice cream post. The main difference in the methodology is that the vanilla bean is split and scraped, then added to the milk and cream. Leave the bean in the ice cream until it is strained through the sieve.
Before we get too far into this let me address one important issue - use of vanilla beans. This fellow is not abandoning his philosophy that vanilla extract is all that is necessary for great vanilla ice cream. If you recall from one of my earliest posts, I talked about the value of vanilla extract and how it is the real flavoring behind nearly every vanilla ice cream you will ever eat. I stand by that statement. There really isn't a need to ever use vanilla beans when making ice cream; however, I had some sitting around, so I put them to work.
This recipe is an adaptation from Ann Amernick's "The Art of Dessert." With the exception of the eggs and flavorings, Ms. Amernick's recipe uses the base that I favor the most - 2 cups of milk and cream and 3/4 cup of sugar. When it comes to eggs, she asks for 225 grams of egg yolks, which she says is 11 - 12 eggs. In order to get there, I needed 13 yolks. I suggest you use the same amount and forget about the scale. There is no reason to really measure to the gram. She is pastry chef and is used to working in metric volumes because baking is science and requires a degree of precision that is not necessary in ice cream. So please use your baker's dozen of egg yolks and enjoy the most unctuous of vanilla ice cream.
Her book is fantastic, Ms. Amernick is certainly an artisan to be admired. I made the complete recipe for the Apple Marmalade Sandwiches with Cranberry Coulis and Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream. The results were well received, although Mrs. Fellow thought it too orangey for her taste. I would make it again in a second. Unfortunately, something about her methodology for making ice cream prevented me from completely following her recipe.
Her recipe calls for the cream and milk to be brought to a boil, then removed from the heat. The eggs are tempered and whisked into the milk and cream. From what I have read and my own experiences, when the milk and cream comes to a boil, the fat separates from the liquid and cannot be reincorporated. The result is bad. So I opted to follow my usual method of heating.
I won't go into the details of this recipe too much. the ingredient list is as follows:
2 cups whole milk
2 cups cream
13 egg yolks
3/4 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
If you read my blog regularly, than you know how to make custard. If not, refer to my vanilla ice cream post. The main difference in the methodology is that the vanilla bean is split and scraped, then added to the milk and cream. Leave the bean in the ice cream until it is strained through the sieve.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Fixing cinnamon ice cream woes
I want to tell you about a great trick I discovered to resolve the problem with using ground cinnamon in ice cream. I have always had problems with the cinnamon clumping when I added the milk and cream. Previously, I had suggested making a slurry with just enough milk before adding the it to the base. Although it worked, it was not a great solution. This time, I mixed the cinnamon with the sugar that is mixed with the eggs. You do this step before adding the eggs. When the eggs go in, the cinnamon is well distributed and does not clump at all.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Butternut Squash with Cranberry Swirl
Admittedly, this recipe might be slightly inspired by the Top Chef finale. Still the squash is different and the swirl is all me.
Cranberry and squash are two classic fall flavors and make this recipe taste like it belongs as part of Thanksgiving dinner.
I cheated a bit. Usually, I prefer to do as much from scratch as possible, but I used frozen squash puree. Shame on me, but the result is more than adequate. The butter and brown sugar bring out the sweetness of the squash nicely and adds a bit of a foil for the cranberry sauce which can be quite tart, even frozen.
If you want, sterilize some jars and preserve the cranberry sauce. This recipe makes a lot more than you need and it is delicious on its own.
One more note, I am guessing a bit at the ice cream proportions. I made my usual base using 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream, 3/4c of sugar and 5 eggs. Unfortunately, I did not buy enough squash for this so I only used about 2 1/2 cups of the base with the squash. Everything should work out fine, but be forewarned you may need to adjust this a bit to your taste.
Butternut Squash Ice Cream with Cranberry-Clementine Swirl
Cranberry-Clementine Swirl
16 oz cranberries
1 cup water
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of slat
zest of 1.5 clementines
1 tsp clementine juice
Butternut Squash Ice Cream:
12oz frozen, pureed butternut squash
1 TBL brown sugar
1/4 ounce unsalted butter
1.25 cups whole milk
1.25 cups cream
3/4 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
Salt to taste
Cranberry and squash are two classic fall flavors and make this recipe taste like it belongs as part of Thanksgiving dinner.
I cheated a bit. Usually, I prefer to do as much from scratch as possible, but I used frozen squash puree. Shame on me, but the result is more than adequate. The butter and brown sugar bring out the sweetness of the squash nicely and adds a bit of a foil for the cranberry sauce which can be quite tart, even frozen.
If you want, sterilize some jars and preserve the cranberry sauce. This recipe makes a lot more than you need and it is delicious on its own.
One more note, I am guessing a bit at the ice cream proportions. I made my usual base using 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream, 3/4c of sugar and 5 eggs. Unfortunately, I did not buy enough squash for this so I only used about 2 1/2 cups of the base with the squash. Everything should work out fine, but be forewarned you may need to adjust this a bit to your taste.
Butternut Squash Ice Cream with Cranberry-Clementine Swirl
Cranberry-Clementine Swirl
16 oz cranberries
1 cup water
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of slat
zest of 1.5 clementines
1 tsp clementine juice
- Put the water, sugar, cinnamon, salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- Add the cranberries, zest, juice. Cook for ten minutes until the berries have popped and become very soft.
- Cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
Butternut Squash Ice Cream:
12oz frozen, pureed butternut squash
1 TBL brown sugar
1/4 ounce unsalted butter
1.25 cups whole milk
1.25 cups cream
3/4 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
Salt to taste
- Microwave the squash until hot. Add the butter, brown sugar and salt. Set aside.
- Mix the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Put the cream, milk, and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a saucepan. Heat until bubbles just begin to form around the edges of the liquid.
- Add about 1/3 cup of the heated liquid to the eggs slowly while stirring the eggs the entire time.
- Add the egg mixture into the liquid. Stir constantly until the temperature exceeds 175 degrees F.
- Remove the liquid from the heat, strain into a bowl. Add the squash, stir to incorporate.
- At this point, taste and correct the seasoning. When you are satisfied with the flavor, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight to let the flavors mature.
- Freeze in your ice cream maker. Swirl in the cranberry-clementine mixture at the very end of the freezing process.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Here is a picture of me
Here is a picture of me taking the first bite of a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream at Disney World from earlier this month. It was a great treat considering the abnormally hot and sticky weather.
I am still stumped by the chocolate curry ice cream. I am still soliciting opinions. Truthfully, I have been a little too busy to work on anything too. I will be revisiting my pumpkin ice cream today. Check it out for a fun fall treat.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Blueberry Fig Sauce
I had a house full of extra fruit on the verge of going bad so I thought it wise to use it up in a sauce. In general, this is a great way to use up old fruit. Cooking it down into a sauce to spoon over or add into a basic sweet cream or vanilla ice cream base is a great way to not waste food. It would certainly make your mother and all those starving kids in Africa very happy to know you didn't waste your fruit.
I always find it difficult to specify the amount of sugar you should use. Your fruit may be more or less sweet than mine. In my case, I used a little more than 1/4 cup of sugar. The figs were ripe, but the blueberries were a bit tart. My only comment is that between the maple syrup and the sweetness of the fruit, you should be careful not to over sweeten the sauce with sugar. You can always taste and add more sugar in after a while if it is not sweet enough. Use extra fine sugar and stir it into the still warm sauce, or rewarm the sauce to incorporate the sugar.
I think this will be great either swirled into or served warm over vanilla ice cream. If you cook it a little longer you can cook down into fresh jam.
Blueberry Fig Sauce:
1 pint fresh blueberries
16 ounces fresh figs (I used both green and mission varieties)
8 ounces maple syrup
Sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
Pinch of salt
I always find it difficult to specify the amount of sugar you should use. Your fruit may be more or less sweet than mine. In my case, I used a little more than 1/4 cup of sugar. The figs were ripe, but the blueberries were a bit tart. My only comment is that between the maple syrup and the sweetness of the fruit, you should be careful not to over sweeten the sauce with sugar. You can always taste and add more sugar in after a while if it is not sweet enough. Use extra fine sugar and stir it into the still warm sauce, or rewarm the sauce to incorporate the sugar.
I think this will be great either swirled into or served warm over vanilla ice cream. If you cook it a little longer you can cook down into fresh jam.
Blueberry Fig Sauce:
1 pint fresh blueberries
16 ounces fresh figs (I used both green and mission varieties)
8 ounces maple syrup
Sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
Pinch of salt
- Depending on their size, halve or quarter the figs.
- Put all the ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the blueberries are practically melted into nothing.
- Remove from the heat, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Cherry Almond Ice Cream Torte
My almond and cherry mood continues with this extremely time consuming recipe. Trust me this one is worth it. I brought it to a friend's dinner party for six people and five guests had seconds. I am guilty of this overindulgence. Please don't tell my doctor, she would renounce her Hippocratic oath and attempt to kill me because I am on a special diet to lower my cholesterol.
This recipe is derived from my own ice cream recipe, the ice cream torte from Dorrie Greenspan's "Baking," and Very Cherry Sauce from "A Passion for Ice Cream" by Emily Luchetti. So as you can imagine there are a few parts to this. None of them are complicated or difficult to perform, but it takes a lot of time to freeze. Each layer must set before the next one is added. This means at least 30 minutes for each chocolate ganache layer and another 20 (or so) minutes for each ice cream layer. My total freeze time took about 4 hours this does not include the time to make the ice cream mix or the cherries.
The cherries are amazing. You will use them all, but will have left over syrup which should keep for a few weeks. Use this syrup as a drink flavoring, or a dessert sauce.
The ganache has eggs in it. These eggs don't really cook. If you are worried about eating undercooked eggs, than please try to find pasteurized ones.
The recipe below is a good example of the necessary progression you need. I will do my best to show you simultaneous steps.
For the Candied Cherries:
2 pounds of fresh sweet cherries
2.5 cups of sugar
3/4 cup of water
1.5 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp kosher salt
For the Cherry Ice Cream:
3/4 of the Candied Cherries
1/4 cup of of the Cherry Syrup
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
For the Ganache:
9 oz 70% bittersweet chocolate
1 3/4 sticks of butter
1/2 cup sugar
8 eggs
Final Assembly:
2 cups slivered or sliced almonds
This recipe is derived from my own ice cream recipe, the ice cream torte from Dorrie Greenspan's "Baking," and Very Cherry Sauce from "A Passion for Ice Cream" by Emily Luchetti. So as you can imagine there are a few parts to this. None of them are complicated or difficult to perform, but it takes a lot of time to freeze. Each layer must set before the next one is added. This means at least 30 minutes for each chocolate ganache layer and another 20 (or so) minutes for each ice cream layer. My total freeze time took about 4 hours this does not include the time to make the ice cream mix or the cherries.
The cherries are amazing. You will use them all, but will have left over syrup which should keep for a few weeks. Use this syrup as a drink flavoring, or a dessert sauce.
The ganache has eggs in it. These eggs don't really cook. If you are worried about eating undercooked eggs, than please try to find pasteurized ones.
The recipe below is a good example of the necessary progression you need. I will do my best to show you simultaneous steps.
For the Candied Cherries:
2 pounds of fresh sweet cherries
2.5 cups of sugar
3/4 cup of water
1.5 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp kosher salt
- Stem the cherries, but don't pit them.
- Put cherries, sugar, and water into a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil.
- When the water turns clear, all the sugar has been absorbed. Set a timer for 5 minutes, reduce the heat and simmer the cherries.
- Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Spread the cherries out on some foil in a single layer to cool
- Put the liquid back into the saucepan with the lemon juice and salt and reduce to 2 cups. It will be very dark and syrupy. Cool the liquid to room temperature. Use an ice bath if you want, but note it will make clean up harder.
- When the cherries have cooled, pit them by squeezing out the pits. Then place them in the completely cooled syrup and refrigerate.
For the Cherry Ice Cream:
3/4 of the Candied Cherries
1/4 cup of of the Cherry Syrup
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
- Place the cherries and the syrup in the blender and puree. When you do this, the cherries will retain a lot of the syrup. Don't count that extra syrup as part of the 1/4 cup of required syrup.
- Put the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat over medium heat to about 150F, where the milk/cream is hot but not boiling.
- While the milk and cream heats, put the yolks in a bowl with the sugar and beat until the sugar is fully incorporated.
- When the milk is at temperature, take about 1/3 cup out and temper the eggs. Add the eggs to the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until the temperature is 175F.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Incorporate the cherry puree, being sure to mix thoroughly. Strain the custard then cool to room temperature. if you are not going to use an ice bath and stir the mixture during cooling, be sure to cover the custard with plastic wrap directly on the surface to avoid forming a skin on the surface. Refrigerate overnight or at least a few hours until cold.
- DO NOT FREEZE YET.
For the Ganache:
9 oz 70% bittersweet chocolate
1 3/4 sticks of butter
1/2 cup sugar
8 eggs
- To facilitate easier melting cut the butter into chunks and the chocolate into small pieces. Put the pieces in a double boiler and completely melt, stirring occasionally to ensure the ingredients become incorporated. Set the mixture aside to cool for five minutes. PLEASE NOTE: Dorrie Greenspan warns that overheating will cause the chocolate and butter to separate and not be able to reincorporate. So please be careful.
- Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture one at a time, ensuring each one is fully incorporated before adding the next one. This mixture will get thick.
- Lightly grease an 8 or 8.5 inch springform pan. I used cooking spray. You could use butter, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you use too much, the butter will freeze and attach itself to the torte. No one really likes to eat frozen butter.
- Pour one third of the ganache (about 1 1/3 cups) into the bottom of the spring form. Bang the pan on your work surface to remove any bubbles. You may need to use a toothpick to pop some them. Set the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to allow the ganache to set. Place plastic wrap on the surface of the remaining ganache to avoid creating a skin.
Final Assembly:
2 cups slivered or sliced almonds
- As the ganache is setting, freeze half of the ice cream according to your ice cream machine's directions.
- Toast the nuts and cool them to room temperature. Chop them into small bits.
- At this point, wait for the ice cream to finish freezing if the 30 minutes for the ganache has expired. If the ice cream finishes before the 30 minutes for the ganache, put it in the freezer. The ice cream should be the consistency of soft serve so it is easy to spread. If it is too frozen, leave it out to loosen up.
- Remove the ganache from the freezer, put down a layer of the nuts. Add the ice cream, smoothing it so the top is as flat as possible. Place this back into the freezer for at least 20 minutes until the ice cream is set.
- Remove the pan from the freezer, pour half of the remaining ganache (1 1/3 cups) over the ice cream. Bang on the table again to remove air bubbles. Again you may need a toothpick, but you have to work fast so the ice cream doesn't melt. Put this back in the freezer for at least 30 minutes until set. Put the plastic back over the remaining ganache.
- Freeze the remaining custard. Again minding the texture.
- While the ice cream is freezing, remove the remaining cherries from the syrup and chop them.
- Remove the ganache from the freezer once it has set and the ice cream is at the right texture. Spoon the cherries over the ganache. Include some of the syrup Put the ice cream on top of the cherries. Smooth the surface of the ice cream. Put this into the freezer for at least 20 minutes until it sets.
- Feel free to start cleaning up you have a few minutes to spare. If you want, toast some more nuts to put on the top as decoration.
- Once the ice cream is set, remove the pan from the freezer, pour over the remaining ganache. Bang out the bubbles then place the pan back into the freezer for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- At serving time, unmold the torte, slice and serve. I had no problems removing the pan sides because my friend's freezer was a bit too warm. If you have problems, Dorrie Greenspan suggests using either a warm towel or a brief application of a hair dryer to the sides of the mold.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Fig Almond Ice Cream
This was a last minute recipe I developed for a dessert for my friends who are babysitting tomorrow night. The honey and almonds are classic flavor affinities to figs.
This recipe is a little different than the base I usually use. There is no milk. Also, the ratio of eggs to cream is very high. When you take it out of the refrigerator before freezing this will be the consistency of a tight pudding. This means you will have the most outstanding texture when frozen.
I want to warn you that the recipe I made is slightly different than the one posted below. I included almond extract, which was a bit overpowering. You would be better off using 1/2 cup of chopped toasted almonds.
Pick the ripest figs you can find because once picked, figs do not continue to ripen.
Fig Almond Ice Cream
1.25 pounds fresh figs
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup honey
6 egg yolks
scant teaspoon orange zest
2 cups cream
pinch of salt
1/2 cup rough chopped toasted almonds
This recipe is a little different than the base I usually use. There is no milk. Also, the ratio of eggs to cream is very high. When you take it out of the refrigerator before freezing this will be the consistency of a tight pudding. This means you will have the most outstanding texture when frozen.
I want to warn you that the recipe I made is slightly different than the one posted below. I included almond extract, which was a bit overpowering. You would be better off using 1/2 cup of chopped toasted almonds.
Pick the ripest figs you can find because once picked, figs do not continue to ripen.
Fig Almond Ice Cream
1.25 pounds fresh figs
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup honey
6 egg yolks
scant teaspoon orange zest
2 cups cream
pinch of salt
1/2 cup rough chopped toasted almonds
- Clean the figs, slice them into quarters.
- Place the figs and water in a sauce pan (the larger, the better so the figs are in one layer). Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook the figs for 10 minutes. By this time, the figs should be very soft.
- Add the orange zest and honey to the figs. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors incorporate.
- Transfer the figs and their liquid to a blender. Puree until smooth. Leave it in the blender.
- Heat the cream in a small sauce pan until tiny bubbles form at the edges (about 150 degrees F). You may have to give it a stir or two to make sure that a skin doesn't develop on the surface. Whatever you do, DO NOT let the cream boil. If it does, you will have to throw it out and start over again. The fat will separate and not reincorporate no matter how hard you might try.
- Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the sugar.
- When the cream comes to temperature, use a large cooking spoon to take a few spoonfuls to temper the eggs. Then, add the eggs to the cream. Stir until your thermometer reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the custard from the heat, and add it to the blender with the figs. Add the lemon juice and blend until everything is incorporated. Be careful here - you are blending hot ingredients. If you try to blend too quickly, the blender will lose its top and the contents will spill out all over the room. I suggest holding the top firmly and pulsing on low for about 10 pulses before trying to gradually increase the blender speed.
- Put pour the contents into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard. Cool to room temperature, chill overnight, then freeze according to your ice cream machine's instructions.
Like chocolate candy?
Please go check out my new friend Anne at Chamberlain's Chocolate Factory in Norcross, GA. Today I sampled the dark chocolate with Marcona Almonds. It was great.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Cherry Sorbet
My two year old is almost three. She is now able to make requests for food that need to be taken seriously. For the past four days she has been on my case to make cherry sorbet. The poor girl is allergic to milk and nuts so she can't have ice cream. It's just plain cruel.
Here is a very basic cherry sorbet recipe. I would think you could gussy it up in a ton of ways. For example - add 1/2 teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract. Maybe mixing in some kirsch or chocolate liqueur. You can also try spices like cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. I found some pomegranate molasses in the fridge, it might be a good substitute for some of the sugar or the corn syrup. Play around and have some fun.
I am in a cherry mood. I will be making a cherry ice cream soon to incorporate into an ice cream cake. The recipe will hopefully be up by the end of the weekend, but no promises.
Cherry Sorbet
About 3/8 cup of sugar
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1 pound cherries
Juice of 1/2 small lime
Here is a very basic cherry sorbet recipe. I would think you could gussy it up in a ton of ways. For example - add 1/2 teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract. Maybe mixing in some kirsch or chocolate liqueur. You can also try spices like cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. I found some pomegranate molasses in the fridge, it might be a good substitute for some of the sugar or the corn syrup. Play around and have some fun.
I am in a cherry mood. I will be making a cherry ice cream soon to incorporate into an ice cream cake. The recipe will hopefully be up by the end of the weekend, but no promises.
Cherry Sorbet
About 3/8 cup of sugar
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1 pound cherries
Juice of 1/2 small lime
- Combine the water, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil. remove from the heat.
- Pit the cherries and put them in a blender
- Put the fruit, lime juice, sugar water into a blender and blend for 30 seconds or so, until everything is liquid.
- Chill over night then freeze in your ice cream machine the next day.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Some great Ice Cream Links
I have updated my links including a real newbie to the scene - The Ice Cream Geek. He has just started but it looks like a promising new site.
BTW, I have a couple of weeks break between semesters ahead of me and I think there is at least one recipe in me, plus the one I still owe you for the ice cream cake.
BTW, I have a couple of weeks break between semesters ahead of me and I think there is at least one recipe in me, plus the one I still owe you for the ice cream cake.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Happy Ice Cream Month
Happy Ice Cream Month.
Slate has a brief, yet great article about commercial ice creams that use terms like "slow-churned." You can check it out here.
Hopefully next week I will have enough time to work on an ice cream idea for my friend Ivey's birthday. She has approved my idea of red velvet ice cream cake with butter pecan and cream cheese ice cream. I have a great red velvet cake recipe that I am dying to try. Of course I will share the recipe with you.
Slate has a brief, yet great article about commercial ice creams that use terms like "slow-churned." You can check it out here.
Hopefully next week I will have enough time to work on an ice cream idea for my friend Ivey's birthday. She has approved my idea of red velvet ice cream cake with butter pecan and cream cheese ice cream. I have a great red velvet cake recipe that I am dying to try. Of course I will share the recipe with you.
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