The best thing about this book is that the recipes are actually pretty easy. Most homemade ice cream recipes call for making a custard with multiple eggs, like five to seven. Really, that just seems ridiculous for the amount if ice cream that you get. This recipe base, with cornstarch, corn syrup, and cream cheese, seems less temperamental. My opinion is that if you have an ice cream maker, you need to get this book!
The salty caramel flavor was the first one that I tried. The recipe begins with making caramelized sugar, and then a generous amount of sea salt is added. I thought the flavor was incredible. I will definitely make it again. It is a good stand alone ice cream, and would be nice combined with other sweets to make a more complicated dessert. The recommended pairings are with apple pie (yes!), chocolate cake (YES!!), and rhubarb compote (intriguing ... I love rhubarb though). I also think it would be good paired with something spicy, like cookies or cake. My only complaint with this was that the texture was slightly too much like frozen pudding. The recipe uses cornstarch to slightly thicken the milk/cream/sugar mixture to make a custard. Either I cooked it longer than necessary, or there is too much cornstarch for my preferences. I plan on paying more attention to make sure the custard doesn't get too thick, or else just reduce the amount of cornstarch. I have included the recipe for this one.
The second flavor I tried was scarlett and earl grey. The ice cream is flavored with earl grey tea, and sugar plumped cherries are added after the ice cream is churned. I love tea, and earl grey is hands down my favorite, so I had to try this one. I really liked it. The ice cream is flavored by steeping the tea in the milk/cream/sugar mixture. I used earl grey creme, from Teavana. There is a touch of vanilla in the tea, along with the usual bergamot. The tea gives the ice cream a good flavor, creamy and floral with an unmistakable, but subtle, tea flavor. The cherries were good, but a little sweet. I followed the recipe using dried Mormont cherries from Trader Joes. However, they already have sugar so I probably should have cut down. The sugar keeps the cherries from freezing too hard. Alcohol would also do this, so next time I might cut the sugar and add a splash of alcohol. There is bergamot liqueur, but it is probably hard to find in a store. I don't think that I took any pictures of this one. I meant too, but I ate it all instead. The recommended pairings for this ice cream are chocolate cookies and cannoli with ricotta and chocolate chips. Hmm, I not really sure what I think about the combinations, but I think a crisp chocolate cookie might be good.
The third flavor I made is the kona stout. It is flavored with coffee and stout. I didn't make this for me, as coffee isn't really my thing, but BB was really super duper excited when I suggested it. I used Rogue Chocolate Stout and Dark Sumatra coffee from Trader Joes. This is a very strong flavored ice cream! BB said it was the best ice cream he has ever had. If you like coffee, then you will like this. The stout gives it a nice flavor as well. Even though I don't really like coffee ice cream, I can't deny that this is a pretty darn good flavor combination. Recommended pairings are chocolate cake, black strap molasses gingerbread, and whiskey (what?). We decided it would be good with iced coffee or stout as a float, or with hot fudge sauce. In fact, BB was shocked that there wasn't chocolate in it, but I think the flavors would complement chocolate tremendously. I'll definitely be making this one again, next time BB wants some intense ice cream!
Later this week, I am going to make the lemon frozen yogurt for ME. Other favors that I want to make are: roasted strawberry and buttermilk, toasted rice with a whiff of coconut and black tea, baked rhubarb frozen yogurt, goat cheese ice cream with roasted red cherries, sweet basil and honeyed pine nut, honeyed peanut with dark chocolate freckles, roasted pumpkin five spice, maple with salty buttered nuts, sweet potato with torched marshmallows, wild berry lavender, gooey butter cake, tres leches, grapefruit hibiscus frozen yogurt ... Ok, that is not even all of the favors I want to make! It is getting to be summer, and it looks like there is going to be a lot of ice cream in my future.
Salty Caramel Ice Cream
2 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 oz cream cheese (3Tbsp)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
PREP
Mix about 2 Tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
COOK
Heat the sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in color. Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly add a bit of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: it will fizzle, pop, and spurt. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of it is incorporated.
Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. If any caramel flecks remain, pour the mixture through a sieve.
CHILL
Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
FREEZE
Pour into frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment