Sunday, February 4, 2024

Ice Cream Project

 I love ice cream.  And yeah, as an overweight person, I can see the irony in that, but for whatever reason, I can keep ice cream in the house and not over-indulge, so that makes it a natural fit for me.  I can't say the same for cookies or brownies (which I also love), so I pretty much never keep those around.

I tend to make mini-versions of everything. Mini root beer floats. Mini sundaes. Mini scoops (about 1/4 cup). Those end up being around 250 calories, and I can usually make room in my calorie budget for that.

And once you get used to homemade ice cream, the stuff at the store starts tasting ... well, lacking.  I think the only commercial ice cream that I still love is Ben and Jerry's. I also quite enjoy Cold Stone even though their ice cream is merely OK - their confections are more about the goodies they fold into the ice cream.

Sections in this article:


Library:

I have an embarrassing number of ice cream cookbooks.  Really.  


Dana Cree's book is my favorite because it explains the science and chemistry of ice cream making and provides a base (pun intended!) for creating your own flavors. My second favorite is Jeni's book and that's the one I'd recommend for anyone who can't have eggs (all of her recipes are egg-free).  The Lebovitz book is solid as well.  The others are new to me, so they may also be excellent, but I don't know them well enough yet to recommend them.

I'd love to add the following books to my collection (I'm waiting for a cheap enough used copy to become available):

Tips, Tricks, Tools, Toppings and Mix-ins:

Here's a list of my tips and tricks for ice cream-making (ingredient substitutions, tools, tedious-but-effective egg tempering, etc.):
Here's are my favorite topping and mix-in recipes (I'll be adding to this over time):
  • Dorcas Gallaher Byland's Hot Fudge Sauce (my grandmother's recipe)
  • Chambord - a lovely raspberry liqueur that is delicious poured over vanilla ice cream.
  • Root beer - I love root beer floats!  
  • Caramel sauce - this one remains soft and not too chewy/hard when frozen.
  • Toasted almonds
  • Homemade chocolate chips - Do NOT use regular chocolate chips (not even mini-chips). They will be hard, waxy, and flavorless as they are not intended for cold uses, and melt at too high a temperature. This is an easy recipe using your favorite chocolate chips and a little coconut oil.
  • Peanut Mazapán - a crumbly Mexican candy made from peanuts and powdered sugar.

Cathy's Creamery Recipes

These recipes are mine, that I developed myself or in partnership with my husband and/or daughter.
  • Phởking Delicious Ice Cream (Thai Basil, Lemongrass and Ginger Ice Cream with Candied Peppers)
  • "Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream" -- this is the very first ice cream recipe that I ever developed using strawberries from a local pick-your-own place. It has an excellent flavor, but it's icier than I want. I'll be tweaking the texture.

Vanilla Ice Cream Reviews

I'm currently working on a vanilla ice cream project (and a vanilla extract project, but that's for another post).  I'm trying at least 6-8 different vanilla ice cream recipes and reviewing them and setting 6 ounces aside of each for a taste test in a few weeks.  I'm also experimenting with using different kinds of vanilla beans (Madagascar, Ugandan, and Mexican, at least) and different vanilla extracts (commercially available varieties for now, but eventually, I'll use my own). I'm mostly using Madagascar beans from Vanilla Bean Kings, which I highly recommend. 

 I am hoping to figure out my favorite flavors and maybe even adapt the best aspects into one recipe.  Here are the recipes and reviews (if the recipe is available online - and most are - I link to the online recipe in the review):

Chocolate Ice Cream Reviews


Strawberry Ice Cream Reviews


Other Flavor Reviews

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