I’d say it is just a texture preference issue. I like a creamy ice cream without ‘bits’ in it. (I even prefer vanilla extract to vanilla bean - though this weekend I used vanilla sugar when I cooked the base, and strained the bean out - and it was pretty vanilla-y.) And I smoosh fruit enough that I don’t get (basically) ice chunks of fruit in there.
By the way, Francis, as an aside, you should watch Marina Orlova’s “Hot For Words” vlogcast on “Vanilla.”
Everyone’s generous and thoughtful advice is finally being put to work… black pepper ice cream and plain ole chocolate ice cream… will let you know how it goes… already thinking the black pepper is gonna have to be remade… it possibly wasn’t cold enough going into the kitchen aid chamber… it didn’t thicken as much as I expected after 30 min… chocolate base will be in the fridge all night… at which point I’ll taste the black pepper.
This is not the worst experiment you could have to be doin’.
No problem to remake the black pepper ice cream, Brian. Just throw that sucker overnight in the fridge and let it liquify in there. Of course, by then it will be nice and chilled because its defrosted from a semi-frozen base and it will be ready for another spin in your ice cream maker.
Thinking of doing a sweet basil ice cream, any ideas?
The black pepper came out pretty great. I’m a little surprised. This is too easy. I’m going to the gym right the hell now. Then going to buy a bathroom scale.
But REALLY? You can just let it melt down all the way and start over?
No ideas but I’ll be interested to hear. Herb ice creams are next on my list. Most blown away I’ve ever been from ice cream was at the James Beard’s about 10 years ago and someone was serving basil ice cream and cilantro ice cream. And in a very elite room those guys were killin’ it.
“Hi, Monsieur Pepin, yeah, the sauteed foie gras is nice, but have you tasted that freakin ice cream over there?”
I have made the lemon-basil sherbert from Alice Medrich’ Pure Desserts Cookbook. She puts sugar,lemon juice (2 to 1 ratio) with basil together for about an hour. Then adds milk, strains and adds lemon zest. Very nice. Could easily be made into ice cream by either heavy cream or custard methods. Mike
Yes, I have found that you can let a badly frozen ice cream base go all the way back to liquid as long as you do it in the fridge and then refreeze it in the machine without any issue.
This weekends ice creams…
Plum with Star Anise, Lemon Zest, and a tiny bit of Cinnamon. Great stuff. But even better…
Sweet Corn with Sweet Basil & Lime Zest. I tasted as it was churning and it was so corn-y that I added about five pinches of salt before it was done, A mind-blowing great ice cream.
The corn and basil sounds interesting, how did you prep the ingredients?
I steeped the basil in the cream as it simmered with the kernels from two ears and one cob, that I broke into thirds. I removed the cob before I added the yolks. The zest went in when I put it in the freezer.
I should note that when I strained the base, I had a sieve full of just about the greatest creamed corn evah.
Based on this thread I have now ordered a Cuisinart ice cream maker!
And you can get it for about $50 via Amazon. Best $50 you can spend re ice cream.
The Ad Hoc chocolate that I made was a big hit with everyone except me. It was custard-ish and didn’t have the cold mouthfeel that I wanted. Almost gummy to me. Not even sure why… 1 cream to 1 milk to 5 yolks same as my black pepper, but the black pepper didn’t go into the machine as cold and firmed up less in the machine. Suppose the chocolate had the same base but then 1/2 pound of chocolate so that’s different. That’s probably it. Anyway, didn’t like it.
I mean, yeah, I liked it but won’t repeat it.
What if I want really minty choc chip? Do I steep mint leaves in the cream for a long while?
That’s what I’d do.
FWIW, the corn ice cream was much denser than the fruit ice creams that I usually make - which add close to a pound of fruit to the mixture. Not bad at all - but more what someone expects from ice cream. Some of my others have been much lighter.
Made more peach last night - taking it to friends along with a blueberry pie.
But I found gooseberries at yesterday’s market, so am making that tomorrow morning. Did all the prep tonight. The traditional method would be to use some elderflower cordial in it. Curious what spices otherwise match with gooseberries, as it seems to be the one ingredient missing from The Flavor Bible.
Something I do for really killer mint, is to blitz a cup of good hard mint candy w/ a shot of vodka in the blender. I gently heat up the mix in a saute pan until all melted, like a simple syrup. VG.
Nice. Mint is happening tomorrow. Gotta go buy cream.
I also like using the big spearmint and wintergreen Lifesavers.
Francis - I love the mint idea. Reminded me of Adria carmelizing peaches with a ground up peach candy.
The Gooseberry Ice Cream is killer stuff. 100% nailed the texture (always nice to do), flavored with a big of St-Germain (elderflower) and Allspice.