lemony creme fraiche ice cream

Sometimes I love an ice cream that you don't have to turn a stove on for. The tanginess of creme fraiche and buttermilk, the brightness of lemon juice and zest, and that's all it takes. This would be the perfect accompaniment to a subtle olive oil cake or a pear tart, but it's also good just on it's own, maybe with some chopped pecans for crunch. Twenty minutes to greatness. Recipe after the jump:



LEMON CREME FRAICHE ICE CREAM

2 cups creme fraiche
2 cups buttermilk
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups sugar
pinch of salt

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Chill until very cold, at least 4 hours, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's direction. Makes about 1 1/4 quarts.

Continue Reading "lemony creme fraiche ice cream"

milk & honey

Okay, it's been awhile. It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that all I want to make is mint chip ice cream. That's not very exciting for all of you readers, but it is very exciting for me.

To give you something to chew on, I decided to take a very brief break from mintiness this week and instead make this Honey Vanilla Goat's Milk Ice Cream. Why goat's milk? Mostly, I was just curious. And the answer is that it really doesn't taste any different from cow's milk, especially when made into an ice cream. Actually this is more like a gelato because it is only milk, no cream. And the choice of honey was simply due to a lovely gift of some wonderful Blueberry Blossom Honey from Red Bee Artisanal Honeys, who came and did a truly fascinating honey tasting with us the other day.

How to describe the result? I know it doesn't look exciting, but it was fairly exciting nonetheless. It was a little less creamy than a full on ice cream, as expected, but the texture was still very lovely. And the flavor of wonderful honey with vanilla bean was, to put it simply, Honeycomb Cereal-esque. Sort of like how you might expect Honeycomb Cereal Ice Cream to taste in the best way you could imagine. I hope that reads as a big positive, because I do love Honeycomb Cereal. Recipe after the jump:



HONEY-VANILLA GOAT'S MILK ICE CREAM

3 cups goat milk
1/2 cup honey
1 vanilla bean
4 egg yolks

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean and add the seeds and pod to the milk. Heat until steaming, being careful not to boil or scorch. Add the honey and stir well to dissolve. Remove the vanilla pod and discard. Whisk the egg yolks. Slowly add a ladleful of the hot milk to the egg yolks, whisking briskly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Return the egg/milk mixture to the pot of milk. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Strain the custard into a bowl over an ice bath and stir to cool down. Transfer to the fridge and allow to chill thoroughly for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions.

Continue Reading "milk & honey"

ice cream garden

I don't know how it is that I had never made mint chocolate chip ice cream. It is easily my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. And now that I have made it and realize how much fresh mint blows away any store-bought mint extract-based green stuff, I may have to continually make this every few days.



Because J and I finished the whole quart in two days. QUART. In TWO DAYS. I'm not proud of that, but it was just so freaking good. Creamy and extra cool, with this added fresh grassy flavor that only real herbs could bring. I added the bittersweet chocolate in a straciatella style, by melting it, drizzling ribbons onto the softly frozen ice cream, and breaking up the chocolate by hand. This results in super crackly thin bits of chocolate, incredibly well distributed.



And look, it's actually green! Recipe after the jump:

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM
Adapted from the recipe by David Leibovitz

For the mint ice cream:

3 cups half and half, divided
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks

For the chocolate chips:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the sugar with 2 cups of the half and half, salt, and mint.

2. Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

3. Remove the mint with a strainer, then squeeze out as much liquid from the mint leaves as possible. Discard the mint.

4. Pour the remaining half and half into a large bowl and set the strainer over the top.

5. Rewarm the infused milk. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then slowly add some of warmed milk to the eggs to temper, whisking constantly. Add the warmed egg mixture back into the pot of milk.

6. Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170ºF.

7. Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, then stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.

8. Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

While the mixture is freezing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave oven on low power, stirring until smooth. Place a storage container in the freezer.

9. When the ice cream in the machine is ready, scribble some of the chocolate into the container, then add a layer of the just-churned ice cream to the container. Scribble melted chocolate over the top of the ice cream, then quickly stir it in, breaking up the chocolate into irregular pieces. Continue layering the ice cream, scribbling more chocolate and stirring as you go.

When finished, cover and freeze until firm.

Continue Reading "ice cream garden"

signs of spring: strawberry sour cream ice cream

When I was a kid, my mom made amazing waffles. The thin round kind that got perfectly crispy. She would underfill the waffle maker so the edges would be these sort of blobs of batter and get especially crisp. Instead of syrup, my mom would spread the waffles with sour cream - getting it all in the squares - dust it with powdered sugar, then top with thawed frozen strawberries. I have no idea where this combination came from, but to me it is an ultimate comfort food. Sour cream and strawberry waffles are some of my most vivid food memories from childhood.

When I saw this recipe by ice cream maven David Lebovitz for Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, I knew that this would be my first ice cream of the spring season. I waited oh so many weeks for the strawberries to starting popping up at farmer's markets. My wait has finally come to an end.



The sweet, pure flavor of new strawberries, the slightest subtle tang of sour cream, the secret edge of kirsch and lemon juice. The result is smooth and fresh and lovely, and brings back memories of Saturday morning breakfasts. Oh my god, I'm going to go make waffle cones to eat this in. Recipe after the jump:

STRAWBERRY SOUR CREAM ICE CREAM
From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 1/4 quarts

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vodka or kirsch
1 c. sour cream
1 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1) Slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

2) Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.

3) Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Continue Reading "signs of spring: strawberry sour cream ice cream"

another day, another gelato

Admittedly, I was a little disappointed with last week's white peach gelato, because I just felt that if I had followed my instincts and not gone with so much water, it would have turned out creamier and less icy. In any case, we still ate every bit of it, so obviously it wasn't bad. But as is my way, I wanted another shot at it. This time, I decided to go with blueberries, my favorite fruit of all time.



Whereas the white peach recipe fell somewhere between a gelato and a sorbet, this recipe fell somewhere between a gelato and an ice cream. It required a bit more work and patience, calling for cooking the berries then cooling for a few hours. This is always the hardest part.



In the end, the added time was well worth it, as this one came out exactly as I had hoped. Creamy, full of blueberry flavor, fresh and sweet. One thing I might choose to do next time is strain the fruit after cooking. Though I have had blueberry gelato with the skins left in, I thought there was a little too much of it in this batch.



One word of warning: this will turn your mouth purple. Recipe after the jump:

BLUEBERRY GELATO

2 1/2 cups blueberries, picked over
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup cold milk (whole)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Combine the blueberries, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the blueberries soften, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and puree. Alternately, you can put the mixture through a food mill. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest, then chill the fruit puree until it is completely cold.

Just before you make the gelato, add the milk and cream to the blueberry puree. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the gelato in an air-tight container and press a piece of plastic wrap against the top surface to prevent ice crystals from forming. Cover the container with a lid and freeze for up to 1 week.

Continue Reading "another day, another gelato"

in season: white peach gelato

I am obsessed with white peaches. When the season comes around, I pretty much eat one every day. But I'm a strange fruit eater, I like most fruit a little underripe. So if I somehow neglect a peach or two and they get quite ripe, I'm not that into it anymore. Enter white peach gelato.



I found this recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I was a little confused by the proportions, though. It called for so little cream - only half a cup - and so much water - 1 cup. Considering how much water content your typical ripe peach has, I wondered how this gelato could turn out creamy.



It turns out that I was actually right, for a change, and this turned out quite icy. It was still delicious, as the peach flavor really came through and was so fresh and light. The addition of the lemon zest set off the sweetness well. But the texture really fell more in the sherbet range. I may try this again replacing the water with whole milk. Recipe after the jump:

WHITE PEACH GELATO WITH LEMON ZEST
From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

1 1/4 pounds ripe white peaches
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
zest of 1/2 large lemon or 1 small lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream

Peel and pit the peaches, then cut into chunks and place in a food processor with the sugar, water, and lemon zest. Puree until there are no large chunks of fruit left. Whip the cream with a whisk or electric beater until the consistency of buttermilk. Add the peach puree to the cream and mix well to combine. Churn in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Remove to a pre-chilled container and freeze for about 3 hours before serving.

Continue Reading "in season: white peach gelato"

sunday supper: put the lime in the coconut

I had promised to make Mom and Gene Pernil now that I have my new All-Clad roasting pan courtesy of J-Cat on Valentine's Day. That meant that the majority of last night's Sunday Supper was nothing new to you, my dear loyal readers. But never wanting to leave you recipe-less, I did some ice cream experimenting for dessert, and was pleasantly surprised by the result. I wanted to stick with the tropical flavors, so my first thought was a simple coconut ice cream. But about 10 minutes before the ice cream was done churning, while I was sitting and worrying that the ice cream would be way too sweet, something occurred to me. Lime. Put the lime in the coconut. My answer to something being too sweet is often to add something acidic, so this seemed perfect. A touch of acid, a fresh flavor, but a nice sweetness of its own. I wasn't sure if adding it would mess with the freezing process, but it had already been churning for 20 minutes so I figured it couldn't do too much damage. I'm guessing that if I had thought of it earlier and added the lime juice and zest earlier, it would have been fine as well, next time I will try it that way and see if there is any difference. Happily, it worked well and I really loved the flavor dimension that it added. This is definitely a keeper. Recipe after the jump:



COCONUT LIME ICE CREAM
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 15 ounce can cream of coconut (preferably Coco Lopez)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
juice and zest of one lime

In a food processor or blender, combine milk and cream of coconut and process until well combined. Slowly add in the cream. Once it is blended, transfer to the ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers directions. About halfway through the churning process add the lime juice, then slowly sprinkle in the zest. Avoid adding the zest in clumps so that it distributes evenly throughout the ice cream. After churning, freeze for at least two hours before serving. Makes about 2 quarts.

Continue Reading "sunday supper: put the lime in the coconut"

it's semi-freezing outside

I do have an ice cream maker, but this is different. The last two times we had dinner at nice Italian restaurants, we were served a pre-dessert dessert of Semifreddo with Strawberry Soup. Two different restaurants, two extremely similar dishes, both delicious. It's a texture thing, Semifreddo is certainly denser than ice cream because it's not churned, yet there was a lightness to the flavor that has been haunting my dreams ever since. The whole point of Semifreddo is that it's easy to make, and indeed, that's very true.



I made a custard-style Mascarpone Semifreddo with a lemony background, served with raspberry "soup". The prep took all of 15 minutes; it's the 8+ hours of freezing time that will really kill you. Or maybe the fact that there are whole eggs that never actually get cooked could be what kills you, but I takes risks for deliciousness. It's worth it. Recipe after the jump:



MASCARPONE SEMIFREDDO WITH RASPBERRY SOUP

Ingredients
For the Semifreddo:
1/2 pound (about 1 cup) mascarpone
3 large eggs, separated (room temperature)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla, or vanilla bean
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup sugar

For the Raspberry Soup:
1 10-oz package frozen raspberries, or the equivalent fresh
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation
Line a metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing about 2 inches of overhang on the edges. Place in freezer while prepping the Semifreddo. In a large mixing bowl, combine mascarpone, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest and beat with an electric mixer until well combined. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture. Pour into the plastic-lined loaf pan and cover the surface with the plastic overhang. Freeze for 8 hours or overnight.

In a small saucepan, combine raspberries, water, sugar, and lemon juice and bring to a simmer to dissolve sugar. Strain seeds out with a fine mesh strainer. Allow to cool. Slice Semifreddo into bars and serve with the chilled raspberry soup.

Continue Reading "it's semi-freezing outside"

ice creamed: part 2 - time to churn!

The only real negative to making your own ice cream is the waiting time. After cooking up the custard, it had to chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours before I got to break out the new machine and churn away. It's a good thing I was able to lick the spoon that I stirred the custard with or I might have gotten really cranky. And that is only the first waiting period. The actual churning of the ice cream was really pretty fun to watch. I mean, I didn't watch it every second but I admit I kept checking on it every couple of minutes. In just a half hour, my custard went from this:



To this:



That's pretty awesome. And I also admit to sticking a spoon into the opening here and there to grab a taste as it was churning. After about 30 minutes, I had another long wait. I transferred the soft ice cream to a container and in it went to the freezer to set up for another couple of hours. It's a good thing J-Cat went out to get donuts in the interim. But finally, after all that waiting, the creamy, custardy, vanilla-y, icy goodness:



This recipe was, admittedly, extremely rich, and probably wouldn't be my choice for classic vanilla ice cream in the future. It was delicious, incredibly smooth, and the texture was perfect, but the flavor and sweetness was more intense than my personal tastes. J-Cat really liked it, though he likened it more to a frozen custard than a traditional ice cream, which is accurate. Using the vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract was definitely noticeable and totally worth it. The next time I try a vanilla ice cream, I think I will go with a non-custard recipe and see how I like it. But before I do another vanilla, I have to seek out a recipe for my personal favorite flavor - pistachio. Recipe after the jump:

PREMIUM VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean pod, approx 6 inches long
2/3 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
3 egg yolks

Preparation
Combine the cream and milk in a heavy saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise. Using the back of a knife-blade, scrape out the beans. Add the beans and the split pod to the saucepan. Bring to just below a boil, stirring frequently, then lower the heat to maintain a very low simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

While the milk mixture is simmering, combine the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using a handheld mixer, beat until light yellow and frothy. When the milk mixture has finished simmering, slowly add about 1 cup to the egg mixture, mixing constantly with the mixer. Once it is fully incorporated, slowly add the egg mixture back to the saucepan, stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat until it begins to thicken. Strain the custard through a fine sieve to remove and curdles. Transfer custard mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap on the surface of the custard, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. After it has thoroughly chilled, follow the manufacturer's directions for churning in the ice cream maker. Makes approximately 1.5 quarts.

Continue Reading "ice creamed: part 2 - time to churn!"

ice creamed: part 1

It sounded odd to me to say the other day that I had never made ice cream from scratch before. Never! The simple reason being that I never owned an ice cream maker before, but didn't seem like much of an excuse. I don't know why I never bought one. Gene has had one for a couple of years and has made countless excellent gelatos, and every time I would taste one I would say "I really need to get an ice cream maker!". Add to that Burt's updates on the myriad unusual flavors that Chris has cooked up and I have had serious home made ice cream envy. So I finally did it, and I decided to be a purist with my first batch out - Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.



And there it is, perhaps one of the most expensive single ingredients out there, but also the most worth it. Look how many lovely little seeds that one pod provided:



The recipe I used was - against all my normal instincts - straight out of the user's manual that came with the machine. This was a custard-based ice cream, and I wanted to do it perfectly, so I spent some time straining the custard before cooling:



Smooth custardy goodness:



Coming up in part 2, the machine gets its first use, I watch it like it's magic, and J-Cat eats too much ice cream. Stay tuned!

Continue Reading "ice creamed: part 1"