In this photo I made: Chocolate Macaroon Ice Cream with a Chocolate French Macaroon filled with Italian Butter Cream, Champagne soaked Strawberry with a Champagne and Strawberry Coulis (sauce).
Hey everyone! Making ice cream does not mean you need a bunch of super salt, and a bunch of money on a bulky machine. Now, I am not saying that ice cream machines aren't super cool. They are! However, they aren't necessary. A little work and knowledge goes a long way. You'll be enjoying super yummy homemade ice cream or frozen custard in a few hours. Yea I know, hours... so impatient aren't we? This photo is of a homemade ice cream my daughter and I made without an ice cream machine or attachment.
Flavor is Chocolate Macaroon.
Here is a little information on ice cream: The cheaper ice cream is, the more air/overrun it contains. You're pretty much paying for air. Over run is the extra air that makes up the over all volume of the tub of ice cream. For instance, if a cheap ice cream contained 50% overrun, that means 50% of the gallon contains air incorporated into the ice cream itself. Air is important. You don't need tons of it though.
So here is what you'll need in order to make yummy homemade ice cream base:
1 Quart Half and Half
1 Cup Sugar plus 2 TBS
5 Egg Yolks
2 TBS Vanilla Extract
This is also known as the custard method or a custard base. With these ingredients you can make anything from creme anglace (vanilla custard sauce) flan, creme brule`, rice/bread pudding, eggnog, zabaione, etc.
Ok, so a little technique goes into properly making your ice cream/custard base. The important step is to not scramble your eggs. Lets begin cooking!
First, take your half and half and the 2 TBS of sugar and cook on medium heat in a sauce pot. The sugar isn't necessarily meant to sweeten the milk, but to prevent the lactose from burning. The cell structure of milk utilizes the sugars in milk when cooking as energy. We sort of supplement these sugars when cooking. Its little steps and tips like these that make cooking less stressful at times.
In a mixing bowl, whisk your egg yolks and 1 Cup sugar together. Your mixture should look a little sandy. Don't worry, your sugar will dissolve when the milk is added.
We use a technique called "tempering" to cook eggs without curdling them/scrambling them. This means your egg yolks will cook and stay in a liquid form. Take a small amount of the milk, about 2 ounces which is a standard size of a small ladle, and gently add in the hot milk and whisk slowly. Repeat this a few more times until the sugar is dissolved, and egg yolks and milk are emulsified.
Once everything is combined you may add in the rest of your milk and continue whisking. We need to finish cooking this mixture a bit. This part will require you to not leave the kitchen for a while. I won't lie, you'll be there about 12 minutes gently stirring. It is important or you will over cook and separate your base mixture that you just successfully made.
Do not continue cooking this mixture straight in a pot. Use the double boiler/bain marie method.
Take a glass or metal bowl and place your base in it. Place it on a pot of boiling water. Let the steam gently continue to cook your base. (your eggs are already cooked, we want to thicken your base now)
I do not recommend using a whisk when thickening your base. You'll make foam. Foam is great, but not practical right now. Use a rubber spatula. It will be easier for you to feel the base thicken.
Now add your vanilla. If you add it too early it will evaporate out. At this stage, the alcohol will evaporate out, but the vanilla taste will remain.
Once your base STARTS to thicken, pull it off the heat. Preferably transfer to another bowl that is in a container/sink of ice and ice water. Strain your base through a mesh strainer/chinois. This will take out any possible little lumpies from your base. We want silky ice cream. If you like lumpy ice cream, seriously, who the hell am I to judge you?
Ok! So the hard part is done! Now we wait for our base to cool down. If you want to add in any flavors, get super creative. Wouldn't it be nice if you had cookies and cream ice cream but with hella cookies in it instead of like one cookie per gallon? lol!
So since we don't have a super dooper ice cream machine, what should we do? We have to break down the crystals every hour or so for the next 2-4 hours. OMG the work... trust me, it's like a minute of work each time.
We break up the crystals and help them bind to the protein of the egg. This way we have a creamy ice cream instead of a freezer burnt flavored block of ice. Do This by whisking and scraping the sides which solidify first. They won't be frozen solid at this point. So it isn't as hard as it sounds.
When your ice cream is finally at a soft serve stage, whisk your heart away. If you have a hand mixer, bust that sucker out. Whisk in our overrun/air. This will make your ice cream so custardy and velvety. Your guests and family will be blown away at how freakin ridiculous this tastes compared to the stuff in the store. It's also so much cheaper too!!!
I hope you enjoy making ice cream. It's a really fun project to set aside on a lazy Sunday with your friends and family. My daughter and I busted out this ice cream this weekend and we had a lot of fun doing so. My kids LOVE cooking with me and it really brings us closer and builds memories. Food contains so much more power other than flavor. It gives us a chance to build memories, explore different cultures, and laugh when we screw something up royally. I totally have my fair share of stories (like the time I made key lime pie and forgot condensed milk) even though I had made key lime pie a million times before that... my loved ones still throw it in my face. "oh remember when you f***ed up the pie?" *rolls eyes*
but honestly we laugh. Food is powerful. Great food takes a little work at times, but it is so worth it. It's worth more than just eating it. The journey in making it is so memorable and can be so therapeutic.
Enjoy!
Amber~
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