Champagne Ice Cream

Please ignore the Prom 2008. It was the only champagne glass we could find...shameful, we know. Despite being served in such a hideous receptacle, this ice cream wowed us with its deliciousness. (You know how to tell if something is really yummy? You'll eat it no matter what it looks like or what it's sitting in - it's just that good. Unless it's sitting in...ah, you get the picture)

Champagne ice cream, we discovered to our delight, tastes like fermented sweet rice! Light and bright, not quite as heavy or bossy as bourbon (not to bash on bourbon, it's delicious too, just not in the same way). Here are some ideas for how to eat champagne ice cream:

1. Straight out of the container. Get a long skinny spoon and scoop out little shards of ice cream directly from the container.
2. Out of a tiny wine glass. Scoop a nice round ball of ice cream and plop it into your glass. Quickly stuff the rest of the ice cream back into the freezer so you aren't tempted to get seconds. Sit down in a quiet place with a tiny spoon and savor as slowly as possible.
3. In a champagne glass with champagne poured over. Like a root beer float, except pink.

Caramelized White Chocolate Creme Fraiche Ice Cream

Do you like white chocolate? Doesn't it taste like milk, malted milk, vanilla, sugar, butter, peace, joy, and happiness all blended together? Now think about caramel. Roasty, buttery, slightly bitter, brown sugar and honey notes, just plain delicious. Yes. You know where this is going. What's the third thing I'm going to ask you to think of? Did I hear someone say ice cream? Ah, genius. But not just any old ice cream - we're talking creme fraiche ice cream. Ice cream with a slight tang, a rich buttery milky flavor. This ice cream is just that and more. The white chocolate keeps the texture velvety, and each bite is exquisite. The ice cream has a little resistance, not melting instantly but slowly pulling at your tastebuds in the way that chewy caramel lingers, before dissolving into buttery bliss.

The caramelization of the white chocolate takes some time - you need to stir it every 10 minutes or so as it bakes at a low temperature in the oven. However, if you have an hour to spare, do it. And make sure you use Valrhona chocolate because it has a high cocoa butter content, allowing it to melt smoothly without turning too chalky. This is one of the best ice creams we've ever made - right up there with champagne, green tea, jasmine, vanilla bean, bourbon, fresh strawberry, and garden mint, all in the ice cream hall of fame.

Caramelized White Chocolate Creme Fraiche Ice Cream (adapted from David Lebovitz's blog)
235 g (8.25 oz) Valrhona white chocolate pieces
¾ cup crème fraiche
1 ¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 pinch of kosher salt

Caramelize white chocolate. Preheat oven to 250°F. Spread chocolate pieces on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer and place in the oven. Take the tray out after 20 minutes to stir the chocolate and prevent burning. Keep stirring every 10 minutes for 1 hour or so, until the chocolate is caramelized, delicious smelling, and about the color of almond skins. Scrape the chocolate into a small bowl and keep warm and melted until ready to use. You should have about 180 g (6.25 oz) caramelized white chocolate.

Make custard. Place crème fraiche and ½ cup of the milk in a 4-cup glass measuring cup and put a fine mesh sieve on top. Bring remaining ¾ cup milk and half of the sugar (2 Tbsp) to a simmer in a heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until steaming, stirring a bit to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and remaining 2 Tbsp sugar in medium bowl; whisk until thick and blended. Gradually whisk steaming milk mixture into yolk mixture. Pour everything back into the pot and stir constantly over medium-low heat, scraping into the corners of the pot, until custard thickens enough to leave path on back of a spatula or spoon when a finger is drawn across and temperature registers 178°F, about 3 minutes. Immediately pour through sieve into crème fraiche mixture. Mix a splash of custard into the melted caramelized white chocolate until smooth. Pour white chocolate mixture into the rest of the custard. Add a teeny pinch of salt, mix to dissolve, and taste and adjust salt as needed. Refrigerate at least 5 hours until completely cold (overnight is best). Churn in ice cream maker.

Fermented Sweet Rice Ice Cream

We wanted to take a picture with the bottle of 甜酒 (tian jiu, fermented sweet rice) in the background, but we realized that the bottle is actually quite unphotogenic. Fermented rice is delicious - if you've never had it before, think something that's sour, winey, sweet, and ricey at the same time. Yeah, you know you want some. It's incredible in a sweet soup with some mochi, and it was very good in this ice cream. The alcohol content helps keep the ice cream soft and creamy, and the flavor gets more complex as it continues to mellow. We served it with fresh tian jiu and also on some warm, crispy, freshly toasted slices of choux pastry from our freezer stash. 

Fermented Sweet Rice Ice Cream

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt (or just salt it to your liking)

3/4 cup fermented sweet rice, drained well

2 Tbsp fermented rice liquid (the stuff you drained out)

Pour cream into a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Heat milk with half of the sugar in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat til steaming, stirring once or twice to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, whisk yolks with the other half of the sugar until pale yellow. Temper the yolk/sugar mixture with the heated milk, and cook over medium low heat until the mixture thickens or reaches 180 F. Immediately strain into the cream. Add fermented sweet rice and the fermented sweet rice liquid, and mix well. Add salt and adjust to your liking. Chill overnight and churn in the morning. Transfer freshly churned ice cream to the freezer and let it set up for 2 hours before enjoying.  

Olive Oil Ice Cream

This ice cream tasted like the smell of an Asian bakery - you know, the really fragrant aroma from the cute little sponge cakes hanging out on the shelves? It was divine. With a little drizzle of legit balsamic vinegar, it was even better! The best part of homemade ice cream is licking the freezer bowl and the plastic churner component with all its nooks and crannies. Don't use your tongue to lick the freezer bowl directly. That would be a mistake, albeit an initially delicious one.

Olive oil ice cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 1/3 cups (330 ml) whole milk
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
Pinch of sea salt (taste the custard and adjust salt as needed - salt really intensifies the flavors!)
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (125 ml) legit olive oil - the key is in the legitness of the olive oil

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Make sure that you don’t over cook it or else you’ll get scrambled eggs. It’s better to err on the safe side by turning off the heat when the custard just slightly thickens because the heat in the pot will continuously cook the mixture. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Whisk the olive oil into the custard vigorously until it’s well blended, then stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

David Lebovitz's Toasted Almond Candied Cherry Ice Cream

Three things taste like almonds in this ice cream: the almond-infused custard with a faint hint of almond extract, the toasted almonds themselves, and the candied cherries.


The cherries from the jar, we feared, were not the sour cherries that the recipe called for so a lemon was hastily grated and squeezed into the syrup to up the tangy ante. It turned out that yes Morello Cherries are indeed sour cherries, but the extra zing only made this ice cream vanish from the bowl ever faster.


Recipe credit to David Lebovitz in that lovely ice cream book of his, The Perfect Scoop.

Jasmine Ice Cream

WARNING. This ice cream is delicious!

Jasmine Ice Cream

20g jasmine tea leaves
1.25 c cream
0.75 c milk
4 yolks
1/8 tsp kosher salt
90 g sugar

Measure milk and cream into a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup. Pour 1 cup of the mixture into a small heavy bottom saucepan with half of the sugar and set it over medium heat until it reaches 120 F or just steaming, whisking occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and pour into a glass measuring cup containing the tea leaves. Steep for 3 minutes and strain the milk back into the sauce pan over medium heat, heating it until just boiling. Meanwhile, wash and dry the fine mesh strainer and set it over the Pyrex measuring cup containing the reserved cup of cold milk and cream. Whisk yolks with remaining sugar until pale yellow and sugar is dissolved. Splash a little hot milk into the yolks and whisk immediately; stream in the rest of the milk while whisking, and return the mixture to the saucepan over medium low heat, whisking constantly until mixture reaches 180 F. Strain immediately into the cold milk and cream; whisk to blend. Add salt to taste and whisk well to dissolve the salt. Cover with plastic wrap and cool overnight in the fridge; churn the next morning, after breakfast, when you can eat ice cream from the machine.

Bourbon Ice Cream

How to Enjoy Vanilla Ice Cream

...on top of a toasted shard of rum-drenched vanilla pound cake, topped with crushed toasted pistachios

...with pistachio brittle, hazelnut brittle, or pecan brittle

or in a sundae with fresh raspberry coulis, blackberries from a nearby berry bush, pistachio brittle, and creamy luscious caramel sauce drizzled on top!

Basil Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

Is this a strange combination? Maybe. It wasn't intentional. We're just bad at scooping in a straight line. But take our word for it, it was delicious!

Also, we used Thai basil this time for the ice cream, but next time we might try Italian basil because it's less anise flavored and maybe more suitable for ice cream.

Basil Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

Basil Ice Cream

Raspberry Ice Cream

1. Store the two ice creams side by side in a container in the freezer.

2. Maniacally scoop out some ice cream and inadvertently mix the two.

Basil Ice Cream

2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream

Bring milk, basil, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, then remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender (reserve saucepan) and blend until basil is finely ground, about 1 minute. Beat together yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Add milk mixture in a stream, beating until combined well. Pour mixture into reserved saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon and registers 175°F on thermometer (do not let boil). Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir until cold, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in cream and freeze in ice cream maker.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Sundae

Momofuku milk bar cereal milk ice cream

Ladies and gents, prepare yourself for the yummiest ice cream in the world.

If you are stuck indoors thanks to good ol' California rain this holiday season, I highly recommend investing in an ice cream maker so you can start churning out homemade ice cream. I also highly recommend investing in a heavy duty treadmill and/or Stairmaster, probably the only better thing than homemade whipped cream to go with said ice cream.

This ice cream uses milk that has been steeped in caramelized corn flakes. If you have never met a caramelized corn flake, consider the following dialog:

(Scene: kitchen, two baking sheets spread with caramelized corn flakes have been resting on the counter for some time)

Mom: Ohmygosh. These are so good.

Me: What? You ate some?? They're supposed to be fo-

Dad: Yeah, they're so good.

Me: You too??

Mom and Dad: Oh, we weren't supposed to?

Me: Uh, no, not really, these are for ice cream. That's okay. How much did you eat?

Mom: Ah, maybe this much (gestures toward cupped palm)

Me: ...there's one and a half sticks of butter in there!

Due to this unfortunate incident, we may have used less caramelized cornflakes than the recipe called for, but the world did not end at all. In fact, it is just beginning.

CEREAL MILK ICE CREAM RECIPE (from Momofuku Milk Bar)

Ingredients

For Caramelized Cornflakes (makes 18 oz; recipe adapted from Momofuku)

• 10 oz cornflakes
• 2 oz nonfat dry milk powder
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (we used a teeny bit less because our tongues aren't calibrated to average salt levels)
• 6.5 oz (one and a half stick) unsalted butter, melted

For Cereal Milk (approximately 1 cup):

• 4 cups whole milk
• 14 oz caramelized cornflakes

For Cereal Milk Ice Cream (makes approximately 3,5 cups):

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup cereal milk
• 1/2 cup sugar (we used a teeny pit less)
• 1/4 tsp salt (we omitted this b/c the cornflakes added enough saltiness to the cereal milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks
• 4 oz caramelized cornflakes, to serve

Method

1. To prepare the caramelized cornflakes, preheat your oven to 275 F (140 C). Put the cornflakes in a large mixing bowl and crush them with your hands a few times. Combine milk powder, sugar and salt in another bowl, give it a stir and set aside. Add the melted butter to the cornflakes and then the sugar mixture and toss to combine. Spread out on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven until they caramelize, for approximately 35 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature.
2. To prepare the cereal milk, combine 14 oz of caramelized cornflakes and milk in a large mixing bowl and let steep for an hour. Strain the milk with the help of a fine-mesh sieve (make sure to press on the cornflakes with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible), strain once again (through a finer sieve or cheesecloth this time), pour it in a container and set aside.
3. To prepare the cereal milk ice cream, pour the heavy cream in a medium bowl and place it in the fridge until needed. Combine cereal milk, sugar, salt and vanilla extract in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. In the meantime, in a medium pot, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly. Place over medium heat and stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the custard through a strainer into the chilled heavy cream and stir to combine.
6. Chill the mixture overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
7. Serve with the remaining caramelized cornflakes.

recipe from http://cafefernando.com/momofuku-milk-bars-cereal-milk-ice-cream/

David Lebovitz's Raspberry Ice Cream

David Lebovitz' raspberry ice cream. The raspberries are not cooked, so the flavor of the fresh berries is maintained and the end result it simply divine. Words cannot describe the fruity freshness of the flowery raspberries!

1½ cups (375ml) half-and-half
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1½ cups (375ml) heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1½ cups (375ml) strained black raspberry purée (from fresh or thawed frozen berries)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
about 1/8 t xanthan gum (optional; helps keep ice cream scoopable)

-Warm the half-and-half, pinch of salt and about half of the sugar in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

-In a separate medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg yolks with the other half of the sugar. Slowly pour the warm liquid into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

-Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Vigorously whisk in the xanthan gum, if using, and quickly pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Mix in the raspberry purée and lemon juice, then stir until cool over an ice bath.

-Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, but to preserve the fresh berry taste, churn the ice cream within four hours of making the mixture.

Strawberry Stracciatella Ice Cream

Now we hate to brag, really - it is such a difficult thing to do. But this ice cream seriously is delicious beyond belief, so before you make it, be sure to mentally prepare yourself for the world's best strawberry ice cream. This recipe was adapted from Cook's Illustrated, and makes a smooth scoopable ice cream that is seriously scrumptious.

We bought fresh strawberries and hand picked only the ripest, reddest berries for this ice cream, sacrificing the underripe unfortunate ones for the dreaded fate of snacking on by merciless pearly whites and not-so-pearly whites. The egg yolks are organic, and the heavy cream and whole milk are organic and not ultra-pasteurized and fresh from Straus Creamery, so they had a sweeter taste than ultra-pasteurized cream (Or at least, we tricked ourselves into believing so!). We didn't have vodka so we soaked the berries in rum, and they did not freeze up icy hard, but stayed soft yet chewy. Served with 2% Greek yogurt and mint, it's a perfect summer dessert, if I may say so myself!

Strawberry Stracciatella Ice Cream

makes 1 quart unchurned, a mountain churned

16 ounces (3 cups) hulled and sliced very red fresh strawberries

pinch salt

1 1/4 cup (8.75 oz) white sugar

1 1/4 cup organic fresh whole milk

1 1/3 cup organic fresh heavy cream

7 large organic fresh egg yolks

1 teaspoon juice form 1 lemon

1.5 tablespoons white rum

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

melted high quality dark chocoalte

1. Toss strawberries, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar together in a saucepan. Mash berries gently with fingers until slightly broken down. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until berries have released juices and sugar has dissolved, 40 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, position a strainer over a medium bowl set in a larger bowl containing ice water. Heat the milk, cream 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until steam appears (175 degrees). While milk is heating, whisk yolks and 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl until pale yellow. Whisk half of the warm milk mixture into yolks, slowly, until combined. Whisk milk-yolk mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring nonstop with wooden spoon until steam appears and foam subsides (180 degrees). Do not boil or the eggs will curdle. Immediately strain custard into bowl set in ice-water bath. Cool the custard to room temperature, stirring occasionally to help it cool.

3. While custard is cooling, set saucepan containing berries over medium-high heat and cook 3 minutes total.Strain the berries, saving the juices. Transfer berries to a small bowl; stir in lemon juice and rum or vodka, then cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge until cold. Stir vanilla and strawberry juice into cooled custard, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and fridge until 40 degrees or lower, 8 hours or more.

4. Pour custard into ice cream machine canister and churn for 20-30 minutes, until the mixture is moving very slowly and no longer increasing in volume. Add strawberries and juice, and churn for 1 minute. Spoon into a chilled airtight container and drizzle melted chocolate over the top in several layers. Freeze at least 2 hours.