Ice cream is ICE CREAM, not FROZEN CUSTARD ! What I mean is, don't put eggs in it.
Most recipes call for eggs but why? If anything, I think it detracts from the flavor and the reduction in complexity by giving up the need for eggs is mind boggling. And it has a name. It's called Philadelphia style of ice cream.
How simple, you ask? Here's the recipe for a basic 1/2 pint of ice cream:
1 cup cream/milk
4-6 TBL sugar
Flavor it according to your imagination and available ingredients. Experiment. Go nuts ! Go bananas !
But because I'm a guy, I recommend cinnamon !
Take 2 cinnamon sticks and 1/4 tsp ground mexican cinnamon (because it's sweeter). Place it in a pot with a pinch of kosher salt. Add 5 TBL sugar and a cup of white stuff.... 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup light cream if you want it really rich. Scald it (i.e., take it just to boiling while stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve). Strain it and cool the mixture in the fridge until it comes to fridge temperature - or overnight, which I do.
Now, you do need an ice cream maker. I use a Donvier brand, which is as low tech as they come. It is a metal thing that you put in your freezer, which fits in a plastic thing and has a crank. Put it together, pour the ice cream mix in and stir it for a few minutes until it forms a smooth frozen slough, the consistency of frozen custard (is that ironic or what?). Scrape it out to a container and put it in the freezer until firmed. You will not believe how good it is.
Here's what else I've made so far:
- Cinnamon-Banana-Coconut-Chocolate chip - yeah, I went a little crazy
- Lavender - this was unbelievable. From observing my wife, I think it is the female equivalent to cinnamon
- Chocolate Malt - a better chocolate taste than anything you've had before, but a little grainy due to the ground up barley malt... a recipe to refine yet
- Mint Chocolate Chip - believe it or not, I needed to add green food coloring
- Caramelized Peach - Peaches came in, so I oven dried some of them.
My final thought is that this new hobby of mine, however destructive to my cardio-vascular system, is a heart-friendly and adequate solution to the problematic fact that I do not live next door to the Glacier Ice Cream store in Boulder Colorado - which if I did, would be a serious health issue.
Posts
