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[Cooking] An attempt at apple and cinnamon ice cream
Yesterday I made something I'd never made before for various reasons but mainly because I don't have a freezer in my tiny studio flat, only a tiny compartment in my fridge that just about makes water hard. I'd read and seen on various blogs that you don't need a machine to make ice cream if you stir the mix regularly so I'd considered trying that. I rose to the challenge because fellow food blogger and twitter foodie Kavey posted a Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge on her blog (click the thumbnail below to go there).
The rules for the challenge stipulate that it had to be a custard base recipe so I made one using:
350ml double cream
250ml single cream
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp demerera sugar
the husk of half a vanilla pod I'd kept in my sugar
This I know how to do so it came out really nicely.
For the flavouring I cooked down two smallish chopped apples with 2tsp of ground cinnamon. This I mixed into the custard using a stick blender to ensure even distribution. The final mix tasted great and I was very happy with it. After it had cooled, I filled the custard into a small freezer tub and put it into my freezer compartment, hoping for the best. Every half hour or so I stirred the mix with a fork to break up the ice that had formed and after about four hours or so it had reached a consistency that was very close to ice cream. I even managed to make a reasonably looking quenelle:
Now for the disappointment: Unlike the custard, the flavour of the finished product is rather weak. I guess I have to pack in more next time. However, as a first attempt, I really happy with it. Any suggestions more than welcome (please reply with OpenID or include your name and blog/twitter link in your anonymous reply). Many thanks.
Update - A few tips (own experience and others'):
- the initial custard needs to be very strong in flavour, almost too strong to be comfortable when you taste it
- next time I make the above I will cook a stick of cinnamon with the cream and leave to infuse for some time which should intensify the flavour
- use a round container and one is big enough so it's not filled all the way up to make vigorous stirring easier
[Short URL to this post]
The rules for the challenge stipulate that it had to be a custard base recipe so I made one using:
350ml double cream
250ml single cream
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp demerera sugar
the husk of half a vanilla pod I'd kept in my sugar
This I know how to do so it came out really nicely.
For the flavouring I cooked down two smallish chopped apples with 2tsp of ground cinnamon. This I mixed into the custard using a stick blender to ensure even distribution. The final mix tasted great and I was very happy with it. After it had cooled, I filled the custard into a small freezer tub and put it into my freezer compartment, hoping for the best. Every half hour or so I stirred the mix with a fork to break up the ice that had formed and after about four hours or so it had reached a consistency that was very close to ice cream. I even managed to make a reasonably looking quenelle:
Now for the disappointment: Unlike the custard, the flavour of the finished product is rather weak. I guess I have to pack in more next time. However, as a first attempt, I really happy with it. Any suggestions more than welcome (please reply with OpenID or include your name and blog/twitter link in your anonymous reply). Many thanks.
Update - A few tips (own experience and others'):
- the initial custard needs to be very strong in flavour, almost too strong to be comfortable when you taste it
- next time I make the above I will cook a stick of cinnamon with the cream and leave to infuse for some time which should intensify the flavour
- use a round container and one is big enough so it's not filled all the way up to make vigorous stirring easier
[Short URL to this post]
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I could be up for food challenge stuff at some point, though.
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Packing in flavour
(Anonymous) 2012-02-13 11:31 am (UTC)(link)Great entry and the very first one, too!
As we discussed via twitter, when making ice cream you need to make everything slightly stronger in flavour than usual, so it needs to be a little sweeter and a little too strong, because it all fades a bit when it's frozen.
So it may be that you need to make the custard sweeter, to the point that it's a bit too sweet if eaten at normal temperature, concentrate the flavour additions more and add a little more of them...
Can't wait to see your entry next month!
Kavey
kaveyeats.com
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(Anonymous) 2012-02-29 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)@Corinathecook
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I'd suggest getting some commercial icecream that you like the intensity of, letting it melt, and trying to lock the depth of flavour into your memory for next time you try this?
Also - I don't know how well a fruit purée 'carries' the spice flavour, especially since ground spices lose some of their intensity over time - you might find that making a sugar syrup, simmering it for ages with several cinnamon sticks, and then stirring some of the syrup in, would get more of a cinnamon wallop. (Also, depending how much you let the syrup darken, this would add colour). Personally, I'd be tempted to add a couple of cloves and/or some star anise, but I do love my mulled wine spices!
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Although the idea of putting a different sorbet in each cube of a tray, so you end up with the taste equivalent of a paint palette, would be very cool and chef-y!
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WANT
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When I was a kid, my grandfather would make homemade icecream for us, but the top part of the icecream maker tended to work loose, so us kids would take turns on the 'cold seat' holding it down as he cranked it! (I was in high school before I found out they make electric versions.) My husband has fond memories of icecream making when he was a child by using a sealed tub that would be packed in ice in a larger closed bin which they would roll across the floor.
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