Sunday, July 12, 2009
Recipe: Super Fast Vanilla Ice Cream
One problem I've found with making your own ice cream is having to plan ahead. Using a compressor-type machine like the Cuisinart Supreme I reviewed is that even so, you still need to make and chill the mix so you're not waiting forever for it to freeze. But here's a Philadelphia-style vanilla I improvised today that's pretty good -- no custard base, so not as rich as you'd get with eggs, but you don't even have to heat the liquid to dissolve the sugar. You go immediately from mixing to the freezer, so it's great for a whim.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
- In a bowl, mix the heavy cream, half and half, sugar, and salt until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.
- Stir in the vanilla extract until completely mixed in.
- Freeze using ice cream freezer directions.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Review: Cuisinart Supreme Ice Cream Maker (ICE-50BC)
Even with the seemingly perpetual presence of grey skies in the Northeast, making me think that our home has been surreptitiously swapped for a small community near Portland, Ore., it's time for ice cream. Well, here in Massachusetts, people queue up even in January, so who am I kidding? It's always time for ice cream. You could go find a local shop selling something other than what you might get in the grocery store, but instead consider an initial hefty investment to start churning it out at home -- or switch off to sorbet or frozen yogurt, if you like. The Cuisinart Supreme Commercial Quality Ice Cream Maker is a compressor-driven model (that's the reasoning behind "commercial," because it's clearly designed for consumers) rather than one of the more common types that use a container that you freeze overnight. With a few caveats about a product claim and operation, this is a good machine for those who are serious about ice cream.
Operation is simple. You set the unit on a counter and plug it in. A small bucket slips into the machine. Pour in the ice cream mix, place the paddle into the bucket, place the drive arm on top, and set the timer. (Soft ice cream/sorbet/yogurt takes 30 to 45 minutes; hard requires 45 minutes to an hour.) The unit will turn off when the timer ends or will also shut itself down if it's done freezing the contents. You will have to slip a plastic cover for the pail into place on the mixing arm. It's easy to set it slightly off, but if you do, the arm raises up and stops working. Once you see how it fits into place, it will become clear.
Chief among benefits is the ability to make a treat any time you want. There is still preparation, as you must put together the stuff to be churned and then chill it for a good four to six hours. But you can do that in the morning and not depend on having remembered to clear out enough room in a freezer to fit in a bulky container. Or you can make enough of a basic sweetened cream mix to last a few days in the fridge and make something as whim takes you, adding in fruit puree, a bit of melted chocolate, vanilla, or other flavoring to get some variety.
I mentioned caveats. One is that there is a warning not to tip the base on its side or turn it upside down. If you do, you are suppose to put it back upright and then leave it alone for 24 hours before using it again. I'm not sure why you'd turn it upside down, and the sucker is pretty heavy and it would seem to be harder to store sideways. Anyway, give it time to get over the shock of the rude handling, or perhaps the world will meet some unspecified doom.
More annoying is the claim of 1.5 quart volume. That actually is the room you have, but when I did a test run of mango ginger sorbet (recipe here), we got a thick outside shell of sorbet frozen hard with a core of cold slush. I had to take a spoon and get the hardened sorbet out and then finish freezing the slush. When the unit was only partly filled, though, everything came to a good consistency. So if you have a full 1.5 quarts, I'd try freezing it in two batches. But otherwise, it's marvelously convenient and one of those single-use appliances worth getting.
There's one other caveat. A few years ago, a number of consumers were complaining about the plastic paddle being flimsy in an earlier version. It's still plastic, but I haven't gotten the impression that it is overly flimsy. I'm guessing that there's been enough time for Cuisinart to correct any problems. If after a few batches I find otherwise, I'll report back.
Street price seems to run around $250 to $300. Given the cost of high quality ice cream, et. al., figure that buying 1.5 quarts of really good quality ice cream, not the normal store-bought, would run at least $9. (Think three pints of Ben & Jerry's.) You can make it for half of that, so that would be a savings of $4.50 a batch. That would be about 66 batches to recoup the machine cost, or maybe a few summers' worth. No, this isn't a big money saver, but the quality of what you can create will easily exceed most of what you can buy.
Operation is simple. You set the unit on a counter and plug it in. A small bucket slips into the machine. Pour in the ice cream mix, place the paddle into the bucket, place the drive arm on top, and set the timer. (Soft ice cream/sorbet/yogurt takes 30 to 45 minutes; hard requires 45 minutes to an hour.) The unit will turn off when the timer ends or will also shut itself down if it's done freezing the contents. You will have to slip a plastic cover for the pail into place on the mixing arm. It's easy to set it slightly off, but if you do, the arm raises up and stops working. Once you see how it fits into place, it will become clear.
Chief among benefits is the ability to make a treat any time you want. There is still preparation, as you must put together the stuff to be churned and then chill it for a good four to six hours. But you can do that in the morning and not depend on having remembered to clear out enough room in a freezer to fit in a bulky container. Or you can make enough of a basic sweetened cream mix to last a few days in the fridge and make something as whim takes you, adding in fruit puree, a bit of melted chocolate, vanilla, or other flavoring to get some variety.
I mentioned caveats. One is that there is a warning not to tip the base on its side or turn it upside down. If you do, you are suppose to put it back upright and then leave it alone for 24 hours before using it again. I'm not sure why you'd turn it upside down, and the sucker is pretty heavy and it would seem to be harder to store sideways. Anyway, give it time to get over the shock of the rude handling, or perhaps the world will meet some unspecified doom.
More annoying is the claim of 1.5 quart volume. That actually is the room you have, but when I did a test run of mango ginger sorbet (recipe here), we got a thick outside shell of sorbet frozen hard with a core of cold slush. I had to take a spoon and get the hardened sorbet out and then finish freezing the slush. When the unit was only partly filled, though, everything came to a good consistency. So if you have a full 1.5 quarts, I'd try freezing it in two batches. But otherwise, it's marvelously convenient and one of those single-use appliances worth getting.
There's one other caveat. A few years ago, a number of consumers were complaining about the plastic paddle being flimsy in an earlier version. It's still plastic, but I haven't gotten the impression that it is overly flimsy. I'm guessing that there's been enough time for Cuisinart to correct any problems. If after a few batches I find otherwise, I'll report back.
Street price seems to run around $250 to $300. Given the cost of high quality ice cream, et. al., figure that buying 1.5 quarts of really good quality ice cream, not the normal store-bought, would run at least $9. (Think three pints of Ben & Jerry's.) You can make it for half of that, so that would be a savings of $4.50 a batch. That would be about 66 batches to recoup the machine cost, or maybe a few summers' worth. No, this isn't a big money saver, but the quality of what you can create will easily exceed most of what you can buy.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Review:Häagen-Dazs Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice Cream
When I reviewed Häagen-Dazs Caramelized Pear & Toasted Pecan ice cream at the end of September, I relied on a sample sent by the company's PR firm. This time my wife had picked up some Sticky Toffee Pudding, the winner of the company's 2006 flavor contest, without my knowledge and walked into the kitchen with the remnants.
She: "You should review this ice cream. It's great!"
He: "What is it?"
She: "It's got toffee and bits of cake in vanilla."
He: "OK, let me try some."
She looks darkly at He.
She: "Isn't my opinion as good as yours?"
He: "Yes, but if I'm reviewing it, I actually have to taste it."
She holds out a quarter teaspoon of ice cream.
He: "How about a little more?"
She gives me a funny look, and then holds out the spoon again - a third of a teaspoon this time. I take what I can get. She's right; this is a great flavor. Note to self: buy some and then hide it so I get at least a scoop.
She: "You should review this ice cream. It's great!"
He: "What is it?"
She: "It's got toffee and bits of cake in vanilla."
He: "OK, let me try some."
She looks darkly at He.
She: "Isn't my opinion as good as yours?"
He: "Yes, but if I'm reviewing it, I actually have to taste it."
She holds out a quarter teaspoon of ice cream.
He: "How about a little more?"
She gives me a funny look, and then holds out the spoon again - a third of a teaspoon this time. I take what I can get. She's right; this is a great flavor. Note to self: buy some and then hide it so I get at least a scoop.
Labels: Häagen-Dazs, ice cream, pudding, toffee
Friday, September 28, 2007
Review: Häagen-Dazs Caramelized Pear & Toasted Pecan Ice Cream
Back in March I chided (Or would that be mocked?) Häagen-Dazs for producing ice cream based on flavors submitted in a contest without public acknowledgment of the creator. At the time, someone from PR said that only the winning flavor's creator would be compensated - and I'm guessing that credit is part of the compensation. Well, the winning flavor - caramelized pear & toasted pecan is now shipping and there's certainly public acknowledgment for contest winner Leslie Zoerb.
My sample from the PR agency arrived yesterday and I tore into it as quickly as I could get it to thaw a bit from being packed in dry ice. (I used a trick my daughter came up with - microwave the container for 15 to 30 seconds or so to get it a bit soft.) This is a killer flavor, which means congratulations go to both Ms. Zoerb and to the people at the company who were able to translate her idea into a viable commercial ice cream. This is subtle: pear ice cream with pieces of caramelized pear and bits of toasted pecan. The blend is marvelous and, even though I don't normally like nuts in ice cream, they add texture and help balance the other flavors.
Apparently she was trying to make a pear tart when the power went out. Obviously an improviser when times get tough, she went to the gas-powered range, caramelized pieces of pear, and served them with vanilla ice cream and pecans. I did try going to the company link for the "back story" and found what looked like it was supposed to be a short video loop. Only, there didn't seem to be any sound, and all I could see was a picture of some pears, butter, brown sugar, and pecans, followed by the words, "Congrats, Leslie! Thanks for making the world a bit sweeter." OK, so they're clearly not a media company. Who cares? Pass the scoop, please.
My sample from the PR agency arrived yesterday and I tore into it as quickly as I could get it to thaw a bit from being packed in dry ice. (I used a trick my daughter came up with - microwave the container for 15 to 30 seconds or so to get it a bit soft.) This is a killer flavor, which means congratulations go to both Ms. Zoerb and to the people at the company who were able to translate her idea into a viable commercial ice cream. This is subtle: pear ice cream with pieces of caramelized pear and bits of toasted pecan. The blend is marvelous and, even though I don't normally like nuts in ice cream, they add texture and help balance the other flavors.
Apparently she was trying to make a pear tart when the power went out. Obviously an improviser when times get tough, she went to the gas-powered range, caramelized pieces of pear, and served them with vanilla ice cream and pecans. I did try going to the company link for the "back story" and found what looked like it was supposed to be a short video loop. Only, there didn't seem to be any sound, and all I could see was a picture of some pears, butter, brown sugar, and pecans, followed by the words, "Congrats, Leslie! Thanks for making the world a bit sweeter." OK, so they're clearly not a media company. Who cares? Pass the scoop, please.
Labels: caramel, Haagen Dazs, Häagen-Dazs, ice cream, pear, pecan
