Blinded by simplicity

Taken, once again, from the Murphy's Ice Cream book,(full recipe availabe at the link) Earl Grey Ice Cream (photo to follow).

Quite delicious apparently. Apparently, as I am not a huge fan. Others enthusiastically were though, and the plans for utter Christmas domination can continue apace. It's part of a series of experiments geared up towards an unorthodox Christmas treat. Breakfast for dessert.

The idea blinded me with it's simplistic brilliance after I served up the family Gorgeous C eggs, in eggcups, of Brown bread Ice Cream - too butterscotchy and rich a thing to have in excess.

A slice of brown-bread ice-cream, buttered with caramel sauce, a cup of earl-grey ice cream, and an egg of lemon ice-cream for that Lady Grey finish.

I'm often blinded by simplicity. Mine and other peoples.

In other, all to brief news, a new Kenwood Chef was procured bu her Gorgeous Cness, and my good self, leading to a frenzy of culinary activity as we clustered around said object like Pr men at an X-factor final. Unacquainted with popular culture as I am, I hope that simile makes sense.

Ice-cream, bread and pasta dough all quite happily despatched.

For the coup de grace, spinach and ricotta Ravioli, using the last of the spinach from the garden.

The Kenwood Chef recipe called for 500g of flour, no oil, and 4 eggs, as opposed to the standard 1 egg per 100g of flour. It was quite a dry dough - drier than I normally work with, and a bit difficult to work with in the roller. But it worked out fine. It may have expanded more while cooking though. Hrmm. Some experimentation could be afoot.......

Cooked the spinach in butter, and no water, and kept it whole not chopped....

Eh Voila, the finished product, in a sage and lemon sauce...

Experiments in the theatre of Ice Cream....

Physics, chemistry and cream.

To egg or not to egg. That is the question.

Heres the short version. For some of the science see below.....

Lessons learned....

Custard based creams are definitely smoother.

Strain the custard, gently.
Small containers are best.
Watch the custard like the family priest at a kindergarten.
Stir the custard, stir the mix.
Powerfreeze is the boss. Minus 25. Minus 18 is the bare minimum.
Pre chill the made mix in the refrigerator.

A quick flick through Harold McGee (On Food and Cooking) clears up some of the science.

The basic elements

Ice Crystals, Air, Concentrated Cream.


In this post

Ice crystals.....

Absolutely necessary for the structure of the ice cream, but also a common issue if they become too big. The addition of eggs slow down ice crystallisation. They make for a smoother ice cream, without the gritty texture you get from large, clumped together ice crystals (unless you scramble them). This is also the idea behind freezing the ice cream as quickly as you can. The faster you freeze it, the more even the ice crystal formation, and the smaller they are.

The aim is to make them so small they are imperceptible. It's also the reason behind not thawing and refreezing. Stirring helps with this, as does prechilling the mix in the fridge. Stirring breaks up ice crystals, spreads them out, encouraging the creation of many more but smaller crystals, and also helps introduce air into the mix. A final help is freezing the mix in several containers, giving a larger surface area exposed to freezing temperatures, and speeding up the freezing.

This is the recipe I used (available in full on their website), taken from the Murphy's Ice-Cream recipe book (the Book of Sweet things). The addition of egg yolks (taken fresh from the chickens out back) to the mix made it especially creamy and velvety - as did freezing it in smaller containers. The texture was far superior to the Tessa Kiros Caramel Ice Cream of last week.

One addition I would make to the recipe - when the custard thickens, chill it in an ice bath immediately, stirring all the time. It scrambles like a bastard.

Below....the best ice cream I have ever made.

Finally, Kitchen Chemistry with the bould Heston Blumenthal - the Ice Cream episode....

Caramel Ice Cream

From China, and Persia, to our modern plates.

Once again, taken quite happily from Falling Cloudberries, Caramel Ice-Cream. It's a simple to make, low maintainance ice cream. Good without, and, more importantly, without an ice cream machine. Of the various recipes I've tried so far, it's turned out to be the easiest, and, so far, quite reliable. Howvere, a little more experimentation is required to make it just a little creamier.

I'm giving the Kiros recipe, but I would suggest a lower caramel to cream ratio - it's almost excessively rich. My o0wn take is going to be to make a double batch - one with the same amount of caramel, one which is a honey or vanilla ice cream, freeze them, and wait until they partially set and swirl them together.

Anyway....heres to the meat of the thing

Caramel Ice Cream

Ingredients

170g of Caster Sugar

500 ml of warm milk

200 ml of single cream

4 egg yolks.

On a medium heat, slowly melt the sugar to a deep gold. Don't stir, ans be careful not to burn it - caramel burns so so easily. Tilting the pan carefully should help to get an even melt.


Make sure your milk is warm, and add it to the caramel. Stand well back. It hisses and spits like a cat in a sack. And caramel burns hurt. Stir contionuously. Most of the caramel should dissolve. The rest will later.


Whisk the egg yolks until foamy. Whisking constantly, add a ladleful of the slightly cooled caramel mixture. You whick and add a little mixture to temper the eggs - to gradually raise their temperature and dilute them so they don't scramble. It's imperative to take care here, as the texture rests on what you do here. Keep adding it slowly, a little at a time.

Return the saucepan to the heat, and heat gently, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it thickens slightly to a custard - Heston Blumenthal's suggestion is to dip in a spoon - I used a metal one to make it easy to see, and draw your finger down the back of the spoon, right in the middle. If the centre of the spoon satys clear of liquid - it doesn't dribble back in - it's thick enough.

Put it in the absolute coldest part of your freezer (I did this, and surrounded it with frozen peas) and whisk it vigorously, every 40 minutes or so, to avoid ice cruystals forming and ruining the texture.







Serve as you like.