Ice Cream

It's getting HOT nowadays. Like honestly, it’s the middle of March, and I'm now starting to dread how hot it'll get when the summer actually comes. Now I tend to go on diets during the winter - eat less sugar, just be a little more healthy, but in the summer, sugar actually helps keep you kind of strong and hydrated.

Anyways, onto the ice creams. Ice cream needs 3 things - Cream, some sort of thick and fatty ingredient(usually people use condensed milk) and flavouring. I’m going to go into the science here, so you can skip the next couple of paras if you’re not interested.

Whipped cream itself works by creating air bubbles and using the fat in the whipped cream to stabilise them. If you whip milk, you might get a bit of froth but you’re not going to get airy milk, and even the froth disappears after a bit. The fat molecules in whipped cream trap the air bubbles and keep them for longer, which is why you can store whipped cream for a few hours and it doesn’t deflate like milk would. Even so, whipped cream does eventually deflate. That’s a problem. For example, when you’re making a mousse, you can’t afford to let the cream deflate. That’s why you use something else. When you use condensed milk, for example, it remains thick at higher temperatures, so when the ice cream is setting, it traps the air bubbles and keeps them from escaping. 

The other reason is freezing. When you put plain cream into the freezer, it becomes rock hard and forms ice crystals. This is because there is water in the cream that basically makes it freeze really quickly and creates the ice cream. The condensed milk has already had most of its water evaporated, and it contains a lot of sugar, so when you add it, it reduces the concentration of water in the entire mixture and the sugar stops it from completely freezing, keeping it kind of soft. That’s why condensed milk is one of the things that is used. However, you can use basically anything that works in that way. For example, butterscotch sauce also has sugar and has its water evaporated, which makes it a great substitute for condensed milk. 

Now for the ice cream. I don’t use recipes for the ice cream, because I kind of like to do it by eye. It’s more consistent and just generally smarter to use a recipe, but possibly for the sake of vanity, I don’t use one. Basically, what I do is whip a significant amount of cream. Then I start mixing in the condensed milk. I reach a stage where the mixture is thick but also runny, and that’s what I use. Now I mix in the additional ingredients - coffee, chocolate, etc, and then I freeze it.

HOWEVER, you don’t necessarily need to use condensed milk. I found that ice creams with condensed milk don’t always taste great. I tried using something else in one of my ice creams. I made a beautiful butterscotch sauce and used that instead of the condensed milk. It doesn’t need to be butterscotch sauce. To test if it’ll work, just put a tiny bit into the freezer and see if it becomes completely solid. If it does, then that’ll work for your ice cream. The butterscotch froze after 20 minutes in the freezer, so I used it. Honestly, the texture of the butterscotch was actually better than the texture of the condensed milk. However, because I made the butterscotch fresh, I doubt it will be the same next time I try. I’d recommend trying other additives, and let me know if you find something interesting.

For the rest, I'd just recommend that you cook by taste. The colours aren't as bright as one would see in an ice cream shop, but the flavours are there. When I made all of my ice creams, I made enough for 4 servings or so. My favourite options are the following - 

Classics - 

Butterscotch - Whipped cream, butterscotch sauce(recipe below), crunchy butterscotch pieces. For the crunchy butterscotch, you can make it from 1 part butter to 1 part golden sugar. Let the sugar melt and then toss in your crushed nuts, I used almonds but cashews are the traditional choice. 

Coffee - Whipped cream, condensed milk, decoction. Make sure to make a strong decoction. If you want a lighter coffee flavour, you can add the decoction directly. If you prefer a much stronger flavour, I'd recommend making around double the decoction and boiling it until some of the water has evaporated. That will produce a much stronger coffee mixture.

Mint chip - Whipped cream, condensed milk, mint extract, chocolate chunks. Mint chip is absolutely delicious. A bit of mint extract for the ice cream, and I prefer to use chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips. Personally, I prefer 90% dark for the chocolate chips. 

Chocolate - Whipped cream, condensed milk, cocoa powder/melted chocolate. A classic. You could use cocoa powder or melted chocolate in this one. I actually think that it may turn out well if you use a lot of melted chocolate and much less condensed milk. 

Experimental - 

Maple walnut orange - Whipped cream, condensed milk, maple syrup, oranges, walnuts. Roast the walnuts for a bit, they'll start releasing their oils. I roasted them for 10 minutes. Then blend them until they become a pasty consistency. Keep some of the walnuts on the side. Maple syrup and orange juice in a pan, reduce for a bit. Reduction, walnut butter, cream, condensed milk in a bowl and mix. Then crush the rest of the walnuts and mix them into the batter. Don't use too much walnut butter, it kind of ruins the consistency. Just use enough for the flavour. 

Spiced - Whipped cream, condensed milk, cumin powder, nutmeg, cinnamon powder. Basically just going for the same flavour profile as eggnog, sans the eggs. Don't add too much cumin, add a decent amount of cinnamon. I personally prefer adding a whole lot of nutmeg, maybe even a whole nut, but that's just my preference. 

Lemon - Whipped cream, condensed milk, lemon curd. Reduce the amount of condensed milk in this one, and use lemon curd instead. Find the recipe for the lemon curd on my scones post. I'd recommend making a slightly thinner curd so that you can use it in the recipe. Keep it to around the consistency of condensed milk. You may not be able to completely remove the condensed milk here, because if you're keeping the lemon curd runny, there's a bit more water. Also, the lemon curd is very sour, so you may want to use a bit more condensed milk to balance it. 

Apple pie - Whipped cream, condensed milk, apples, almonds, spices, brown sugar, butter. Slice apples into wedges and toss with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Put in oven until the apples are soft. Brown some butter and let cool until nearly room temperature. Candy some roasted almonds with brown sugar and cinnamon. Blend the poached apples with the butter until smooth (I'd also recommend adding a bit of vanilla, although I didn't think of it at the time). Mix with whipped cream and condensed milk. Crush almonds and add. This requires a lot of judgement by taste, and it's all based on your preferences. 

Balsamic strawberry - Whipped cream, condensed milk, balsamic vinegar, strawberries. Blend the strawberries with the balsamic vinegar and some sugar. Set some more strawberries aside, thinly sliced and tossed with sugar and lemon juice. Strain the strawberry-balsamic mix into the whipped cream-condensed milk mix, and blend. Cut rested strawberries into small cubes and mix in. 

If I'm going to be honest, the experimental flavours actually tasted better than the classics. 

And in case you're not an ice cream person, next week is sorbet week. 

Butterscotch sauce - https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/butterscotch-sauce-homemade/