Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Red Plum Ice Cream


Six years ago we planted two plum trees in our backyard. We thought that they were ornamental plum trees and would never produce. A couple of years later we noticed very small plums growing. Every year they have gotten larger and now they are big enough to eat. We can't remember what kind of plum they are unfortunately. They are fairly small, about 1/4 of the size of a normal plum. The plums are very dark red on the outside and dark red on the inside. They have a nice, tart flavor but not too tart. I decided to make ice cream using them, and here is the result.


Red Plum Ice Cream ~


2 cups small red plums, halved with the pits removed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream


1. Cut the plums in half and removed the pits.
2. Combine plums and sugar in a food processor. Puree until smooth. There will be a little skin left, but not much.
3. Add cream to 1 1/2 quart or larger ice cream maker.
4. Start the ice cream maker and slowly pour the plum puree into the cream.
5. Churn for 35 minutes or until a firm soft-serve consistency.
6. Put into a freezer safe container and freeze for several hours.


My Conclusion ~

This turned out better than I expected. The ice cream is a pretty pink color. It's very light and creamy, tart and refreshing. I think the level of sweetness is perfect. I want to eat the whole container! This is my favorite ice cream by a mile. It's that good! It also stayed soft enough to scoop after being frozen. It was good to the last bite.

Reviews ~

Mr. Brown Chick: "The levels of tartness and sweetness are perfect. It's really good."
Tween Chick: Doesn't like it because she doesn't like plums.
Little Chick: "Mmm...this tastes so good."
Baby Chick: Took a taste and wanted more.

My Review Of Caramel Apple Ice Cream

Last week I made Yellow Chick's Caramel Apple Ice Cream.

My Conclusion~

When I put the ingredients together, it didn't taste sweet enough, so I added 1/4 a cup of granulated sugar. But the end result still wasn't sweet enough for me. I would probably add another 1/4 cup of sugar to it. I also added just a pinch of salt to bring out the flavors. I used a whole can of the caramel. I like a lot of caramel. I think it could use some more, maybe two whole cans. It didn't taste very apple-like to me. I used Langer's frozen apple juice concentrate. I wonder if there was a difference in sweetness/apple taste between that brand and the brand that Yellow Chick used. There was a definite buttery taste, which I like. The texture was good, a little icy (probably from the apple juice), but that wasn't a big deal. Even after it was frozen it was easy to scoop. If I make it again I'll try to find a way to infuse more apple flavor into it. Maybe some apple pieces? If you have any suggestions, let me know, I'm all ears!

Mr. Brown Chick: Thought it could use even more caramel. Likes it.
Tween Chick: Doesn't like caramel and apple together, so she only tasted it and didn't like it.
Little Chick: "Yum!" Ate it every day until it was gone. Whined when it was gone.
Baby Chick: Likes it.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Butterscotch Ice Cream


2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup corn starch
pinch of salt


1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add brown sugar and milk to the pan, stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Whisk corn starch into mixture, then add salt and heavy cream.
4. Stir constantly while cooking over medium high heat until it begins to boil and thicken.
5. Remove from heat and chill.
6. Start ice cream maker and add ice cream mixture, process for 20-30 minutes until it has reached a soft-serve consistency.
7. Transfer ice cream into another container and freeze until firm.


Conclusion:
The flavor is pretty good - but it seems kind of "bready". I think it might be better without any corn starch, or maybe just a lot less.

Reviews:


Yellow Chick: Eh, it's OK. I like the flavor, but as I eat it I don't like the texture when it starts to melt, it's just kind of strange.

Mr. Yellow Chick: He liked the flavor, but went out of town and hasn't really had a serving of it yet.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Classic Vanilla

Classic Vanilla Ice Cream ~




2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups 1% milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 pinch salt


1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add 2 cups of milk and stir until cornstarch and sugar are dissolved.
2. Add in the cream, other cup of milk and vanilla extract.
3. Cook over medium-high heat just until it starts to boil and thicken.
4. Immediately pour into a bowl and put into the fridge or freezer.
5. Chill mixture, stirring often.
6. When mixture is cold, pour into an ice cream maker with at least 1 1/2 quart capacity.
7. Churn for 45 minutes.
8. Put ice cream into container and freeze several hours until firm.

My Conclusion~

Smooth, creamy with a very good vanilla flavor. I'm not sure that this needs to be cooked first. I think that next time I'll mix all the cold ingredients together, leaving out the corn starch, and put it right into the ice cream maker. I'm wondering if it would make a lighter ice cream. It was a little bit too firm after being in the freezer for several hours.

Reviews~


Mr. Brown Chick: Likes it a lot.

Tween Chick: Likes it.

Little Chick: "Tastes just like McDonald's ice cream!" (She LOVES McDonald's ice cream.)

Baby Chick: Tasted it, wanted more, so she must like it.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Caramel Apple Ice Cream




Caramel:


1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1. Remove label from can of sweetened condensed milk.
2. Place unopened can in a small saucepan.
3. Fill pan with water to within about 2 1/2" of the top.
4. Cover pan and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to maintain a slow boil, and cook for approximately 2 hours.
6. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Ice Cream:

12 oz Frozen Concentrated Apple Juice
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup Milk (I used whole milk, because that's what I had, but any type should work)

1. Whisk together Apple Juice Concentrate, Cream, and Milk.
2. Assemble and start ice cream maker.
3. Slowly poor mixture into the ice cream maker.
4. Churn for 20-30 minutes until the ice cream reaches a soft-serve consistency (I churned mine for just over 20 minutes).

Swirl the Caramel:
1. Scoop a layer of ice cream into the freezer container.
2. Spoon a small amount of caramel over the ice cream in the freezer container.
3. Use a knife to "swirl" the caramel through the ice cream.
4. Repeat layers, adding desired amount of caramel until all the ice cream is in your container.
5. Freeze.

Conclusion:

Tastes just like a caramel apple! Even Mr. Yellow Chick agrees. I should have put more caramel in the ice cream to begin with, but since I had extra I just put more on top when I dished it up. The ice cream turned out pretty fluffy, I think even the slowest speed of my KitchenAid is a bit faster than ideal to make ice cream... so the cream got a lot of air whipped into it. Because of how much air was whipped in, it seemed a little "crumbly" when dishing it up, but I don't think that changed the taste.

Reviews:

Yellow Chick: I love it! Tastes just like a caramel apple!

Mr. Yellow Chick: "It's Delicious!" And he agreed that it tastes just like a caramel apple.