This summer, we splurged on a really nice ice cream maker. We've tried all kinds. Here we made basil ice cream and strawberry sorbet. We often make ice cream with eggs but this time, we skipped the egg for more basil flavor.
No-egg ice cream is really easy. You just use 4 cups of cream to 1 cup of sugar, and then whatever else you want to flavor it with.
Sorbets are just 4 cups of juice, 1 cup of sugar and 1 to 2 tablespoons of vodka. The vodka prevents it from becoming a popsicle in the freezer. Tip: if you are making juice from fruit, blend the fruit and then pass it through a sieve or cheese cloth. This removes the pulp and really improves the texture.
Egg ice cream is really a frozen custard. Use 2 cups of cream with 3 eggs and 1 cup of sugar. Whisk it really well and heat it slowly on the stove until it is just steaming and small bubbles are forming. Keep it at this temperature for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and add another 2 cups of cream. Chill to refridgerator temperature before putting it in the ice cream maker.
Some flavors we have tried are:
Rose ice cream
Lavendar Champagne sorbet
Royal Milk Tea ice cream (different, but very good)
Blueberry Mascarpone ice cream (the fattiest we ever made)
Strawberry ice cream
Vanilla Bean ice cream (classic and very good egg ice cream)
Honey ice cream
Watermellon sorbet
Raspberry ice cream
Lemon ice cream (amazingly good!)
Mint chip
Our latest is basil ice cream paired with strawberry sorbet. Matt calculated that this strawberry sorbet is the most expensive yet at about $12 for a pint. We don't usually spend that much, but Victor was visiting, so it was special. :-)
If anyone wants to visit, we'll be happy to make something extra delicious. Yum!
