An attempt at apple and cinnamon ice cream

[karohemd]

Yesterday I made something I'd never made before for various reasons but mainly because I don't have a freezer in my tiny studio flat, only a tiny compartment in my fridge that just about makes water hard. I'd read and seen on various blogs that you don't need a machine to make ice cream if you stir the mix regularly so I'd considered trying that. I rose to the challenge because fellow food blogger and twitter foodie Kavey posted a Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge on her blog (click the thumbnail below to go there and anyone is welcome to enter).

The rules for the challenge stipulate that it had to be a custard base recipe so I made one using:
350ml double cream
250ml single cream
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp demerera sugar
the husk of half a vanilla pod I'd kept in my sugar
This I know how to do so it came out really nicely.
For the flavouring I cooked down two smallish chopped apples with 2tsp of ground cinnamon. This I mixed into the custard using a stick blender to ensure even distribution. The final mix tasted great and I was very happy with it. After it had cooled, I filled the custard into a small freezer tub and put it into my freezer compartment, hoping for the best. Every half hour or so I stirred the mix with a fork to break up the ice that had formed and after about four hours or so it had reached a consistency that was very close to ice cream. I even managed to make a reasonably looking quenelle:

Now for the disappointment: Unlike the custard, the flavour of the finished product is rather weak. I guess I have to pack in more next time. However, as a first attempt, I really happy with it. Any suggestions more than welcome. Many thanks.

Comments

[acelightning]

Almost all flavors diminish in intensity when frozen. Taste your ice cream mixture before you freeze it - it ought to taste a little too strong. You might also add a tiny pinch of salt to the mixture, which helps bring up the flavors, but be careful, because salt is one of the few things that tastes stronger when it's cold!

[karohemd]

Thanks for the tips!

[acelightning]

Always happy to be helpful :-)

Have you seen the latest fad for making ice cream with liquid nitrogen? You don't need a freezer, except to store the ice cream when it's finished. It's very quick, and the texture is always perfect. All you need is something to freeze (anything from an ice cream base like yours, to fruit purees, even wine or beer - my son made beer slushies last summer!), a big bowl, a long-handled spoon, some heavy gloves, and some liquid nitrogen. (I'll have to ask my friend in the UK where he gets his liquid nitrogen... although he works in a physics lab, so he might be getting it from the supply room...)

[karohemd]

Yes, I have and while I'm a bit of a geek, using liquid nitrogen (or just dry ice, which works as well) isn't really practical (or economical) for the few times I would make ice cream. I would love to try it, though.

[acelightning]

Dry ice, or even the old hand-cranked ice cream maker with plain ice and salt, will freeze the mixture, but you have to stir it constantly, or at least frequently, to prevent the ice cream from coming out grainy and coarse-textured. The great thing about liquid nitrogen is that you mix it directly into the ice cream base; the liquid nitrogen boils (at a temperature far below the freezing point of water!), aerating the mixture at the same time it's freezing it. That's why ice cream made with liquid nitrogen always comes out with a perfect texture.

[karohemd]

Oh absolutely, I know how it works. I was talking about the practicality of doing it in a domestic kitchen. I doubt very much you could order only a pint of liquid nitrogen from BOC...