21 September 2006

American Or Philadelphia Ice cream


Ever since my first ice cream foray, my ice cream recipes have all involved EGG. I've been making a creme anglaise base, chilled overnight, to churn in my trusty ice-cream maker overnight to create smooth and creamy ice-creams. Except of course, when I ventured into sorbets.

And even then, I recently learnt that there are even various recipes for sorbets that involve things other than just sugar, water and flavouring (like a fruit puree). Some may call for gelatin, and some call for egg whites! The whole issue about having egg whites in sorbets might sound a little odd and disconcerting for some, but I'm game to try this out. Especially since everytime I make ice creams, I have plenty of egg whites leftover which eventually get thrown away if they don't end up in a bowl of noodles soon.

My even more recent discovery led me to make an eggless ice cream, which is more commonly referred to as American or Philadelphia Ice cream. I was intrigued by how the texture would turn out. So to start off my American/Philly Ice Cream venture, I chose something simple from yet again, Emily Luchetti's Passion for Ice Cream.

The Brown Sugar Ice Cream involved merely 4 ingredients, one pot and just about 10 minutes to get done before chilling and churning. While it did not turn out as smooth as the other creme anglaise recipes I've tried before, it was still creamy. Not surprising, considering that the ice cream was made mostly from cream than milk. At least with eggs, I can reduce the amount of cream considerably without creating something unpalatable.

Eggless ice cream, or Philly ice cream also has the perk of keeping its shape much better than ice creams made with eggs. I usually have problems scooping more than one scoop of ice cream and taking a photo of it without it turning into a puddle of cream before a decent photo can be snapped. While homemade ice creams are chemical free and can be far superior in texture and taste, it also means that they melt a lot faster than commercial ice creams and are not very photogenic in humid environments. Philly ice creams seem to break this stereotype however. I could scoop up three whole scoops of ice cream and still take my time snapping away on my Canon Powershot, AND still enjoy my ice cream after all that.

For someone who has yet to break into their ice cream machines and are searching for something a little less fussy to work with, I'd recommend this simple recipe. While it won't be the best ice cream you'll ever make, I'm sure it'll give you that little bit more confidence with your new best friend - your ice cream maker.


Brown Sugar Ice Cream (Philly style)

Ingredients
2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Method
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and heat over medium low heat until almost simmering or until brown sugar has dissolved, while stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and cool in an ice water bath until mixture has reached room temperature.
Chill overnight in fridge.
Churn in ice cream maker.
Freeze for at least 4 hours and serve.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I scream ICE CREAM!

Anonymous said...

Haha, interested in any sometime soon? Drop by my place!

Anonymous said...

hi daffy
May i know which ice-cream machine are u using now.
I intend to get one after seeing all your tempting pictures.
Thanks for sharing the recipes so generously.
Jesse

Anonymous said...

Hi Jess,
I'm currently using a Philips model HR2303/1. It works well enough for me, and of course since I'm merely a beginner and not doing serious business about ice creams, it is sufficient. However, if you have a little more money to splash around, you can consider other types which have their own cooling station. That would mean you can make more ice cream in a day, versus mine which is one batch a day at most.

I hope all these help, and do tell me if your adventures with ice cream making have been successful!