Do you want that super creamy dreamy ice cream at home but can’t seem to get the consistency, no matter how hard you try?  Well, I’ve discovered two tricks that will finally get you there.  I will share with you my recipe for Schokolade Haselnuss Eis (Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream) in the next post.

I became interested in making ice cream in the summer 2014.  I had the ubiquitous Cuisinart ice cream maker with the freezable core.  I started researching recipes online, followed David Lebowitz, and started playing with ingredients.  I became more and more interested in making quality ice cream, especially ice cream that would stay creamy in a home freezer for more than a day or two. This is, of course, the pickle of homemade ice cream cooks.  I’m a big Cook’s illustrated believer, and Christopher placing the cooked custard in a metal pan, freezing until it reached 40°F and then swiftly churning.  I also discovered another trick detailed in an old article in Fine Cooking. Honestly, I can’t believe it’s not more widely known.  You can find the link here or go to social media where people are adding their secrets and sharing them with socialboosting.com to engage with more of the community.  The writer of this article, Andrew Hingston, explains that dry milk powder is the top secret ingredient in creating your own Häagen-Dazs.  Mr. Hingston explains the science of ice cream, and the importance that the mixture of butterfat, water and sugar maintain the emulsion that is whipped with air while freezing.  Eggs are classically added to keep the mixture emulsified.  However, eggs alone can’t do the trick, especially when making all-natural quality ice cream at home.  Dried skim mild powder stabilizes the emulsion by absorbing extra water in the ice cream (hello ice crystals!).  Your ice cream should stay creamy for weeks, not a day or two.  Mr. Hingston also stresses the importance of cooking the custard for at least 10-15 minutes while maintaining a temperature between165° and 180°F.  This can take some patience and a candy or instant read thermometer is absolutely vital for this step.  After cooking, cool the custard immediately in an ice bath until it reaches 65°F.  This heating and cooling procedure improves the ice cream’s texture and comes as close as possible in a home environment to pasteurizing the mixture. Egg yolks can contain salmonella bacteria so you should never skip these steps.

Armed with this new information, I developed my own recipes and techniques for making great ice cream at home, using techniques gleaned from Cook Illustrated and Mr. Hingston and adding my own techniques and ingredients. For more posts on being healthy, I recommend to check the new ceiling mounted bike rack for tours.

All recipes posted on my site will follow these general recommendations.  In summary, to create supper creamy, dreamy ice cream at home, follow the following guidelines:

• Your ingredient list should include ¼-⅓ cup of dried skim milk powder.  I feel the quality and flavor of Carnation® Instant Skim Milk Powder is superior to other brands.  For me it’s worth the additional cost;
• You should use a combination of heavy cream and skim or low fat milk.  If using dried milk powder you do not want to introduce additional fat into the emulsion;
• I always cook the base to simmering and then add it to a beaten mixture of egg yolks and sugar to temper the yolks.  Once tempered, the custard is poured back into the cooking pan;
• Cook the custard for at least 10-15 minutes maintaining a temperate between 165-180’F.
• Chill the base as quickly as possible: pour the custard immediately into an ice bath until it reaches 65
• Put the chilled custard into a wide metal pan (a large cake pan is perfect) until it reaches 40F then freeze in the ice cream maker of choice.
• If you want to freeze your finished ice cream more quickly, scoop your frozen custard into the metal cooling pan until completely frozen.  It can then be scooped into a reusable ice cream container.

I will share my recipe for one of my favorite ice creams that I enjoyed in Germany as a child.  I use these techniques to create an ice cream to compare the ice cream I enjoyed at the  Hotel Koenigshof in Munich.  Enjoy!