Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

Looking for more buttermilk recipes, I thought this was a fine time to do it up in ice cream. After all, I still haven't returned the maker.

Strawberry ice cream is not my favorite and I'd never order it in a shop where cookie dough or chocolate chunk or cherry or vanilla are available. Maybe this will be the recipe that scootches strawberry higher in the ice cream rankings.

Strawberry-Buttermilk Ice Cream
from Cooking Club
click to print

1 lb. strawberries, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 c half-and-half
3/4 c buttermilk
1/3 c sugar
2 tbsp mild honey
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp xanthan gum powder, optional

Puree strawberries in food processor or blender until smooth.


Strain through fine strainer into large bowl, pressing with rubber spatula to extract all of the pulp (there should be 2 cups).


Whisk in half-and-half, buttermilk, sugar, honey, balsamic vinegar, and xanthan gum until blended and smooth.


Refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight until chilled. (The mixture should be about 35 - 40°F before placing in ice cream maker.)


Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

The strawberry cream is in the covered aluminum can, topped with the motor and surrounded by layers of ice cubes and rock salt. After churning for about 45 minutes, the cream looked like soft-serve and was transferred to a big sour cream container for freezing.

Serve immediately or freeze in covered container for up to 2 hours. (Ice cream can be stored in freezer for up to 1 week but it will become very hard. To soften before serving, cut into chunks and pulse in food processor until smooth and creamy.)



Light, creamy-ish, but icy. I think the 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum just wasn't enough to overcome how slowly the ice cream was churned, resulting in said ice. A workaround for the future would be to get rid of the water content. Cooking the water off the strawberry puree would be ideal. Maybe starting with double the strawberry and reducing the strained puree would be the way to go?

I really thought the buttermilk would be weird, adding a distinct tang, but I couldn't even tell buttermilk's in there. While the strawberry flavor is fresh and nice, I think it'd be better if there were a few seeds. I like seeds. And maybe that's why I am not a huge fan of strawberry ice creams - they seem like the "meat" has been removed.

The ice cream froze so freakin' hard it's incredible. I like hard ice cream a lot and this did not disappoint. While the recipe suggested softening the ice cream by giving it a ziz in a food processor, that went against my grain and I did not select to do that once.

I prepared the strawberry mixture over 30 minutes on the 10th and let it chill about 24 hours. Then I worked on churning it the 11th, another 60 minutes total, and threw it in the fridge to freezer overnight. While only 90 minutes was spent goofing with the ice cream, I'll give it a 48 hour label so you aren't deceived into thinking you'll be eating some in less than two hours.

Cost:

• strawberries: $2.49
• half-and-half: $1.56
• buttermilk: $0.20
• sugar: $0.13
• honey: $0.24
• balsamic vinegar: $0.11
• xanthan gum: $0.04

Total: $4.77 or about $0.60 for each of eight half-cup servings.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Having attempted a recipe for ice cream that didn't need an ice cream maker, I realized I needed an ice cream maker. As much as I love ice cream, I couldn't bear the idea of buying a piece of equipment that would hog a decent footprint in the kitchen without being used on a daily basis. Borrowing one confirmed that I made the right decision.

I've already mentioned the Rock Salt Hunt and having conquered that task, it's time to begin. I did my best to follow this recipe exactly but since I didn't know exactly how to determine when the ice cream was done churning, I didn't know when to add the bourbon. My ice cream wound up bourbonless.

Pumpkin Ice Cream
adapted from Williams Sonoma

1 c drained, fresh pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c heavy cream
3/4 c firmly packed dark brown sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours.

This was done before I left for work.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups of the cream and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Cook until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes.


Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the egg yolks, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Whisk until smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve.

Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture until smooth.


Pour the egg mixture back into the pan.


Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping the custard at a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it, 4 to 6 minutes. Do not allow the custard to boil.

Without a wooden spoon, I cooked the custard for 6 minutes and called it good.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Place the bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice water, stirring occasionally until cool.


The first picture looks gross, but let me explain. I used the large custard bowl, the one that I beat the eggs in as the ice bath. Nope, I didn't bother washing it before throwing in some ice water. A clean bowl went inside and the custard was strained into the clean bowl. The custard, chunk-free, was stirred and chilled for 45 minutes.

Whisk the pumpkin mixture into the custard.


Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.

I opted to transfer the custard to a clean bowl so there would be no chance of skin forming on any edges. Skin is gross.

Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

This was about 24 hours later.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Following the Rival Ice Cream Maker directions, I froze the aluminum canister overnight before transferring the custard to it. This maker model can make up to 6 quarts of ice cream, so the quantity of custard seems minuscule. The dasher and lid was attached, the canister assembly placed inside the ice cream maker tub-thing, the motor attached, ice and rock salt layered to surround the canister, and the motor plugged in (and thus, on) for about 45 minutes.

Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container.

This is a sour cream container I'd washed for recycling. The size was perfect.

Cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving.


This seemed MUCH more complicated when I was reading the recipe than it turned out to be. It was very simple preparing the custard and let me tell you what, the custard is divine! If I hadn't told anyone I was making this to bring to work, I'd stick a straw in it and go to TOWN.

Using a borrowed ice cream maker, I wasn't too confident how that part would turn out. I've never used on before and honestly, never thought I would. My inner 12-year-old was prancing around the kitchen, so excited! That said, I won't be doing this again. This process, while not exceptionally difficult, takes a couple of days (though only about 3.5 hours of not-hard work) and too much space. And the friggin' machine is LOUD. It was the most annoying 45 minutes I've experienced in quite some time; the cats were not quite petrified. I considered moving the machine to the garage.

If the results were spectacular, I might be whistling a different tune. As it is, the ice cream was okay. I think part of it might be my inexperience with the ice cream maker (I didn't allow it to run until it stopped due to super thick ice cream), maybe it really needed the bourbon I skipped, and maybe I (and my coworkers) are not super huge fans of pumpkin ice cream.

Cost:

• vanilla extract: $0.08
• heavy cream: $1.95
• dark brown sugar: $0.39
• egg yolks: $1.52

Total: $3.94 for about a quart.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Making ice cream with a hand mixer was something I'd seen pinned on Yonetta's Food board which just blew my mind - don't you need blocks of ice and salt and churning and labor specialized equipment? Looking for ways to use my piles of pumpkin puree, I found this recipe and I just have to do it. This is the reason for a six-pack of sweetened condensed milk. Fingers crossed this works.

While the last pumpkin was roasting I started this ice cream and got it into the freezer before the pumpkin came out of the oven. I'm into multi-tasking.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
from Buns in My Oven

2 c heavy whipping cream
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
dash of cloves

Whip the cream in a mixer or blender until stiff peaks form.

Reading the photos like a book, left to right, top to bottom, we have: cream, cream beaten 1 minute, 4.5 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 6.5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 8 minutes. Right around 6 minutes I should have checked the peaks for stiffness. Instead, I stood there with the mixer running wondering if I was actually seeing things changing. Next thing I knew, I was fairly certain I'd made whipped cream.

With the mixer or blender set to low, drizzle in the condensed milk.


Stir in the remaining ingredients.


Pour into a freezer proof bowl.


Freeze 4 hours or overnight before serving.



Frozen solid after 24 hours in the freezer, I chiseled some into a bowl. Tasting it, my suspicions of having over-beaten the cream were confirmed: the concoction tastes like thawing whipped cream rather than ice cream, which is not pleasant. I'll correct that next time, now that I have an idea of what to expect when beating the crap out of some cream. It's incredibly sweet, very fatty (it is sticking to the spoon), and certainly pumpkin-flavored. Putting Pumpkin-Spiced Granola (which is crazy good) on it gives a delightfully crunchy contrast which I find immensely enjoyable. If I drank coffee, I'd have some to cleanse the palate.

Cost:

• heavy whipping cream: $1.92
• sweetened condensed milk: $1.27
• pumpkin puree: free

Total: $3.19

12/10/12
Eating some now, I realize the fatty, palate needs a coffee cleansing feeling is because the roof of my mouth feels like when it does after eating a cold donut. The fat is colder than room/body temperature and it's not until it warms that it melts away. That doesn't happen with regular ice cream and if it does, it's so subtle it's unnoticed and completely dismissed. With this ice cream, it's a glaring factor.

Would beating the mixture a little less changes that palate fat feel somehow? The rest of this, unfortunately, is going down the drain. Even though I hate waste, I know I just won't eat any more and it'll sit in my freezer for an eternity if I don't do something with it now. My disappointment is off the charts.