New Ice Cream Maker
Shannon bought me a new ice cream maker the day before I left for Alberta. It’s a basic Cuisinart in a zesty green color. I’ve heard a few complaints about this machine since I mentioned my purchase, but my first couple churns have been almost too agreeable. I’ll have to see how it holds up on a hot and humid day when ice cream becomes a necessity. I’d told everyone during my trip that the first ice cream I would make when I got home would be cereal milk flavored, but when I got home and realized I don’t actually keep any cereals suitable for such a flavor in the house, so I decided on one of my favorites – vanilla and orange zest – instead.
I’ve had a bookmark for Mark Bittman’s cornstarch ice cream since 2007 when it was originally published in the New York Times, and decided I’d give that a go, only with the addition of the zest of one orange. This makes it more of a pudding than a custard, and I made it with milk instead of cream. The texture is noticeably different than ice cream (which I suppose in this case is a misnomer), lacking in a certain richness (which tends to happen when you cut out all the fat) but is actually surprisingly velvety and with a mouthfeel that I, thankfully, cannot equate with Americanized Chinese food sauces, which is half what I was expecting. Horray!
Even though after freezing, the ice cream set up almost ice cube rigid, after about 10 minutes, it was easily mashed to a preferred consistency. With the lack of both eggs and milk fat to offer their own flavors, and cornstarch being so remarkably neutral, the orange and vanilla really stand out in a bright and cheerful way that I fully wasn’t expecting. This is definitely the perfect base when you want subtlety, because small flavors are not masked, or if you want to be smacked over the head, because, well, big flavors are that much more pronounced. Even without additional flavoring, a milk base would just be surprisingly milky.
So not only is this “ice cream” remarkably guilt free in comparison (which is good, I guess, since we devoured the entire pint in one sitting), but it carries flavors very well. It’s also significantly easier to make than a traditional custard, and after a single pass at the recipe, I’ve already memorized it. So while I’m still up for experimenting and will likely still make a custard base on occasion, I’m actually really happy with this whole cornstarch thickened concoction. Good job, Mr. Bittman! The second (and third) flavors this week are lemon mint and lime. Might as well get the citrus gamut out of the way. I simply added the zest of a single fruit, plus a vanilla pod for the orange and a cup of mint leaves for the lemon. When I come up with more deviating variations, I’ll post them individually.
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 vanilla bean, seeded or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons (45g) cornstarch
- Combine 2 cups of the milk, sugar, salt and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat and bring just to a boil.
- Whisk together remaining 1/2 cup of milk with cornstarch until incorporated. Remove the vanilla bean from the pot, then whisk the cornstarch slurry into the pot.
- Cook this, stirring often, until it comes just to a boil, then reduce heat and continue to cook until thickened.
- Strain into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly against the surface to prevent a film from forming.
- Chill completely before churning in your ice cream maker.
The lemon-mint was disappointing… a bit too “herbal” for my liking :)