Ice Cream from Scratch...

[Sorus]

Jenn, the place I was telling you about was Xanath Ice Cream on 21st and Valencia. They sell vanilla beans and other vanilla stuff - some of it is a bit pricey though.

[Menolly]

myspicesage.com often offers 8 Madagascar vanilla beans as a free bonus with an order. It used to be with any order made during certain times which they notify email subscribers or Facebook fans about, but lately it has been only with a $20+ or $25+ order. Free shipping is included when you place an order for that much though, and the vanilla beans are really nice. Long and still pliable, not dried out at all. I've been using one in each batch of almond milk I make.

Since My Spice Sage is where I get the true (Ceylon) cinnamon from, I don't order often, but I do order enough to meet the minimum for the free shipping and vanilla beans. You can usually also get a one ounce sample of another spice/herb with each order as well. Sometimes the vanilla beans are listed there, also.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I actually splurged and got mine at Rainbow Grocery co-op so they are very fresh, tasty and pliable as well as expensive. So my two latest creations have been my own experiments in my favorite slightly tweaked from the original recipe vanilla bean base.

Base vanilla:

I cup whole milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk

combine sugar, 1 cup whole milk and salt in saucepan, heat but don't boil, when just about to boiling stage, lightly beat egg yolks and temper into milk mixture by adding small bits of the hot milk mixture to the eggs and stirring rapidly until they are blended but not cooked, add back in to the main mixture and cook at a medium temp until thickened stirring constantly and DO NOT BOIL. I also mean stirring constantly, the mix can turn in a hot second. Once thickened, pour into chilled bowl and set in fridge until good and cold, about an hour. Remove custard mixture and add in remaining milk, cream and vanilla. Put in ice cream maker and mix until crystals start to form and mixture starts to set up. Then put it in containers and finish freezing.

SOOOO... for the cherry ice cream I added a cup of dark cherries that I lightly sprinkled with sugar and soaked for an hour in a shot of fine Kentucky bourbon, (knob creek). I also added about half a tablespoon of maraschino cherry juice and about a half dozen cherries from the jar. I poured about half the liquid out and added the cherries to the mix just before adding it to the ice cream maker. Derek said it rocked and his girlfriend said it was the best ice cream she had ever eaten and she's not even that big of a cherry fan. BGB thought it rocked too but not as much as the one tonight, in fact he decreed the one tonight to be my best ever.

Sooo, for toasted coconut, using the vanilla base plus 1/4 teaspoon of organic coconut oil extract from the expensive local farmers co-op, I also added about 2 cups of bakers shredded coconut, toasted medium dark in a pan with butter. I think I may have peed my pants a little with ecstatic joy when I took my taste tester bite.

So if you guys didn't already figure it out, two of my very favorite flavors on earth are dark cherries and coconut. My dad is a big fan of cherries too and when I was still a kid and we would grocery shop during cherry season, we would get copious amounts of cherries and often times they never made it home from the grocery store and if they did I would eat them when he wasn't eagle eying me and guarding them and he would get so mad. I can seriously sit and eat about two pounds in one sitting and not have any ill effects other than being overly full and having to lie there holding my extended belly and groaning. They are worse than potato chips for me because once I begin I can't stop. I'm not quite so bad with coconut in it's base form but in foods and as a scent I am an addict.

[aliantha]

I have to go now, before I drool so much that I short out the keyboard...

[Shaun das Schaf]

My dad is a big fan of cherries too and when I was still a kid and we would grocery shop during cherry season, we would get copious amounts of cherries and often times they never made it home from the grocery store and if they did I would eat them when he wasn't eagle eying me and guarding them and he would get so mad. I can seriously sit and eat about two pounds in one sitting and not have any ill effects other than being overly full and having to lie there holding my extended belly and groaning. They are worse than potato chips for me because once I begin I can't stop. I'm not quite so bad with coconut in it's base form but in foods and as a scent I am an addict.

No Dad was a cherry addict too. I'm reasonably well behaved around them but mostly because I will NEVER get the cherry-spewing image from Witches of Eastwick out of my head.



I'm sorry, that was COMPLETELY unnecessary
Not unnecessary enough to delete obviously

[TerisasMirror]

Since My Spice Sage is where I get the true (Ceylon) cinnamon from, I don't order often, but I do order enough to meet the minimum for the free shipping and vanilla beans. You can usually also get a one ounce sample of another spice/herb with each order as well. Sometimes the vanilla beans are listed there, also.

Just curious - do you get the Ceylon due to an allergy? I am allergic to cinnamon (it can kill me), but I had always wondered if the Ceylon cinnamon would be an exception.

[Menolly]

Since My Spice Sage is where I get the true (Ceylon) cinnamon from, I don't order often, but I do order enough to meet the minimum for the free shipping and vanilla beans. You can usually also get a one ounce sample of another spice/herb with each order as well. Sometimes the vanilla beans are listed there, also.

Just curious - do you get the Ceylon due to an allergy? I am allergic to cinnamon (it can kill me), but I had always wondered if the Ceylon cinnamon would be an exception.

No, not due to an allergy.

I use a lot of cinnamon because it supposedly helps with blood sugar regulation, which I benefit from as a diabetic. Supposedly the Ceylon/True cinnamon is more effective than the more common cassia for this use, so that is what I try to purchase most often.

Wikipedia has this to say about the difference between Ceylon and cassia:

Due to the presence of a moderately toxic component called coumarin, European health agencies have recently warned against consuming large amounts of cassia. This is contained in much lower dosages in Cinnamomum burmannii (Korintje or Indonesian cinnamon) due to its low essential oil content. Coumarin is known to cause liver and kidney damage in high concentrations. Ceylon cinnamon has negligible amounts of coumarin.

So, if it is the coumarin in cassia which you are allergic to, using Korintje or Ceylon may be possible. But I would definitely only attempt it with medical approval first.

[Menolly]

TM, should you want to try the Ceylon (True) Cinnamon, myspicesage.com is offering a free sample with any $20+ order. And you may find vanilla beans or another seasoning you can get as a one ounce sample as well. Just thought you may be interested.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I'm thinking about making some ice cream this weekend but I'm not sure what flavor... Any suggestions?

[Menolly]

hmm...

How about Asian or Middle Eastern?

Saffron, rose water, or green tea? I always enjoy those flavors when I happen upon them.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I opted for decadent. I again soaked dark cherries in bourbon, high quality, Lucimay's favorite bourbon overnight. I made homemade brownies using expensive 55% cocoa chocolate that was infused with dried dark cherries and chili's instead of baker's chocolate and then I diced some 77% dark chocolate up and mixed brownie chunks, chocolate chunks and the cherries into a vanilla base. It's delicious, exotic and Bloodguard Bob almost ate all the brownies before I finished the ice cream. He said they were the best brownies he had ever eaten...

[Cameraman Jenn]

Made Strawberry Rhubarb pie ala mode all in one container. I made vanilla ice cream, made a compote of strawberry and rhubarb "pie filling" and then made some graham cracker crust crumbles. Once the vanilla was set up from the ice cream maker, you fold in the crumbles and the compote so it's swirled. Take that Ben and Jerry's!

[sgt.null]

Made Strawberry Rhubarb pie ala mode all in one container. I made vanilla ice cream, made a compote of strawberry and rhubarb "pie filling" and then made some graham cracker crust crumbles. Once the vanilla was set up from the ice cream maker, you fold in the crumbles and the compote so it's swirled. Take that Ben and Jerry's!

i love strawbery rhubarb - very new england. i miss home. send me that ice cream?

[Holsety]

I'm a fan of the ziplock freezer bag/coffee can method of making ice cream. All that's needed is ice, salt, and lots of physical energy...

The only time I did this, the salt got into the ice cream....

AND I LIKED IT