My husband recently flew home from work via Los Angeles and on his arrival back into the land of Oz he presented me with a collection of the latest food magazines. I cannot tell you how excited I was!!! It was in the edition of Saveur that I discovered Jenni Bauer - Artisan Ice Cream Maker and her fantastic Ice Cream Recipes. What I love about her base recipe is that it doesn't include eggs (see below). Don't get me wrong, I love everything about eggs I just don't like them in ice-cream. What i choose to modify from her recipe is the use of corn syrup with my preference for a substitute being honey. I am not sure if this will work as I am yet to try it out. I chose to make two of her recipes that didn't include corn syrup (see below) but if anyone has any thoughts or other substitute suggestions I would love to hear from you. My other substitution thought was for arrowroot powder instead of the cornstarch????? I used rapadura sugar in each of these recipes as opposed to white sugar and where possible all ingredients used were organic. Please note - the use of rapadura sugar will result in the end product being a caramel colour which is fine for the two flavours I made. You may want to reconsider its use if you want to make vanilla for example. Rapadura sugar is widely available nowadays and can found in most health stores.

The thing I love most about making my own ice cream is that I can control the ingredient list and the kids love being a part of the process especially when we start mixing it in the ice cream maker. They also love having fun with flavour suggestions with the most recent being - "scrambled snake" and "grufallo crumble" - needles to say they are still in the recipe development phase....

Bauer's techniques for Ice Cream Making are innovative and in the article "Heres the Scoop" she explains that "you have to see ice cream as chemistry - a delicate dance between proteins, sugars, butterfat, air, and a few unsexy components". Her scientific logic behind her technique is a great read and you can get her Ice Cream 101 tips for rich and creamy ice cream here

To date we have made two of her recipes - Blackstrap Praline and The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World which both turned out great. They were scoopable, non icy and creamy. I chose these two because they didn't include the corn syrup and I had all ingredients on hand. If you don't have an ice cream maker then don't despair check out this article for alternative ways to churn some yourself. You will want to go to the extra effort after taking a peek at this article over at Natural News that poses the question - Is Ice Cream A Treat or Threat?


Jenni's Ice Cream Base:
Courtesy of Saveur Magazine

MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART (approx 1/2 litre)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups milk
4 tsp. cornstarch (? arrowroot powder)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar (i used rapadura sugar here)
2 tbsp. light corn syrup (? honey)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. cream cheese, softened

INSTRUCTIONS

In a bowl, stir together 1/4 cup milk and the cornstarch; set slurry aside.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream, sugar, syrup, and salt
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Cook for 4 minutes; stir in slurry.
Return to a boil and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes
Place cream cheese in a bowl and pour in 1/4 cup hot milk mixture; whisk until smooth
Then whisk in remaining milk mixture
Pour mixture into a plastic bag; seal, and submerge in a bowl of ice water until chilled.
Pour mixture into an ice cream maker; process according to manufacturer's instructions
Transfer ice cream to a storage container and freeze until set.