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Ice Cream Question???
at Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:56:58 GMT in
>,
(Greg Zywicki) wrote :
(Alex Rast) wrote in message
>.. . my next attempt?
>>
>> I recommend simply *eating* it instead because Lindt's 85% is the best
>> 85% chocolate on the market and one of the very best chocolates for
>> eating straight you can find. As for using it in ice cream, it may not
>> be as ideal as you would like because of a high cocoa butter content.
>> This creates difficulties with texture - the chocolate doesn't
>> emulsify completely and/or the result is excessively dense and greasy.
>>
>
>What is your opinion on eggless Ice Creams? I can see the blender
>technique I mentioned being a problem with a custard base (although
>I'm not exactly sure why it would be.)
Some ice creams (such as the rose ice cream I alluded to) *must* be
eggless. Personally, I also think most fruit ice creams are a little better
eggless, as long as you have enough fruit concentration (you don't need the
eggs to cut down the fat, and you don't need to stabilise other
ingredients). Other ice creams *must* have eggs, especially nut flavours
where otherwise it's going to be too oily for any real flavour intensity.
Flavours like vanilla are in the middle. I personally prefer the custard-
base vanilla (often called French Vanilla), but I also like the cream-base
vanilla (Philadelphia style, IIRC). The one mandatory in either case is
that you must use vanilla beans, and hence any good vanilla ice cream
*must* have black specks in it.
Generally speaking, using eggs works best if your primary flavouring
ingredient has a lot of fat, and not using eggs works best if you've got a
low-fat flavouring whose flavour tends to clash with that of eggs. Strong,
spicy flavours such as coffee and cinnamon seem to me to be slightly better
with eggs, but the difference isn't enormous.
>Glad to see that my use of chocolate chips is indicated by more than
>just frugallity.
Indeed - this is one application where chocolate chips really do work
better than most bar chocolate. However, don't fool yourself into believing
it's any cheaper. I find that it's typically about the same price.
>Although I used the Ghi. Semisweet. Not as good, but you can get a
>great big bag at cost plus.
You can (or could) also get a great big bag of the Double Chocolate chips
at Cost Plus, however. In Cost Plusses in Seattle, however, the Double
Chocolate Chips sold out fast (needless to say...). They may be back in
stock now. You need to keep checking because they sell out almost as fast
as Cost Plus can bring them in.
>I need to try milk and white chocolates too. I expect the white to
>give a nice texture without changing the flavor.
White chocolate is almost always disappointing in ice cream because the end
result is usually a somewhat fudgier type of texture (not really all that
appealing) with a flavour that's like a mild vanilla. Very bland. Never use
white chocolate chips with ice cream, btw, because they're not pure white
chocolate - instead, they're invariably mixed with vegetable shortening
(unless, of course, the idea of adding a dollop of Crisco to your ice cream
is appealing to you). If you want to experiment with white chocolate, use
El Rey Icoa and forget about all other brands. El Rey's Icoa is
indisputably the best of the white chocolates, in a class by itself, the
only one I'd consider using for any white chocolate application.
>The milk is
>indicated for "french silk" types.
That's not what it actually produces : what milk chocolate makes is a very
mild ice cream. You can use milk chocolate, at least if it's a good type,
although the ice cream thus produced will be more "easy to eat" than
intense and indulgent. Milk chocolate ice cream, however, is great if you
want to combine it with another flavour component and you don't want the
chocolate to overwhelm completely. If you want, for instance, a chocolate
ice cream with almonds in it, milk chocolate is a better choice. Same thing
for chocolate with a caramel swirl.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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