[h1]Smoked Ice Cream[/h1]
To the vast amusement of my friends and family, for some time now I have been extremely interested in trying to smoke ice cream. I originally thought about smoking some store bought ice cream, but felt I wouldn’t be able to get more than a surface trace of smoke aroma and flavor. So I began researching the subject and came to the conclusion that to thoroughly smoke the ice cream, I would have to make my own and smoke it before it was frozen. Great. No ice cream maker at this address. Then at Christmas, our neighbors gave me an entry level ice cream machine. Game on!!!
I decided on a fairly rich, creamy vanilla base as I felt that strong flavors would probably mask the subtle smoke flavor. Here’s the recipe—it’s really simple.
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
½ cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp molasses
Pinch of salt
Combine everything, except the 4 egg yolks and ½ cup of milk in a saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil. When mixture is steaming and small bubbles form around the edge, remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk the 4 egg yolks and ½ cup of milk together in a bowl, and then SLOWLY add about ½ cup of the hot cream mixture—whisk constantly. This will bring the temp of the eggs up without cooking them. Slowly whisk this egg/cream mixture into the saucepan of hot cream.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon—about 3 minutes.
If necessary, the mixture can be put through a strainer to remove any pieces of egg that actually cooked. Pour into a bowl (I used a shallow tinfoil pan) and it’s ready to cold smoke.
So, last Saturday, since it was a pleasant minus 15 outside, I made my first batch of ice cream. After mixing and cooking, the custard requires a 3 to 4 hour rest in the fridge to thoroughly cool down before it goes into the ice cream machine. It was at this stage that I planned to cold smoke the still liquid custard. I would use a large, shallow pan to maximize the surface area to be smoked.
Everything I had read while researching the process had told me to use a strong flavored wood, so I loaded the AMNPS with hickory pellets and lit it up. When it was smoking nicely, I put the AMNPS in the mailbox mod and the custard in the MES.
I let the smoke roll for 10 minutes, then stirred the custard and continued smoking for another 15 minutes, stirring twice more. This was about 15 minutes longer in the smoke than recommended, but I could detect very little smoke aroma on the custard so I just carried on.
The pan, now covered with plastic wrap, went into the fridge for a 3 hour cool down. After 3 hours, I emptied the pan into the freezer bowl which had been in the deep freeze for the last 24 hours.
I attached the mixing unit and stir paddle to the freezer bowl and turned it on. Then it was time for a 30 minute coffee break while the mixer did its job.
At this stage it had the consistency of VERY soft ice cream. The taste was great, but I was disappointed with the smokiness. Next time, I thought, I’ll smoke it for one hour minimum. Well we’ll just have to see what a week in the freezer will produce. I was really hoping that like pulled pork, it would be better the next day. As it turned out, it was exactly one week later that I finally got to sample the smoked ice cream.
It was great!! And yes, it WAS just like pulled pork—much better the next day (or week, in this case). The ice cream was smooth and creamy, truly delicious, and had a very distinct smoky aroma and flavor.
In fact it was so good that I ate the entire bowl full, neglecting to take a plated shot. So…..in order to get the picture, Roxy got a small dish of smoked ice cream. She loved it too.
I would highly recommend this desert to everybody. It’s easy to make and downright delicious. Your guests will definitely be amazed at your skill and ingenuity--just don't tell them how easy it was.
I do believe, however, that a milder fruit wood would work a lot better with the sweetness of the ice cream.
Thanks for looking.
Gary
To the vast amusement of my friends and family, for some time now I have been extremely interested in trying to smoke ice cream. I originally thought about smoking some store bought ice cream, but felt I wouldn’t be able to get more than a surface trace of smoke aroma and flavor. So I began researching the subject and came to the conclusion that to thoroughly smoke the ice cream, I would have to make my own and smoke it before it was frozen. Great. No ice cream maker at this address. Then at Christmas, our neighbors gave me an entry level ice cream machine. Game on!!!
I decided on a fairly rich, creamy vanilla base as I felt that strong flavors would probably mask the subtle smoke flavor. Here’s the recipe—it’s really simple.
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
½ cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp molasses
Pinch of salt
Combine everything, except the 4 egg yolks and ½ cup of milk in a saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil. When mixture is steaming and small bubbles form around the edge, remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk the 4 egg yolks and ½ cup of milk together in a bowl, and then SLOWLY add about ½ cup of the hot cream mixture—whisk constantly. This will bring the temp of the eggs up without cooking them. Slowly whisk this egg/cream mixture into the saucepan of hot cream.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon—about 3 minutes.
If necessary, the mixture can be put through a strainer to remove any pieces of egg that actually cooked. Pour into a bowl (I used a shallow tinfoil pan) and it’s ready to cold smoke.
So, last Saturday, since it was a pleasant minus 15 outside, I made my first batch of ice cream. After mixing and cooking, the custard requires a 3 to 4 hour rest in the fridge to thoroughly cool down before it goes into the ice cream machine. It was at this stage that I planned to cold smoke the still liquid custard. I would use a large, shallow pan to maximize the surface area to be smoked.
Everything I had read while researching the process had told me to use a strong flavored wood, so I loaded the AMNPS with hickory pellets and lit it up. When it was smoking nicely, I put the AMNPS in the mailbox mod and the custard in the MES.
I let the smoke roll for 10 minutes, then stirred the custard and continued smoking for another 15 minutes, stirring twice more. This was about 15 minutes longer in the smoke than recommended, but I could detect very little smoke aroma on the custard so I just carried on.
The pan, now covered with plastic wrap, went into the fridge for a 3 hour cool down. After 3 hours, I emptied the pan into the freezer bowl which had been in the deep freeze for the last 24 hours.
I attached the mixing unit and stir paddle to the freezer bowl and turned it on. Then it was time for a 30 minute coffee break while the mixer did its job.
At this stage it had the consistency of VERY soft ice cream. The taste was great, but I was disappointed with the smokiness. Next time, I thought, I’ll smoke it for one hour minimum. Well we’ll just have to see what a week in the freezer will produce. I was really hoping that like pulled pork, it would be better the next day. As it turned out, it was exactly one week later that I finally got to sample the smoked ice cream.
It was great!! And yes, it WAS just like pulled pork—much better the next day (or week, in this case). The ice cream was smooth and creamy, truly delicious, and had a very distinct smoky aroma and flavor.
In fact it was so good that I ate the entire bowl full, neglecting to take a plated shot. So…..in order to get the picture, Roxy got a small dish of smoked ice cream. She loved it too.
I would highly recommend this desert to everybody. It’s easy to make and downright delicious. Your guests will definitely be amazed at your skill and ingenuity--just don't tell them how easy it was.
I do believe, however, that a milder fruit wood would work a lot better with the sweetness of the ice cream.
Thanks for looking.
Gary
