Go to the Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Is this broken
Make sure you have an accurate scale if you are going to add Xanthan... if you use a cheap scale like me and add to much you will have a mucus texture
In step 3, do we combine the egg mixture with the milk/cream mixture before bringing it up to temp? Or combine the two mixtures before churning?
Really enjoyed this! I used chocolate mint from our (container) garden. 75 g of mint leaves sounded like a lot, but actually didn't make a dent in the monster plant bent on taking over the world. I was skeptical about the brief mint infusion, but it totally worked-- really a fresh, clean mint flavor. Go blanching! FYI - I used the xanthan, vanilla beans, and added a cup or so of the milk mixture in the "egg" step.
Hello,
I have started some ice-cream research to improve some of the ice-creams we are serving. I was going through the comments section as well, while people are asking questions you get to learn a lot more.
Chris replied to someone because that person was not being able to get locust bean gum.
Chris Young1 yr ago
Scott — I would leave the xanthan out if you don't have locust bean gum, those are designed to work syngergistically. The carageenan alone will still help.
But in this recipe you use Xanthan alone. I am a little confused.
Ok, I just made this today and I am extremely disappointed. The ice cream tastes like raw leaves: vegetal and grassy. There's very little mint flavor, it tastes more like a freshly mown lawn rather than mint ice cream. For the amount of time invested and the cost I'd just as soon go buy a pint of mint ice cream rather than use this recipe.
I followed the recipe to the letter (even took the comments into account and weighed the Xanthan on two separate scales) to be sure I got it right.
Sorry guys, I've had a lot of successes using the recipes on this site, but this was NOT one of them.
I don't think there's been a lot of published research into how to best extract herb flavor. I've found that with bigger-leafed, delicate herbs like mint it's best to keep the temperature at 85°C or below. I mix half the milk with about 2/3 the sugar (sugar syrup is a better solvent than water for herbal aromatics), heat to 85C, and steep covered for 5 minutes. Just like making herb tea. then strain the seasoned milk into the other ingredients.
I'm not a big fan of xanthan by itself as a stabilizer, but when combined with gelatin it works very well ... better than other easy-to-find ingredients I've worked with. For a recipe this size I'd start with 0.6g xanthan and 1.5g gelatin. The gelatin will hydrate when you heat the custard.
Soooo, I just attempted this recipe.. During the egg heating part, the eggs got way too thick to strain. They're borderline scrambled. What did I do wrong?
hey,
i just love ice cream. i am new to ice cream making, but i absolutely hate it when ice cream gets that frozen beyond recovery kind of diluted taste after some time. once in the freezer how long does ice cream last. and how best to preserve it to retain it.
Please and thank you.
oh yea another thing. Could you please tell me how to identify the better of the vanilla pods.
You let the mixture get to hot and partially cooked the eggs. Cook on a lower heat and stir more frequently next time
Is there any way to make this without an ice cream machine?
Can I drizzle the melted chocolate into the ice cream while it's still churning or does it only work in a separate bowl? FWIW I'll be using the KitchenAid mixer ice cream maker bowl. Thanks!
I've done a lot more research into stabilizers and posted some suggested templates for stabilizer design on the Underbelly blog. http://underbelly-nyc.blogspot.com/2016/05/ice-cream-stabilizers.html
you can do it in the kitchen aid, no problem.
Use dry ice or LN2.
oh wow! Thank you! Really nice. I run a gelato parlour and I know something about gums etc… but this is really interesting. Thanks! The links too
Would it not help to bruise the leaves before steeping the leaves? I think Jeni's recipe for backyard mint left the leaves in the cream overnight.
Great recipe. However, the egg yolk step needs a buffer. I ended up with scrambled eggs twice, before I just said f' it and added the eggs to the the milk and cream. Heated the mixture to 203 F, blanched leaves and strained to a rapid chill ice bath.
Usually, you blend the egg yolks with half the sugar on medium speed until it's really pale (for an airier texture). Then you add the cooked milk mixture to the yolks and heat and stir until it achieves 167 °F / 75 °C, then cool down immediately. Blend on high speed for a minute to split up the fats, liquids and air in very tiny particles. Before churning, let the mixture "ripen" (rest) in the fridge during >4-8 hrs for improved texture.
instead of Xanthan gum can i use stabilizer?
Paul
Great stuff. I currently use Gar Gum. Are you familiar with PreGel products? John
Can you explain why it's advantageous to cook the egg yolks without the dairy mixture? Is it simply to avoid reheating the milk & cream after infusing the mint? I, like others, have found cooking the yolks without a buffer challenging, even using a very low temperature and a thermometer. Maybe if I had a smaller pot or was making a bigger quantity, it would be more forgiving but making 1 liter for home purposes, i.e. 5 yolks, is unforgiving.
instead of churning in ice cream machine, can I use pacojet?
You can but, very little overrun (incorporating air) will happen. It will also prove difficult to mix in the chocolate since you need to freeze then remove from the small canister and stir in the chocolate.
You want to cook the eggs with the steeped mint milk mixture just like an anglaise. Then strain. The picture above straining in Step 3 is the mixture of yolks and liquid together.
May I ask why you are not modifying the recipe above to avoid people like me, and plenty others below, making scrambled vanilla-eggs (unavoidable when heating yolks to 75C) and mixing it into the cooled milk. The recipe text is not clearly stating to add the eggs into the same pot with the milk, it is evidently misleading home cooks like me.
Is it to expected that the ice cream tastes more of egg after cooking the yolks to near omelette state?
Am I supposed to blanch the mint prior to covering it with the hot milk?
No, the hot milk will do the work of killing the enzymes in the fresh leaves. This way you are rewarded with all the oils and aromas in the fresh mint.
Hi, what would you need to change to use a pacojet 4 ?
This is just an "Anglaise." Temper the egg yolks with the cream/milk, like every other recipe from Pastry Cream to you name it. Sorry you cooked your eggs, that happens from time to time to everyone, but you sound smart enough to know better.
