GraysOutlet Cooking Challenge: Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (12 Dec 2012)

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I scream for ice cream

Admittedly if given the choice between buying a tub of ice cream or making it from scratch I'd choose the lazy way but when Sarah Cichy from Polkadot PR invited me to participate in the GraysOutlet Cooking Challenge to make ice cream using a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker provided I thought I might learn a thing or two — and indeed I did. I chose to attempt the Matt Moran’s Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream which sounded pretty straight forward on paper although for a cooking novice like myself it wasn't as simple as I had hoped. Making custard was the first challenge. Measuring, pouring and mixing was fine but knowing how to cook the custard to the right consistency before it turned into scrambled eggs was the tricky bit. I think in hindsight I might have undercooked it a bit because my custard was still a bit runny which in turn I think affected how thick my ice cream ended up after being churned. 

Blending frozen raspberries was the next challenge. My blender didn't handle it well. In fact it didn't want to blend it at all so I had to squash it all up and add water to make it more runny so it could blend. My blender wasn't up for the task or perhaps I should have used a food processor instead. Passing the blended raspberry through a sieve should have been easy but not when you discover you only have a coarse metal sieve which allowed all the seeds to go through — ahh! I could only find a small tea sieve to do the job which was frustrating and tedious at best. I'll certainly know better next time what I actually need to do the job right. Anyway after 30 minutes I finally had my custard and raspberry sauce to make some ice cream.

The next day I took my chilled custard and raspberry sauce into work to churn in the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. The churning bowl had been in the freezer for 24 hours and was ready to use. There was anticipated excitement in the air from work colleagues hearing the machine churning away. After 20 minutes it looked like the mixture wasn't going to get any firmer so I took it out and folded through just a fraction of the raspberry sauce. The final consistency was still on the runny side but everyone enjoyed the flavour. There was no way I'd be able to make quenelles out of this batch. I placed the left over ice cream in the freezer to firm overnight plus also in a mould. The following day the ice cream texture was as hoped although it did have a more icy taste. It was certainly an interesting cooking exercise for me to partake in and I learnt how ice cream can be made. I was surprised to discover how many egg yolks it used and I definitely need to get a better sieve if I ever attempt this recipe again.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: When you make ice cream yourself you know exactly what's going into it, Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker was simple to use and very easy to clean after

CONS: Takes a lot longer to make ice cream than simply going to the shop and buying some, My ice cream didn't turn out as firm as hoped

MUST TRY: Making frozen yoghurt which doesn't involve cooking

VERDICT: When I do have ice cream it's a bit of a spur-of-the-moment kind of treat so I'd rather buy it from a supermarket than try and plan ahead to make it myself

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Goodie bag of Cuisinart and supplies from GraysOutlet

Time to make some Matt Moran Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

Use one vanilla bean

Place the seeds and scraped pods into a saucepan, add 500mls of milk and bring to a simmer

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together for approximately 2 minutes until pale and fluffy — so many yolks!

Pour the mixture into the saucepan of milk and return to a medium heat stirring constantly

Cook the custard for approximately 5 to 7 minutes until it has thickened and coats the back of a spoon — for me to it longer than this and I was worried I'd scramble the eggs

Remove from the heat and pass through a sieve into a mixing bowl — I didn't have a very good sieve for this

Stir in the cream then place in the refrigerator to chill for one hour

Place the raspberries into a blender and blend until smooth — that didn't work well so had to add water to make it more a liquid before blending

Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds — this failed for me using this metal sieve which was too coarse

Do not attempt to use a tea strainer — very messy and pretty much useless

My raspberry sauce still had some seeds in it but was OK

Transfer the raspberry juice to a saucepan on a high heat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the raspberry juice reduces to a thick sauce consistency.

Time to make some ice cream

Some topping options — coconut, milo and hundreds and thousands

Place the custard into the ice cream machine and churn until thick and creamy

After 20 minutes this was about as thick the ice cream was going to get. I think my custard wasn't thick enough to start with?

Fold through the raspberry syrup using a spatula until a ripple effect has formed — I only needed to use a fraction of the amount of raspberry sauce I had made

Left over ice cream placed in the freezer to firm up for the next day