Full Gastronomic Tilt

When I tumbled down into the rabbit hole of serious cooking and farmers markets and menu planning and seasonality and methodology and the history of food, I didn’t expect to feel any extremes, but I do. The joy felt in creating something, the pleasure in learning and the embarrassment at how little I do know.

Here I am. Far from expert, easily amused and generally pleased by the little things. I find cooking with fruit particularly novel. Tarts, scones, cobblers, cookies…ice cream.

Ice cream always fell into the category of “Best Left To Professionals,” as I do not own an ice cream maker and was put off by the thought of purchasing one (as well as the necessary rock salt). However, ice cream kept popping up here and there in some blogs I read. Then I saw David Lebovitz’s straight-forward How To Make Ice Cream Without A Machine.

“I can do this,” I thought. “Sure. No problem.”

So when I picked up the blackberries at the farmer’s market yesterday, I knew it was time. I found a recipe for Blackberry Buttermilk Ice Cream over at The Kitchn. Lacking buttermilk, I simply placed a Tablespoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup, poured whole milk up to the one cup line and let it sit for five minutes before putting it into the freezer, per the recipe.

As near as I can tell (having never actually used it), when a recipe calls for buttermilk, it is because the recipe stands to gain something from the unique, tangy flavor OF buttermilk. Vinegar-soured milk can’t possibly have the same flavor profile, can it? I’ve been wondering this for awhile.

This was a custard-based ice cream recipe, which apparently is better to use when you don’t have an ice cream maker. Egg yolks + sugar + hot milk, then heat until custard-y. I liked that this recipe specifically stated to heat until the temperature reaches 170°. I’ve had trouble with custard before in my tart-making experiments, where it doesn’t thicken to the right consistency.

Fruit puree was much easier in practice than I had originally thought. Berries + sugar + heat, puree in blender, than strain through sieve to remove seeds. Perfectly sensible.

After you combine the custard, fruit puree and chilled buttermilk, you let it sit untouched in the freezer for 45 minutes, then stir it vigorously with a large spoon. I used a wooden spoon at first since I poured the mixture into a metal bowl. Every 30 minutes or so, you take the mixture out of the freezer and stir it. After the first time I used an electric hand mixer, which worked GREAT. It breaks up the ice crystals and gives the ice cream a good texture. I did this maybe four or five times, then let it sit overnight.

When I was ready to serve it, I just dragged an ice cream scoop across the top a few times and it clumped together easily. Not perfectly smooth, but really damn good for not having the assistance of a machine. A great first try.

I can make ice cream. Neat.