ice cream flavor development report

[pekmez]

1) "nutella from the jar"
stole the recipe outright from the web, but hello! it's like eating nutella from the jar, only frozen!

2) elderflower sorbet
wow, this one is perfect and easy. elderflower syrup courtesy of zubatac's parents - who gathered the elderflowers (we were there in peak season) and then made syrup using his great-aunt's recipe and

Comments

[angerona]

btw, I found a company that sells (dried) elderflowers

[melted_snowball]

Can you not get elderflower syrup at E. European groceries?

Regardless, that does sound good.

[pekmez]

I've no idea - I only learned that "bazga" was elderflower this trip, when we asked google and a Croatian translation engine. I had presumed it was some obscure homemade-only thing his great-aunt kept around. Which, as it turns out, is pretty similar to british elderflower cordial - although it is also slightly fermented, which I am not sure the cordial is. At some point I will try to track down some packaged variety, and see how it compares.

[whuffle]

For the sour cherry, start working from a Hungarian cold cherry soup recipe and reverse engineer from there. Seriously. Perfect base flavor.

The bagel sounds fun and I'll certainly try it but then, you know I'll try anything at least once! Hell, you'll even get me to try the quince though I hate the stuff.

For the bagel you might want to try sunspirals tip to me for getting savory flavors to work: add sugar 2 teaspoons at a time once you've put everything else in already. Stop when it tastes right. Don't ever overdo your sugar on a savory. The fat in the cream will make the freezing texture come out fine.

[pekmez]

hmm - I was worried about the bagel ice cream freezing texture without adding sugar, and then I added too much - I will have to try the opposite and add almost none and then see how the freezing texture goes.

sour cherry sour cream is already on the make upon request list - I made it at last baitcon. by "planning" I meant "buy ingredients if anyone tells me I should make it." The hungarian soup angle sounds interesting, and I know Donna's working on a sour cherry sorbet of some sort, as well.

last year's sour cherry sour cream was a different premise - the original inspiration for it was a dessert of necessity - wanted whipped cream, all we had is sour cream, added brown sugar... and if you're going to add fruit to sour cream, it might as well be sour cherries. I think I probably bought five jars of sour cherries last summer and turned them all into ice cream. ;-)

[whuffle]

I've tried making cherry and balsamic vinegar into a dessert the same as I do with strawberries and balsamic. It's incredibly tasty stuff.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite breakfasts was a bowl of strawberries with a dolop of sour cream and a bit of sugar.

I can completely see sour cherry and sour cream working. How did I miss getting to taste that one last year?

[whuffle]

Oh, BTW, if you find that the texture of the bagel ice cream is problematic, two fixes outside of adding more sugar are:

Use heavier cream rather than light. The fats cause the texture to even out

Scald the cream then add a beaten egg to it while whisking. You're essentially tempering the egg and using the same technique as when people make french vanilla. The egg acts as an emulsifier and helps prevent formation of larger ice crystals.

[whuffle]

A little inspiration for you to experiment with in preparation for NEXT year:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/best-lick-2008/cinnamon-raisin-bagel-ice-cream-best-lick-2008-ice-cream-contest-entry-4-059875

The other inspirational thing I found while surfing was this:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Macaroon-Ice-Cream-Sandwiches-with-Caramel-Ice-Cream-2462

Think of it; coconut/macaroon ice cream with a ribbon of caramel and chocolate!