pg. 233 Pomegranate and Orange Blossom Water Creams

Oh internet, how I have missed you! My scientific musings have been on the fritz ever since my internet decided it no longer wanted to be a part of my life. But here we are, back with more beautiful iced treats, and botched experiments from beyond the freezer.

My favorite part of this project has matching my experiments with seasonal ingredients. For example, it's pomegranate season, so why not go for it? I thought that this would be a great recipe. But alas, I was proven wrong again. This book thoroughly enjoys making a fool of me, it seems. I mean the recipes just mock me, Biggest gripe? Not enough pomegranate. The heavy cream just mutes everything. And when I added an extra 4 tablespoons of pomegranate juice, all it did was increase the acidity, not the flavor. A little bit of orange blossom water goes quite far, but has a perfume-y flavor that does not work well with the recipe at all.

Pomegranate and Orange Blossom Water Creams

2t. corn flour
1c. milk
2T sugar
2 pomegranates (juiced)
2T orange blossom water
5T grenadine
1c. heavy cream

Simmer the corn flour, milk, and sugar. Chill. Add pomegranate juice, orange flower water, and grenadine. Fold in heavy cream just before churning. Freeze in freezer proof container or silicone muffin tins for a better shape. Garnish with leftover pomegranate seeds.

Frustrated with this failure, I decided to try it again my own way; as a sorbet. This way I wouldn't have to worry about the fat of the cream masking all my flavor, and hopefully my two main ingredients would get their time to shine. When formulating sorbets, I generally try to keep it to a 2/1 ratio of fruit juice or puree to agave or simple syrup.

Pomegranate and Orange Blossom Sorbet
2 pomegranates - juiced (makes approx 1c. juice)
1/2 T. orange blossom water
1/2 c. agave nectar
1/4t. red wine

I whisked everything together and threw it in the ice cream maker. While the flavor was stronger, the combination was still..well..disgusting. I won't lie. It tasted like a perfume, or like I decided to nibble on a flower or something. The texture was fine...and even drizzled with some honey it was bearable...but I would not recommend this recipe or my revision.

pg. 107 Peach & Cardamom Yogurt Ice

I thought this recipe would be an interesting place to start. I have made peach sorbet in the past, but didn't add enough sugar so it over-hardened. You see, one main difference between ice creams and sorbets is how sugar effects the texture. While too much sugar will make your ice cream hard as nails, it will make your sorbet super smooth and delightful. I thought that using yogurt would be an interesting and welcome change, and would give me the opportunity to see what exactly it does to the chemistry of the ice cream.

I think that this recipe may have been the easiest I have ever tried. There were a few occasions, though, where I think some handholding would have been appreciated. For example, it wasn't until I referred to the spices section that I knew whether or not to add the cardamom shell in addition to the seeds...nor was I positive that I should leave the skins on the peaches. I know that it probably would have said to peel them if that's what it meant...but I still like to see some reassurance in there.

I found it intriguing that rather than creating a custard as I do with my other ice creams, I instead made a sorbet base and folded in the yogurt once it was spun. It does mean, however, that if I messed up during the spinning process I can't just melt it and start over. I would literally have to start from the beginning again. The following recipe is not written the same as it was in the book. While the ingredients & measurements are the same, the exact wording in the instructions is different.

Peach & Cardamom Yogurt Ice
8 cardomom pods
6 peaches - stoned and quartered
6T sugar
2T water
1c. natural yogurt (it called for BIO but I could only find Greek)

Crush the cardamom pods. Combine both pods & seeds with peaches, sugar, and water over medium heat. Simmer, stirring frequently, until peaches are softened. Puree in blender and put through strainer. Chill. Spin the puree in ice cream maker until thick. Scrape into a bowl and gently fold in yogurt until incorporated. Freeze until firm enough to hold a scoop shape.

The flavor is very light. Rather than tasting the peach and cardamom separately, they sort of infuse to make a new flavor altogether. The texture is kind of weird, though. This isn't really an ice cream that you can sit on the couch with and eat right out of the tub...it's perfect for melon-balling or artistic looking scoops. I am wondering if adding more dairy would have made it smoother, but am concerned that more yogurt would have taken away from the unique flavor.

It didn't take too long for me to decide what I would like to make as an accompaniment to this ice cream. There is a biscuit recipe that I photocopied in 6th grade that I have never, ever made. What always stopped me? Yeast. Well, actually it was the laziness...but I was always put off by the fact that I would need to use yeast in the recipe. I just so happened to have a packet laying around and found it to be the perfect occasion to make these.

Angel Biscuits

1 pkg (2 1/4tsp) dry yeast
1/2c. lukewarm water
5c. AP Flour
1/4c. sugar
1t. baking powder
1t. baking soda
1t. salt
1/2c. shortening
2c. buttermilk
1T butter - melted

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water & bloom 5 min. In a large, separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, powder, soda, and salt. Cut in the shortening until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add yeast water and buttermilk and stir until just moist. Cover and chill for 1 hr. Preheat oven to 450*. Turn dough onto heavily floured surface; knead 5 times. Roll dough to 1/2" thickness and cut with biscuit cutter. Place on a cookie sheet with parchment or pan spray. Brush the melted butter over the top, and sprinkle with a little bit of sugar. Bake at 450* for 12 min.

Making Ice Creams & Iced Desserts by Farrow&Lewis

The first book that I have chosen for my never-ending experiment is called Making Ice Cream & Iced Desserts by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis. Out of every ice cream book at Border's, this was the only one that had unique recipes. Yes, I get it, people like basic chocolate ice cream...but how do you expect me to grow as an ice cream artist with traditional flavors alone?! Give me some weird shit like lamb chop & trout sorbet or cow's tongue gelato! Sure, it sounds disgusting and would probably never sell, but that's what science is! Experimenting, playing with the compounds and molecules that make up every single thing in existence...the epitome of "you don't know 'til you try it."

Making Ice Cream & so forth is really great because the first few pages are actually educational. Information on the history of ice creams, flavors, methods...and have you ever realized that most cultures have some sort of "iced" dessert? Back when there weren't machines, people found ways of cooling off and enjoying food at the same time. It's said that back in Ancient Rome, Emperor Nero sent his slaves to collect snow that would be combined with fruits and honey before its inevitable consumption. Brilliant! The development in ice cream technology transformed as modern cooking and appliances did. Who knew that there was such history behind that silly iced-custard!

In addition to the history, there is information about spices and flavorings to use in ice cream, storage, equipment, and tips on the processes themselves. What probably hooked me most is the section on garnishes. I think that trying to create accompaniments has been one of my greatest struggles in this project. I anticipate that I will attempt all of them before I move to the next book, and hopefully many, many times after.