Frozen pudding, gelato, sorbet, & other icy eggless treats

Some of you may remember our ice cream ball from two LTH picnics ago. We love this ice cream maker, as well as our ancient cobbled-together thrift-store Donvier, particularly the ice cream ball because it's excellent for picnics and camping.

I worry about taking egg custards on long journeys in iffy refrigeration conditions, though - and I almost never keep cream in the house - so we started out with, of course, David Lebovitz's terrific frozen vanilla yogurt recipe, our favorite. This year, our plan was to try his Chocolate Sorbet, but we never got past the base due to an unfortunate blow-out of the freezer chamber.

Last night, we were without dessert on Friday Movie Night (which happens on Saturday sometimes, depending on Dad's schedule) so I made a lemon blancmange. I noticed that the texture was about the same as the chocolate sorbet, so I did a bit of googling and found out that there are any number of recipes for frozen blancmange going under the names gelato, sorbet, etc.

For instance, here's Mark Bittman's Buttermilk Cornstarch ice cream, and Saveur's excellent-looking pistachio gelato.

I'm going to a picnic tonight, Chocolate sorbet in hand, and I think I'm going to riff on Bittman's recipe with a black raspberry cornstarch ice cream.

Anyone else have eggless/creamless ice cream tips?

I recently made the strawberry-rhubarb sorbet from Perfect Scoop. I really liked it--perfect balance of sweet and tart. I took some of the mixture prior to freezing and mixed it with Trader's Point Creamery plain yogurt to make popsicles which were nice as well.

Sorbet (with Trader Joe's ginger snaps, drizzle of good balsamic)


Strawberry-rhubarb yogurt pop:


Last night I made the apricot ice cream from Perfect Scoop with apricots from my CSA. While that recipe involves cream, I think yogurt would be a nice substitute.

I don't have pics (and we didn't wait for everything to freeze as thoroughly as we should have) but I wasn't really happy with my two attempts last night. I think the real issue was using the ice cream ball (the Donvier just doesn't work for a picnic; it stayed soup the whole time) Lebovitz's sorbet was definitely intensely chocolatey (subbing coffee for water didn't hurt at all) but came out kind of grainy - the chocolate didn't mix, but coagulated into little bits. The black raspberry cornstarch ice cream came out very icy; I suppose I should have added some alcohol because it had very little fat (not intentionally, just that I made it with what I had in the fridge) In both cases, I don't think the rolling action of the ball was enough to deter large ice crystals from forming.

I'm going to try an almond version - using almond paste I have in the fridge, and some almond flour - of the pistachio gelato in the Donvier when it re-freezes, and see how that does.

I have the mixture for that pistachio gelato cooling on my counter now and will strain and churn it tomorrow. I added a pinch of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom, 2 tbs grand marnier, 1 drop of lemon essence, and some saffron threads. I'm used to doing ice cream or gelato with eggs, and egg custards often curdles on me, so this seems much easier

When I made chocolate sorbet in the past it didn't separate out for me, but a friend of mine was making several batches of ice cream in a row, and for each of hers, the chocolate did separate out into little bits. I can't recall the directions for what I did vs what she did, but I guess it's not uncommon, Mhays. My guess would be cooling the mixture too fast or unevenly?

(I bought the pistachios already shelled at the market next to Pita Inn)

At the moment, I'm blaming the ice cream ball, which isn't easy to control - the raspberry gelato turned out incredibly icy, but I realized I can thaw it in the fridge and try it again in the Donvier; I think I'll add a little vodka as well.

I ended up letting the pistachios steep for 36 hours. It's very tasty, kind of kulfi-ish. I strained it, but put back in a little of the pistachio mix for texture. It ended up very very sweet, so I'd cut back on the sugar a little and add maybe a tablespoon of lemon juice.

There is a timely article in the NY Times on egg free ice cream:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/dinin ... e.html?hpw

There is still a fair amount of cream in these recipes.

So, I defrosted and Donvier-ed my black raspberry gelato, adding a shot of raspberry vodka I happened to have, and found it to be much, much better - though we didn't get past semifreddo, so I don't know if it would go back to brick-state if frozen. At the end, I drizzled in a bit of nutella to get my fave flavor combo. It worked.

Since I'd used what was in my fridge - namely 1% milk - it was not surprising that it came out something more like a sorbet than an ice cream or gelato, but it was yummy nonetheless. I'll stick with David Lebovitz's frozen yogurt recipes next time I need to whip up a batch of frozen dessert from what I've got in the fridge - or try it again with cream someday.

veghound wrote:There is a timely article in the NY Times on egg free ice cream:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/dinin ... e.html?hpw

There is still a fair amount of cream in these recipes.

I will have to try these eggless wonders. Growing up, my father always made the ice cream in a big stock pot loaded with eggs, cream, and sugar. When we were little, he would pull a step ladder next to the stove so that my sister and I would have a chance to look into the huge pot and help stir the custard.

Then it was strained with cheesecloth and poured into the metal 4 quart cannister of an electric ice cream maker that was surrounded by ice & rock salt.

I've always thought of homemade ice cream as having eggs. Wow! I still miss him.

I made saffron rose water ice cream with toasted pistachios and dried Motmorency cherries for the dessert exchange held earlier this week. It was silky smooth and unlike the people in the NY Times article, I like being content with a small amount of ice cream.

Mhays wrote:Since I'd used what was in my fridge - namely 1% milk - it was not surprising that it came out something more like a sorbet than an ice cream or gelato, but it was yummy nonetheless. I'll stick with David Lebovitz's frozen yogurt recipes next time I need to whip up a batch of frozen dessert from what I've got in the fridge - or try it again with cream someday.

I haven't had the best of luck with Lebovitz's frozen yogurt recipes. The taste is there, but the texture is not great. It freezes really hard (even after 2T of vodka, going to add more next time) which is somewhat of an issue, but more than that, it comes out grainy and breaks off in chunks rather than being smooth and uniform. Completely different story with the custard recipes, which we've pretty much got down to a science at this point, texture- and flavor-wise. For reference, we used Fage whole-milk yogurt for the last batch.

I'd love to know if anyone has tips for these in particular.

We've always been very happy with the frozen yogurt recipe, but I use Krinos greek yogurt and vanilla sugar; I usually blend it thorougly before putting it in the Donvier or ice-cream ball. I've found it to be very consistent in texture (although we rarely have enough left over to freeze.)

veghound wrote:There is a timely article in the NY Times on egg free ice cream:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/dinin ... e.html?hpw

There is still a fair amount of cream in these recipes.

Veghound, I am so glad you posted this recipe! I was going to buy Nice Ice Cream from the Andersonville Farmers Market but decided to try making my own ice cream instead with half-half and a mix of blackberries and raspberries from the market. I was a little concerned that the texture looked icier than the previous (and first attempt) at making ice cream, which did include eggs. The result however was smooth and delicious. I am totally hooked! This recipe takes the stress out of the custard preparation portion of ice cream making. I should have taken a picture, but it has all been eaten!

With great summer fruit, I have been adapting Lebovitz's recipes that use a base of Sour Cream and Milk/Cream. It has worked really well with strawberries and peaches. The texture does not suffer greatly from the lack of eggs and the slightly sour effect of adding the sour cream is nice.

I made the Pistachio gelato with whole milk and like the taste/texture. I like that it's not as heavy as regular ice cream, my tongue doesn't feel coated afterwards.

Tonight I'm putting together Lemon and Basil using this whole milk, cornstarch base, my plan is 1 cup packed basil leaves, zest and juice from two lemons, 1 cup sugar, 2 tbs vodka. I'll let it cool overnight and churn it tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Pics, please - that sounds delicious!

Here you go



I ground up the basil with the sugar, infused the sugar and basil and lemon zest (and a pinch of salt) into the thickened milk overnight. I added the lemon juice and vodka and some slivered fresh basil right before churning. Next time I would also grind up the lemon zest more finely and mince the fresh basil I added - the slivers got caught on the dasher and ended up mostly in a few big clumps.

It is tasty, I'd made it before, but this time wanted it to be more basil-y and more lemon-y.

I might be inclined, were I making that lemon/basil gelato, to strain the basil+lemon bits out after steeping in the hot milk. You may end up having to use a bit more lemon and basil if you do it that way, though. It'd solve your clumping problem, and I suspect just mincing hte basil finer won't fix that.

Looks yummy, though! How was the texture of the gelato itself? How did it do after further freezing?

gleam wrote:I might be inclined, were I making that lemon/basil gelato, to strain the basil+lemon bits out after steeping in the hot milk. You may end up having to use a bit more lemon and basil if you do it that way, though. It'd solve your clumping problem, and I suspect just mincing hte basil finer won't fix that.

I agree, then perhaps stirring in some grated lemon (candied, if you're so inclined) by hand at the end, after the churning has stopped. Either way, looks and sounds quite tasty.

I made some Basil-Lemon ice cream too, using Lebovitz's recipe (+ 2.5T vodka). The texture came out perfect, and I didn't notice any problems with lemon zest clumping, even though I too grated it in the custard before chilling in the fridge. I highly recommend this, it's very refreshing on these hot summer days.

Wondering about the premise of the this thread.

Why are cooked egg custards likely to be more dangerous media than eggless dairy desserts?

I understand why sorbets would be safer, but I'd think milk, cream and even yogurt mixtures would be iffy under the same conditions as egg-based desserts.

I don't think they are generally more dangerous, just that when camping, I think it's more foodsafe to take unopened containers (we usually take aseptically packaged milk when camping) and prep/mix there - and eggs are tough to take camping. If my cooler fails, a premade liquid custard base is potentially a bad thing, even if it had been cooked. I suppose one could say I'm being overly cautious.

The lack of cream is pure laziness on my part.

Eggless ice creams are easier, just dump together and go And lower in fat and calories. I often find that when I cook a custard for gelato I end up cooking it too much and I get a lumpy mess.

re the basil and lemon, the only thing that clumped was the shreds I had dumped in at the last minute. The ground basil and lemon zest didn't clump. I am finding that the lemon zest pieces are a bit big.

Last time I made it I strained it and found the flavor less emphatic than I had wanted. The texture is still fine otherwise. Eggless gelato and ice creams (IMHO) are a less creamy and mouth-filling. Home made ice creams of all kinds I find to be a little icier (less smooth) than commercial anyway.

Lazy Person's Really Pretty Good Frozen Yogurt

I have been making and eating this all summer. The texture is very good, scoopable right out of the freezer, and not grainy at all.

1 large container Dannon vanilla yogurt (2 lbs)
3 T rum
1/4 c honey
½ T vanilla extract

Mix all of the ingredients and freeze in an ice cream maker. I use a Cuisinart electric ice cream maker, which I like a lot. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze.

Janet

Janet, the David Lebovitz recipe I've been using has even fewer ingredients! I make it with two: just mix Greek-style yogurt and homemade vanilla sugar (I just toss old vanilla bean skins in a jar of sugar,) the reduced water content makes it scoopable.

Thank you! I have David Lebovitz's book and tried his vanilla frozen yogurt and it wasn't really successful, maybe because I used low fat yogurt and cut back on the sugar drastically in an effort to make something low calorie. hehe I should probably give it a chance in all its original glory, or try your vanilla sugar variation. The rum and honey version is awfully good though. :)

Janet

Eggless ice creams are easier. . . And lower in fat and calories.

Than an all-cream Philadelphia-style ice cream? I seriously doubt that.

sundevilpeg wrote:

Eggless ice creams are easier. . . And lower in fat and calories.

Than an all-cream Philadelphia-style ice cream? I seriously doubt that.

I'm using whole milk, not cream