Question for the Ice Cream Makers...Have you ever seen a recipe using FLOUR in the base?

T

traca

Well-known member
I interviewed a local ice cream maker today and she was rattling away about her ice cream base. "And I use just a little bit of flour..." I'm like, "Stop the press. FLOUR?! Really?" I have an embarassing number of dessert books and I've made an even more embarrasing amount of ice cream over the last year. I've never seen a recipe with flour. Can anyone else chime in on this?

Someone said it's like Sicilian Gelato...but I can't confirm it. Hmm....

 
I've never made ice cream with flour--I'm curious to see if it's the secret ingredient

I haven't tried any new recipes this year, looking forward to trying the burnt peach ic posted the other day.

 
I've not seen flour used, but Jeni Britton uses cornstarch in her REC: Vanilla Bean Ice Cream...

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Recipe By :Jeni Britton

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch -- plus
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces cream cheese -- softened (3 tablespoons)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean -- split and seeds scraped
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.
In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla bean and seeds. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves and the vanilla flavors the milk, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the salt. Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes.
Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the ice cream into a plastic container.
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Freeze the vanilla ice cream until firm, about 4 hours.

Source:
"Food & Wine Magazine"
Yield:
"3 1/2 CUPS"

NOTES : This exceptionally creamy ice cream relies on two unexpected ingredients: cornstarch (to help thicken it) and cream cheese (to make it more scoopable).

 
Alton Brown made ice cream on an episode last night using nut oil...

I didn't see the whole episode so I don't know why but it sure looked good.

 
Wow! You guys are great. As far as I can see..there aren't many recipes that include

flour, but there are several that include cornstarch.

I had a chance to interview Alice Medrich recently and she said the cornstarch helps add body and mouth feel to ice creams without adding all the fat (heavy cream, egg yolks, etc.)

Last night I was playing mad scientist and made the attached recipe. Notice it's just like Alice mentioned...very little fat, no eggs, and a good amount of cornstarch. Frankly, when I took it off the heat, it looked like pudding. I thought I totally ruined it but decided to proceed anyway. After churning and freezing, I have to say, for texture, this is one of the best ice creams I've ever made! Especially for chocolate, which I haven't quite nailed until now. (Re: the attached recipe--maybe my cinnamon was super fresh, but the flavors didn't meld very well for me...Next time I'll skip the cinnamon.)

I also recently made the Pumpkin Gelato from Saveur. I happened to make it shortly before my interview with Alice, so while we were on the subject, I mentioned how lovely the texture was on that too. She said it was probably due to the fiber. Fiber can have the same effect as starch...creating a super creamy texture without the need for added fat. I had the same outcome with the David Lebovitz Avocado Ice Cream. Wonderful smooth texture. She noted the fiber in that one too.

When I heard about the flour in ice cream, I popped Alice an e-mail. She drew an interesting parallel about it being a thickner...just like how some people use starch or flour to thicken fruit cobblers and pies. The thing is, both starch and flour, and tapioca flour, for that matter all react a little differently and that has an effect on "taste and texture and clarity." She noted it would be interesting to do a side by side comparison using the different thickeners.

With a little more research, I found recipes for the East Indian Kulfi ice cream that not only does it omit the eggs, but it also reduces the milk (no wonder it has such an intense depth of flavor!). One secret ingredient was a slice of white bread, trimmed, then soaked in milk to make a paste. Then add to the base. Interesting...

I told you all I'm geeking out on ice cream lately, right??? smileys/smile.gif

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/CHOCOLATE-CINNAMON-GELATO-WITH-TOFFEE-BITS-235172

 
Oh!! Gay, that helps so much! Did you see the comments from Harold McGee?

What makes ice cream grainy is crystal formation. Cornstarch, he said, slows crystal formation by doing a couple of things.

“One, it soaks up water, so there’s less water available to make big crystals,” he said.

“The starch’s long molecules get in the way of ice molecules that are looking for each other to form crystals,” he said. “Impeding crystal formation is something eggs do as well, though in a different way.”

 
Meryl...once again we're on the same chocolate wavelength! I printed 2 recipes to try

last night and THIS was the other one. smileys/smile.gif I was too pooped to make it, but I snagged all the ingredients and hope to make it tomorrow. (Dreaded work project is going to keep me from trying it tonight.)

 
Add a little cream cheese & mint to the equation and you get REC: Mint Ice Cream...

Mint Ice Cream

Recipe By :Jeni Britton

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch -- plus
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces cream cheese -- softened (3 tablespoons)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup mint leaves -- coarsely chopped
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.
In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the chopped mint. Whisk in the salt. Set the bowl in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes.
Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker, pressing the mint leaves with the back of a spoon to extract all of the flavor, and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the ice cream into a plastic container.
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Freeze the mint ice cream until firm, about 4 hours.

 
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