A 'Bolt' Of An Ice Cream Inspiration

Anticipating one of the world's greatest athletes stepping onto the world stage to try and enter the history books is an exciting and potentially 'once in a lifetime' event. So today, in readiness for watching the Olympic Men's 200 metre race, I made a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream which I knew my family would love. It's a new recipe that I've been wanting to try out for a while since returning from a trip to France where I got the idea.

I was convinced, before the race, that Usain Bolt would win and as such would become a living legend in world sport and my way of sharing in that joy would be to celebrate by enjoying a new ice cream!

My husband asked me "What if he doesn't win?"
My reply: "Don't worry he will! He has to because I've gone to such trouble to make this new ice cream!"

Thank you Usain for repaying my faith :-) 

Here's the ice cream I made - served on a meringue nest with sliced, fresh cherries. Delicious!

Vanilla Ice Cream - Under Threat?

Vanilla ice cream is by far the most popular ice cream in the world, of that there's no doubt. The stats to my ice cream recipes have proven that year upon year. Vanilla is therefore a valued commodity and already commands quite a price on the open market compared to many other foodstuffs.

In the news today there have been reports about poor vanilla crops in Mexico and India creating speculation that there will be a shortage of vanilla and vanilla extract this summer.

Straight away many news agencies and newspapers have started scare-mongering about high ice cream prices this summer. According to them, this vanilla ice cream cone could fast become a luxury!

Thankfully, it seems not everyone is getting carried away by these reports - one leading producer of vanilla has just made a public announcement to the effect that they don't anticipate any particular shortage in supplies so their customers who buy from them to make ice cream and other foods using vanilla/vanilla extract should not suffer significant price increases. Read the full story from PR Newswire here

Hopefully, they will be right .... ice cream is such a wonderful 'happy' food that it needs to be affordable by everyone, whether they make homemade ice cream or buy commercially made ice cream.

Long may vanilla be in plentiful supply!

Interested in reading more about vanilla? Read my vanilla page.

Pancake Day Ice Cream

Pancake Day and another great excuse for some special home cooking!

Pancakes are popular with people for 2 different reasons - those with a sweet tooth and those with a savory tooth.

In the USA pancakes are a traditional breakfast menu item with many people opting for pancakes and maple syrup, sometimes with bacon. Delicious!

In the UK pancakes are eaten less often but on Pancake Day many people use them as the base for their main meal serving homemade pancakes with stew (meat, vegetables and gravy) or even curry.  Then for dessert they may have another pancake but a 'lightweight' sweet one using lemon juice and icing sugar as a topping. My friend Barbara Goodman serves "Scottish Pancakes" with a choice of sweet topping at her coffee shop as a special Pancake Day dessert.

In France, pancakes (crêpes to the French) are a common and very popular dessert. This is a French pancake (crêpe) with vanilla ice cream, sweet cream (chantilly) and nougat sauce, served by a great artisan glacier in the Vendée. Great at any time of the year, not just Pancake Day!

Happy ice cream eating on Pancake Day :-)

Low Carb Ice Cream

Low carb ice cream is something I had thought about making before but somehow never got around to. This last week, however, things changed. A family member was recently put on a low carb diet for medical reasons so suddenly the carbohydrate level of food and drink came under close scrutiny.

Where does ice cream come into this? First of all, let's take sugar. Given that sugar is a carbohydrate and that most good, palatable ice cream has a good chunk of sugar in it, then this diet simply rules out ice cream from the menu. Think about it .... a good, creamy custard base ice cream needs lots of sugar to mix with the eggs in making the custard; a good sorbet needs a syrup base which, again, requires a lot of sugar.

Now let's take milk. You might not think it but milk has plenty of carbohydrate. A cup of full cream milk has about 11g carbohydrate, a cup of light (single) cream about 7g and a cup of heavy (double) cream about 6g (it can vary from brand to brand). Most ice cream recipes need more than a cup of milk so, added to the carbs in the sugar of the ice cream mixture, this all makes for an unacceptable level of carbohydrate for a dessert when on a special, low carb diet.
Nevertheless, I was determined to make some homemade low carb ice cream. I read lots on the web, studied notes and lists from the dietician and then simply looked at how I could replace my usual ice cream ingredients 'like for like'. I studied one or two of my vanilla ice cream recipes and then concluded what to do.

Here's what I did ....

I made a custard base using unsweetened soya milk, egg yolks and artificial sweetener (granular form). It didn't taste anything like custard made with full cream milk and natural sugar of course BUT it still produced a nice, creamy consistency that I felt would work well in an ice cream mixture. When thoroughly chilled, I added 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and some heavy cream. I studied the labels carefully on all the ingredients and noted the carb level in ratio to the amount of each ingredient used. The total carbs for the whole mixture came to 32g so, logically, if I split the ice cream into 8 portions, 1 portion would have just 4g carbs. I put the mixture into my ice cream maker and waited .... 20 minutes later (5 minutes earlier than usual), my low carb vanilla ice cream ready to serve. According to my family who tried it, was 'quite acceptable'. Here it is, served with some sugar free (low carb) jelly.

More of my low carb vanilla ice cream photos

Vanilla Ice Cream: Recipe For Success With Chocolate Desserts

Vanilla ice cream is beyond doubt the best ice cream. I doubt that I will ever change my view on that!

Here is a photograph which I meant to share with you before now ... but time flies!

For Christmas dinner dessert my family wanted something 'chocolatey' so I bought a rather special chocolate dessert - chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce and chocolate sponge and encased in a Belgian chocolate shell. It would have been fine on its own BUT I could let the opportunity pass by of trying it with some homemade vanilla ice cream. I made up the ice cream mixture on Christmas Eve and kept it in the refrigerator overnight so it was well chilled by the time I came to freeze it.

After the main course was finished, I simply took the mixture out of the fridge and poured it into my ice cream maker. 25 minutes later it was ready. Here it is photographed literally seconds after it came out of the ice cream maker. It doesn't get much fresher than that!

Here is the vanilla ice cream recipe I used. The reason I used vanilla extract? Simple ... I had run out of vanilla pods! It was still a great tasting ice cream though :)

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Panettone & Vanilla Ice Cream

I had a new dessert experience this week - thanks to a nice Christmas present of a delicious, traditional Panettone.

I'd had Panettone before but just on its own with a cup of coffee.

"It can be a little dry as a dessert" said my husband .... "how about some ice cream to go with it?"

I thought about it for a moment and then agreed - a simple but glorious vanilla ice cream would be the perfect accompaniment. Here it is ....

The verdict?  Delicious! Here is the vanilla ice cream recipe I used.

Ice Cream For Christmas

Making ice cream is lots of fun and this Christmas there will be another group of lucky people who join the ranks of homemade ice cream lovers like myself. Santa will doubtless deliver a new ice cream maker to many homes - and long may that be the case!

For those of you to whom this applies, a piece of advice .... don't be afraid when you take the machine out of the box and the rest of the family look at you with excitement in their eyes, heavy in expectation of the wonderous ice creams you will now feel pressured to make for them. No, stay calm and casual. Remove the instruction manual and recipe booklet from inside the box and set time aside for yourself (perhaps with a glass of sherry) one evening when everyone's busy with other things and immerse yourself in reading them. It shouldn't take long - it's not rocket science after all  :)

Understand the basics of how to use your ice cream maker first and try just one simple recipe. Be patient - it may not work out perfectly the first time but the more recipes you try, the easier it will all become. Some ice cream recipes are simpler and quicker to make than others but dont be put off from trying the more time-consuming recipes, such as those that require a custard base.

My all time favourite is real vanilla ice cream made with a custard base, vanilla pod, fresh heavy/double cream and full cream milk. There's nothing quite like it! I have made all kinds of unusual ice cream and sorbets but I always come back to good old vanilla. Hopefully, when you've made plenty of your own ice cream you will understand what I'm talking about here.

In the meantime, good luck - may the joy of making your own ice cream lighten up your Christmas!

Footnote: If you want to interact with others about ice cream making, visit Ice Cream Recipes on Facebook where you can also view some of my ice cream photos and videos.

Ice Cream - A Thanksgiving Treat

Thanksgiving ice cream is a popular search term and it's not surprising why. After all, Thanksgiving is an important celebration for millions of Americans in which food plays a key part. What better way to give thanks for all the good things in life than getting together with family and friends for a special meal. Whilst many Americans will go out to eat over the Thanksgiving holiday, for most it's a special dinner at home that takes precedence.

Turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy will nearly always be the focal point of any Thanksgiving dinner accompanied by a variety of foods commonly grown in 'the new world' as it was once referred to in the days of the Pilgrim fathers. These foods include:

mashed potatoes
corn on the cob
yams
hominy
green beans
peas
carrots
cornbread

For Thanksgiving dessert it's usually a pie with many people making the traditional choice of homemade apple pie or pumpkin pie or pecan pie. Whatever the sweet pie, a scoop of vanilla ice cream can make it that extra bit special!

The combination of melting creaminess of ice cream with a warm and soft textured sweet pie is one of life's true culinary pleasures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eating Blue Ice Cream With A Spoon

Ice cream cones are always a pleasure to eat but the colour you choose can add even greater appeal.

For this cone that I photographed, my husband chose these 3 scoops of ice cream for the combination of taste, texture AND colour. What are they?

Rich chocolate ice cream
Coconut ice cream
Vanilla and almond ice cream (the blue one!)

All of these ice creams were made by our friend Jerome Paradis in France and served by him personally at this ice cream parlour.

Notice the two small plastic spoons in the ice cream? In France this is common as many people prefer to use a spoon rather than risk getting the ice cream all over their face!

Coming shortly on the ice cream recipes website is an exclusive interview with Jerome, one of the finest ice cream makers in SW France.

I have my ow recipes for chocolate ice cream and coconut ice cream if you want to try making some. Just follow the links ... and have fun!

Vanilla Ice Cream - A Recipe For Drew's Asthma

We all talk to people that we've never met either over the phone, by email or Facebook. When that happens to me I will sometimes ask what their favourite ice cream is as it's a great indicator of their personality. More often than not, they not only tell me but they can't wait to share their favourite ice cream memory as well.

Today I had just such an example when I spoke to Drew. Known to his friends as Drew Trumpie Mills, Drew's favourite ice cream is vanilla ice cream and he told me the story of how he came to love it at an early age - in hospital! Drew suffers from asthma and as a young child was in and out of hospital for weeks at a time. His asthma affected his eating and he became underweight so whilst in hospital the nurses gave him 2 foods that were easy for him to eat whilst at the same time affording him some nutritional value:

1. Vanilla ice cream (for the dairy content)
2. Mashed potatoes (for the carbohydrate element)

Drew recalls not only being able to eat these foods but loving the experience of being able to have lots of ice cream ... something he still relishes today.

It just goes to show that you never know who you're going to speak to in a day and what you might learn from asking a simple question. I'm so glad I asked - thanks Drew!

Ice Cream & Sloe Gin - What A Mess!

I love ice cream desserts and it was almost exactly one year ago that I enjoyed one of the best I've ever tasted - Eton Mess, a glorious combination of meringue, forest fruits and vanilla ice cream.

The scene of this special ice cream dessert experience was the Windsor Castle pub, one of the most celebrated in central London and a favourite haunt of Old Etonians. It is also happens to be my close friend Mary's favourite place to enjoy a spot of lunch. So when visiting her again just last week, there was no doubt in my mind where she would suggest we went at midday!


For main course we both selected the asparagus and green pea risotto with fresh parmesan which you can see in the photograph - delicious!

"What shall we have for dessert?" came the question. There was no competition ... Eton Mess! This time, however, there was a difference. It had an added little 'kick' .... sloe gin. What a combination! What's more I think it even appealed to Chloe, Mary's cat, who accompanied us to the pub. Look carefully at the top right hand corner of the picture!

"Oh hello Chloe!" said the young lady serving us, reaching out to stroke her as we studied the day's menu. Chloe is indeed a very special cat .... a Bengal with beautiful markings that make her look like a miniature tiger and stunning bright blue eyes, she is also a fully qualified Pets As Therapy cat who does great work within the local community. No wonder she's a welcome regular at the Windsor Castle!

Memorial Day, BBQs & Ice Cream

Monday 30 May 2011 is Memorial Day - a public holiday in honour of those, both past and present, who give military service for their country in the name of peace. The long weekend that it brings has traditionally become a time when families and friends get together and perhaps enjoy a meal together or a bbq out in the sunshine.

If you are thinking of doing the latter, then there are some super ideas for bbq food - the International Business Times for example this week published a great feature with recipes for Blue Punch, Barbecue Beef and Red, White & Blue Ambrosia.

What really caught my eye was the 8 scoops vanilla ice cream required to make the Blue Punch. You can of course buy ice cream BUT if you have time, I think it's always best to make your own homemade ice cream. Freshly made, with a creamy custard base and using a real vanilla pod, there's no vanilla ice cream quite like it in my opinion.

Here is my real vanilla ice cream recipe.
Here is the Blue Punch recipe.

Enjoy a great weekend!

Choc Ice Still Standing

As a child I remember ice cream being quite a simple affair - usually a weekly treat of a vanilla cone from the ice cream truck. A really special treat was going to the cinema and having a choc ice. I remember the anticipation of that ... tearing off the wrapper carefully so as not to break the chocolate coating and then crunching through it to get to the creamy vanilla ice cream.

Today of course ice cream is much more sophisticated. We have American ice cream, French ice cream and of course Italian gelato ice cream. Commercial ice cream makers add to this with their offerings of 'chunky' ice cream, ice creams named after celebrities, etc. Then there's homemade ice cream which is a world in itself.

So what's the point of this post?

Well, I have often wondered how many other fans of the simple choc ice might be out there when I was stopped in my tracks the other day by a music video my son was playing. It was Sir Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" - a great song with the music video filmed in Cannes and Nice in the South of France back in 1983.

About halfway into the track there is a quick flash of a clapperboard in front of the camera; I couldn't quite make out what it said so I naturally wanted to check it out. I went back to the clapperboard and paused the video .... what did it say?

"CHOC ICE RULES"

Nice one Sir Elton ... at least I know I'm not alone in my thinking!

Thanksgiving With An Ice Cream Treat

25 November this year is a day for celebrating the good things in life - it's Thanksgiving.

Every Thanksgiving is something to look forward to and for many families it as important as the celebration of Christmas. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving this year you may be looking for some new ideas to feed your family and friends.

Here's my tip for a super Thanksgiving dessert .... make some homemade real vanilla ice cream - like the ice cream in the photograph showing the dark brown little vanilla pod seeds. Serve it on top of hot, homemade apple pie!

On the other hand, if you think no-one will want pie because they've eaten too much turkey, then just make a batch of homemade ice cream to enjoy on its own. My Thanksgiving ice cream page list a couple of delicious ice cream recipes ideal for the occasion - one involving pecan nuts and the other white chocolate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

French Ice Cream

Everyone knows there are different types of ice cream - from gelato to sorbets to custard base ice creams such as this definitive vanilla ice cream made with a real vanilla.

How about French ice cream? You may not think there's anything special about French ice cream but back in Edwardian England they did. On the last day that the great liner RMS Titanic ever saw daylight, the 1st class dining menu featured 'French Ice Cream' as a dessert. By contrast the 2nd class menu offered 'American Ice Cream'. The White Star Line chefs certainly thought there was something special about French ice cream. Read the full detail of why in an earlier blog post about Titanic ice cream.

If you've not tried French ice cream then you're in for a treat. I was recently in France (in the Vendée) and made a point of seeking out and trying as much locally made ice cream as I could. My family kindly helped me with this 'exercise' needless to say :-))

The verdict? Delicious! We tried ice creams from all different types of 'establishment' - waffles topped with vanilla ice cream in a small cafe in Vouvant, various ice cream cones in St Martin on the beautiful Île de Ré, ice cream sundaes in a small town, pavement cafe close to La Tranche Sur Mer ... the list goes on. Every time it was the same great experience. Every time we ordered vanilla ice cream it was real vanilla ice cream (you could see the tiny dark brown vanilla pod seeds in the ice cream). Every time we went to a new ice cream parlour we were stunned by the fabulous presentation of their glaces maison (homemade ice cream). Just look at this photo of almond ice cream decorated in almond flakes and caramel sauce!

I took lots of ice cream photographs whilst in France and hope to share them with you over the coming weeks and months via my ice cream blog and of course my ice cream recipes website.

The Art Of Ice Cream Advertising

Ice cream barely needs any marketing in truth because it will always be popular. However, the ice cream sales trade likes to leave nothing to chance and every ice cream vendor tries to make the most of their point of sale space.

For a number of years I have taken a keen interest in ice cream point of sale material. The most common 'icon' used has to be the vanilla ice cream cone and I have photographed many of these giant display cones in all sorts of locations. Over the next few ice cream blog posts I will share some of these with you so you can get to see just how popular they are and the variations on a theme that exist.

Here is a photograph taken in Zandvoort (Netherlands). I just love the dark chocolate sauce they've added to the vanilla ice cream!

The Best Vanilla Ice Cream

Like many people, I love vanilla ice cream. I have done ever since I was a child. So it's no surprise that it's the one ice cream recipe that I enjoy making above all others. The interesting thing is that even with the same recipe, the results are never 100% identical. Most people probably wouldn't notice the difference but when you've made and tasted as much vanilla ice cream as I have, even a tiny difference can stand out.

My most recent batch of homemade vanilla ice cream was one of the best I've ever made. No, I'm not being conceited ... ask my family, they all said it before I did :)

Here are 2 pictures of it.

The first (above) was taken after serving a couple of scoops into my favorite penny lick glass and the second (outside in the garden, hence the light) after I put a scoop into an ice cream cone and sprinkled some hundreds and thousands on top. Delicious!

I've tried to work out why it was so good and the only thing I can come up with is that perhaps the quality of the vanilla pod I used was a little bit special in some way. The taste of the vanilla in the ice cream that day just seemed to be stronger and more aromatic.

Well, whatever it was, I hope I can get it to repeat next time!

Windsor Castle Eton Mess - With Vanilla Ice Cream!

On a recent trip to London I met up with my dear friend Mary whom I had not seen for over 10 years. The welcome was as warm as I could have wished for .... mid morning chocolate biscuits and English tea at her apartment followed by a super lunch at the local pub (more of that in a minute!), a walk in some beautiful gardens and then back for afternoon tea with cake and hot cross buns. Just as well that when I did leave, I had plenty of time to catch my train - I was so full I couldn't possibly have run!

Catching up on all our news, we recounted stories and reminisced about 'old times' (we used to work together in the same office in Regent Street many years ago). Our conversation was interspersed by the delightful play of Mary's new Bengal kitten, Chloe - searching for her ball and then chasing and playing with it, scampering here and there, quick as a whip. Chloe is without doubt the most adorable kitten I have ever encountered, with incredible, big, blue eyes. I challenge you to view this short video clip and disagree!

Chloe's Big Blue Eyes

When lunchtime arrived, we went to a local pub taking Chloe with us. The 'Windsor Castle' is a characterful, old pub and one of the most celebrated in London. The staff are friendly and helpful - everyone of course adored Chloe the moment they saw her - and the manager even came over personally to say hello. The food ... well, it was delicious.

After our main course (I had a lovely goats cheese salad), Mary insisted we have a dessert. I was too full I explained! So Mary suggested we share a dessert. Well, we had no idea that the pub has always been a favourite with Old Etonians (I learned this after our visit), so it was by pure chance that we opted for the 'Eton Mess' from the dessert menu. It turned out to be one of the pub's specialities.

Now if you've never had an 'Eton Mess' before, this is an English, 'fun' dessert for summer. It is derived from a well-known strawberry and cream dessert traditionally served on 4 June at Eton College in England when students picnic on the playing fields after the prizegiving ceremony.

The standard 'Eton Mess' recipe calls for broken meringue pieces, strawberries and cream - here is a very quick and easy Eton Mess recipe from the BBC.

However, at the Windsor Castle pub they take this dessert to another level, adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream along with some fresh, forest fruits. Ice cream and fruit - it was just as if it was meant for me! Served in a tall ice cream glass, the Windsor Castle pub's Eton Mess was topped off with sliced, fresh strawberries and fresh mint leaves. Score? 10 out of 10 - it was superb.

Chloe in 'Windsor Castle'

A Vote For Vanilla Ice Cream ... and Laurel & Hardy

Today's headline news around the world is without doubt the UK General Election result. Many blog writers, Twitter and Facebook members are busy jamming up the web with their take on the situation .... quite understandable perhaps BUT I would rather write about voting of a different kind .... a vote for vanilla ice cream!

Yes, when the rest of the world goes mad about politics, I find the thought of ice cream very appealing and somehow comforting. So earlier today, in a telephone conversation with a complete stranger, I asked what they would vote for as their favourite ice cream flavour.

The 'stranger' turned out to be Lee Cox from Sheffield in England (for most people Sheffield is synonomous with Sheffield steel and the Crucible Theatre which stages the Snooker World Championships). A bubbly, intelligent and very helpful young man, Lee did not hesitate in casting his vote ....

"vanilla ice cream with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top" he said

Quite a remarkable reply .... why? Well, vanilla ice cream is also #1 in my book, it is also the most popular ice cream recipe downloaded from my website (see the statistics for 2009 on my top 10 ice cream recipes page) AND one of my favourite photos of ice cream featured throughout my ice cream recipes website is of .... a vanilla ice cream cone with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on it! See the photo left.

In talking further with Lee, he revealed that was brought up enjoying Laurel and Hardy movies - a love he shared with his late father. Another coincidence, as my late father had the same influence on me! So here for you Lee is a Laurel and Hardy ice cream scene. ENJOY!

Ice Cream Photos - Rhubarb Crumble & Vanilla Ice Cream

Continuing with the theme of sharing some of the photos I've taken over the years relating to all things ice cream, this post is takes 'rhubarb and custard' as its theme.

For some reason the rhubarb in our garden flourishes annually beyond all our expectations. Needless to say I have become adept at making rhubarb crumble :)

PHOTO 1 - RHUBARB CRUMBLE
This picture was taken literally seconds after it came out of the oven. It was still bubbling around the edges. So what do you serve with rhubarb crumble? Custard perhaps or cream .... maybe .... but what about vanilla ice cream?

PHOTO 2 - FRESH VANILLA ICE CREAM
Here is a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream that I made with my favorite ice cream maker at home - photographed just as it came out of the machine.

Imagine a scoop of it on top of freshly made, hot, homemade rhubarb crumble. Now that's what I call a (n)ice dessert!

Read about rhubarb on BBC Good Food.