Ice Cream Report

The final product was pretty good for a first attempt, but far from great. After freezing the ice cream in the machine, it went into the freezer. I stirred it every hour to help with even freezing. We ate it after about four hours, which turned out to be a good thing, as it was still relatively creamy (if a bit soft). The flavor was surprisingly good for vanilla extract as opposed to a real vanilla bean, and it didn't have the "coat your mouth with fat" problem I've read about with eggless ice cream.

The big problem with this ice cream comes when you try to eat it the next day and it's hard as a rock. I also found that the flavor diminished over time -- it was OK on day 2, so-so on day 3, and non-existant by day 4.

Final verdict: This particular recipe is pretty good, and best if you eat it the same day. Luke, who isn't nearly as particular as I am about these sorts of things, loved the ice cream each time he ate it as you can see from the pictures below.





Next up: Luke and I will make another batch this weekend. I'm going to try mascarpone as my secret ingredient... it's rich and creamy while being essentially flavor neutral. I think mascarpone coupled with a real vanilla bean will make a big difference in both texture and flavor. Given mascarpone's fat content, I'm thinking mascarpone, whole milk (as opposed to heavy cream or half-and-half), sugar, and the vanilla bean -- nice and simple. Stay tuned!