ICECREAM

                                       

When we were kids , during summers we used to have fruit salad topped with 2 scoops of  my mother's homemade pink icecream , every single day. Back then , we never had store bought icecream , it was always mummy's vanilla pink icecream with fruit salad. The texture of this icecream is not like the soft icecream available in the stores, its more of a crystalized texture. Maybe because I am used to this homemade icecream , I love the taste and texture of it , but my son complains about the icy crystals in the homemade one. I don't use an icecream  maker . 


INGREDIENTS : The recipe for pink icecream is next to the notes.

1. 2-1/2 cups whole milk
2. 3 eggs
3. 1 Tbsp cornflour
4. 1/2  tsp salt
5. 3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
6. 3/4 cup sugar
7. 2 tsp. vanilla essence

METHOD


Making the custard base:

• In a cup add 1/2 cup milk and add 1 Tbsp cornflour , stir and mix well.
  
  
  
  
• In a mixie pour 1 cup milk , 3 eggs ,1 tsp vanilla essence and sugar. Pulse it in the mixie until well blended.
  
  
  
  

• Pour the remaining 1 cup into the blender and blend for 10 seconds. Pour this into a sauce pan . There will be a lot of froth on the top of the mixture. Put the sauce pan  on the stove and turn into on medium heat . Stir consistently and cook till the custard starts to boil slightly, about 15 minutes. The custard has to be stirred constantly to produce a silky texture or else the custard will curdle.
• As soon as the custard starts to boil, add the milk-cornflour mixture into the custard. Turn off the stove. Stir  consistently until the custard thickens a little bit more, for about 3 minutes, take the saucepan off the stove and let cool.
  
  
  
  

         

•  Keep stirring for a minute . The custard  will thicken as it sits.

        

• Take it off the stove and let cool. Don't worry about a layer forming on top of the custard.
• When completely cool ,  add salt and remaining vanilla essence, stir well  and refrigerate the custard for atleast 2 hours or overnight.
• If the you are careless like me and the custard curdles , then  blend the custard in the mixie to get a smooth silky texture . Use a colander to sieve the mixture.  Place the colander on top of the mixie and sieve the mixture into it. Do keep in mind that the custard will be a little diluted if you blend the custard.
• Why blend it ??? My mother patiently stir the custard consistently while cooking and she gets the right silky consistency. But I am very careless at this and sometimes the custard thicken a bit too much or curdles. So the extra blending help me get the right silky consistency like my mom's.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Pulse the custard in the blender , for a few seconds to get a smooth silky texture. You get appr. 3-1/2 cups of custard.

                                                

• This can done ahead and the custard can be refrigerated.

Mixing the custard and the cream:

• Take out the chilled whipping cream. Pour it into a whipping bowl , using a cake mixer , whip until stiff peaks form.
  

•  Now its time to mix in the custard into the whipped cream. Do this 1/3 cup at  a time. Pour 1/3 cup of the custard into the whipped cream , whip it using the cake mixer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Gradually mix in 1/3 cup at a time until all the custard is whipped in. Taste and see. If the salt is a bit too much add 1 Tbsp. sugar.
  

• Keep the beaters and cake mixer as is .
• Wrap the bowl with a plastic cling and refrigerate it until cold for atleast 2 hours. 

Freezing the Icecream:

• Take out the custard-cream mixture and whip it again for 2 minutes.
  

• Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze the mixture for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours , take the mixture out . By now the custard around the sides of the bowl will be slightly frozen. 
• Using the beaters break down the icy crystals and beat till light and fluffy for 2 minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Freeze the icecream for 12 hours or till completely set. Keep it out for 10 minutes before scooping and serving.
  

PINK ICECREAM - using natural color. You won't get a bright pink but just a pale pink icecream.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 frozen cubes of beetroot puree - equivalent to 2 Tbsp
• 2-1/4 cups milk instead of 2-1/2 cup milk
• the rest of the ingredients are the same

METHOD

• Before putting the custard mixture on the stove add 2 cubes of beetroot puree. Cook the custard as above.
  
  
  
  

          

• Whisk in the cream like the above method and follow the freezing method.
  

Chocolate Icecream

• Just adding cocoa powder to the custard base won't give that rich chocolatey  flavor to the icecream .Instead Make a double batch of the chocolate fudge sauce(without the sugar) , let cool and add it to the whipped cream. 
• Then mix in the custard as above. Taste and see. If you taste the bitterness of the cocoa ,yet feel that it is sweet enough, then try adding 2 more pinches of salt. This should balance the taste and bring out the sweet flavor.
• Using this method gives a nice , rich chocolate icecream

NOTES

This is an old fashioned icecream . I do not use the icecream maker . So the texture of the icecream is different. My kids call it crunchy icecream.