ICE CREAM

                                       

When we were kids, during the summers, we would have fruit salad topped with two scoops of my mother's homemade pink ice cream every single day. Back then, we never had store-bought ice cream; it was always mummy's vanilla pink ice cream with fruit salad. The texture of this ice cream is unlike the soft ice cream available in stores; it has a more crystallized texture. Perhaps because I'm accustomed to homemade ice cream, I love its taste and texture, but my son complains about the icy crystals in the homemade version. I don't use an ice cream maker. 


INGREDIENTS: The recipe for pink ice cream 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.

        

• Let cool. Don't worry about a layer forming on top of the custard.
• When completely cool, add the salt and remaining vanilla essence, stir well, and refrigerate the custard for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• If you are careless like me and the custard curdles, then blend the custard in a mixer to achieve 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. Please keep in mind that the custard will be slightly diluted if you blend it.
• Why blend it ??? My mother patiently stirs the custard consistently while cooking, and she gets the right silky consistency. But I am very careless at this, and sometimes the custard thickens a bit too much or curdles. So, the extra blending helps me achieve the right silky consistency, like my mom's.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• After the custard is refrigerated for 2 hours and chilled, 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 be 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 it's time to mix 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, and 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 at least 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 ice cream 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 ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 frozen cubes of beetroot puree - equivalent to 2 Tbsp
• 2-1/4 cups milk instead of 2-1/2 cups 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 ice cream. 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 and yet feel that it is sweet enough, then try adding two more pinches of salt. This should balance the taste and bring out the sweet flavor.
• Using this method gives a nice, rich chocolate ice cream

NOTES

• This is an old-fashioned ice cream. I do not use an ice cream maker. So the texture of the ice cream is different. My kids call it crunchy ice cream.
• The cream can be skipped, and the custard can be frozen to make the ice cream. Reduce the amount of sugar and salt if skipping the whipping cream. My mother started out by making ice cream this way, then gradually she found the method of adding the whipped cream, thus making the ice cream more creamy.