This summer have been a hot one, and to cool down I have been tinkering with some cold flavors. To make the ice cream I used Liquid Nitrogen (LN2), and the smallest container available for purchase at my local welder shop is 10 liters, so that creates about 3 batches of ice cream. Currently there is a trend to add Licorice to everything, so I wanted to make a ice cream with that. And to fill up the other flavors I made a Dark Chocolate ice cream. My friend, Joe from Measure and Stir, have been wanting to make a cocktail ice cream and made his take on a MaiTai. Ice cream is a dish that you can really taste great dairy, so worth the extra few dollars on the good stuff.

Licorice

650g Whole Milk
225g Sugar
200g Egg Yolks
150g Heavy Cream
10g Licorice Powder (Fine)

3 about liters of Liquid Nitrogen

Mix all ingredients together in a Thermomix. Thermomix is a food processor with a heating element built in. Meaning you can set a temperature and have have it gently stir or chop. This processes helps making an ice cream base as you need to start with a custard. Put all the ingredients in the Thermomix except for the Licorice. Licorice is a pretty dominant flavor,so less is more. You should aim for where you can taste the Licorice, but not as intense as a Licorice candy. Stir the base at 70c for about 20-30 minutes, checking every so often to make sure you have a smooth thick custard base. Once you have your custard let it rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but if you can leave it over night even better. You want the custard to cool down and also settle the air structure inside the base. This step is not needed, but does help create a smooth texture ice cream. Using a stand mixer whip the base at medium speed while you pour in the liquid nitrogen slowly. Once semi frozen add to a contain and let firm up in the freezer. Served with Raspberries or strawberries. A great flavor combination is Fresh Strawberries with balsamic reduction with a scoop of Licorice ice cream.

Mai Tai

You can read all about this cocktail ice cream over at Measure and Stir.

Double Dark Chocolate

650g Whole Milk
225g Sugar
200g Egg Yolks
150g Heavy Cream
30g Chocolate Powder (Freshly roasted)
50g 66% Caraibe (Finely chopped)
50g 72% Araguani (Finely chopped)

3 about liters of Liquid Nitrogen

I followed the same process for Licorice ice cream base for this ice cream as well.I combined the 66% Caraibe into the custard base as it was mixing in the thermomix. This melted the chocolate to infuse the flavor. Caraibe chocolate have a nutty and fruity flavor and a gentle sweetness. I wanted this to play with the roasted rich chocolate powder. Once the base is semi frozen using the liquid nitrogen, incorporate the Araguani chocolate shavings. This will add small bits of crispy chocolate and bursts of flavor. The Araguani chocolate have a bitter flavor to really complement the two other chocolates.

See you next time. Hungry Eyes Full Heart, Can’t Lose!