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Sep. 28th, 2009 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Brown Butter Ice Cream.
1 cup milk (I used buttermilk, 'cause there isn't enough butter in the recipe)
1 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, diced
1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1/8 tsp sea salt
Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and add half the sugar. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
In another saucepan, place the butter over low heat. When the butter is melted, increase the heat to medium. Watch carefully, using a spoon to push aside foam to check the color of the milk solids. When they turn brown and you smell a sweet, nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon juice, and transfer to a bowl to cool until no longer hot to the touch.
In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt until light in color and thick. Whisk in the cooled brown butter, adding it slowly and whisking it vigorously to emulsify the mixture. When fully incorporated, slowly whisk in the cream/milk mixture. Pour the mixture into a clean pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cool quickly by placing it in a larger bowl or sink filled with ice water. Stir often until cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight to meld the flavors.
The next day, churn according to ice cream maker instructions.
What worked: It was very tasty. Nutty and brown-butter flavored, but not overly sweet. There wasn't a lot - about a scoop apiece - but if there had been more the four of us would have eaten it, so that might be for the best.
What didn't: I must have jarred the freezer door ajar, because it ended up on the slushy side of soft-serve. It was thicker than that when I put it in the freezer that morning.
Will I make it again? Not soon, but it's a good ice cream recipe to throw into the mix every once in a while.
And a bonus: next week's Resolution Recipe, which I made for the above ice cream: Salted Caramel Sauce.
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 plus 2 Tbsp cream
2/3 cup butter, diced
Place the sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the sugar until it melts and begins to turn a caramel color. (A temperature maybe? Give the caramel a stir to blend in any uncooked sugar. Once it has all turned into liquid caramel, remove the pan from the heat and dip the base of the pan into cold water to stop the caramel from cooking further.
Carefully stir in the cream (the mixture may splatter and foam), add the butter, and stir over low heat until all the caramel is dissolved. Serve warm or at room temperature.
What worked: It didn't.
What didn't: I made two attempts; both turned into caramel concrete.
Will I make it again? Not by this recipe unless I have someone who knows how to make this physically walk me through it. Two failures is enough.
What I'm reading: Tim Powers, A Time to Cast Away Stones
1 cup milk (I used buttermilk, 'cause there isn't enough butter in the recipe)
1 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, diced
1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1/8 tsp sea salt
Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and add half the sugar. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
In another saucepan, place the butter over low heat. When the butter is melted, increase the heat to medium. Watch carefully, using a spoon to push aside foam to check the color of the milk solids. When they turn brown and you smell a sweet, nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon juice, and transfer to a bowl to cool until no longer hot to the touch.
In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt until light in color and thick. Whisk in the cooled brown butter, adding it slowly and whisking it vigorously to emulsify the mixture. When fully incorporated, slowly whisk in the cream/milk mixture. Pour the mixture into a clean pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cool quickly by placing it in a larger bowl or sink filled with ice water. Stir often until cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight to meld the flavors.
The next day, churn according to ice cream maker instructions.
What worked: It was very tasty. Nutty and brown-butter flavored, but not overly sweet. There wasn't a lot - about a scoop apiece - but if there had been more the four of us would have eaten it, so that might be for the best.
What didn't: I must have jarred the freezer door ajar, because it ended up on the slushy side of soft-serve. It was thicker than that when I put it in the freezer that morning.
Will I make it again? Not soon, but it's a good ice cream recipe to throw into the mix every once in a while.
And a bonus: next week's Resolution Recipe, which I made for the above ice cream: Salted Caramel Sauce.
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 plus 2 Tbsp cream
2/3 cup butter, diced
Place the sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the sugar until it melts and begins to turn a caramel color. (A temperature maybe? Give the caramel a stir to blend in any uncooked sugar. Once it has all turned into liquid caramel, remove the pan from the heat and dip the base of the pan into cold water to stop the caramel from cooking further.
Carefully stir in the cream (the mixture may splatter and foam), add the butter, and stir over low heat until all the caramel is dissolved. Serve warm or at room temperature.
What worked: It didn't.
What didn't: I made two attempts; both turned into caramel concrete.
Will I make it again? Not by this recipe unless I have someone who knows how to make this physically walk me through it. Two failures is enough.
What I'm reading: Tim Powers, A Time to Cast Away Stones
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 03:20 pm (UTC)Re: Caramel Sauce
Date: 2009-09-28 03:29 pm (UTC)I add water to the sugar to assist in the primary liquifaction of the sugar, and it boils off after the point the sugar would melt anyways. I think the point is that it tempers the sugar/caramel.
As far as a temperature goes -- I judge by color. Depending on who will be eating it, I go for a 'blond' color for kids (more sweet), and a cafe-au-lait color for adults (more complex flavor). I haven't yet taken it to *really* dark because I do worry about it going too burnt in the flavor department.
I think you may be cooling it too rapidly when you put the pan in cold water. The rapid change in Temperature without the cream might be setting-up the crystalization process too early. I just remove-from-heat, and add the butter and cream. Yes, it will spatter and foam like an effing geyser, and you will probably steam up your glasses (wait, you had laser surgery; never mind), so wear goggles or be VERY careful.
Do not return to heat.
I think having the cream/butter in situ prior to cooldown may be the key.
Re: Caramel Sauce
Date: 2009-09-28 04:25 pm (UTC)New Tim Powers?
Date: 2009-09-28 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 05:46 pm (UTC)Re: Caramel Sauce
Date: 2009-09-28 05:49 pm (UTC)Re: Caramel Sauce
Date: 2009-09-28 06:13 pm (UTC)New Tim Powers?
Date: 2009-09-28 06:16 pm (UTC)Did I tell you that Tim will be in town in Oct and is getting together with fans at a SF bar for a couple hours? E-mail me if you're interested and I'll send the details.
Re: Caramel Sauce
Date: 2009-09-28 06:23 pm (UTC)Not in a bulk recipe like this: I don't remember enough of my graduate work (MS (1993, SUNY Binghamton) in Solid State Physics ('Solid state' = study of crystals and their properties)) to speak directly to sugars doped with halites, but I strongly doubt (more like a gut feeling) it has much to do with the presence (or absence) of salt. The driving actor is the temperature as a factor of time.
In this case, the rapid quenching in water drastically cools the caramel. There simply isn't enough time for the cool dairy products to get incorporated well in the mix.
By skipping the quenching process, the action of the butter melting, combined with the bulk of the cream and the butter combined act as enough of a heat sink to do the cooling themselves. Water carries the excess heat off as steam (hence the geyser effect -- it really *is* like dropping an ice cube into a deep fat fryer). At the same time, vigorous mixing of the dairy into the sugar/caramel emulsifies the sauce; the fat in the dairy is suspended throughout, and the sugar never has a chance to form a good lattice.
Do I use salt? I cheat and use salted butter.
And the sauce thickens in the refrigerator; I can use it as a top layer on large tarts that can be sliced like pie wedges when chilled.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-28 07:04 pm (UTC)