*Because PMS Ice Cream doesn’t sound all that great, but if you are going to eat your feelings, what you eat should be:
A. Homemade
B. Delicious
C. Solve a problem
This is literally the best ice cream I have ever had. I know, I know, I’m probably going to say that about every new recipe but this was so much better than I ever thought it could be. So it is a little like Hamilton. (Stay with me) I had listened to the original cast album of Hamilton uncountable times so when I finally watched the movie version I thought, “I’m sure this is going to be good” but I was unprepared for just how unbelievably good it really was. I feel the same way about this ice cream.
But, Dave, why?
- I really like chocolate and this is really chocolaty
- I used cinnamon and vanilla as supporting flavors
- I added herbal tinctures - that is where the chill in the name comes from
- I used some things that you might not have in your pantry that give this a texture like silk- more on that later
Ummm, could you go back to the tincture part? Does that have anything to do with the PMS thing you mentioned earlier?
It does. Thanks for asking. We make an herbal formula called Peacekeeper. It helps with the moodiness that often accompanies PMS. I could go on and talk about how effective it is but I would just be parroting back what women have told me, so go check out the reviews. I combined Peacekeeper with our Quiet Mind formula because of its calming effect. Think about this for a minute: how would you like to have a dose of Peacekeeper which might as well be called rage-be-gone and then have some nice herbal chill from the Quiet Mind all from eating a portion of silky smooth chocolate ice cream? I don’t even get PMS and I love this stuff.
Here we go!
|
Ingredient
|
Amount
|
|
Heavy Whipping Cream
|
300g
|
|
Full Fat Milk
|
400g
|
|
Sugar
|
125g
|
|
Egg Yolks
|
5
|
|
Chocolate chips as dark as your soul or whatever
|
150g
|
|
cinnamon powder
|
.5g or 1/4 t
|
|
Vanilla extract
|
8ml or 1.5 t
|
|
glucose or inverted sugar (see directions below)
|
50g
|
|
Xanthan gum powder
|
1g or 1/4 t
|
|
Peacekeeper
|
30ml or 1oz
|
|
Quiet Mind
|
30ml or 1oz
|
- Combine the Cream, Milk, Sugar, Chocolate, Glucose or Inverted Sugar, Cinnamon, Vanilla and Glucose in an appropriately sized saucepan. I should have just said everything except the Egg Yolks , Xanthan gum and Herbalogic herbs.
- Bring mixture to a slow boil, about 190F, whisking every few minutes
- Add Egg Yolks in a much larger bowl than you would think you would need because you will be whisking these later to temper them
- When your ice cream base is about boiling take about 1 cup and slowly add it to your egg yolks whisking constantly. Your eggs are now tempered and if they are not, and you got scrambled eggs, start the whole thing over.
- Add your tempered eggs back to the saucepan with the remaining Ice Cream base.
- Bring the ice cream base back up to about 180F or until it is starting to get thick. This won’t take that long, couple minutes maybe.
- At this point transfer the ice cream base to a bowl that has been nestled in some ice and stir in your herbs. Continue to stir this occasionally until the base is about 50F. Should take about an hour-ish.
- Add the ice cream base to a blender with the Xanthan gum and blend on low for about one minute.
- Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 4 hours but preferably overnight.
- When the base is ready follow the instructions for your ice cream maker.
- Chill in the freezer for at least 2 hours before eating but man it is good right off the churn if you like really really soft serve.
Why the Glucose and Xanthan gum?
Glucose: This is all about texture. The granulated sugar we use is made of sucrose and is a disaccharide. A disaccharide can bond with two water molecules but if you break the hydrogen bond between the two parts of the disaccharide it can bond with 4 water molecules and does a great job of keeping the water in the ice cream from getting icy. If you can’t find glucose or don’t want to spend the money on it you can make inverted sugar. Recipe below.
Inverted sugar:
Granulated Sugar: 1000g
Water 500g
Citric Acid 1 teaspoon or 5g or 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice.
Add all three ingredients to a medium saucepan and heat until boiling then simmer until a thermometer reads 245F. Cool and use. Will keep for 6 months at room temp.
Xanthan gum: If you have ever had ice cream that gets grainy or icy it is mainly because all freezers have a freeze thaw cycle and even when the temperature goes up just a few degrees some water will melt and find other water molecules to hook up with making larger groups of water that will make your ice cream grainy or icy. Xanthan gum is a naturally occurring emulsifier that binds water and fats so the water doesn’t end up making the ice cream feel grainy.
Dave’s tasting notes: I think you already know where I am on this. I love it. The chocolate is dark and rich and with just hints of vanilla and cinnamon to round out the flavors. I think it all works and here is the best part. You know how not all herbal tinctures can be, not to put too fine a point on it, not tasty? You don’t taste the herbs in this, like, not at all. Speaking of the herbs. I find them to be quite pleasant in that after I eat a half cup portion I do feel very relaxed and not really worried about much and although I don’t or can’t suffer from PMS, the world right now is plenty irritating and not at all relaxing so, I think these herbs can work for PMS or 2020, take your pick.
Jeanine’s tasting notes: Wow, that was good. Wait, where did all my ice cream go? And yes, I feel much more chill. I’m not even going to worry about the run-on sentences in Dave’s tasting notes.
Dave’s grammar notes: That’s good because I stopped caring about you starting sentences with conjunctions a long time ago. But that said, the ice cream was good. SWIDT?