29 7 / 2012
Meeting Jeni in L.A.!
Jeni Britton Bauer is the James Beard award-winning author of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams At Home - the wonderful book (now in its 9th printing!) that inspired me to make delicious ice creams, experiment with flavors and start this blog.
Jeni was in L.A. this weekend as part of her national book signing tour. I had the pleasure of meeting her at Gelson’s Supermarket, Silverlake. It was a big thrill, and I was so chuffed. She complimented me on my illustrated ice cream recipes and signed my food-stained copy of her book…
One of these days I will make it over to Columbus, Ohio :)
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26 7 / 2012
Adapted from the Pomegranate Margarita recipe in Ice Cream Happy Hour. Even though the original recipe calls for 1 cup of pomegranate juice, I reduced this to make the flavor more intense like in a grenadine. I also used less Triple Sec in proportion to the Jose Cuervo tequila, and this is my first time trying out Guar Gum. PHOTO
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20 7 / 2012
The Ricotta is from Fresh & Easy. I was originally going to try a Ricotta-Sage Ice Cream (Sarah’s suggestion) or swirl in some Fig Compote, but I couldn’t get cannolis out of my mind. I have my mini cannoli shells ready to go!
P.S. Don’t forget to ‘like’ the We All Scream facebook page if you like this blog.
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15 7 / 2012
Adapted from this recipe.
Dear readers, if you follow this blog, please visit and like our brand new facebook page! New illustrated recipes will be posted there too. www.facebook.com/WeAllScreamrecipes
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15 7 / 2012
VEGAN ice cream! For a non-vegan version replace the coconut milk & cream with regular whole milk and heavy cream. PHOTO
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05 7 / 2012
Otherwise known as a Chocolate Martini Ice Cream. Here is another adaptation of a boozy recipe from Ice Cream Happy Hour (see my last post). Even though I drew a Godiva Chocolate Liqueur bottle above, I used Van Gogh Chocolate Liqueur which is actually colorless. The vodka is Ketel One, and the dark chocolate is Ghirardelli 78% Cacao. PHOTO
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04 7 / 2012
Extra boozy ice creams!
When I first read this blog post on how to make cocktail-flavored ice creams that not only taste extra boozy but that can actually get you drunk, I immediately ordered a Kindle copy of Ice Cream Happy Hour: 50 Boozy Treats That You Spike and Freeze At Home by Valerie Lum and Jenise Addison.
The authors use at least 1/2 cup of alcohol in their boozy ice creams - which is usually too much alcohol for ice cream to freeze properly. (The typical amount is 1/4 cup per quart)
Their answer is gelatin, which is first dissolved in water, then mixed with alcohol and used to spike the chilled ice cream base before churning.
Alas, I am a weekday vegetarian and have many vegetarian friends so gelatin is a problem. I have been Googling around for a replacement ratio for xanthan gum, and all I could find was this article, which says “Measure out half the amount of xanthan gum in lieu of the full amount of gelatin that a recipe calls for”.
In most cases, the boozy ice cream recipes in Ice Cream Happy Hour call for 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of gelatin. 1/4 - 1/2 tablespoon of xanthan gum seems like a lot…
Anyway, I am sharing here my first extra boozy ice cream experiment: White Russian Ice Cream, adapting the recipe from Ice Cream Happy Hour where I thicken the base with Jeni’s method (corn starch instead of eggs) and replace the gelatin with half the amount of xanthan gum.
Xanthan gum does not dissolve in alcohol so it has to be prehydrated in a water-based solution. Using a stick blender, I added 1/2 TB of xanthan gum to 1/3 cup of water and the result was something that looked like goopy hair gel. (EEK) I then blended in 2/3 cup of Kahlua and 2/3 cup of Vodka (Yes, really! This much!) and got a scary-looking coffee-colored viscous substance, which I strained and whisked into the chilled ice cream base…
Whew. This looks more like a normal ice cream custard now.
30 minutes later, I am perturbed to report that the thick and creamy mixture had not firmed up any more in the machine. However, this is exactly how the ice cream looks in the authors’ own ‘White Russian ice cream’ video so maybe I got it right. Let’s hope it firms up in the freezer in a few hours from now. So far, it has a smooth and creamy mouthfeel and I will not be driving any time soon.
If you have any tips to share on making extra boozy ice creams, please do! Especially on combining alcohol with xanthan gum. I am also curious if agar would be a better replacement for gelatin.
Next: Chocolatini Ice Cream.
*PS. I will be making the White Russian ice cream again and experimenting with way less xanthan gum and also agar and/or guar gum.
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28 6 / 2012
A variation on my Orange-Cardamom-Date ice cream recipe, taking inspiration from this blog post. I used Tangelos so that I could draw nipples. Just kidding. The dates are Honey Dates from my local farmer’s market.
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27 6 / 2012
This is a flavor request from George (Christa’s Pop) who was recently in hospital. I hope this ice cream cheers him up. I only had Earl Grey tea bags instead of tea leaves so I used these, and if I make this flavor again, I would try swirling in a sauce made with fresh blackcurrants. Recipe from Jeni’s book.
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18 6 / 2012
I looked at several recipes and couldn’t decide if I should puree the lychees into the base, or infuse them. One recipe even suggested boiling the lychees first - I tried this but I didn’t like the boiled lychee flavor. In the end, I pureed and steeped the lychees overnight in the cooked base, and then strained out the pulp before churning to keep a smooth and creamy texture. The raspberry flavor extract boosts the lychee flavor really nicely.
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16 6 / 2012
My friend Christa requested this flavor for her birthday, and she was referring to the Thai black sticky rice dessert that is usually served with fresh mango. However, the warm ice cream base tastes exactly like the Pulut Hitam dessert from my Malaysian childhood, and it was really hard not to eat it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTA!
* June 20th. I have revised this recipe. The earlier version turned out too icy/solid and not sweet enough which I later learned was directly related to the Palm Sugar.
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14 6 / 2012
An adaptation of this Blueberry Buttermilk Sherbert recipe. I think I put in a bit too much cinnamon but it is still very delish!
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14 6 / 2012
Out there on the internets…
I am proud to be featured on the charming Dessert Girl blog. Thank you to Erin for featuring my artwork in The Mixing Bowl (a collection of recipes by her favorite artists), and I hope you all enjoy the Blue Hawaiian ice cream recipe!
Elsewhere, you can hear me talking to Bibi and Fifi Poubelles about a bunch of stuff including ice cream. In fact, Bibi and Fifi eat and discuss my ice cream on this show. Click here to listen to the Slapbooth Show podcast.
The Pasadena Food Swap is coming soon on June 24th. Sadly I won’t be able to make it. If you live in the Los Angeles area and would like to do a private swap for ice cream, email me. I have done private swaps before with other LA foodswappers. You can request a flavor, of course.
Flavors on my list (all very Asian):
- Lychee
- Wasabi Pea
- Black Sticky Rice
- Lili x
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13 6 / 2012
An adaptation of the recipe in the Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream Book.
I don’t have any pink peppercorns so I am using red and green szechuan peppercorns and also fleur de sel in place of the salt, courtesy of The Spice Station, Silverlake.
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