Summer is not too far away, and one of the great treats of summer is cold sweet treats. Today, how to make your own ice cream, in a few easy steps.
But, there's a catch...
The catch is that in my professional life, I'm a low-temperature physicist. Which means easy access to things like liquid nitrogen. Instructions for how to duplicate this interleaved among the pictures.
Here's how we start:
Ingredients:
- 2 quarts cream, or 1 quart cream and 1 quart milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 package (12 oz) mini chocolate chips
- 1/4 or so cup creme de menthe (over 21 only, please...)
all in a bowl and stirred together.
If we pull back a bit, there's something else in the picture:
4 liters of liquid nitrogen (easily available in most any city; check the phone book under 'Gas, Refrigerated'. 4 liters will cost a few dollars; many companies will rent storage containers)
Then you add some nitrogen to the bowl...
Once the fog dies down, stir until the lumps smooth out. Use a wooden spoon; plastic tends to shatter, and metal conducts heat entirely too well. You'll need someone to hold the bowl in place; that someone should be wearing ski gloves or the like.
Keep adding shots of nitrogen and stirring. Repeat until the desired texture is reached. Serve:
This technique takes about 5 minutes, and makes wonderful ice cream. As the nitrogen evaporates, it leaves tiny bubbles throughout the ice cream, giving it a lovely creamy texture.
-dms