Friday Evening Photoblogging: Mmmmm, Ice Cream

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