My Adventures in Ice Cream

I haven't posted in eons due to a crazy work schedule and readying for Christmas. Now that that's over with and the in-law invasion has passed, it's time for me to get back on track. Sadly, I haven't cooked much in the past few weeks...but more on the cause of that in the future.

My big present for Chriistmas was a Cuisinart ice cream maker, with a bowl you freeze and then pour everything into and just leave be for 25-30 minutes.

For my first venture I set out to make chocolate ice cream. I had to go to two stores to find cream, but I found it. Safeway didn't have ANY because they didn't get their load today. Their shelves were bare all around the store.

I followed all the directions and found that after 30 minutes of mixing, the ice cream was really just cool cream. It hadn't thickened or frozen at all. I put it in an airtight container and have had it in the freezer for over an hour, and will see if anything happens.

I'll try it again after freezing the bowl for 24 hours. Any other tips for getting it to work?

Why are We Eating This?

I picked up a box of Duncan Hines "Signature Desserts" Boston Cream Pie for after Sunday dinner. I've been running around a lot and working a ton and just wanted something quick, easy and decadent.

You make the cake and split it in half after it's cooled. Then, you mix the "creamy filling" mix, spread it on the cake, put the layers together, and drizzle the chocolate glaze on top. Pretty easy.

Note I didn't say "custard filling." If I said custard you would assume the ingrediants would include some form of eggs, milk, and sugar. Or that the giant box would have a tin of Bird's Custard inside.

Imagine my suprise when, after allowing the "creamy filling" to rest for the alloted five minutes (and three more), I returned to find it not creamy but almost like styrofoam. I'd mixed a cup of 1% milk with a white powder. At first it had the consistency of cake mix. So how could it have turned to a plasticene blob in just 8 minutes?

Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate and Disodium Phosphate. Listed after sugar, dextrose, and modified cornstarch.

So what the heck ARE Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate and Disodium Phosphate? Well, you find disodium phosphate in water softeners, enamelers and detergents. Oh, and instant pudding. When used in pudding it's a stabilizer. But don't overlook that disodium phosphate is also found in lots of household items, like...Head and Shoulders. And tetrasodium pyrophosphate is a buffer and thickening agent, but also used in toothpaste as a tartar control agent.

Yum. Okay. Now I wish I'd just had a pear.

Blueberry Tart

It's blueberry season. Juiceboy brought home a 2.5 pound basket of Canadian blueberries, and made a great dent in them, enjoying them with his Special K and strawberries each morning. I thought they might go bad pretty soon, and turned them into a tart.

We found it to be a rather tart, however, it was also quite sweet. I will make this again, spraying the pan before putting the crust in and cutting down the lemon a bit. A really nice alternative to ice cream, cake, etc. I think it would travel well, too.

Blueberry Tart

One Pillsbury roll-out crust
6 Cups fresh, washed blueberries
3/4 Cups sugar
1 t salt
1 T cornstarch
2 T cold water
2 T lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
1 T butter

First, cook the crust in a tart pan according to the directions. I did not spray my ceramic quiche dish (this would work better with a springform pan I think), but I will next time. Let the crust cool completely.

In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Add cold water and stir until smooth. Add lemon juice, zest, and butter, and 2 Cups of the blueberries. Turn on the heat to medium.

Mush the berries with a potato masher. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, until thick. This will only take about 5 minutes. Mix in the remaining berries.

Let mixture cool, then pour into tart pan. Refrigerate for an hour, at least, before serving with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.