Happy National Ice Cream Day!

If you're new to the blog, you might not know that I am obsessed with ice cream. But I'm not just a typical vanilla or chocolate girl. No, they have to be unusual flavors like olive oil or maple bacon.

Needless to say, I can't let a day like National Ice Cream Day go by without sharing my love of frozen dairy treats with you, dear readers.

So are you tired of the same old chocolate and vanilla ice cream? Need some ideas for how to celebrate National Ice Cream Day? I got you covered.

The Perfect Scoop, a pint of Jeni's, and A Snicker of Magic. How are YOU celebration National Ice Cream Day?

Make your own ice cream at home with these books:
The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

Or, if you'd rather not make your own ice cream, buy some Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream from your local grocery store, online or one of their scoop shops.

Other amazing ice cream places you should try sometime:
New York City, NY: Big Gay Ice Cream (order the Salty Pimp)
Silver Spring, MD: Moorenko's  (you can also buy pints of Moorenko's at select locations)
Ferndale, MI: Treat Dreams

Best novel to read whilst eating ice cream:
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (My version of the signature ice cream flavor, Blackberry Sunrise)

And since I'm always seeking out weird and wonderful ice cream flavors, please share with me your favorite places to get ice cream and what flavors I should try there.

A Spindiddly Blackberry Sunrise Evening

Yesterday afternoon I gassed up the Mustang and headed for Ohio to attend an event for author Natalie Lloyd at the Delaware County Library, sponsored by Fundamentals Parent-Teacher Store. But even better than meeting Natalie for the first time and hearing her speak, was unexpectedly getting a chance to attend a dinner with her and some of my Nerdy Book Club friends thanks to the wonderful owner of Fundamentals. And better still, I even got to sit next to Natalie at dinner and gush about what a beautiful book A Snicker of Magic is. So needless to say, yesterday's events will rate high on the list of Awesome Things That Happened in 2014.



Hearing Natalie talk last night made my heart happy. She was clearly meant to be an author. And when she said to the crowd, "Sometimes I have to stop myself and remember I'm in the middle of a dream come true," it just made us love her even more.



One of the best parts of finally getting the opportunity to meet Natalie yesterday was that I have been tinkering with a very special flavor of ice cream since I read the book back in January. That flavor would be Blackberry Sunrise of course. Well I couldn't meet her for the first time and NOT bring her my manifestation of the flavor she imagined. If you've read the book you know what a very special flavor Blackberry Sunrise is to the story: it's a flavor that conjures up memories. Sometimes they're happy memories and sometimes they're sad, depending on the sweetness of the blackberries in the batch you happen to be eating. It's also a flavor the protagonist, Felicity Pickle, has a difficult time mustering up the courage to try.

When I came to the part of the story that talks about how Blackberry Sunrise came to be, I immediately had a vision for how to make it.

"[Abigail] was kin to the Smiths -- so she knew all sorts of wild recipes -- cookies that gave people laughing fits, and punch that turned shy people feisty. Her most famous recipe had to do with memory; she baked homemade biscuits with blackberries and sugar stirred into the dough. Her blackberry biscuits helped people remember things; sometimes the memory was good and sometimes it was bad. but it needed to be remembered."

"Like the Blackberry Sunrise," I said, staring down at that infernal carton in Jonah's hands. The carton I refused to touch.

"Exactly," said Oliver. "That's where the idea for the ice cream came from."

Oliver continued, "The Honeycutts were older than most folks are when they had their baby, so they doted extra special on little Burl. He had a real creative soul, helped them name all the ice-cream flavors. Every year on Burl's birthday, his parents took him on a trail walk down by Snapdragon Pond. They'd sit on the banks beside the tall reeds and watch the sun creep higher and higher above these sleepy old mountains. One day, the sun turned the sky lavender and gray and then silver metallic. The morning glories fanned their petals. The wind blew ripples across the water. And Burl told his parents he'd never been happier. He said he wished every day could be a blackberry sunrise." (230)

Because the ice cream flavor was inspired by blackberry biscuits, I immediately knew I would try to stir some crumbled up biscuits into the ice cream base. And since the memory that inspired Blackberry Sunrise involved a lavender sky, I thought about the perfect ice cream base: Honey Lavender.

So this is a rough approximation of my version of Blackberry Sunrise (I'm very bad about measuring what can I say). Keep in mind, I make very small batches because it's only me and my husband in our house, and ice cream ends up going bad before we eat it all. I feel as if I haven't perfected this recipe yet, but it's my hope that someone else out there will also be inspired and make it better -- and if you do, please share it with me! 

Beth's Vision of a Blackberry Sunrise

Special equipment needed: ice cream maker

• 2 cups half and half 
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried, edible lavender flowers
• 1 carton fresh blackberries
• 1 biscuit or scone (I shamefully admit I bought a berry scone at Whole Foods for this because I am a terrible baker)

In a medium saucepan, heat the half and half, lavender, honey, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl until light yellow. Ladle some of the heated half and half mixture into the egg yolks and whisk vigorously to temper. Then add the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan. Whisk constantly (if you don't it will surely curdle -- it's happened to me on more than one occasion) on medium heat until thickened. Allow mixture to cool a few hours in fridge before churning in the ice cream maker.

Before putting the base into the ice cream maker, strain out the lavender flowers (unless you want the added floral flavor, but enough has seeped into the mixture without the actual flowers in the base). Churn the ice cream for 15 minutes and come back and check on the consistency. When the ice cream is mostly set up, this is where you add in the crumbled up biscuit and blackberries.

The first time I made this, I used whole blackberries and it was a little too overly textural for me, especially with the biscuits, so the second time I made it, I put the blackberries in a saucepan with a little bit of water and simmered them down to sort of a compote so I wasn't biting into giant pieces of blackberry. Depending on your preference, you could do either. The compote adds an extra step but makes for a smoother bite. The picture below is of my first attempt at Blackberry Sunrise where I just mixed whole blackberries into the ice cream.


Natalie tweeted a picture of the empty container this morning. I hope that means she liked it. :)

Big Gay Ice Cream: My new favorite food destination in New York City

I remember watching one of those Food Network/Cooking Channel shows a few years ago that talks about really cool places to eat across the country - something like The Best Thing I Ever Ate or Unique Eats, one of those two, I can't remember which. What I DO remember is that they featured a food truck called Big Gay Ice Cream that served grown-up soft serve. There was one cone that they featured that sounded so delicious AND seditious that I knew my next trip to NYC would include a cone at the Big Gay Ice Cream truck.

A few years have passed however, and Big Gay Ice Cream has had such a cult following and has been so popular that they ended up opening two brick-and-mortar shops around New York City.

From food truck to brick-and-mortar. This is their West Village location.

That is a fabulous unicorn

Big Gay Ice Cream has many comically named menu items such as the Monday Sundae, the Mexican Affo'gay'to, and the Bea Aruthr. But I was there for one thing: The Salty Pimp. Because really, it isn't very often that you get to go up to a food counter and say, "Two Salty Pimps please." That was quite awkward to say the least. But in the most awesome way possible. In fact, we'll have to say that it was awksome, a word coined by Carrie Harris's husband Andy at her Bad Hair Day event at Nicola's back in November. Because really, it's moments like ordering an ice cream cone called the Salty Pimp that are both awkward and awesome, therefore, awksome.

Big Gay menu

I'm here for one thing: The Salty Pimp

But despite the awkward name, the cone lived up to its cult following. That first bite was heaven. Vanilla soft-serve topped with dulce de leche, sea salt and then dipped in chocolate. I'm not generally a fan of soft-serve ice cream, but that's only because it's not usually coated in dulce de leche, sprinkled with sea salt and then dipped in chocolate. The sea salt balanced out the sweet of the chocolate and dulce de leche making this perfection in the form of soft-serve.

Behold: The Salty Pimp

Me enjoying my Salty Pimp - wow was that ever awkward to say ;)

So if you ever find yourself in New York City and have a hankering for ice cream, look no further than Big Gay Ice Cream. You'll be glad you did. And probably want to visit multiple times. In fact, maybe you should just look for a hotel nearby, just to be safe.

The best gifts are unexpected: Moorenko's Ice Cream

When my husband and I met Barry and Pam Soorenko a few years ago while vacationing in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the things Barry and I talked about when the four of us went out to dinner together was our love for unusual ice cream flavors. I mentioned that my love for strange ice cream flavors began in NYC at Mario Batali's Otto where I ordered olive oil gelato out of morbid curiosity, not expecting to like it in the least. But at the moment of first taste, I discovered olive oil was now my new favorite ice cream flavor and that was the beginning of my experimenting with my own strange (surprisingly delightful) ice cream flavors. After I spent time gushing about olive oil gelato, Barry mentioned to me that his sister Susan owned a burgeoning ice cream empire in Maryland known as Moorenko's and that he would have to recommend she give olive oil ice cream a try sometime.

I have been Facebook friends with Barry and Pam ever since we returned home from Asheville and every so often Barry would post something ice cream-related on my wall after perhaps reading of some unusual homemade ice cream I had concocted, but on the whole, I haven't really heard from either of them since our dinner together in Asheville. That changed about two weeks ago when I received a message from Barry asking for my address because he wanted to send me some Moorenko's ice cream. It was at this moment that I realized why Christmas gifts stress me out so much: because they're something everyone expects. The best gifts, the true gifts. come out of nowhere, when you're not even expecting them. Barry knew how much I loved ice cream, he knew I take great pleasure in making my own ice cream and decided to share the love with some of his sister's own ultra-premium, fancy-flavored ice cream.

About a week later, I returned home from work one day with a box full of this packed in dry ice on my front porch:

Flavors in the box included:

honey lavender

burnt caramel bourbon brickle

salted caramel with pralines

fresh ginger

black raspberry chocolate chip

cinnamon cappuccino

Lavender flowers in the honey lavender ice cream

I was in ice cream heaven. I have since sampled from each container and have deemed the honey lavender the most heavenly for the simple fact that, as is the norm with me, it is the most unexpected and unusual flavor of the lot. You don't expect your ice cream to be floral, but the sweet and the creamy pairs beautifully with the floral notes of the lavender. If I close my eyes while eating this ice cream, I might swear I was strolling through the lavender fields of Provence in late spring/early summer.

Even though honey lavender was my favorite, all six flavors were delicious and each container had the perfect creamy, luscious texture one would expect out of a high-end, ultra-premium ice cream. The only thing that a connoisseur might contest is Moorenko's appears to be a bit stingy with the mix-ins. Whether it's chocolate chips or pralines, the mix-in landscape is not very fertile. However, I actually found this to be an advantage rather than a setback. I'm someone who prefers my ice cream to be smooth instead of "rocky" and I like to savor it slowly.

burnt caramel bourbon brickle ice cream

If I'm spending more time chewing, that takes away from experiencing the actual ice cream base. Large chunks of mix-ins are a distraction from the master's craft. They prevent you from tasting and experiencing the pure, artisanal ice cream.

After getting the opportunity to experience Jeni's Ice Cream this past summer, I'd have to say that Moorenko's is definitely in the same league as Jeni's. The texture is perfect and the flavors are sublime. I feel like I received an ice cream windfall in 2012. I wonder what delicious surprises await in 2013.

Just this evening, before I finished this post, I polished off the entire carton of salted caramel with pralines almost completely by myself. My husband contributed by maybe having 4 or 5 bites.

If this is cheaper than therapy, I just got my money's worth!

A trip to the ice cream mecca of... Columbus, Ohio? Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

This past weekend my husband and I drove to Columbus, Ohio for a family wedding which absolutely required a stop at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams - arguably the best ice cream shop in the country. I had heard about Jeni's a few years ago from my friend and teaching colleague who has a severe allergy to MSG and therefore must always be meticulous about ingredients due to the hidden places MSG resides in our food supply without our even knowing it. When she told me that not only could she eat at Jeni's, but that they had the best ice cream she had ever tasted, I knew it was something I had to check out.

I've actually had Jeni's ice cream before because Plum Market in Ann Arbor sells their ice cream for $10 a pint (Yes, you read that measurement correctly. Not $10 for a half-gallon, a pint). I decided to splurge one day and give the Queen City Cayenne a try (chocolate ice cream with a hint of cayenne pepper) and it was a revelation. The texture was perfect and the heat was just enough to tickle the back of your throat.

Seeing as how Jeni's has a bunch of different and unusual flavors, I was excited at the prospect of visiting their actual shop and getting to sample as many as I wanted without having to shell out $10 a pop. So we decided to leave Michigan a couple hours early on Saturday in order to make a Jeni's pit stop before the ceremony at 2:30.

There are actually a few Jeni's locations in the Columbus area, the one closest to the ceremony was in Dublin, and from the nondescript outside (right below an orthodontist's office), no one would expect the party in your mouth you will experience once you walk in the door.

I'm thinking this nondescript exterior is more of a Dublin town rule than something Jeni herself decided on

Once inside, the first thing the girls behind the counter ask is if you want to try some samples, to which I enthusiastically concurred. The first flavor I tried was the wildberry lavender, which tasted exactly the way you would expect it to taste: sweet and creamy and floral. The other flavor I was eager to try was their goat cheese and roasted red cherries, just out of wild curiosity. I am not a fan of goat cheese, I personally think it tastes way too gamey for my liking, the aftertaste akin to sucking on dirty feet, not that I know what dirty feet taste like, but it's what I imagine it would taste like. ;) So I was surprised when there wasn't a hint of gaminess in it, just creamy, sweet and decadent.

In my review of Jenni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, despite my dislike for using cream cheese in all of her at-home bases (which given my discerning palate, I think messes with the pureness of the flavor you're trying to achieve), I have to give Jeni props for all of the experimenting she has done with trying to get just the right creamy texture for her ice creams. Jeni's in-store ice creams do not use cream cheese, instead relying tapioca starch to achieve the right texture, which does not affect the flavor the way the at-home cream cheese base does.

I was extremely impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of the girls working behind the counter, even going to far as to let me sample from their ice cream sandwiches, which is a much bigger profit loss than a small spoonful of ice cream. Grateful for their generosity at allowing me to sample the sandwiches, and being smitten with the one I tried, I decided I needed to order an orchid vanilla macaroon ice cream sandwich so I could have it all to myself.

This ice cream sandwich was a revelation y'all. I know I keep throwing that word around lately, but I don't even know how else to describe it. Ugandan vanilla ice cream between two almond macaroons, smothered in black currant jam.

I can still taste it right now: orchid vanilla macaroon ice cream sandwich

My husband ordered a cone with a scoop of the brown butter and almond brittle along with the roasted strawberry and buttermilk. Both of these flavors were delicious, but I was in love with the roasted strawberry and buttermilk for one simple reason: it actually tasted like strawberries. It was almost sorbet-like in its flavor and texture, that's how perfectly Jeni's got the essence of strawberry. My whole life I have never liked strawberry ice cream because it always tastes fake. I have yet to experience a strawberry ice cream in my life that didn't taste more like milk and strawberry flavoring than actual strawberries. Jeni's completely changed my mind in my belief that I don't like strawberry ice cream.

Left: views of some of the more unusual flavors Right: my husband's brown butter and almond brittle cone coupled with roasted strawberry buttermilk

After this delicious sweet detour, I've decided that I'd even be willing to spend the ridiculous amount of money it costs to ship Jeni's ice cream to my house. Luckily I can just go to Plum Market in Ann Arbor and spend $10 for a pint every time I'm feeling a hankering, but nothing will ever replicate the experience of making the trip to this ice cream mecca. Well, maybe if I can get my hands on one of those orchid vanilla macaroon ice cream sandwiches at Plum Market...

If you ever find yourself in the Columbus area, do yourself a favor and seek out one of their nine locations (one is actually in the Cleveland area and there are two in Tennessee as well). Your taste buds will thank you.

"Cookbook" Review: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer

I started the summer with an ice cream recipe book review, so why not end the summer with one?

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio is one of the most well-known, popular ice cream shops in all of America. Her commitment to quality ingredients and unusual flavors, in addition to her tireless work at experimenting with different base concoctions before getting just the right texture, has put her on the map.

Now, home cooks can recreate some of her most popular flavors in their own kitchens with this new recipe collection.

What sets this one apart from other ice cream recipe books is that Jeni has really gone above and beyond with trying to get the perfect ice cream texture. She sees ice cream making as an art AND a science. Anyone who has been around the block with ice cream making knows that while the most popular way of making ice cream, an egg custard isn't the most ideal way to freeze milk, cream, and sugar because it doesn't prevent water that sneaks in the mixture from freezing and messing with the ability to get a smooth, creamy texture.

Jeni's solution to this problem is to use corn syrup, corn starch and cream cheese as a binder instead of eggs.

While this adds several extra steps to the process, it really does make for a perfectly smooth, creamy texture as promised. And better yet, the integrity of the texture remains stable quite a few days later, unlike an egg custard base that so often needs to be eaten within two days because it deteriorates quickly by getting sticky and mealy.

However, I don't think the cream cheese as a binder is ideal for delicate flavors like vanilla. I made the basic vanilla ice cream (disclosure: I didn't get the "Ugandan" vanilla beans as specified in the recipe) and as I already mentioned, the texture really was beautifully smooth, but the cream cheese is not a neutral enough flavor to use for vanilla. I can taste the tang of the cream cheese in each bite, and while it's very mild, it's still strong enough for me to feel like I'm not eating a true vanilla ice cream.

For stronger flavors like chocolate, the cream cheese would probably work better, but I would stick with an egg custard for the more delicate flavors.

So if you're interested in the science behind ice cream making and/or your ice cream batches stick around for longer than two days and you're frustrated with how quickly egg custards deteriorate in the freezer, then I highly recommend giving this book a try. However, if you have a highly discerning palate (i.e., "picky") then you more than likely won't be diggin' the cream cheese base for those lighter, delicate flavors. Save the cream cheese for the stronger, heavy flavors.


Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer
Published: June 11, 2011
Publisher: Artisan
Pages: 217
Genre: Cookbook
Audience: Ice cream lovers
Disclosure: Library Copy 

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Maple Bacon Ice Cream: More than just an interesting idea

One of my favorite foods in the world is bacon. I briefly toyed with the idea of becoming a vegetarian about a year ago but bacon is one of the things that breaks my will to go meatless.

In addition to loving bacon, some of you might know that I have a penchant for unusual ice cream flavors (olive oil, honey lavender, green tea, and basil being some that I've tried already).

You see where I'm going with this...

Before the start of the summer, I had this flash of brilliance for a new ice cream flavor: maple bacon! I kept this idea in the back of my head but never got around to actually trying to come up with a recipe. But then I didn't have to. Claire Robinson, that lovely southern belle of 5 Ingredient Fix fame, stole my idea and came up with her own recipe for maple bacon ice cream.

I will forgive Claire for her transgression because she saved me from many egregious mistakes I was bound to make in attempting a feat such as how to incorporate bacon into an ice cream base while still keeping it crispy. I mean, who wants soggy bacon? Certainly not me!

So yeah, needless to say, I just used Claire's recipe rather than creating my own and I tell you what, it was AMAZING!

Let me take you on my journey of maple bacon ice cream creation.
(Adapted from Claire Robinson)

Ingredients:
1 cup grade B maple syrup
4 cups half-and-half
1 & 1/2 cup sugar, divided
5 egg yolks
1/2 lb thick-cut bacon (about 6 pieces)

1. In a small saucepan, over moderate heat, reduce maple syrup by half.

2. In a medium saucepan, over moderate heat, combine half-and-half along with 1/2 cup sugar until hot and just bubbling around the edges.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks with  1/2 cup sugar, then add 1 cup hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly.

4. Pour whole egg mixture back in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture coats the back of the spoon.

5. Pour mixture through sieve to get rid of any bits of egg yolk that solidified, then whisk in maple syrup.

6. Cover with parchment paper to prevent a skin from forming and then chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

8. Line a sheet pan with foil then top it with a baking rack. Place bacon strips on top and bake until crispy (15-20 min). When cool enough to handle, finely chop.


9. Line another sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Now comes the fun part:
10. Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar starts to melt.

11. Stop stirring and cook until the sugar is a golden caramel color.

12. Add bacon and stir to coat.

13. Pour bacon mixture onto parchment paper and let harden then chop into small pieces

14. Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions, about 30 minutes. At the last minute, add in the candied bacon and let churn until just combined. Freeze in an airtight container.

Then behold the maple-bacony goodness upon that first scoop.

If you want to be extra froufy, serve in a martini glass

It was so good I ate three scoops after that first taste

 

 In fact, this post is making me hungry for some more. Off to eat three more scoops...

How 'bout you?

My name is Beth and I have an ice cream addiction

Last night my husband and I went to a local ice cream shop called Treat Dreams in Ferndale. Believe it or not, I found out about it from reading Food Network Magazine. There was an article on p. 47 of the most recent issue (July/Aug) about places that are using potato chips in desserts. Treat dreams uses chocolate covered potato chips in an ice cream flavor they call "Tastes like Saturday Night". I, however, did not try this flavor, not because I didn't want to - I'm fairly courageous when it comes to trying desserts - but because there were two other flavors I had my eye on. Well, actually, with flavors like these, there were quite a few flavors I had my eye on, but two in particular.

Can you guess which flavors caught my eye? Well, after sampling three flavors, I went with a scoop of rosemary olive oil and honey lavender.

Oh my goodness! These two ice creams were heavenly. The rosemary olive oil had much more subtle olive oil flavor than the olive oil ice cream I make at home, but the rosemary flavor came through really nicely. But the honey lavender was by far one of the best ice creams I've ever eaten in my life. It was floral and sweet, but not too sweet and had a faint lavender hue.

I was so elated to have found this place because ever since I started making my own ice cream, I thought I was forever chained to my ice cream maker. In recent months I have been to both Dairy Queen and Cold Stone Creamery and felt equally unsatisfied upon leaving. When I spend my time at home making green tea, olive oil, and basil ice cream, the ice cream chain down the street just doesn't do it for me anymore.

But Treat Dreams is the answer to my desire to be able to go out (not just make) and find unique flavors at a place that uses local, quality ingredients.

This ice cream was so amazing that when I woke up, the first thought that entered my mind at 6:30 this morning was honey lavender ice cream.

It was at that moment I knew. The first step is admission after all so here goes: my name is Beth and I am an ice-cream-aholic.

The Perfect Scoop is the perfect "cookbook" for summer

When I first reviewed this book on Goodreads, I hadn't made any of the recipes yet but I still gave it five stars based on its comprehensiveness and the unusual flavors I was excited to try. Well, I'm here to say that after having this book for two years and tried many of the flavors, it still deserves five stars.

This is the ultimate ice cream recipe book, the Holy Grail of ice cream if you will. Not only does it have tried and true favorites like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and shows you different approaches to making them (e.g. Philadelphia style which is with no eggs, and custard-based, which is with eggs) but it also has some of the most fun, unusual flavors that ice cream aficionados will be clamoring to try.

With flavors like:
saffron
black pepper
pear pecorino
parsley
goat cheese
rice
avocado
lavender honey
roquefort honey
olive oil

you've gotta give Lebovitz 5 stars for creativity.

But once you get past the novelty of the creative flavors, you're still left with a mouth-watering, delicious batch of ice cream. Lebovitz is not just making these unusual ice cream flavors for the shock value of it. He truly cares about making a good product, and would never steer the home cook wrong. Every flavor of ice cream I've made with this book has turned out delicious.

So far I've made:
olive oil
Aztec "hot" chocolate
basil
ginger
rice
green tea 
oh yeah, and vanilla :)

and they have all been outstanding. If you are even the least bit interested in making your own ice cream at home, this book will convince you to be full-fledged, gung-ho about making your own ice cream.

This was my first attempt at making green tea (matcha) ice cream and it was delicious!

I do have one word of warning however: once you buy this book and start making your own ice cream, you'll never be able to go back to Dairy Queen again. My husband and I went there a few weeks ago and I couldn't even enjoy my ice cream cone because it was so blah compared to the ice cream I make at home. 






The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz
Published: May 2007
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Pages: 256
Genre: Cookbook
Audience: Foodies and Ice Cream Lovers 
Disclosure: Purchased Copy 

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.