My Newest Project

Those that know me well know that I love to tackle big projects. For instance, I'm currently watching all the Oscar nominated films. It's going to take me years to get through them all, but it's all about the journey and less about the finish line. I'm also going to all of Time Out New York's 100 Best Things to Eat and Drink. So I like going through lists and finding new things (whether it be an interesting dish or a great old movie).

So my newest project has to involve ice cream, of course. I discovered this pretty popular book called The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. And I decided to follow all of his recipes and make all the different ice creams, sorbets, toppings, etc. that are listed. For the last year or two, I have been creating my own recipes. And I think going through a professional's recipes will be a huge learning experience for me. There's different ways of making all sorts of flavors and I'll take what I like and what I don't like from his ideas and then eventually make them my own.

I also realize there's this movie coming out called Julie and Julia which is based on the true story of this woman who decided to cook all of Julia Childs' recipes in her New York apartment. And then of course she wrote a book and then it became a huge hit and now a movie starring Meryl Streep. Well, my idea is completely unrelated (just a coincidence) and I certainly don't expect Meryl Streep to play me in a movie one day. She's a really good actress, but not quite that good.

My Arch-Nemesis

So when Keri and I were talking about starting an ice cream company last year, our most promising idea was an old fashioned ice cream truck. We had all these great ideas and were getting really excited about it. Then we discovered Ben Van Leeuwen on the internet. He basically had our concept, but was much further along and had proclaimed he would be taking over the world (not quite, but something close). He had plans for numerous ice cream trucks in the city, on the west coast, and packaged ice cream in Whole Foods.

Well, the summer is upon us once again and I've heard more and more about these new Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Trucks. I've even seen the product in Whole Foods as promised. Keri and I were quick to poo-poo him and his ice cream business. It seems the ice cream is made at a farm in upstate New York - cheating! And his ten flavors never change - boring! But he uses all natural and the freshest possible ingredients available. For instance, his hazelnuts all come from Piedmont, the vanilla comes from Papa New Guinea, and his coffee, of course, is Fair Trade Colombian. And his cups and spoons are all made from corn husks to help the environment and our health.

All of these promises are well and good, but does it matter if the ice cream itself isn't spectacular?

We found ourselves in Williamsburg for brunch the day after July Fourth. It was a beautiful day outside and we came upon this huge line outside a truck. It was the one and only, much derided Van Leeuween Ice Cream Truck. We had to finally try this for ourselves!!!

The line itself was ridiculously long and we watched him lose customers as the one employee could not keep up at a steady pace. But we persisted. The employee was very friendly and the truck itself is sleekly designed. The first taste I had was the one special flavor - Earl Gray. It was tasty. Lemony and light.

We decided on Strawberry and Coffee. I was a little disappointed to say that the ice cream was pretty good. The flavors were all there and they were fresh and the mouthfeel was soft and refreshing. I wanted to hate this so much, but the product was more than acceptable.

The one criticism I can point out is that the ice cream itself didn't have a whole lot of depth. The flavors were very on the surface and they were good. But I like to be surprised and hope the flavors will get deeper as I eat. They were definitely good, but not extraordinary.

Regardless, I reluctantly recommend waiting in line (if you have the time!) for the ice cream. Van Leeuwen beat us to it, but there's always room for more than one ice cream truck in this city. And ours would be completely different. So I've made peace with my arch-nemesis and realized this town just might be big enough for the both of us

Austin Adventures

I found myself in Austin, Texas this past weekend. It was for a family get together, but as you all probably know, I can't travel anywhere for any reason without checking out the ice cream scene.

And I have to admit, there wasn't much of a scene. It seems that

Amy's Ice Cream, which is a small chain around the Austin (and now Houston and San Antonio) area, has the lock on the city's ice cream. In my search, I really couldn't even find any other pure ice cream shops. There are plenty of healthy yogurt type chains. And another popular thing in Austin are their snow cones or shaved ice or snow balls. It seems they go by a number of different names, but are essentially the same thing.

I was only able to sample one of these, but I drove by a number of stands touting Hawaiian Shaved Ice Cream or New Orleans Snow Cones. I can maybe understand the New Orleans influence, but the Hawaiian influence is a strange one for me. Maybe since Austin reminded me quite a bit of Los Angeles and that city has some proximity to the islands? Could that explain it?

Regardless, I ventured to Casey's New Orleans Snow Balls. It was certainly off the beaten path and you had to be looking for it. Judging by the crowd, people certainly know to look for it. The flavors were all over the place: traditional (cherry, coconut, chocolate), exotic (tamarind, hurricane, egg nog), and combinations (tiger's blood, strawberry banana). They also feature both regular flavors and cream flavors (boston cream pie, strawberry cheesecake). So right off the bat, the flavor options appealed to me.

But now what exactly was this stuff? Was it similar to Italian ice? I watched the guy make a few and I was a bit fascinated. He fills a paper cup with unflavored shaved ice and then uses a technique with a straw to poke a hole. Then out comes the syrups. For the cream ones, he usually uses a few different syrups to make the concoction. The Boston Cream Pie for example, was a Custard flavor, chocolate, and a bit of heavy cream. It tasted perfect. Pretty incredible.

They seem to make all their syrups from scratch and I'm gathering that they use real fruit or fruit extracts. The fruit flavors weren't quite as successful for me. The pineapple was a bit too sweet and the watermelon tasted slightly artificial. The biggest turn-off for me however was how much syrup he seemed to pour on each snow ball. It really became comical when he was still pouring it on. But later on, I realized that in order for it to bleed down into all the ice, he had to have a heavy hand. But I still think it went on a little too long.

So I ordered two junior sizes (which were only a dollar each and plenty of ice for me). I got the Cafe Au Lait. I'm a sucker for coffee flavor. It seemed like this was an easy flavor to perfect since it's

probably just cream and iced coffee. It worked and it was delicious. It was slightly rich and I couldn't finish all of it. But this was far better than any frappucino.

The second order was a fruit flavor. And I discovered he could put up to three flavors in one order. So I had pineapple and kiwi side by side. Like I had said already, the fruit flavors didn't work quite as well. I always find fruit syrups and extracts to be cheap versions of the real stuff. But they both did the job and they were refreshing and cooling on a hot Texas day.

I can definitely see the appeal to this stuff and I think Casey's does a good job, but I think I prefer more authentic flavors and less syrup.

Next on the agenda was Amy's Ice Cream. I went to the original location on Guadalupe near the University of Texas. This place is sort of like Cold Stone Creamery meets Ben and Jerry's. There is a very hip and eclectic vibe in the store and they do a similar technique to Cold Stone where they use a stone slab to mix in mix-in's.

They're most known for their Mexican Vanilla flavor so I had to taste that. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. It was a deeper vanilla flavor, but I didn't get any sort of spice. Maybe I needed more than a taste. It was good as far as vanilla goes, but I didn't get anything very unique. I also tasted the Shiner Bock (which is one of the local beers) and Brittany's Parade (which was Sweet Cream Ice Cream with frosted animal crackers mixed in).

The ice cream was good - very rich and creamy. The flavors for the most part stood out. I settled on a small cup of the Shiner and Coffee (I told you, I'm a sucker for the coffee). I wasn't crazy about their coffee flavor - it was a little too rich. But I liked that Shiner quite a bit. It was much softer (probably because of the alcohol) and had a sweet and slightly bitter beer taste.

Amy's is definitely the favorite in Austin (is there a choice, really?) and for good reason. It's funky enough but also caters to the conservative ice cream fans. And it seems to be a great place for families and college kids alike.

Cinnamon Cherry Ice Cream

A friend of mine sent me a recipe a few weeks ago from Oprah's website. It seemed interesting enough - Cinnamon Cherry Ice Cream. Not a combo I would immediately think of, but why not?

I was in Whole Foods and saw some great cherries, so decided to try out this recipe. My big purchase was Harvey's Bristol Cream. The recipe called for the cherries to be soaked in the sherry overnight. I let them sit in there a little longer because life sort of caught up with me. But I liked the strong flavor the sherry brought out in the cherries.

The rest of the recipe was a pretty obvious cinnamon ice cream. I had made one very similar a few weeks earlier. I steeped the cinnamon sticks in the cream mixture and it brings out a great flavor.

The cherries were added after I froze the ice cream. The flavors work a lot better than I would have though. However, my big problem is the size of the cherries. I halved them (as the recipe called for), but I think I would have cut them smaller. The big pieces are harder to eat because they're frozen and you're eating the ice cream and then have to deal with this cold hard cherry.

Another friend suggested a peanut butter ice cream with apple chunks. So when I finally do get to that, I'll make sure to cut the apple pieces smaller.

Procrastinator Extraordinaire!

I seem to be the worst blogger around. Maybe it's because I haven't fully embraced the whole idea of writing about everything I do. I have yet to even look at that twitter website. It just strikes me as very self-indulgent and not too exciting. I was also never one to keep journals. In college, I would go back and write in my journal months after the events happened. Or I would fill in my planner after the week was out - just to document the happenings.

But I like this idea of writing about ice cream. It will keep me motivated (God knows I need it) and will document my progress. So I keep trying to kick myself to keep up with this blog. I realize since I really don't have any readers out there, there's not a whole lot of risk if I don't write for a month or so. it's all for myself at the moment. Maybe I need to send out some emails or post something on facebook and then the pressure will begin. So if you've somehow managed to get to this half-assed blog, welcome and I promise to write again soon.

My Newest Project

Those that know me well know that I love to tackle big projects. For instance, I'm currently watching all the Oscar nominated films. It's going to take me years to get through them all, but it's all about the journey and less about the finish line. I'm also going to all of Time Out New York's 100 Best Things to Eat and Drink. So I like going through lists and finding new things (whether it be an interesting dish or a great old movie).

So my newest project has to involve ice cream, of course. I discovered this pretty popular book called The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. And I decided to follow all of his recipes and make all the different ice creams, sorbets, toppings, etc. that are listed. For the last year or two, I have been creating my own recipes. And I think going through a professional's recipes will be a huge learning experience for me. There's different ways of making all sorts of flavors and I'll take what I like and what I don't like from his ideas and then eventually make them my own.

I also realize there's this movie coming out called Julie and Julia which is based on the true story of this woman who decided to cook all of Julia Childs' recipes in her New York apartment. And then of course she wrote a book and then it became a huge hit and now a movie starring Meryl Streep. Well, my idea is completely unrelated (just a coincidence) and I certainly don't expect Meryl Streep to play me in a movie one day. She's a really good actress, but not quite that good.

Blue Marble

I finally made it out to Brooklyn to one of the most popular new ice cream shops - Blue Marble. Blue Marble is co-owned by Jennifer Dundas, a well-respected theater actress in New York. They've had much success in the last year or two and have opened a second location in Prospect Heights.  This sounded like the kind of ice cream shop I wanted to open.  They are very concerned with the neighborhood and the environment and all their ingredients are fresh from the farm.

I was in the neighborhood so finally stopped by the newest location in Prospect Heights.  It was almost dusk on a Saturday evening and the families were out for their ice cream.  This shop is pretty tiny with not a whole lot of room to sit.  But I did notice a back room for private parties for kids.  

The flavors consisted of maybe 10 and weren't terribly exotic.  There were a few interesting choices, but I decided to try the usual suspects.  I tasted the mint chip, hoping it would taste of actual fresh mint.  I was disappointed when it tasted more like a peppermint patty with some artificial mint flavors.  Alright, that's a crowd pleaser anyway.  Next I tried the rum raisin, again hoping for some strong real flavors.  I got some sad raisins and a very strong rum extract taste. It didn't feel like there was actual alcohol in it at all.

I finally ordered and chose a cup of cafe au lait.  I love coffee ice cream and think it's pretty much the perfect flavor.  Coffee, sugar, and cream.  What could be better?  

The flavor was decent, but not as strong as I had hoped.  But the weirdest thing was the texture. It reminded me of silly putty or taffy.  I could pull it up with my spoon and it stretched.  And I could literally chew the ice cream.  I guess some people like this style of ice cream, but it was a turn-off for me.  

I'm guessing that the problem is that the ice cream is over-churned.  It's overworked and so much air is added that it eventually becomes flat.  Companies add different amounts of what's called overrun to their ice cream.  Overrun is the amount of air added to the cream mixture so that it whips up into what we recognize as ice cream.  Breyer's, for instance, has 100% overrun which means that their ice cream is about half air.  

The strange thing is that Blue Marble advertises low overrun.  I don't know what to believe but the day I went, the ice cream wasn't pleasing to the mouth.  And I really thought the flavors were inauthentic.  But clearly I'm in the minority since this place has gotten so many accolades and high marks.  Maybe somebody goofed that day and left the ice cream maker on a little too long.  I'll have to give it a second try sometime this summer.