The Ice Cream Book

I have an ice cream maker and as much as I do appreciate having ice cream at the turn of a dial, I do have this feeling of incompleteness. I suppose I feel one can truly live in the kitchen when they experience making ice cream by hand. The thought of whipping ice cream by hand is intriguing and intimidating. A full effort met with many rewards.  

Many cookbooks I have will have a recipe or two on making ice cream however I believe this is the only cookbook I have that is completely dedicated to ice cream. Even though this book was written in 1980 still the basics in ice cream making haven't changed. Recipes range from simple vanilla to the extravagant pistachio kulfi. There are 8 chapters dedicated to everyone's palette and preference for ice cream. One chapter I really enjoy is the Sauces and Wafers. Those are nice little touches that add to the experience. The photos in the book are "staged" full page colour, certainly a reflection of that period. Black and white illustrations appear here and there throughout the chapters. Making it's 92 pages a fun one. 

Summer is just about on it's way and on that note I will share the Lemon Ice Cream recipe, from the book, with you. Enjoy! - JW 

Lemon Ice Cream

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3 lemons

3/4 cup (175g or 6 oz) superfine sugar

2 cups (450ml or 3/4 pint double cream) heavy cream

3 tablespoons iced water

Finely grate the rind from 2 of the lemons and reserve it. Squeeze the juice from the fruit and combine it with the sugar. Stir from time to time until the sugar has dissolved completely.

Whip the cream with the iced water until it forms soft peaks. Beat in the sweetened lemon juice and rind. Pour into freezer trays or a container and still-freeze, whisking the mixture once during freezing, if necessary.

Variations: Substitute limes for lemons. 

*Note: "Ripening times vary from ten minutes to over an hour depending on the quantity, the shape of the container, the temperature of the freezer it has been stored in, and the ingredients in the ice. An average time is 30 to 40 minutes for a plastic container holding 1 litre/1 and 3/4 pints/4 and 1/2 cups, and 10 to 15 minutes for ices frozen in individual servings. Unless otherwise stated, all recipes in the book make approximately 1 litre/1 and 3/4 pints/4 and 1/2 cups." - The Ice Cream Book

* Helpful Hint: "The best time to beat most ices is when the mixture at all sides and bottom of the container is quite firm and the centre is still very soft. The important thing is to beat the ice cream very thoroughly." - The Ice Cream Book