Okay, so I lied. I said I was going to experiment with other non-dairy milks and I didn’t. I did make more ice cream from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats from Bi-Rite Creamery for this month’s Cook the Book’s cookbook challenge. I made the balsamic strawberry ice cream on page 138. Since I had leftover coconut cream and didn’t want to waste it, I used pretty much the same formula as last time: part coconut cream and part soy milk. I think I used about 1/4 cup more soy and 1/4 cup less coconut milk this time, but that was the only change I made from my basil ice cream batch.
I did still learn a couple of things though. I learned that if you heat the base too long (just past the point where you run your finger across the spatula and it holds a clear path), the dairy substitutes can start to separate. I am not sure if it was the soy or the coconut cream that is the main culprit of the separating, but my guess is that it is the soy, since I have seen it do that while in the fridge.
I was worried that I had screwed up when that happened, but luckily, it didn’t seem to affect the outcome too much. It still firmed up just fine. The ice cream has a bit more of a gritty look and less of a creamy one, but it didn’t taste that way.
I also made my own sugar cones (page 46). I really wanted to try that and figured that balsamic strawberry ice cream would taste great with a sugar cone. I have never made crepes before, but I would imagine that making these cones was a bit like that. The batter is mostly powdered sugar, butter and some egg whites. I spread the batter thinly in a circle on a non-stick baking mat and cooked for about 7 minutes. The recipe said to use a small off-set spatula to spread the batter into circles, but I just used the back of the tablespoon I was using to measure out the batter, and that seemed to work just fine.
The recipe even has instructions for how to make your own ice cream cone mold. I made mine out of cardboard from an empty cider six-pack, filled it with dried beans and covered it with foil. When the tray came out of the oven, I quickly roll the cooked circles around the mold and voila!
They were no waffle cones, they didn’t turn out super pretty and there are big holes at the bottom to be aware of, but they sure were tasty (as I would expect anything that is mostly butter and sugar to be). It kind of just tasted like a sugar cookie. I ate my cone strategically… and with a bowl under it. No problem!
I liked how this flavor turned out a lot. The coconut cream didn’t over-power the flavor of the strawberries at all, I could taste them just fine, which I was happy about. The balsamic vinegar gave it almost a frozen yogurt taste, which I liked. Paired with the sugar cone it was the perfect combo. It was almost like eating a frozen strawberry shortcake!
Well, that’s it for my participation in August’s Cook the Books. I am so happy to have this new, easy, yet impressive skill of ice cream making under my belt now. My ice cream maker and Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones were good purchases, that will continue to get use. I think this was one of my favorite months!
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