To Cream the Impossible Cream

[kerravonsen]

I have continued my pursuit of the sugar-free sorbet. I have googled, I have perused disputes about the nature of Sucralose and the physical chemistry of ice-cream making, and I have discovered the secret...

The thing about ice-cream is that it needs to be a mix of water that will freeze and some other substance that won't freeze. It's the not-freezing bit that makes it creamy, otherwise one has just got flavoured crushed ice. This page has helpful tips about the substances that work: fat (the classic, from cream), sugar (sucrose), alcohol and gelatin. Now, this thread discussed whether one could use Splenda in ice-cream making rather than sucrose, and one of the posters pointed out that, no, it won't work because, while sucralose will deal with the sweetness, it doesn't have the non-freezing properties of sucrose.

That's when it occurred to me. What about Xylitol? Xylitol is a sugar alcohol with the same level of sweetness as sucrose, but 60% of the calories, with a low GI. And if it is chemically an alcohol, then perhaps it has similar non-freezing properties as ethanol alcohol.

Experiment #5: Green Tea Chai sorbet with Xylitol
Recipe: 2 1/2 cups water, 7 Chai Green Tea bags, 1 cup Xylitol
Result: semi-success! It failed in the opposite direction, to wit, it went all creamy and didn't freeze enough. I ended up with a sort of semi-frozen slush. It was also too sweet and the flavour was too strong. Obviously I had too little water and too much tea and too much Xylitol.
Lesson: Do Not Put Too Much Xylitol in the mix.

I shall try again with less Xylitol.

Comments

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that some people don't think you can sweeten ice cream with Splenda, when, in fact, there are several commercial brands that do sweeten their sugar-free ice cream with Splenda. My favorite of Breyers, because there is very little difference between the flavor of their sugar-free and their real ice cream. Now, I don't know if they have any other sweeteners in it, (maltitol is a very popular one here in the States, for example), and of course there are other commercial agents in the ice cream to give it the right texture and consistency, so making homemade ice cream with Splenda might not (probably won't?) work.

I'm really impressed with all your experimenting and the results, and I'm following your progress with much interest!

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Ah, but Kathryn's isn't just sugar free, it's fat-free as well. I'd guess that the sugar-free commercial brands are using some kind of vegetable fat to produce the emulsion.

[kerravonsen]

That or gelatine. Or both.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Well, Splenda will work in ice cream, because the fat in the cream does not freeze, even if the Splenda does.

There is no fat in a sorbet.

[kerravonsen]

Yes, yes, but I am pursuing sorbets, not ice cream, due to the fat.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I know, I was trying to reply to feliciakw. But apparently, I clicked the wrong thingy. :-)

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I perceive the benefits of a good grounding in chemistry.

You know, if you get this to work, you might have a commercial product in there somewhere...

[kerravonsen]

8-)

I suspect it's already been done in the US, diet-mad that they are.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I had to laugh, you remind me of a dedicated (:-)) professor in a lab...

[kerravonsen]

8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Eureka, and well done, you! :-) I hope it works with the right amount of Xylitol for taste. Could you add a little alcohol like vodka (fairly tasteless) if you need to?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Or maybe rum (fairly tasty)? Or even vanilla extract (Very tasty!)?

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Or even vanilla extract (Very tasty!)?

Particularly if it's real vanilla. (Or is the US the only place where we use *shudder* imitation vanilla extract?)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Agree with you about real vs artificial vanilla. Don't know the answer to your second question.

BTW, our family used to make homemade icecream with a hand-crank machine (full fat, full sugar -- this was the 1970s), and one of my parents (Probably my mom) discovered how to make our own extract, by soaking whole vanilla beans in grand mariner (orange flavored liqueur). The alchohol got used as the extract, and the vanilla beans would get split and scraped for their seeds.

Best vanilla ice cream ever!

[kerravonsen]

Or is the US the only place where we use *shudder* imitation vanilla extract?
It isn't the only place; they sell imitation vanilla extract in Australia too. I don't buy the stuff myself.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Both definitely worth a try!

[kerravonsen]

Or even vanilla extract
I doubt that enough to flavour the mix would be enough to affect the freezing process; the recipes I've seen call for tablespoons of alcohol, not teaspoons.

[kerravonsen]

Well, I want to avoid alcohol because of the calories. I'm not sure how much would be a negligible amount.

[kerravonsen]

I hope it works with the right amount of Xylitol for taste.
I think it will be okay once I work out the right amount of Xylitol for freezing, because the frozen-ness will dull the taste of the sweetness.