Food Science Strikes Back

[kerravonsen]

One of the things I had intended to do today that I did manage to do was multiple ice-cream experiments, using at least one of my new ingredients, bwa-ha-ha!

Experiment #22: Banana sorbet with Splenda, erythritol and xylitol
Recipe: 4 bananas, 1 cup Splenda granular, 1 tbsp erythritol, 1 tbsp xylitol, 1 cup boiling water, 1 cube frozen lemon juice, 1 tbsp extra light cream cheese; puree the bananas, add the cream cheese, dissolve the sweeteners in the water, simmer for 1 minute, add the lemon juice, add to the banana mixture, cool
Result: semi-success. This time I kept track of time, but that just meant that I could see that the mixture wasn't getting ice-creamy enough soon enough. I stopped after 45 mins (one is supposed to stop after 40 mins). The texture was creamy-ish, but still a bit icy. But the taste was delicious.
Lessons: Perhaps not so many bananas? Or not so much water?

Experiment #23: lemon tea sorbet with erythritol, xylitol and inulin
Recipe: 4 lemon tea bags, 1 lemon-ginger tea bag, 4 tsp lemon cooler leaf tea, 2 cups boiling water, juice of one lemon, 1 cup Splenda granular, 2 tbsp erythritol, 2 tbsp xylitol, 10 tbsp inulin; steep the tea in the water for 5 mins, add lemon juice, sweeteners, then the inulin. Cool in fridge. Just before pouring into the ice cream machine, beat with stick blender to get air in (it should go paler with air bubbles).
I think I steeped the tea too long, it was bitter, that's why I added the lemon juice and so much Splenda.
Result: Eureka! Fluffy pink lemon gelato! (yes, it's pink, one of the tea blends probably had rose hips or something like that in it; the tea was red) Still a bitter undertaste, and a bit too strong tasting, but the texture works! I let this one go 45 mins instead of 40, but I think that was okay.
Lessons: (a) inulin works! (pity it's so expensive and hard to get) (b) don't make the tea too strong

But now I'm not sure what I should do with all the other ingredients I bought, such as Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum, Agar Agar, Maltodextrin, Coconut Flour, Arrowroot and of course the Gelatine. I do want to try to figure out why people all say that gelatine works and I haven't been able to make it do so.

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'd cut down the water in the banana one; mashed ripe bananas are pretty runny anyway. In fact I peel and freeze ripe bananas on sticks and eat them as a summer treat, and they taste very ice-creamy just like that. You wouldn't need much sweetener. Mmmm, real banana ice-cream. This almost makes me want to buy a machine.

[kerravonsen]

In fact I peel and freeze ripe bananas on sticks and eat them as a summer treat, and they taste very ice-creamy just like that.
Oh, totally agreed. What I used to do was chop up bananas and freeze them, and then use the still-frozen banana with a stick blender as the basis for a smoothie.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Awed, I only read silently, imagining things...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh:-)

[kerravonsen]

8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I do that too! Banana and milk or yoghurt and cold water: yum.