Electrickery Ice
Nov. 19th, 2008 10:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenFlavours and textures of ice cream and sorbet; the experiments continue...
(done last weekend)
Experiment #24: Christmas Spices Optifast ice cream, take 2
Recipe: 3 pkts Optifast vanilla milkshake powder, 3 tsp cinnamon, 3 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 6 tbsp Splenda granular, 600ml water
Result: much better than last time, but possibly too mild; I took the proportions from various gingerbread and spice cake recipes, for which the only common factor was that there was much less cloves and nutmeg than the other spices.
Lessons: increase the spices, but not very much.
Experiment #25: Peppermint sorbet with xanthan gum
Recipe: 6 tsp peppermint loose tea, 500ml boiling water, 2 tbsp erythritol, 2 tbsp xylitol, 1 tsp xanthan gum, 4 tbsp Splenda granular, 1 drop green food colouring
Result: semi-success: sort of crumbly, but not granita-icy. Tasted delicious, though; using peppermint tea rather than peppermint essence does make a difference.
The xanthan gum was hard to mix in; it went all gummy (duh) and stuck to the spoon and the side of the dish, it even stuck to the stick-blender when I used that.
The food colouring worked: made it a pale green.
Lessons: (a) strong peppermint tea is good (b) xanthan gum isn't good enough by itself, but it could be used in conjunction with something else (c) food colouring that isn't blue can be useful in small amounts (to help distinguish different flavours, otherwise they're all a sort of beige colour). (d) making some with actual fresh mint might be worth a try.
(done today)
I wanted to use some of the citrus oil I'd bought today (orange oil, lemon oil, lime oil) so citrus was the flavour of the day.
Experiment #26: citrus punch herbal tea sorbet with inulin, xanthan gum and guar gum (and orange oil)
Recipe: 6 tsp "citrus punch" loose tea, 500ml boiling water, 5 tbsp inulin, 1 tsp xanthan gum, 1 tsp guar gum, 1/2 tsp orange oil, 2 tbsp erythritol, 2 tbsp xylitol, 2 tbsp Splenda granular
Result: Texture, quite nice, very smooth, but not very fluffy. Taste, rather meh; an odd combination of bland and bitter; I suspect that the tea was too bland, and the orange oil was too bitter.
I may have put too much gum in; it was very gummy even while the tea mixture was warm.
Lessons: (a) don't use that particular herbal tea again (b) use less orange oil (c) try with a bit less gum
The most successful herbal tea flavours so far have been lemon (and varieties thereof) and peppermint. Possibly liquorice too, but I've realized I'm not that fond of that flavour myself. I guess the flavours that work best are the strong, simple ones, rather than the light, subtle ones. Well, I shall keep trying different teas, since it would be rather boring if I had only two flavours of herbal tea sorbet.
(done last weekend)
Experiment #24: Christmas Spices Optifast ice cream, take 2
Recipe: 3 pkts Optifast vanilla milkshake powder, 3 tsp cinnamon, 3 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 6 tbsp Splenda granular, 600ml water
Result: much better than last time, but possibly too mild; I took the proportions from various gingerbread and spice cake recipes, for which the only common factor was that there was much less cloves and nutmeg than the other spices.
Lessons: increase the spices, but not very much.
Experiment #25: Peppermint sorbet with xanthan gum
Recipe: 6 tsp peppermint loose tea, 500ml boiling water, 2 tbsp erythritol, 2 tbsp xylitol, 1 tsp xanthan gum, 4 tbsp Splenda granular, 1 drop green food colouring
Result: semi-success: sort of crumbly, but not granita-icy. Tasted delicious, though; using peppermint tea rather than peppermint essence does make a difference.
The xanthan gum was hard to mix in; it went all gummy (duh) and stuck to the spoon and the side of the dish, it even stuck to the stick-blender when I used that.
The food colouring worked: made it a pale green.
Lessons: (a) strong peppermint tea is good (b) xanthan gum isn't good enough by itself, but it could be used in conjunction with something else (c) food colouring that isn't blue can be useful in small amounts (to help distinguish different flavours, otherwise they're all a sort of beige colour). (d) making some with actual fresh mint might be worth a try.
(done today)
I wanted to use some of the citrus oil I'd bought today (orange oil, lemon oil, lime oil) so citrus was the flavour of the day.
Experiment #26: citrus punch herbal tea sorbet with inulin, xanthan gum and guar gum (and orange oil)
Recipe: 6 tsp "citrus punch" loose tea, 500ml boiling water, 5 tbsp inulin, 1 tsp xanthan gum, 1 tsp guar gum, 1/2 tsp orange oil, 2 tbsp erythritol, 2 tbsp xylitol, 2 tbsp Splenda granular
Result: Texture, quite nice, very smooth, but not very fluffy. Taste, rather meh; an odd combination of bland and bitter; I suspect that the tea was too bland, and the orange oil was too bitter.
I may have put too much gum in; it was very gummy even while the tea mixture was warm.
Lessons: (a) don't use that particular herbal tea again (b) use less orange oil (c) try with a bit less gum
The most successful herbal tea flavours so far have been lemon (and varieties thereof) and peppermint. Possibly liquorice too, but I've realized I'm not that fond of that flavour myself. I guess the flavours that work best are the strong, simple ones, rather than the light, subtle ones. Well, I shall keep trying different teas, since it would be rather boring if I had only two flavours of herbal tea sorbet.
