kerravonsen | Super-Cream!

Deep within the Fortress of Solitude, the sound of ice-cream making could be heard...

Experiment #53: Low-Fat Strawberry Ice Cream (yet another version)
Recipe:
* 1 punnet (250g) fresh strawberries
* 4 T Xylitol
* 4 T Erythritol
* 375ml Low-Fat Evaporated Milk
* 1 t Xanthan Gum
* 1/2 t vanilla bean powder
* 3 T Splenda granular

Chop the strawberries. Add Xylitol and Erythtitol.
Microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes.
Puree.
Put in the refrigerator to cool.
Mix in the other ingredients.
Put in the refrigerator to cool some more.
Process in ice-cream machine.
There was too much mixture and it started overflowing the edge of the ice-cream machine bucket, so I used a spatula and scraped it off as it came near the top. And ate it, of course.

Whys: I wanted to try a mix of Xylitol and Erythritol. I wanted them to dissolve well, so I added them to the strawberries before they were cooked, so that the hot strawberries might help dissolve them. I tried evaporated milk for a change from the skim milk powder, since that had made the mix too thick. I added Splenda for a balance of taste.

Result: Light, fluffy, creamy strawberry! There was also a bit of the pure strawberry (sans milk) that froze to the side, so if one scraped the side, it was a bit like getting a strawberry swirl in the spoonful, which was lovely. Texture was rather soft-serve, alas. We shall see what happens to the half that I've saved in the freezer.

Verdict: This may be the best strawberry one yet.

Lessons:
(a) Don't add so much milk.
(b) If you manage to make a smaller volume, add a smaller amount of gum.
(c) If it tastes good as a mixture, it's likely to taste good as an ice-cream. And visa-versa.
(d) Try making a sorbet (no milk at all).
(e) Try making a strawberry sauce and swirl it in when you're scooping out another batch of a different ice-cream.

Experiment #54: Mango Sorbet
Recipe:
* 3 fresh mangos
* 4 T Xylitol
* 4 T Erythritol

Chop and puree the mangos. Blend in the remaining ingredients.
Process in ice-cream machine.

Whys: The mangos needed using. I wanted to see if I could make something with just fruit and sugar-alcohols.

Result: Soft-serve texture, the slightly icy feel that a sorbet has, and delicious mango taste. A slight aftertaste, perhaps there was too much Xylitol.

Verdict: Good.

Lessons:
(a) Mango is good.
(b) Be careful about the proportions of Xylitol to fruit.