Chefs: eggs key to ice cream magic
The yolk's the thing when it comes to good ice cream.
That's what local chefs are saying during this, the height of ice cream season.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)
Chefs are infusing the flavors of root beer and even buttered popcorn into their ice creams, making me want to toss my ice milk-making machine out the window.
But they gave me hope and some suggestions, including using the yolks and making sure cream and milk are in the mix. So the machine is staying put. For now.
Toni Roberts, executive pastry chef at C-House restaurant, 166 E. Superior, and Carol Wallack, chef and owner of Sola, 3868 N. Lincoln, say egg yolks provide the richness that defines ice cream. The yolks make up what amounts to a cooked custard used to make the frozen treat.
Roberts suggests home cooks start simply: Follow a modified creme anglaise recipe flavored with vanilla bean as the ice cream base.
The trick is to not let the eggs curdle.
"It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it," says Roberts, who is making root beer, chocolate (91 percent E. Guittard blended with organic barley malt syrup) and lemon ice cream for a series of signature milkshakes at C-House.
While Roberts might use three egg yolks in a cooked base for ice cream, Wallack uses more than twice that.
"I don't like to make ice cream with less than seven or eight egg yolks per quart. I think it really aids the texture," she says. "And texture to me is everything."
Wallack says it takes a measure of patience to make good ice cream -- ideally, two days.
The ice cream base, whose core ingredients are eggs, heavy cream, half-and-half and sugar, should be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated, Wallack says.
She says the same about ice cream makers with freezer inserts: They should go into the freezer no less than 24 hours before you put them to work.
"Put them in the freezer overnight, and make sure they're really, really, really cold," she says.
At sola, Wallack offers a variety of ice creams made in-house, including sesame brittle and banana.
At Tizi Melloul, 531 N. Wells, diners can cool off with buttered popcorn ice cream.
By the U.S. Department of Agriculture's estimate, Americans consume about 15 pounds of ice cream each year.
For ice cream recipes from Toni Roberts of C-House, go to www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/ food.