Toying in the Kitchen #10: Fruit “Ice Cream”

By Thomas Madrecki

Quick — how do you make ice cream?

Milk, eggs …

Wrong.

What if you could make ice cream — or I should clarify, something like ice cream — without any of the “extras” that might muddle a fragrant fruit flavor like mango?

Restaurants like Le Chateaubriand in France and Mugaritz in Spain have long known this to be possible. With the aid of a PacoJet machine (essentially a blender on steroids), it’s possible to take a frozen solid to an aerated and delicious “ice cream” in less than a minute. The results are magical, and (of course) absurdly delicious.

What I can’t understand, though, is why the real secret behind some of these ice creams hasn’t been better publicized.

The best ones — like one made from mango — only include one ingredient.

That’d be mango, obviously.

When you freeze mango puree and then process it again in a blender like a PacoJet at high speed, the result is something with the mouthfeel and “fattiness” of real ice cream, but with pure mango flavor (because, well, it’s still only mango).

One problem: Unless you have $4000 or access to an ultra-high-end professional kitchen, you probably don’t have a PacoJet.

But wait … I mean … is the PacoJet really the key here? Would it be possible to duplicate such ice creams with a mere home blender and very, very careful additions of liquid, just to get the mix going?

You betcha!

Go ahead, try it for yourself — your friends will be amazed. Nota Bene: While mango is one of the easiest to process from “fruit” to “ice cream,” the core process (puree, freeze, puree) works on a wide range of produce, with varying degrees of success. Experiment!

Mango Ice Cream

1) Chop and puree four-five mangoes in a blender.

2) Freeze puree in a plastic container with a lid.

3) Chop frozen puree so that it can fit in the blender. Wait five-ten minutes for the frozen puree to soften slightly. Turn on the blender at its lowest setting and begin processing the ice cream. Add small amounts of whole milk, a few teaspoons at a time, until the blades catch and the ice cream blends smoothly.

Banana Ice Cream

1) Buy a bunch of bananas. Wait and wait and wait for them to ripen fully — like dark, stinking brown.

2) Peel the bananas and puree in a blender (or use a fork — they will be that soft).

3) Freeze puree in a plastic container with a lid.

4) Chop frozen puree so that it can fit in the blender. Wait five-ten minutes for the frozen puree to soften slightly. Turn on the blender at its lowest setting and begin processing the ice cream. Add small amounts of whole milk, a few teaspoons at a time, until the blades catch and the ice cream blends smoothly.

Special Bonus: Charred Eggplant Ice Cream

1) Using a gas range on high, deeply char the outside of two eggplant, carefully adjusting and moving them around with tongs to not burn yourself.

2) Wait for the eggplant to cool. Working over paper towels, carefully remove as many seeds from the inside of the roasted eggplant as possible, while retaining as much flesh and char as possible. The char, full of basic compounds, will provide a mouth-coating “fattiness” and over-the-top smokiness to the final product.

3) Puree the eggplant. Freeze puree in a plastic container with a lid.

4) Chop frozen puree so that it can fit in the blender. Wait five-ten minutes for the frozen puree to soften slightly. Turn on the blender at its lowest setting and begin processing the ice cream. Add small amounts of whole milk, a few teaspoons at a time, until the blades catch and the ice cream blends smoothly.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at 6:29 pm. It is filed under Slider, Tom the Terroirble. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.