Ice Cream – The Craftsy Cat

November 17, 2024

Freshly pressed olive oil gelato

November is the month where Tuscany olive trees are harvested for olives, then pressed communally to give the new extra virgin olive oil, green and peppery and fruity. Depending on the amount of olives, you may obtain ‘your’ oil or, like in my case, you combine your olives with those of a few friends to reach the minimum amount required by the mill for a single press batch.

So, I decided to make gelato (or better, my ‘something in between gelato and ice cream’ given that I use more fat than people normally use for gelato) with the new olive oil.

As you will learn if you take my course 😉 vegetable oils are not considered ideal as the mono-/poly-unsaturated fatty acids do not behave properly in the churning/freezing process. But as we have seen already in a previous post, this issue can be overcome through the use of some natural additives, forming so-called oleogels. I have used beeswax, carnauba wax, and for this recipe I used citrus fiber, which has a more neutral odour profile – I did not want to cover the flavour of the amazing oil.

I mixed all the powders and dissolved them in water bringing them to 42°C. I then added the cashew butter blending well, and finally the olive oil. Chilled for 4 hours in the fridge then churned.

Really nice! Especially when served with some freshly ground black pepper.

	%	QTY (grams)
water	60	452
sucrose	12	88
cashews	10	73
olive oil	8	60
vegetable fibers (acacia/inulin)	6	44
dextrose	3	24
vegetable fibers (citrus)	0.7	4.9
salt	0.4	2.6
guar/xanthan 7/3	0.1	1
total	100	750

Calculated freezing temperature-2°C, serving temperature around -9°C

My ice creams are designed to be served at -9°C so they will become very hard in a normal home freezer. You can reduce/remove some of the fibers – not the citrus fiber in this case!, but I bet some lemon zest would do the trick 😉 – and increase the sugar/s content, as in the following version, for example

	%	QTY for 1 Kg
water	60	602
sucrose	16	157
cashews	10	98
olive oil	8	80
dextrose	5	52,2
vegetable fibers (citrus)	0,7	7
salt	0,4	4
guar/xanthan 7/3	0.13	1.3
total	100	1000

March 4, 2024

A generic white base

I designed this recipe for some US friends, who liked this. It is a bit different from my usual recipes as it has a lower freezing point – this should make it relatively well scoopable out of a normal freezer. You can infuse with herbs or spices – I used vanilla paste here.

The recipes are somewhat in between an ice cream and a gelato – strictly speaking they are too high in total solids and fats to be considered a gelato and too high in sugars to be considered an ice cream. But hey! let’s not get jammed by rules if we know what we are doing and especially if we are making ice cream for home and friends.

I was not sure how to consider corn syrup in terms of sucrose equivalence – I calculated the recipe once considering that corn syrup would be similar to glucose syrup 40DE and once considering it as glucose syrup 60DE. In both cases the calculations give me acceptable results with a freezing point in the -2.5 to -2.9 °C range depending on the Dextrose Equivalence I considered.

If you test the recipes, let me know what you think!

Ingredient	grams	%	grams	%
Soy Milk	573	57	0	0
Oat milk (Silk Extra Creamy)	0	0	593	59
Sugar	156	16	150	15
Corn Syrup	100	10	104	10
Refined coconut oil	89	9	92	9,2
Cashew butter or blend in	56	6	58	6
Stabiliser	1,7	0,2	1,7	0,2
Rolled oats	56	2	0	0
Vanilla paste or other spices	2	0,2	2	0,2
Total for soy milk recipe	1000	100
Total for oat milk recipe			1000	100

The first two columns refer to the soy milk recipe. The last two column refer to the oat milk recipe

In the soy milk recipe, some rolled oats are first soaked in the hot milk and then blended in to increase chewiness – they are optional – if using make sure they are blunted well or results could be a bit gritty.

Use your stabiliser of choice, I like a mix of tara and xanthan in 9:1 ratio lately, which I disperse in the sugar to avoid lumps when adding to the recipe.

If you have a powerful blender, you can blend everything together. I prefer to use cashew butter to make sure results are smooth, gently warm (to about 45 °C) the plant-based milk with the solids (sugars, stabilisers, spices, and the glucose syrup), add the cashew butter and the coconut oil. Strain if necessary then cool rapidly and refrigerate for a few hours before churning.

If you test the recipes, let me know what you think!

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023

Introduzione alla Scienza del Gelato

Sei appassionato di gelato ma non riesci a trovare in rete ricette a base vegetale affidabili? Hai un ristorante e vuoi proporre gelati particolari ma non sai da dove cominciare? Posso aiutarti a sviluppare ricette personalizzate – sia a base vegetale che ‘tradizionali’.

Se sei interessata/o a capire come si ‘costruisce’ un gelato, a diventare autonoma/o nel costruire una nuova ricetta, il mio corso su zoom (in sincrono, non pre-registrato), casca a fagiolo

Il corso è utile a tutti, indipendentemente dal fatto che seguano una dieta a base esclusivamente vegetale, perché è solo dalla comprensione di cosa succede che possiamo creare cose nuove! Inoltre oggi sempre più persone preferiscono non utilizzare latticini e le alternative non sempre sono disponibili, o sono estremamente dolci. Imparare a creare il proprio gelato conoscendone i principii ci permette di disegnarlo esattamente come vogliamo noi.

E proprio perché meno facile, sono convinta che comprendere il gelato a base vegetale permetta di padroneggiare il gelato tradizionale ad occhi chiusi o quasi.

Nel corso tratteremo diversi argomenti; dalle caratteristiche chimico-fisiche dei componenti del gelato, alla loro funzione nel gelato, a come sostituire gli elementi ‘classici’ (latte, panna, uova); vedremo come analizzare una ricetta trovata in rete e come eventualmente modificarla e ovviamente capiremo l’importanza di ognuna delle fasi di preparazione, perché il come – nel gelato ma non solo – è importante quanto il cosa. Nel dettaglio tratteremo:

La struttura chimico-fisica dei macro-alimenti e delle fibre: non solo l’aspetto nutrizionale di proteine, grassi o carboidrati ma la loro struttura e, di conseguenza, le loro proprietà. Gli amino acidi, gli acidi grassi, gli zuccheri hanno strutture completamente diverse e dalla loro diversità derivano le proprietà delle molecole complesse che costituiscono il nostro cibo.
Il comportamento dei macro-alimenti nel gelato ci aiuta a selezionare il tipo di grasso giusto per ottenere la cremosità desiderata, a comprendere e scegliere il contributo delle proteine, e selezionare quali e quanti zuccheri utilizzare (o anche i non-zuccheri)
Il gelato a base vegetale presenta ancora una sfida, perché gli ingredienti che si utilizzano hanno un comportamento che non riflette a pieno quello degli ingredienti tradizionali. Per questo motivo è importante capire similitudini e differenze, e imparare a scegliere quello che si avvicina maggiormente alla nostra idea di gelato. Sì, perché il gelato non è un concetto unico, eterno e non modificabile… il gelato è cultura e apertura al nuovo, come la cucina in generale!
Come preparare gli ingredienti, come preparare una miscela, perché e come farla ‘maturare’ e come sapere se il gelato è pronto.

Il corso è organizzato in 4 incontri di circa un’ora (ma possono essere anche due da due ore o una full immersion!) e un quinto incontro personalizzato che svolgiamo ad almeno una settimana di distanza, per permettervi di riguardare il materiale, farvi venire mille dubbi e lasciare a me il tempo di pensare alle richieste che mi farete eventualmente (per esempio approfondire il gelato senza zucchero, o sviluppare un paio di ricette e discuterle, insomma quello che vi pare più utile).

Gli argomenti sono tecnici e scientifici ma – spero! – resi accessibili a tutti, almeno questo è il feedback ricevuto fino ad ora. Cerco di spiegare il ‘perché’ e non solo il ‘come’ si fa.

Costo: 150 Eur tramite bonifico bancario o PayPal (+7% commissioni). La fattura è detraibile se applicabile.

Per iscrizioni e maggiori informazioni, contattatemi per email (thecraftsycat@gmail.com)

Sono disposizione anche per consulenze su argomenti specifici.

August 20, 2022

Carrot and Coriander

A friend asked me to make this flavour after watching a TV program where the presenter made this gelato on a trip to Italy. It’s an unusual flavour – I love it in soups, we make it regularly during Winter, but I did not think of it in a sweet version.

Anyway, here it is. I cooked the carrots in the recipe coconut oil – I used a ‘microwave pressure cooking’ method using Weck jars secured with 4 clips. In order to use this method, you first need to find the correct power to use in your microwave – you will need to select the power at which water boils in about 3′ (https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/how-do-you-determine-the-wattage-of-your-microwave-oven). If you are not familiar with this method, please use your favourite cooking method.

The recipe is water-based, and I used cashews to increase solids and fats.

Ingredient	%
Water	56
Carrots (raw weight)	11
Sucrose	10
Cashew butter	7
Coconut oil	6
Dextrose	5
Vegetable fibers (inulin for example)	4%

Stabilisers of your choice – I generally use a mix of tara/guar and xanthan gums at 3g/Kg of mix

I weighed all the solids (sugars, fibers and stabilisers), mixed them, added warm water (ca 50°C, blended well, and finally the cashew butter and the oil-cooked carrots. I blended well, then left the mix to rest in the fridge overnight before churning.

I used ca 1g of ground coriander seeds per Kg of mix – this amount will depend on the quality and age of the coriander you use, so the amount is just an indication. Keep in mind that its flavour will continue to develop and that it will not be muted by the cold temperature.

I apologise for the poor picture quality – but the gelato was beautiful!

Note – my ice creams are designed to be consumed immediately or kept in a somewhat warmer freezer (-10°C). If you wish to store them at the normal -18°C freezer temperature, they will become harder than usual (most ice creams will go hard in a deep freezer, it’s normal, nothing wrong with it!). To limit this inconvenience, you can bring the percentage of sugars (sucrose and dextrose) up to a total of approximately 22% keeping the same sucrose/dextrose ratio and decrease the liquid or the fibers to keep the same mixture total weight.

October 26, 2021December 11, 2021

I won!

I am so very very happy! I participated to a contest called The Green Cream which was calling for proposals related to sustainability in ice cream making. There were four different categories and I submitted a recipe.

I decided to take part with a bean based recipe. I selected a local white bean (‘Fagiola di Venanzio‘) which is extremely local and has been declared endangered by the Tuscany region. But for all of you out there, you can use cannellini beans with very similar results.

So, without further ado, the recipe. It is composed of two parts: a bean jam (what the Japanese call anko, which is a bit long to prepare but can be stored for weeks in sterilised jars once made, and I recommend making a discrete amount, given the effort. And the the gelato itself, which uses about 20% of this bean jam in the base. The base is fairly neutral, and can be flavoured as desired. For example with vanilla, or saffron, or mix spices, or lavender. I made all these variations myself.

For the anko you really overcook (I use a pressure cooker) the beans and after cooking you blend them thoroughly with their cooking water. I prefer not to strain the skins but this is always an option if you desire a smoother texture. Then, you add as much sugar as the initial dry beans weight and keep cooking, always stirring (careful not to get burnt as is splatters a lot and it’s HOT!) until the mixture takes a jam consistency. If you ‘cut’ it with a wooden spoons it takes a little for the two parts to join again. Make sure you take the final weight of the jam, as you will use it to calcolate the nutrient percentages. But after repeating the preparation a few times, I calculated that on average the table is ca. 28-30% sugars, 0,8-1% fats, 7,4-7,8% proteins, 11-12% starches e 4,5-5% fibres. Pour hot into sterilised jars, close and sterilise again and you are all set.

For the ice cream, this is a standard recipe. It will turn hard in a normal freezer at -18°C so you can add more sugar as explained in the note at the bottom of the page. Weigh (quantities in grams) and blend really well together all the ingredients:

536 water (ca 54%)

200 anko (ca 20%)

70 honey (select the flavour depending on the character you want to give to the gelato) or agave syrup (ca 7%)

67 deodorised coconut oit (ca 6,5%)

65 sucrose (ca. 7%)

28 olive oil (ca 2,5%) (select extravergin if you want it to impart a strong character)

20 inulin (ca. 2%)

10 acacia fiber (ca. 1%)

3 stabiliser (I use a tara/guar/xanthan mix with a 90/5/5 ratio) (ca 0,3%)

Cool the mix, let it rest in the fridge for a few hours then churn.

For flavour, you can add some vanilla (0,5-1g of vanilla paste/Kg) or saffron (0,2-0,3g/Kg) or whatever you fancy. Enjoy!

June 4, 2021June 4, 2021

Liquorice!!!

Isn’t liquorice great? If you love it, that is. Other people positively hate it. For those who love it, vegan or not, this is a lovely gelato, and easy to make.

Ingredients (grams)

water	442	59%
cashew butter	112	15%
sucrose	80	11%
dextrose	40	5%
inulin	30	4%
coconut/olive oil 7/3	20	3%
pure black liquorice	19	3%
stabiliser (e.g. locust bean gum/xanthan 95/5)	2.5	0,3%

Mix the sugars, inulin, powdered liquorice and stabiliser and add them to the water at ca 40°C, mixing well. Bring to ca 85°C always mixing. remove from heat, add the cashew butter and the oils, blend thoroughly . Cool rapidly. Let the mixture rest for a few hours, then churn.

February 7, 2021October 9, 2024

Roasted banana ice cream

For this delicious roasted banana ice cream I cooked 600g of overripe fruit with 45g of dark demerara sugar, then completed the recipe with cashew butter, some oils and water to give a very thick mixture which I churned.

The calculations are based on the dry banana matter (bananas contain ca 75% water) and on the assumption that the sugars in bananas are a 1:1:1 mix of sucrose-fructose-dextrose, which is of course an assumption as it will depend a lot on the ripeness stage and on the cooking process.

As usual if you make it for a normal freezer you can add a little more sugar (in this case I am not sure I would remove the corresponding water, due to the thickness of the mixture).

water	500	63%
cashews	60	8%
cooked banana (dry weight)	150	19%
sucrose (dark demerara)	45	6%
coconut/olive oil 7/3	40	5%
salt	2	0,2%
locust bean gum/xanthan 9/1	3,0	0,4%

December 28, 2020October 9, 2024

Choco-Miso ice cream

For this water-based ice cream I used dark chocolate (90% cocoa), cocoa powder (22-23% fats) and a bit of miso to increase intensity and complexity. My husband declared it ‘best chocolate ever’ 🙂

water	477g
dark chocolate (90% cocoa mass)	100g
sucrose	80g
dextrose	40g
cocoa powder (23% fat)	20g
miso	30g
locust bean gum:xanthan 9:1	3g

Mix together sucrose, dextrose and the thickeners. In a small pan containing the measured water, bring the chocolate, cocoa powder and miso to ca. 50°C and then add the solids, mixing well with an immersion blender. Bring to a about 80°C to homogenise all the thickeners and switch the heating off. Cool the mixture down rapidly by placing it in a ice-water bath, still blending, then let it rest for a few hours, blending from time to time to ensure it stays smooth. Churn, then transfer to the freezer for a couple of hours.

For example, in this recipe you would use 98g sucrose, 49g dextrose and measure 451g water, leaving the rest unchanged.

November 30, 2020October 9, 2024

Peanut butter ice cream

For this water-based ice cream I used cashew, peanut butter, sugar and dextrose. It came our really smooth and I think it’s my best peanut butter ice cream so far.

water	485g
100% peanut paste	80g
toasted cashew paste	60g
sucrose	80g
dextrose	40g
salt	3g
locust bean gum:xanthan 9:1	3g

Mix together sucrose, dextrose, salt and the thickeners. Bring water to ca. 50°C and add the solids, mixing well with an immersion blender. Bring to a boil to homogenise all the thickeners and switch the heating off. Let it cool to ca 70°C then pour onto the nut pastes and blend thoroughly again. Cool the mixture down rapidly by placing it in a ice-water bath, still blending, then let it rest for a few hours. Churn, then transfer to the freezer for a couple of hours.

For example in this ice cream, you would use 98g of sucrose, 49g dextrose and 458g water, leaving the rest unchanged.