Tips for Making Cool Treats

In the July issue of Today’s Diet & Nutrition, we feature the authors of a new book called Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Treats (www.andrewsmcmeel.com) who shared recipes for delicious cool treats. Sara Engram and Katie Luber founded an organic spice company, The Seasoned Palate, in Baltimore and turned their way with spices into an innovative collection of recipes. Here, they share more tips for making homemade ice cream, sorbet, and frozen yogurt.

The Scoop
Fresh handmade ice cream, sorbets, and frozen yogurt reach new adventures in taste when you spice them up a little. Literally. Engram and Luber offer jazzy confections, like mouth-watering marjoram-mint-coconut sorbet, and the wisdom of their trial and error with these tips:

• Brand loyal: Both Engram and Luber have had good luck with Cuisinart brand ice cream makers. They suggest the makers with canisters that freeze for a few hours before churning the ice cream. Luber’s model has two canisters an, if you like ice cream, that’s a good investment.

• Dried vs. fresh: Sometimes fresh herbs add extra punch, like delectable summer-inspired basil-flavored ice cream. But for the most part, dried spices are more readily available. About 1 or 2 teaspoons are used (or 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs) per 1.5 quarts of ice cream.

• No, thanks: Not into making your own treats? Dress up store-bought ice cream, says Luber, either by sprinkling spices on top or softening a whole carton and folding in the spice. For starters, sprinkle zesty cardamom on your favorite vanilla ice cream. Careful— you may become addicted!

Cool Techniques
• Ice cream: Custard comes first; freezing turns custard into ice cream. “And when you’re making custard, don’t hurry,” says Luber. “It’s kind of a Zen thing—just relax, be patient, and stir.” She uses a wooden spoon with a straight edge at the tip.

Shortcuts on cooling the custard don’t work. Luber says, “It really does need four hours in the refrigerator. Otherwise, you’ll discover that the custard warms up the prefrozen canister too quickly, and your ice cream won’t freeze.”

If you’ve never made ice cream or custard, read the recipe carefully a couple of times before trying it, since it’s a different set of instructions than you may have followed before. But then just jump in and go for it! “The trick is to understand how the custard looks when it gets to the proper temperature—a minimum of 165˚F,” Luber adds. “You might want to use a good thermometer to help you the first time or two. It sounds complicated, but once you recognize how it’s supposed to look, it’s pretty easy to tell.”

• Sorbet: Engram and Luber say sorbets have a charm all their own and a versatility ice cream doesn’t always have. Sorbets are much simpler than egg-rich ice cream and are usually composed of water, sugar, and flavorings. Some, like a grapefruit-tarragon sorbet, could be a great palate cleanser, but with a cookie or piece of cake, it will also work as dessert. Rich sorbets made with coconut milk make great lactose-free treats. Try sorbet recipes for making popsicles.

• Frozen yogurt: Extra-creamy Greek-style yogurt gives frozen yogurt a smooth texture; using fat-free yogurt produces a fairly thin-textured frozen yogurt. Making frozen yogurt is easy, and you can use most of the spices recommended in ice cream recipes.