The Basics

There are a number of basic recipes and techniques in making ices and to avoid needless repetition these are given in detail below. However, before starting to make any ices, please read our advice on hygiene and the proper handling and storage of ices, as well as the instructions concerning fridges and freezers; these basics are important.

Hygiene

Firstly, all equipment used in the making of ices should be kept scrupulously clean. Ideally, those items that can should be put through a dishwashing machine. Otherwise, they should be washed in hot soapy water, rinsed in very hot water and left to dry in the air, rather than dried with a cloth.

We carry out this washing process before and after each session. So, in effect, all items are doubly clean.

Always refer to the manufacturer's instructions concerning the cleaning of machine parts. After each ice-making session we recommend the machines themselves are wiped over with a clean cloth wrung out in sterilising solution; the sort and strength that is used for sterilising babies' bottles.

Ices, if badly handled, can provide an ideal breeding ground for all sorts of undesirable organisms, so it is important to bear in mind a few fundamental principles.

Most food-borne bacteria can be destroyed by heat. Bear in mind that above 63°C/145°F they start to die.

They are rendered inactive and unable to multiply at such low temperatures. They multiply most rapidly at temperatures around human blood heat. At temperatures slightly above or below they can still multiply, but do so at a slower rate.

At temperatures below 10°C/50°F they are not killed but the rate of multiplication slows considerably as the temperature drops from this point. For the ice-cream maker the main aim and object is to move the mixture through this critical temperature range around blood heat, as quickly as possible, thereby minimising the potential for bacterial growth. Therefore we recommend that as soon as a custard has reached 85°C/185°F and is thickened, it should be cooled to below 10°C/50°F as quickly as possible. To do this, plunge the pan containing the custard into a bowl of cold water. Cover and leave, stirring occasionally, until the custard is cool enough to put into the fridge.

NOTE: It may be necessary to change the water in the bowl if it becomes tepid.

The custard can now be transferred to a jug, covered and refrigerated. In this state it is perfectly safe to store overnight in the fridge as long as it is kept well away from any strongly smelling or uncooked or raw foods.

In uncooked ices such ingredients as cream and milk should be pre-chilled before mixing together, and then churned and frozen immediately.

The only other area that should give rise to concern is when a made ice is taken from the freezer and thawed sufficiently to eat, and the remainder then re-frozen. From the health aspect, it is unwise to carry out this process more than twice. It will also interfere with the consistency of the ice. Do not attempt to re-freeze any ice that has fully thawed to a liquid state.

Fridges and freezers

Most people do not know the running temperature of either their fridge or freezer; we advise the purchase of thermometers (see Equipment page 55) so that you can get to know the variations of temperature, according to use and season. This can be quite an eye-opener.

The recipes in this book are based on the running temperature of a fridge at 4°C/39°F and freezer at -18°C/0°F.

Remember: An overloaded or iced-up fridge or freezer will not function properly. They also need to be level to operate efficiently.

Always check before you start that there is sufficient space in the freezer to accommodate the newly made ice. If you are using a canister-type machine, allow enough time for the insert to be completely frozen.

If you have a fast-freeze button or switch on your freezer, use it; switching it on ahead of time, if necessary. The use of this facility is particularly beneficial when still freezing to ensure the fast growth of small ice crystals to give a smooth-textured ice.

Basic Recipes

Water Ices

All the recipes for water ices (i.e. sorbets and granitas), as well as the hybrid sherbets and the parfaits, are based on a sugar syrup. This sugar syrup is always the same throughout the book. It is the lynchpin of the book and it could not be easier to make.

Sugar Syrup

Sugar syrup is a combination of sugar and water, also referred to by cooks and chefs as simple or stock syrup.

Unfortunately this is made by different people in varying strengths and it is often impossible to know what the recipe writer intended – which is absurd when the success of an ice depends on it.

We have used a standard sugar syrup instead of different quantities of sugar and water in each recipe because it is quicker and easier to use a syrup rather than measuring and mixing small quantities of sugar and water each time. More importantly, a standard syrup establishes a basis from which any fruit, vegetable or herb can be formulated into a successful recipe for sorbets, granitas and spooms. For a full explanation see Science chapter page 305.

Our sugar syrup is:

1 kilo of sugar to 1 litre of water or
5 cups sugar to 4 cups water or
2 lb 3 oz sugar to 32 fl oz water
This makes 1600 ml/6 2/3 cups/54 fl oz of syrup

You need a large 2 litre/8 cup/4 pint measuring jug.

Pour 1 litre/4 cups/2 pints of boiling water into the jug and stir in the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, which takes less than half a minute. Cool, cover, then refrigerate. That is all you need to do.

We prefer to put a vanilla bean in the measuring jug, then pour in the boiling water, and then add the sugar. The vanilla bean is left in the syrup for as long as the syrup remains in the fridge.

The chart on pages 306 to 307 gives the measurements for making smaller quantities of this syrup, if necessary.

There are elaborate instructions in some books on making syrups, boiling and skimming them for anything up to 10 minutes. This is simply not necessary unless you have suspect water. Why do these myths go on being perpetuated by cooks and chefs who should know better?

Sugar syrup in small quantities (see pages 306 to 307) can be made with cold water taken straight from the tap. If you can be bothered to stand there and stir it until the sugar has dissolved this has the advantage that once the sugar has dissolved, the syrup is immediately ready for use.

Boiling simply evaporates some of the water and increases the density of the syrup to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the diameter of the saucepan.

Only those people living at 6,000 feet or over will have any trouble with our technique. At this altitude it is necessary to heat the sugar and water in order to get the sugar to dissolve.

The syrup will keep for 2-3 days at kitchen temperature or at least 2 weeks in a refrigerator. It will probably keep much longer as the only cause of deterioration is the growth of yeast spores picked up from the air. Yeast growths will make the syrup cloudy, so do not use the syrup if it is anything other than clear.

The concentration of this sugar syrup is measured by the density. It will be 28° on the Baumé scale or 1.24 on a decimal scale or 52 on a Brix scale (see page 307).

Sorbets

Sorbets are made using a proportion of the above basic sugar syrup plus flavouring. The ratio of sugar syrup varies according to the amount of liquid that is contained in the flavouring in the recipe of your choice. Having chilled the mix you will then need to freeze it. (See Freezing page 80.)

Granitas

Granitas have a method of freezing all of their own.

For a classic granita there are no short cuts. The instructions on freezing below are unique to this form of ice and will guarantee a successful granita. The aim is to achieve a free running ice of uniform consistency made up of large, flavoured ice crystals not dissimilar in size to rice grains.

Make the granita according to the recipe and thoroughly chill the liquid mixture in the fridge. When ready, pour into one or more strong, lidded, polypropylene containers; a sandwich or shallow cake-box shape is ideal, approximately 25 × 25 × 8 cm/10 × 10 × 3 inches, to give a depth of mix of approximately 2 cm/¾ inch, then cover with the lid and freeze. To achieve uniform, small separate ice crystals throughout, the liquid will now need beating with a table fork at regular intervals during freezing. First freeze for 1 hour or until the liquid has formed an iced rim around the edge and is starting to freeze on the base. Scrape this away with a strong kitchen fork and combine evenly with the remaining unfrozen liquid. Repeat this scraping and mixing process every 30 minutes for the remaining 2 ½ hours or until the mixture forms a smooth consistency of identifiable ice crystals. Ideally, it should be eaten at once, but if you are using our formula it can be held at a good consistency for up to 2-3 days if stirred once or twice a day to break up any clumps of ice crystals that form, especially around the edges.

This may seem like a lot of work, especially if you have read recipes telling you to break the mixture up in a food processor once it has gone solid. Of course you can do this, but the consistency will become too fine, like a very icy sorbet, rather than the rougher texture of a true granita.

To achieve the perfect granita, there is no substitute for the fork technique.

Parfaits

This is here because parfaits have a foot in both camps as they use both sugar syrup, cream and eggs. There are many techniques for making parfaits, all of which we have tried. In our opinion, the recipe below gives the best result for an alcohol-flavoured parfait. It may seem rather painstaking and detailed, but if you follow it to the letter the result will be excellent.

The classic flavour for a parfait is coffee. This requires a slightly different technique than an alcohol-based parfait (see Coffee Parfait page 144), as does Chocolate Parfait (page 121).

Of the alcohol-flavoured parfaits, we have tried we recommend the following:- Cointreau, dry Sherry, Strega, Amaretto, Pernod, Mandarine Napoléon and whisky.

The amount of alcohol needed for these recipes will vary between 15-60 ml/1-4 tablespoons, according to taste. However, do not try to add more than the upper limit as it will prevent the parfait freezing.

For this recipe you will need a thermometer, a three-speed electric hand mixer and, preferably, a double saucepan. Failing this, select a large heatproof bowl which will sit snugly into a saucepan.

Into the bowl put the yolks and use the electric mixer to whisk them until light and pale.

Warm the syrup to 30-40°C/86-104°F (around blood heat), then whisk this, a few tablespoons at a time, into the egg yolks. Try not to take this stage too fast or the eggs will scramble. Now, either position the bowl over, not in, a saucepan of barely simmering water, or pour the mixture into the top of a double saucepan positioned over, but not in, barely simmering water.

Cook, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture is not over-cooking on the base or in the angles of the pan. Heat either until the temperature reaches 85°C/185°F or until the mixture has thickened sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon. This will take up to 20-25 minutes.

Now remove the mixture from over the water and pour into a large, deep mixing bowl. Using an electric whisk beat on high speed for about 1 minute. Then adjust to medium speed and continue for a further 3-4 minutes. Finally, turn down to low speed for 5 minutes. By this stage the volume will have increased by about 50%. The mix will be almost cold and thick enough to hold a ribbon of mixture trailed over the surface. Put the bowl containing the mix, and a second empty bowl, plus the whipping cream, into the fridge and leave to chill for at least 1 hour.

When ready remove the empty bowl, pour in the chilled cream and beat until it forms soft peaks.

Now remove the yolk/syrup mixture from the fridge and gently fold in the whipped cream in about four stages. After the second lot of cream has been added, sprinkle in the alcohol and continue to fold in the remaining cream until all has been added and is evenly mixed.

Pour into a plastic freezer box and cover with freezer film or greaseproof paper and a lid. Finally, label, and then freeze for at least 2 hours. A parfait, if frozen solid, will need about 15-20 minutes in the fridge to soften sufficiently to serve.

If the parfait is being used in a bombe, pour into a prepared bombe mould (see pages 258 to 260) and proceed as for bombe making.

Ice Creams

These are based on the conventional way of making a custard over hot water.

Standard French Vanilla Ice Cream

These are our favourite French custard-based ice creams.

Rich French Vanilla Ice Cream

Making Standard French Vanilla and Rich French Vanilla Ice Creams

Combine the milk, vanilla bean (split in half lengthwise) and half the sugar in a medium-sized (not aluminium) saucepan and bring to just below boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and leave aside for a minimum of 15 minutes to allow the vanilla flavour to develop.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized heatproof bowl, combine the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and beat, preferably with an electric hand whisk, until the mixture is pale and thick.

Remove the vanilla bean from the milk, and using the tip of a knife or a teaspoon, scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod and stir into the milk.

Bring the milk back to boiling point, then pour it slowly in a thin stream on to the egg yolks and sugar, whisking steadily as the milk is added.

The bowl can now be placed over a pan of simmering water, or the custard can be returned to the saucepan, which is then put on top of a heat-diffuser mat so that it is not in direct contact with the heat. Only if you have an accurate thermometer and/or are confident that you will not overheat the sauce, should you put the saucepan over a gentle direct heat. Use a small non-metallic spoon or spatula to stir the custard. (Do not use a whisk to beat the mixture as it cooks. This can introduce so much air into the mix that the temperature reading will actually drop.) As it heats over water, the custard will not suffer as long as it is stirred frequently and it will take from 5-30 minutes (depending on the thickness of the bowl or the pan) to thicken sufficiently, or reach 85°C/185°F.

Over direct heat the custard needs constant attention and will take about 810 minutes. Without a thermometer: to judge if the custard has thickened sufficiently, remove the spoon and tilt the back of it towards you. Look first at the way the sauce coats the spoon. If it forms only a thin film, try drawing a horizontal line across the back of the spoon. This should hold a clear shape. If not, continue cooking the custard until it coats the back of the spoon more thickly and holds a clear line.

As soon as the custard has reached the right temperature or thickened sufficiently, remove the pan from the heat and plunge the base in a few inches of cold water. On no account should the custard be allowed to over-heat or boil as the mixture will curdle. (For how to deal with an overheated custard see below.) Leave to cool, stirring occasionally until the mixture feels as though it has never been heated, then refrigerate. When ready add the cream, then still or stir freeze (page 80.)

How to deal with overheated custard

If the custard overheats, at a temperature of about 88°C/190°F, the protein in the egg will coagulate and harden, and the custard will take on a velvety look. If this begins to happen, or the mixture boils, immediately remove from the heat and plunge the pan or basin into cold water. Whisk vigorously for 1 minute or so until the temperature drops below the danger point. Continue carefully as per the recipe.

Some people advocate using a small amount of corn-flour in an attempt to stop custards overheating and curdling. In our opinion, it is better to avoid using corn-flour. The temperature required adequately to cook the cornflour, to the point that you cannot taste the starch, is much higher than eggs can stand. And to add enough cornflour to hold the eggs at a sufficiently high temperature for a long enough time to thicken the cornflour completely changes the nature of the custard. Life is much easier if you use a thermometer.

Remove the pan from the cold water bath and transfer the custard to a bowl or jug. Cover and chill in the fridge. The mixture can be left overnight at this stage. When ready, start the ice-cream machine. Stir the chilled cream into the custard. Either still-freeze or churn (see Freezing page 80-81) until the ice cream is the consistency of softly whipped cream.