It must be the sleep deprivation that comes with having a 3 month old that made me think buying a KitchenAid Stand mixer with an ice cream attachment is exactly what I needed at this time. So after some research I decided that for my purposes the least expensive mixer would do, especially given the fact that it has been at least a few years since I used a hand-held mixer. So without giving it much further thought, I ordered one from Amazon.
To my great excitement, it arrived within a few days; however to my great disappointment I wasn’t home to accept the package. So I had to go to the post office and get it myself. What I didn’t realize when I checked off the “ship all items together” box when ordering, is that this mixer is heavy. As well as the ice cream attachment. And bulky. So, while dragging this 25 lbs thing from the post office I did a quick calculation in my head. I’m already $400 in the hole, and haven’t had a single scoop of ice cream yet. I could’ve saved all that money and go to Dairy Queen every day this summer! But homemade is better, it’s healthier, fresher, and ingredient-cleaner; I know exactly what is in that ice cream. At least that’s what I kept on telling myself.
After some recipe searching I settled on Martha Stewart’s Blood Orange Gelato, with modified ingredients, of course: less sugar (I used 1/2 cup instead of the 3/4) and lower fat cream (18% and not heavy). At least I didn’t use skim milk and an artificial sweetener! A quick dash to the nearest (and most expensive) grocery store for the ingredients I needed, I was another $50 in the red, and ready to start ice-creaming. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post I have a 3 month old, so time is luxury! Once he was fed and put to sleep I had about an hour to do my magic in the kitchen.
Now this is where the title of this blog kicks in. I neither read the instructions for the making of the ice cream, nor for the proper operating of the ice cream machine. So while my orange juice was reducing (on high heat as I don’t have 40 minutes to spare) on one burner, and my custard mixture was thickening on the other, I was reading how to attach the ice cream bowl to the mixer. (I at least had the common knowledge to freeze the bowl first, because I really didn’t have 15 hours to spare). Needless to say, the eggs started cooking as I wasn’t stirring the mixture (nor paying attention to it, to be honest, as I was too involved in reading the instruction manual), so what started out as an ice cream mixture almost ended up as eggs for dinner! To get rid of any chunks and achieve the smooth ice cream consistency, the recipe called for passing the mixture through a sieve into a bowl that is sitting on an ice water bath. Well, I neither have a sieve, nor do I have ice, so a strainer and cold water bath had to do. Thankfully, most of the cooked eggs remained in the strainer. To my pleasant surprise, a taste test revealed a very pleasant tasting mixture, rich and creamy, not too sweet and a subtle yet so refreshing orange tang. And it was much smoother than I thought it would be, given that I almost made scrambled eggs.
At last I was ready to start churning it! I turned on the mixer and patiently waited for 30 minutes for it to freeze. And just as I was about to scoop some into a bowl and savor it, my little one woke up and started crying. So I had to quickly transfer all of the ice cream into the freezer and leave it for later, along with a sink-full of dirty dishes. So still no taste of home made ice cream, other than quickly licking the spatula as I was throwing it into the sink. But I will not give up! Not only will I savour my blood orange gelato soon, I will attempt to make a whole bunch of other flavours as well. And that is a promise!
May I just say that: you rule!!!
Why thank you Dea, I’m glad you find my posts entertaining. 🙂
Reblogged this on fendallsofogden and commented:
i hope your next attempt is more successful!