Our first and third presidents, Virginians both, were ice cream pioneers. You can be, too: The homemade summer miracle is back, sans the elbow grease.
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Chocolate espresso ice cream
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Ice cream on a warm, sunny day. . . What could be better?
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Enjoying the fruits of their labor.
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Butter pecan ice cream
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Eggs, milk, sugar, raspberries, peaches, and waffle cones – the ingredients, waiting to be whipped together.
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Raspberry and blackberry sorbet
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Mixing the ingredients for the icy confection.
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Vanilla ice cream
A memory from childhood: The next-door neighbors throw their annual late-summer backyard party: ribs on the grill, vats of slaw, red-checked tablecloths, children screaming through sprinklers. It’s the one time of year the family breaks out the ice cream freezer to make their famous peach ice cream.
In the time-honored ritual, Joey’s dad packs the outer bucket with ice and rock salt, then pours in the custardy delight that will eventually become the longed-for frozen treat. The cranking begins. Eager children take turns, but none last long, and they abandon the host to lone labor, cranking endlessly while the young ones run amok. He soon strips down to his undershirt. As his effort grows visibly more strained, some of the older children begin to drift back his way, knowing the shirt stuck to his back and the tendons standing out in his neck mean that the bucket’s about to give up something amazing.
People used to go to lengths for ice cream.
They did so for so long that no one really knows the dessert’s origin. Roman emperors sent runners to the mountains to retrieve snow, which the rulers would enjoy flavored with fruit and honey. Along with pasta, Marco Polo brought a Chinese recipe that presaged today’s gelato (Italian for “ice cream,” but more dense and less sweet than what’s found stateside). The frozen treat remained the province of the gentry—who had staff to go to those crazy lengths—until the 17th century, when a sweet, frozen custard was first offered to the masses at Paris’ Café Procope.
Virginia makes a couple of its own appearances in the pantheon of ice cream firsts: George Washington made the first known American purchase of an ice cream maker, in 1784. Records show that, in the summer of 1790, he shelled out a cool $200—today, upwards of $4,400, adjusted for inflation—to keep his new toy busy. And then there’s Thomas Jefferson, in whose hand the first American recipe for ice cream, vanilla, is written (what did the man not do?). OK, so he brought it back from France. But we think the statute of limitations expired long ago, and that we can go ahead and think of it as American. Even Virginian.
Today, store freezers are jammed with ice creams, sorbets and gelatos in flavors from simple vanilla to choco-raspber-espresso-cookie-kitchen sink—so many ready-made wonders that it doesn’t seem worth making our own. But there are strong reasons to do so. First, you control what goes in—no stabilizers, gums or other polysyllabic ingredients. Second, it’s almost absurdly easy: With the electric ice cream makers widely available today, you assemble a few ingredients, pour them in, and the machine does the work; after half-an-hour, you have soft-serve. Plus, you don’t have to fill an icehouse with 62 wagonloads of ice (a lá Jefferson) to prime and store your ices. Third, the results are generally sublime. Choose any of the freshest fruits and nuts, the highest-quality chocolate and the most wholesome milk. The process itself becomes a feast for the senses.
You could even start with Jefferson’s recipe—in the way of all true classics, it still works: Its “2. bottles of good cream, 6. yolks of eggs, 1/2 lb. sugar” looks almost exactly like the heart of the custard-based confections home ice cream aficionados still use. His instructions: “mix the yolks & sugar, put the cream on a fire in a casserole, first putting in a stick of Vanilla. when near boiling take it off & pour it gently into the mixture of eggs & sugar.” Assume low heat and constant whisking here, unless scrambled egg ice cream was the goal. “stir it well. put it on the fire again stirring it thoroughly with a spoon to prevent it’s sticking to the casserole. when near boiling take it off and strain it thro’ a towel. put it in the Sabottiere.” That’s a pewter pot specifically designed for freezing ices, which was placed in a wooden bucket full of ice and salt—salt water has a lower freezing temperature—and then turned by hand until the mix thickened.
Here are five reasons—including an updated rendition of Jefferson’s vanilla along with both cream-based and water-based (nonfat!) ices—to bring this age-old art back home. Make it part of your own late-summer party. And raise a scoop to Joey’s dad.
THE RECIPES
Most home ice cream machines come in a 1.5-quart size, so most of these recipes make enough for two batches. This is necessary and good, because the stuff tends to disappear.
A note about milk: Milk fat is what mostly accounts for the “cream” part of ice cream, so use whole milk—otherwise, the dessert crystallizes. Sadly (or happily) you can’t get good ice cream without some fat.
One more thing: Because it has no stabilizers and no air whipped into it, home ice cream hardens significantly in the freezer. Simply set it out for a few minutes before serving.
CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO ICE CREAM
1 quart whole milk
1 quart half-and-half
12 egg yolks
2 cups sugar
1 lb. good-quality chocolate
10 tablespoons espresso powder
Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Cream the yolks and sugar. Heat milk, half-and-half and espresso in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, until just about to boil, then remove from heat and allow to steep for a few minutes. Stirring constantly, strain the milk mix into the egg-and-sugar mix, then return all to the pan. Stir in the melted chocolate. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Chill for several hours, and then process according to the ice cream maker’s instructions.
BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM
There are two ways to handle the butter in this recipe: (1) Add it while mixing the cream on the stovetop, so that butter flavor permeates the mixture, or (2) add melted butter to the softserve mixture, right out of the ice cream maker, so that it flash-freezes into little buttery bits. (The latter seems somehow more decadent, doesn’t it?)
1 quart whole milk
1 quart half-and-half
2 cups heavy cream
12 egg yolks
2 cups sugar
6 cups pecans, variously chopped
3/4 lb. high-quality salted or unsalted butter (depends on preference—
salty-sweet or just sweet)
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel, kosher or other high-quality sea salt (optional,
and only if using unsalted butter)
Toast the pecans in a 350-degree oven for 7 or 8 minutes, then toss with 1/4 lb. of the butter and (if desired, and only if using unsalted butter) the salt. Set aside. Cream the yolks and sugar. Heat milk, half-and-half and cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or a double boiler, until just about to boil. If using butter alternative #1, stir in 1/2 lb. of the butter until melted. Stirring constantly, add half of the milk mix to the egg-and-sugar mix, then return all to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Chill for several hours, and then process according to the ice cream maker’s instructions.
Immediately after processing but before freezing it further, fold in the pecan mixture (and melted butter, if using butter alternative #2).
VANILLA ICE CREAM
1 quart whole milk
1 quart half-and-half
2 cups heavy cream
12 egg yolks
2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean (6-inch)
Cream the yolks and sugar. Heat milk, half-and-half and heavy cream with the vanilla bean in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or a double boiler until just about to boil, then remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean, slice down one side to open it, scrape the seeds from the pod, and set aside. Stirring constantly, add half of the milk mix to the egg-and-sugar mix, then return all to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and fold the vanilla seeds into the mixture, and cool. Chill for several hours, and then process according to the ice cream maker’s instructions.
PEACH ICE CREAM
1 quart milk
1 cup heavy cream
12 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
31/2 lbs. very ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into
chunks (to peel easily, blanch for a few seconds in
boiling water, then immediately shock in an ice bath)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Puree peaches in a blender or food processor. Cream the yolks and sugar. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan or a double boiler, scald the milk and cream. Add half of the milk mix to the egg-and-sugar mix, then return all to the pan and cook over low heat until it coats the spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Mix puree and lemon juice into milk-and-egg mixture. Chill for several hours, and then process according to the ice cream maker’s instructions.
RASPBERRY OR BLACKBERRY SORBET
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
2 pints raspberries or blackberries
Purée berries in a blender or food processor, then strain. Heat water and sugar until boiling, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved. Cool completely. Mix puree with the syrup, then chill for several hours. Process according to ice cream maker’s instructions.
