Spotlight: White Russian Ice Cream
The great thing about the Internet is that someone like yours truly, Jose Mier, will never run out of new ideas or content for my website. For me the job is to bring the most iconic, surprising or off the wall frozen desserts to you so that you can have a chance to make and/or taste some of the greatest flavors (frozen, of course) in the world.
Today’s gem comes from the one and only Rachel Ray, whose eponymous website lists her 12 most favorite frozen treats. I’m pressed for time or else I’d go into detail about all 12 (come back later for more!) so today I have to focus on one particular dish: white Russian ice cream.
I had to do a double take when I saw the title because I’d never heard or thought of this flavor but it make perfect sense. When I was younger the white Russian was one of my favorite alcoholic beverages and the creaminess of this concoction makes it a perfect candidate to be turned into an ice cream.
Now no one is going to get tipsy on this version, the 4 tablespoons of alcohol aren’t enough to souse anyone, merely add the iconic flavor. But the recipe itself is pretty simple. Ingredients? Milk, sugar, salt, egg yolks, heavy cream, coffee liqueur, and vodka.
The trick to this (and any great ice cream) is mixing the hot cream/salt/sugar mixture into the eggs. It has to be done slowly and carefully so that you don’t end up with scrambled eggs instead of custard. However, if you get this step down you’re well on your way to excellent ice cream. The 5 egg yolks this recipe calls for in my opinion, make this a seriously creamy concoction. I frown on store bought ice creams that are too timid to add these and instead rely on some gimmick like “slow churning” to try to approach some level of creaminess. In all cases they lose. That’s why I love seeing these in this recipe.
After milk, etc. are added to the eggs the mixture is cooked some more then cooled in the fridge for a couple hours prior to mixing in the ice cream maker of your choice. Texture and creaminess are key for me and that’s what stands out with Rachel Ray’s recipe here. Try it yourself if you’re feeling adventurous. I can almost guarantee any party guest are going to rave over the texture and taste!
https://jose-mier.org
