Sunday 24 May 2009

New Toy - icecream ball

I have been told that I can't buy any more kitchen appliances until we've bought our own house. Which seems fair really, but I decided that I NEED an icecream maker. And then I saw these icecream balls and managed to bring an icecream maker into my home without it being considered a kitchen appliance. In fact, you could almost consider it exercise equipment...

So, you put your icecream mixture in one end, some ice and salt in the other and shake and roll it around for a while. And there you have a pint of icecream.

The first batch I made was a simple cream, sugar and mixed berries one. The berries were still mostly frozen, so it only took 10 minutes of shaking to have a luscious batch of purpley pink ice cream. But because it was a cream base, the leftovers froze rock-hard and didn't have the mouthfeel of a custard base.

For the second batch I used some bought premium vanilla custard, a slosh of cointreau and a big scoop of my homemade quince marmalade. The mixture wasn't as cold as the last one, so it took longer - closer to 20 minutes to get to a soft-serve texture. But it was just delicious, with the proper velvety texture I look for in icecream.

I still aspire to a proper icecream maker, but this is a cute gimmick. And it makes a nice small quantity so I can have it as a little treat without too much effort. And it gave me the opportunity to experiment with putting up a bit of video.

11 comments:

HH said...

Oh!! I like it!! Sounds like a marvelous invention! (Well maybe not invention, but toy!) and the icecream sounds wonderful!

Excercise and icecream in one, it works with general justification of food, in fact it is even better! Excercise, calcium, fruit (in the case of the berries), why this is a health food!!

Stacey said...

That is interesting... I have always wondered if those little balls actually work!

Alicia Foodycat said...

HH - health food! Yes. Yes it is!

Stacey - if you want to make icecream for more than 2 people, it's not great.

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Foodycat, I have got to get me one of those! That is so cool. Thanks for the info. Now to the internet to see where I can find one!! :)

Sam said...

I'm a real sucker for gimmicks, I've got to get one of these!

NKP said...

I always wondered if these worked. Looks like a fun gift to get for my daughter when she finds her apartment.

Alicia Foodycat said...

Teresa - it's an American gadget, so it should be easy enough to track down!

Sam - I love that it comes in different colours.

Natashya - I think it'd be a great housewarming gift!

Laurie said...

Love the ice cream ball! My Mom loves gadgets and this one is right up her alley. Glad to find out it actually works!

We have an ice cream maker in the basement that we've only used once...wince...really there is no excuse.

Will you be making Rochefort ice cream? Did I read that correctly in an earlier post? If so, that sounds so cool!

Deb in Hawaii said...

I had been wondering if that worked at all. Your ice cream looks great and now I feel lazy for using my electric ice-cream maker! ;-)

Alicia Foodycat said...

Laurie - I definitely intend to make the roquefort icecream! It was so cheesy and delicious! I think with figs.

Deb - believe me, I will leave this one behind the minute I can have an electric one!

mscrankypants said...

How did I miss this post? The first photo is one of the most appetising images ever. It looks like a Cherry Ripe turned into an icy treat.

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