Book Review: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home + Giveaway and Recipe


Taking a break from our sewing/crafting book reviews to focus on something else many of us love, ice cream!! Jeni’s ice cream has a special place in my heart because my family stops at one of her shops in central Ohio around Columbus whenever we drive through that area. Her ice creams are intensely flavored and have a wonderful creamy texture. Jeni’s carries normal flavors like chocolate and vanilla but there are always seasonal specials with unusual flavors.

When Jeni came out with this cookbook I made sure to get a copy. I’m pleased to report that the recipes don’t disappoint! I dusted off our ice cream maker and started cooking up recipes. In the past, our homemade ice cream has always been good but not quite as good as a specialty ice cream shop. With these recipes I’m making incredible flavors and textures that we’re loving! The Lemon and Blueberry Frozen Yogurt was a perfect balance of sweet and tart, the Vanilla Bean doesn’t seem like “plain” ice cream anymore, and the Salty Caramel can be addictive. The recipes can be a bit involved but once you get used to making the standard base they become faster and easier.

The book is divided up by season depending on what ingredients are used. There are over 80 recipes total for ice cream, yogurt and sorbets. Here’s just a few samples of what ice cream recipes you can expect:

  • Spring: Roasted Strawberry and Buttermilk, Pineapple Sorbet, Baked Rhubarb, Savannah Buttermint
  • Summer: Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry, Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries, Kona Stout, Cucumber Honeydew and Cayenne Frozen Yogurt
  • Fall: The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream, Roasted Pumpkin, Maple with Buttered Pecans, Riesling-Poached Pear Sorbet, Rum with Toasted Coconut
  • Winter: Wild Berry Lavender, Banana with Carmelized White Chocolate, Gooey Butter Cake, Black Coffee

Also included is information on Jeni’s background and on equipment and ingredients. In the back there’s are extra chapters on fillings and toppings such as:

  • Nuts and Dried Fruits: Things like Honey Nut Pralines, Sugar-plumped Fruit, and Cognac Fig Sauce
  • Variegates and Fruits for Ice Creams: Roasted Cherries, Blueberry Sauce, etc.
  • Baked Goods and Candies: Vanilla Bean Marshmallows, Almond Brittle, Crisp Streusel, etc.
  • Sundae Accessories: Carmelized White Chocolate Bombe Shell, Honey Butterscotch Sauce, Whipped Cream, etc.

Also included in the book you’ll find information making your own ice cream cones or macaroom ice cream sandwiches.

The recipes recommend making the ice cream and then putting it in the freezer to harden before serving. When it comes out you’ll have perfect scoops. Basically, if you want to make ice cream you’ll want to get this book. You’ll be turning out amazing results and there are recipes and combinations to please everyone. You can look inside the book and see some of the recipes on Amazon and the recipe for Lemon and Blueberry Frozen Yogurt is available on the Splendid Table. You’ll see that the photos in the book are amazing and my photos don’t do it justice.

If you check out Amazon, you’ll notice a few people in the reviews mention two typos in the original printing of the book. These have been corrected for the edition that’s currently available. Also, to get the smooth and creamy ice cream texture you find at premium shops, the recipes include a small amount of corn starch and corn syrup (although she mentions you can substitute tapioca syrup). Just a warning in case that bothers you!

And here’s my homemade vanilla bean ice cream paired with homemade root beer from a local shop. Doesn’t get much better than this!

 

Recipe: The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World

Excerpted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011. Photographs by Stacy Newgent.

Makes a generous 1 quart

This recipe is a result of a career-long quest: packing as much chocolate into ice cream without taking away the ice-creaminess. It is rich, bittersweet, and dense, and the texture is slightly chewy, with extreme chocolate flavor. Folks often say it tastes like the inside of a chocolate truffle.

Always use the best ingredients available, especially when making an ice cream with one singular flavor. Use the best-quality chocolate you can get your hands on. A high-cacao, full-bodied, fruity chocolate will cut through the cream, and the flavor will be more dramatic.

Chocolate Syrup

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup brewed coffee
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • (55% to 70% cacao), finely chopped

Ice Cream Base

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Pairs well with: Absolutely every flavor in this book and just about anything else you can imagine.

Prep

  • For the chocolate syrup: Combine the cocoa, coffee, and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and boil for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes.
  • Stir the syrup until smooth. Set aside.
  • For the ice cream base: Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese, warm chocolate syrup, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Cook

Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Chill

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Freeze

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

 

Giveaway

Artisan Books has generously agreed to give away a copy of this book to one of our lucky U.S. readers! Just leave a comment below (one comment per person please) telling us your favorite ice cream flavor, or one you’d like to try from Jeni’s book. The giveaway will be open through next Friday, March 30 at Midnight EST and the winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on this post. Congratulations to comment #14, Cynthia!

 

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67 comments

  1. LOVE Jeni’s!! Salted caramel is the best 🙂 A quick question – do you have to have an ice cream maker for the recipes?

    1. Hi Kelsey, The recipes in the book all call for an ice cream maker and it really does help with the final texture. I found some information here on how to make ice cream without a machine that may work for you though!

  2. I love Jenis, and I remember hearing The Splendid Table interview where she discussed her goals and researchbforvthe book! It would be so exciting to be able to try some of the resulting recipes. As for my favorite, I love the old classic pralines n cream and buttermilk blackberry!

  3. I love ginger ice cream but I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to try! This looks like an awesome collection. Thank you for a lovely giveaway.

  5. There is a place up the street that makes coconut butterfinger and it is AMAZING! I would have never thought about that combination, but it is genius!

  6. I love vanilla icecream so that I can put awesome toppings on it. plus i just like the taste

  7. Can’t get enough Jeni’s. Mixing a tangy citrus flavor like lemon-blueberry with dark chocolate (on the bottom) is the best!

  9. Wow…baked rhubarb? I would love to try that as we always grow more rhubarb than we can use!

  10. I love honey vanilla ice cream! I wonder if Jeni has a recipe for that in the book?

  11. we got my BIL (and new SIL) an ice cream maker for their wedding gift. I’d love to follow up with this for their first anniversary.

    thanks for the chance to win.

  12. i haven’t met an ice cream i don’t like. these all sound like great flavors. i would love to try all of these in her book. so hard to pick one to start with though …

  15. I just got an ice cream maker last year and LOVE making my own ice cream! I haven’t been too adventurous yet, but maple is my current favourite!

  18. Once I read the word lemon and Blueberry frozen yoghurt, you had me hooked. thanks for the giveaway.

  20. You had me at ice cream! I have always wanted to try to make this at home since it tends to be my favorite dessert. I like that the flavors in the book seem a little unusual and fun. I could totally see myself making up quite a few of them. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  21. I love peanut butter ice cream. Thanks for the great giveaway! 🙂

  22. Are you kidding, the DARKEST CHOCOLATE ice cream in the world has got to be my favorite!

  24. I love Liquorice flavour!!
    It leaves your tongue and lips stained with the black colouring but it is so yum!!!!
    Great book. I would love to get into making my own icecream.

  30. Butter pecan ice cream has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Thanks for the chance to win.

  31. Our family is an icecream family and I believe this book would quickly become the family favorite! We love all kinds of icecream, but our old reliable is classic vanilla smothered in a variety of yummy syrup and toppings 🙂

  32. Ohhh! These recipes sound amazing! I just got my first ice cream maker for Christmas and it has so far only produced vanilla ice cream. Lol! I would love to try the goat cheese and cherry recipe. It’s right up my alley!

  34. My favorite ice cream is Mocha Chocolate Chunk. I don’t get to enjoy it very often because the shop that sells it is 150 miles away. Probably a good thing for me.

  35. Wonderful book! I’m so glad you reviewed it so I could discover it. My husband loves to experiment with homemade ice cream and would love to get his hands on this. My fav flavor is chocolate, so thanks for sharing that fab recipe with us. The hubs would want to tackle the banana and white chocolate recipe first. THANKS!

  36. Oh my! Can’t decide between the Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries or Wild Berry Lavender…they both sound heavenly!

  37. I ordered some of Jeni’s mail delivery for my husband’s birthday after the knitting world went crazy for it a few years ago and loved the Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Cherries. So I’d love to try making that at home!

  38. Oh my goodness…this is the book for me!!! I could live off ice cream! My favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip, I am hoping she has something great for that! Thanks for the chance to win!!

  40. My favorite is mint chocolate chip – I’d love to have this book to use with my ice cream maker!

  42. Sounds absolutely delicious! My favorite ice cream is chocolate peanut butter. I hope I win! Thanks for the giveaway.

  43. I LOVE homemade ice cream–I think I’d start with Lemon Blueberry frozen yogurt. Blueberries are my favorite!!

  44. These recipes sound incredible. Thanks for the sample recipe. I’m almost ready to hop in the car and head for Ohio. The book would certainly be the next best thing!

  48. I REALLY love pistachio ice cream! I had it all the time when I was in Germany. Yum!! 🙂 This would be such a fun book to have! My boys would be in heaven. 😉

  53. Since Gooey Butter Cake is a staple here in Missouri,
    I would love to try the Gooey Butter Cake ice cream.
    My next coice would be the Salted Caramel. Thanks
    for the chance to win!!!!

  55. My favorite storebought ice cream is Baskin Robbins Butter Pecan, though Ben & Jerry’s Doonesbury is a close second. My favorite homemade ice cream is whiskey vanilla, followed by bacon maple.

  58. Lemon poppyseed is my fave, so refreshing! 🙂
    But the recipes in this book make me wanna buy an icecream maker!

  62. I love coffee and will make a coffee float with my grandma’s “ice cube tray frozen custard” (she didn’t use an ice cream maker and the end result is frozen in metal ice cube trays)…. so I can’t wait to try Jen’s “Black Coffee” and “Kona Stout”.

  63. I’ve gotten this book from the library – it’s fabulous!
    My favorite ice cream is coffee chocolate chip. Thanks for the chance to win!

  64. My absolute favourite is tiger ice cream – orange ice cream with a licorice swirl. mmmmm!

    Thanks for the opportunity to win the book. The only ice cream I can eat is Chapman’s because of severe peanut allergies and the dreaded may contain… notice on regular ice cream, so I make my own a few times a year. This book might help me get my texture
    closer to store bought.

  65. I love the cover off the book already .
    The in site with ice cream must be super good .
    Don,t know if it is smart to enter ,maybe i get hooked to ice cream 🙂 :)( i am already )

    Thanks for the give a way

    Bea

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