Fresh Fig Ice Cream

Original Recipe:

"Fresh Fig Ice Cream" from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop.

Original Ingredients:

• 2lbs fresh black mission figs (about 20)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste.

Original Method:

1. Remove the hard stem ends from the figs, then cut each fig into 8 pieces. Put the figs in a medium, non-reactive saucepan with the water, and zest the lemon directly into the saucepan.
2. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes until the figs are tender. Remove the lid, add the sugar and continue to cook until it reaches a jam-like consistency.
3. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Blend together with cream and lemon juice, chill in the fridge and then put in your ice cream maker per the manufacturer's instructions.

My Ingredients:

• 450g of Turkey's bursa figs (about 8)
• 125ml of water
• 1/2 lemon
• 75g of sugar
• 120g of double cream
• lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
• 15ml of Crème de Cassis 

My Method: 

• I halved the recipe and translated it into metric measurements. The only exception is water. I did not reduce the amount of water into because it would not be enough to cook the raw figs.
• I added 15ml (approximately 1 tbsp) of Crème de Cassis after blending to avoid the ice cream from freezing too much.

One-line Verdict:

Looks rustic but tastes divine. Not the easiest ice cream to make though.

Verdict:

• This ice cream is egg-free, it means it's particularly easy to freeze into hard ice. Using an ice cream maker should help but I don't have one. I did churn the mixture a lot (every 30 minutes for the first 4 hours) but it just couldn't reach the creamy texture. I will make this or any other non-custard based ice cream again only if I get a decent ice cream maker.
• Thanks to the liqueur. I think it did help to prevent the ice cream from freezing too much. I was afraid the addition of Crème de Cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur from France) would interfere the flavour but luckily it didn't happen. If I make this ice cream again, I would use Rum, Brandy or Vodka as the higher alcohol concentration should be more efficient in preventing ice formation. Or I'd replace some granulated sugar with liquid glucose, which can provide some viscosity and prevent ice formation.
• Though it looks rustic, it tastes good. What can I say? It tastes DIVINE. No exaggeration. The sweetness is just right and the fig seeds give an interesting crunchy feeling. Did I mention the colour? No food colouring but the figs and double cream alone are enough to give the ice cream an absolutely gorgeous pink.
• I think a food processor can be used to blend the fig jam before mixing it with double cream and lemon juice to grate the fig skins and give it a smoother feeling.
• Figs are in season from autumn till early spring, so seize your chance before they're gone!
• Approximate cost of the main ingredients: £4 (about 500g, excluding the cost of liqueur)

Green Tea Ice Cream

Adapted from several recipes:

Ultimate vanilla ice cream from BBC GoodFood

簡易食譜: 綠茶雪糕

妞仔: 我的第一盒淇冰淇淋, 香草口味的

My Ingredients:

• 200ml double cream
• 300ml semi-skimmed milk
• 85g castor sugar
• 12g Matcha green tea powder
• 3 large egg yolks

My Method:

1. Heat the cream and milk over a low heat with a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it almost boils - you'll see a few bubbles at the edge. Take off the heat and set aside for 30 minutes or else the egg yolks added in the next step will be cooked and coagulated. 
2. Brieftly mix the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Scoop out about a quarter (125ml) of the cream mixture from saucepan and beat into the egg yolks. Continue until all cream has been added.
3. Pour the mixture into the saucepan. Add the green tea powder. Cook it over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Watch that it doesn't boil. As soon as you see any bubbles about to burst to the surface, it should be thick enough and the pan should be taken off the heat immediately.
4. Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl. Cover the ice cream with a cling film which has to be in contact of the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin forming on the surface.
5. Then sit the bowl in a bigger bowl one third full of iced water to cool (this should take about 20 minutes but took me about 40 minutes as I used tap water). 
6. Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, stirring once an hour until almost frozen.

One-line Verdict:

Quite many steps but not difficult. Just need some patience and concentration.

Verdict:

• The texture is smooth and creamy. In fact I find it creamier than most other store-bought ice cream.
• A little bit sweeter than I would like. I'll reduce the sugar content further from 85g to maybe 75g.
• The green tea flavour is mild and moderate, but the green tea powder I used seems to have paler taste than others.
• The ice cream can be a bit hard after a day or two. Just take it from the freezer 30 minutes before serving then it will be soften up.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredient: £5 (about 500 grams)