Cookaholics Bulletin Board

We did the CI base and mango adaption of CI's strawberry yesterday and it is quite nice. We used both corn syrup found in the CI vanilla ice cream base recipe and the vodka found in the strawberry ice cream recipe to help minimize ice crystals. It was an improvement, though perhaps not perfect in terms of those pesky ice crystals, but much better (read smoother). And the mango flavor really zinged! We did a double batch of base and four or five cups of mango puree (previously frozen and stored). We included lemon juice in the mango puree as well, which was not obvious in the flavor profile but I think brightened up the mango considerably. The mango, vodka, and vanilla were added after the base custard was cooked and cooled, then allowed to marry overnight (much to the wailing of the family who wanted to MAKE IT NOW!)

The once moribund (or perhaps comatose would be more apt) ice and rock salt machine has leapt back from the precipice of oblivion. Brushes and broken springs have been touched up or replaced, the motor works, all is well and the noisy SOB is like music to my ears. I feel a bit like Frankenstein in the old 30's era movie exclaiming, "It's alive ... ALIVE!"

Steve