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Summer screams for ice cold treats

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by Jason Engelhart

Thursday, May 10, 2007

On a hot, sweltering day like the ones we've been having lately, it's easy to understand why Americans eat almost 20 quarts of ice cream a year. Ice cream is one of the few foods that manages to be all-at-once refreshing, filling and delicious. The other foods that cool us off during the summer — parfaits, salads, gazpacho, etc. — all seem to lack something. I think it is lots of sugar and milk fat.

In addition to adding sweetness and a creamy texture, these two delicious components of ice cream create the texture that makes it unique. Without fat, sugar and the agitation that takes place during the freezing process, ice cream would have an unpleasantly "icy" texture. The sugar ensures that some of the water stays unfrozen at freezer temperatures, the fats coat the ice crystals and the churning process keeps a network of crystals from forming. During freezing, cream, sugar and flavorings like vanilla or chocolate come together in an almost magical transformation that results in ice cream, a gloriously rich and fatty yet pleasantly refreshing treat.

The simple combination of cream, sugar and flavorings is the most basic form of ice cream and is technically known as Philadelphia-style ice cream. This is the kind of stuff that Ben and Jerry's, Chocolate Shoppe and UW-Madison's own Babcock Hall Dairy produce.

Other simple combinations of dairy and sugar include frozen yogurt, which is made by replacing the cream with yogurt in the recipe for Philadelphia-style ice cream, and the Indian dessert kulfi, which is essentially frozen, sweetened, condensed milk. Also of note is soft-serve, which is a form of Philadelphia-style ice cream that is made with less fat and kept at a relatively high temperature to keep large ice crystals from forming.

There is a whole galaxy of ice creams made from the simple combination of dairy products and sugar. However, ice cream does not begin and end with these basic creations. French-style ice cream, also known as custard, includes another ingredient that makes it even richer: eggs. To make this style of ice cream, cooks make a crÃ

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Anonymous (May 10, 2007 @ 1:58pm):

I DISAGREE!

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