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First Post: National Ice Cream Day

I love ice cream! What other food has such a perfect balance of flavor, texture, and temperature. How many other foods actually change state—from a solid to a liquid—as you eat it. Take milk, cream, and sugar, mix them up, and what do you have? Well, not much. But freeze it, add some air, and suddenly it’s transformed into something special. Ice cream actually has air as a key ingredient! Even when it has no flavors added at all, “sweet cream” ice cream is still delicious. But then add flavors… add LOTS of flavors! Chocolate! Candy! Nuts! Fruit! Take the flavors from a favorite dessert, like pies or cakes or cookies, or something more complex like tiramisu or crème brulée, and make an ice cream out of it! Cookie dough! Deep, dark chocolate! Rich vanilla! Subtle cinnamon with oatmeal cookies and chocolate chunks! Apple pie with real crust! Coffee! Mint! The possibilities are endless.

I can’t think of a better day to start this blog than on National Ice Cream Day, in the middle of National Ice Cream Month [1].  If you live in a country that doesn’t have a day dedicated to ice cream, well, you should do something about that.  But in the mean time, grab a bowl of ice cream and a spoon, and celebrate anyway.

I learn more about how to make ice cream every time I try a new batch.  This will be a place to share tips and ideas about what works and what doesn’t.  How can you prevent peaches from freezing into ice chunks?  What’s a foolproof method for melting chocolate without it seizing?  Can cayenne pepper be used in ice cream?  Some of it I’ve figured out already, and some of it I’ll figure out as we go along.  And hopefully, other people will comment about what they’ve learned as well.

Happy Ice Cream Day!  Let’s make some ice cream!