Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Maple + Walnut - Egg

1/2 c sugar
1/8 tsp guar gum
2 c heavy cream
1 c milk
1/2 c maple syrup (the darker the better)
1/2 chopped walnuts

Combine sugar and guar gum. Whisk into cream, milk, and syrup a little a time, continue until completely blended. Freeze normally in ice cream maker, add walnuts about 2 minutes before finished, move to freezer to solidify. Grade C maple syrup is best, as it has a stronger maple flavor. If you can't find that, try for grade b or dark amber.

You can use 2 eggs instead of guar gum and prepare like the Basic Sweet Cream recipe posted earlier.

As a vegetarian I try to avoid eggs. Plus there is a risk to eating raw eggs, and cooking takes extra time. Guar gum serves as a good replacement - it is commonly used in store bought ice cream. It is even more effective than eggs at preventing ice crystal growth and slowing melting, and it adds texture.

A word of caution: guar gum is very potent. I first used 1/4 tsp, and the ice cream was almost chewy. Still edible, but not recommended. I am very happy with the texture at 1/8 tsp, but I recommend you try it out with vanilla before using it in a more expensive recipe.

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