Is it possible for chocolate ice cream to be too chocolaty?

The short answer to that question posed by Sensitive Pantry on twitter is Yes.

RT "@SensitivePantry Is it possible for chocolate ice cream to be too chocolaty? (I thought I'd ask an expert but others can chime in, too.)"

It is always possible to go over the top with anything. I have to remind young chefs that over salting is over salting, to lay off the sugar, to let the natural flavors of the dish they are creating shine through. Too many ingredients, if not well thought out, will muddy. Too much salt will repel the taste buds. One should never taste pepper or salt it should support the flavors. And finally, too much chocolate is a chocolate ganache or milk chocolate not chocolate ice cream. Chocolate should blend in harmony with the ice cream base.

Ice cream is just that, ice cream. It's the American dessert. No matter were or when it was invented, it's still the quintessential American dessert. And what is ice cream? It's a frozen dessert containing sugar and cream and usually some flavoring. So, my ice cream is very rich. I use cream and half and half with lots of egg yolks and some sugar. But when I put in that flavoring, I try to find a balance between the ice cream itself and the flavoring and that include chocolate. The key is balance.

Great food and especially great desserts are a balance of flavors. The Chinese have desserts that are almost savory, salted dried plums come to mind. It's considered a confection. When we make our sticky rice dessert, post coming, I have to sweeten it up for American palates and even provide some maple syrup on the side.

Each culture's flavor balance is unique and this is what defines a cuisine. However, balance is the key.

So, too much chocolate? Is that possible? Yes. Ice cream isn't ganache and it isn't milk chocolate. You have to know you are eating ice cream. Nor should a dessert be super sweet. It needs to be in harmony with it's ingredients. Let me repeat that. The concept, the idea of a dessert needs to be in harmony with it's ingredients. Cherry pie should taste like cherry pie and the cherry must be fresh. Ice cream should taste like ice cream. Tomato soup should sing tomato, not scream it in a salty, peppery parsley voice.

How does one train one's palate to find a refined balance? By eating great food and no, KFC doesn't count as great food. (It barely counts as food. The same for all fast foods.) Restraint, balance and refinement. That's what makes a great chocolate ice cream. That's what makes any great dish.

Rose Water, Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream

I just love rose water ice cream and I love pistachio ice cream and, well, everyone loves my banana saffron ice cream and their equivalent caramels. So, what better combination than rose water, saffron pistachio ice cream.

To my saffron ice cream base I add, before I put it into the machine, 1/8 cup of rose water and 3 cups of chopped pistachio. I use the Cuisinart to do a very course chop on the pistachios.

Saffron Ice cream base

1 qt heavy cream
1 qt 1/2 and 1/2
1 1/2 cup sugar (normally I use only 1 cup but felt that this should be a little sweeter.)
1 table spoon saffron
2 table spoons vanilla paste (normally in my ice cream I only use 1 bean equiv. This is 2 bean equiv.)
10 egg yolks

Add
1/8 cup rose water
3 cups chopped, toasted but unsalted pistachios. (Do not use salted. I use raw pistachio and then lightly toast at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes.)

Combine the heavy cream, 1/2 and 1/2, sugar, saffron and vanilla into a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil. Take off the heat. Let steep at least 5 minutes, 10 is better. In this recipe, I use the vanilla paste, 2 T, which is the same as 2 beans. You can use 2 beans or you can use 2 t of vanilla extract. If you use the extract, put it in after you make the custard.

Reheat the mixture and after tempering the egg yolks, add into the base in a thin stream. Stir until either 170-180F or until the custard allows you to put a clean line through it on the wooden spoon. I use a spoon not a whisk. You do not want to put air into the ice cream. Stir all the time.

Strain into a bowl or a metal measuring cup. I strain because I don't want to have saffron threads in my ice cream, just the taste. If you have not done the custard properly, straining will also take out any scrambled eggs. If you don't want to, don't strain, you'll have threads in your ice cream which may not be a bad thing.



Put the ice cream into an ice bath. Now, if you have a great ice cream machine like mine, it takes hot ice cream and churns until done, put in the rose water now and make your ice cream. If you don't have a great ice cream machine and the ice cream has to be cold, then wait till the ice cream is cold from the bath, put in the rose water and then churn. Add pistachio as you churn. I add the pistachio almost immediately. I let it churn for about 30 seconds before I add the chopped pistachios.



It's that simple. I made 3 batches, two with pistachio and one without, that is a saffron rose water ice cream sans nuts. Yummy. Now you can make this at home and pretend you are attending an art workshop or a fiber art workshop at the Greenville Arms.

The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker

I just want to go on record saying, that many pastry chefs I know use the dinky Cuisinart ice cream maker in their restaurant kitchens. So, though I'm glad I got a Lello by Muso, I'm also here to tell you that I have used the Cuisinart for many years with great results.