When this season annually arrives, an array of desserts appears that we just don't see in any other part of the year. What I anticipate so eagerly are the pies. OH, the Pies! And the Thighs!
Pies can be done so many different ways, and are truly inspiring. I am a firm believer in the nostalgic and believe we, as humans, are always trying to return to our childhoods. So, I use things from my earlier years, things that brought me joy and fond memories at the table with my family, as inspiration for my ice creams.
My mother used to make this ice cream pie for my brother's birthdays; it was his favorite. We were not versed in the art of ice cream making then, so she simply used store-bought vanilla ice cream, let it soften, mixed it with cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk; topped it with coconut and caramel. It was a pie. It was childhood. It was ridiculous. It was good.
Thus, with the colloquialism of the Shirey Brothers, we resurrected a childhood favorite, and froze it; and Caramel Coconut Pie ice cream was born.
Caramel Coconut Pie - perfectly toasted coconut ice cream ribboned with caramel and cinnamon-graham cracker crust and studded with fudge covered pecans
I recently purchased a book. A magical book. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Slap me on the butt and call me, Charlie! Jeni knows what she's doing. And what she's doing is right.
So, Jeni does not use eggs in her ice cream like I do. At first I eyed her with skepticism. But that quickly changed when I began to read about why she did what she did, and completely shattered when I tried her method for myself.
Jeni uses science to make her ice cream perfect. And perfect it is (though I haven't exactly tried it yet, only tried her method). By brother in NYC has tried the real thing, and said it was fantastic. See, in NYC they have all the latest trends. Here in Tuscaloosa we have last year's trends.
So, this new method uses milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, cream cheese, and corn starch. Jeni had my same views of Today's ice creams being too sweet, so she reduces the sugar amount. The corn syrup is a way to sweeten the ice cream with less sugary strength. I thought the cream cheese was crazy because it would give the ice cream a cheesecake flavor. But the amount is minimal, and instead it acts as a major emulsifier. The hero is the cornstarch. Corn starch acts as a water shepherd. When it is added it forces any stray water in the mixture to bind with itself, and therefore eliminates all chances for that water to turn into icy particles. How neat is that?
That's pretty neat.
The process began by toasting coconut in the oven until it golden tipped and its fragrant aroma filled my apartment. That's the best air freshener. I then steeped the coconut into the hot milk and cream for thirty minutes. This allowed the milk to wick out the flavor of the toasted coconut, leaving me with a slightly tan, coconut milk-cream. I could have stopped there and I know everyone would have still been satisfied with the taste.But I didn't.
I strained most of the coconut out before I put it into the ice cream maker. I wasn't successful in straining all of it out, but I thought that the sparsely populated strands would be little flavorful presents for those lucky enough to find them in their pint.
My new experimental way of making the ice cream turned out far better than I ever expected. If Jeni uses it in her ice creams, then I knew it was good enough for me. The texture and consistency was perfect, better than any store-bought or scoop shop ice cream I've had. It was creamy and smooth and no trace of ice could be found.
It seems as though I have finally got my foot on my arch-nemesis, Isie. But that does not mean I will let up. I must press on to other flavors, unknown, and untested. Happy Eating and Happy Fall.
-Reese O'Shirey, Esquire
