This is gonna be a quick and dirty recipe, because a) I haven't perfected it yet, and b) it's quick and easy to do. The idea is to make ice cream without an ice cream freezer. This blog post will chronicle my various attempts at it and I won't stop until I've cracked the code!
Attempt #1. Simple. Maybe too simple
For my first attempt I toasted some pecans (about a cup and a half) in a cast-iron skillet with 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tsp salt. I heated up 1.5 pints of heavy cream in a saucepan with added sweetener to taste (I used Xylitol), a little vanilla extract, and some Rum flavoring (because I couldn't find imitation butter or butter flavoring that day in the supermarket). I heated it until all the sweetener crystals had dissolved, and then left it in the pan to cool for 15 minutes.
I then poured the mixture into a metal mixing bowl, and half-filled a slightly larger bowl with ice water, to which I added 1/4 cup of kosher salt. After carefully placing the mixture bowl into the ice bath bowl, I stirred with a spoon until the mixture became slightly cool. At this point I started whipping the snot out of it. Perhaps I went a bit too far. My thought was if it was REALLY thick, it would taste good frozen (foreshadowing).
After mixing to what I thought was the right level of thick, I mixed in the pecans, spooned the goop into a plastic storage bin and set it in the freezer. A couple hours later it tasted like... slightly sweet frozen whipped butter with peacans in it. Not good.
For my next attempt, I plan to add a bit of whole milk, maybe 1/2 a cup, and a bit of guar gum. I also intend to not whooop it, but merely whip it.
Stay Tuned for Part 2