If you’ve ever spent anytime in France, then I am sure you have had a fabulous time eating a crepe at one of those crepe carts that probably never cost you more than a buck. Crepes can be a fantastic addition to your fall and winter business. So, if you are interested in getting into the crepe business, purchase a crepe machine and get started. Here’s a recipe for making crepes:

INGREDIENTS:
Solid Ingredients
2 quarts Flour
6 ounces Sugar
1 ½ ounces Salt
Mix solid dry ingredients together

Liquid Ingredients
6 Eggs
2 ounces Vanilla Extract
4 ounces Vegetable oil
4 ounces Melted butter-unsalted
91 ounces Milk

Mix all the liquid ingredients together, add them to the dry ingredients. Mix real well till the mixture becomes fluffy.

Developed by leading ice cream consultant Malcolm Stogo and health food expert Steve Hirschhorn, the new packaged ice cream line will officially enter the market in December 2012. All DF MAVENS products will be produced in an 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Astoria, New York.

The market for dairy-free products has grown enormously over the last decade, as customers who are health-minded, allergy-restricted and/or lactose-intolerant search for desserts they can eat and enjoy. The goal of DF MAVENS is to produce the finest, best-tasting, highest-quality dairy free desserts available and to become a renowned packaged brand in the healthy dessert and beverage category.

Initial product will be available in pints and sold under two lines: soy and coconut. Both bases will be available in regular and sugar-free. While each line targets a different demographic group, both are remarkably delicious and healthy ice cream desserts. In stages, the company will also produce healthy beverages and non-dairy baked goods, resulting in a name that will become the go-to brand for non-dairy desserts in the wholesale supermarket marketplace.

To help develop and launch DF MAVENS, the company has retained the consulting services of Gene Stone, best-selling nutritional author and the go-to person for everything vegetarian, and Terry Lozoff, CEO of Antler Agency, a leading marketing firm in the interactive and social media space.

DF MAVENS is a division of Fal Foods Worldwide. For questions, please contact Malcolm Stogo.

In this issue we explore:

• The frozen yogurt craze. Here to stay or doomed to bust?
• Non-dairy frozen desserts
• Stabilizers
• The novelty ice cream take-out business
• 5 recipes, including Ricotta with Blackberry Gelato

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE EDITION OF ICE CREAM UNIVERSITY NEWS HERE.

Here’s to a great Spring season!

Over the years, I keep hearing the same question. Fear no more, here’s the answer — a cold water activated stabilizer. So, what the heck is a stabilizer? Do I really need to use one? How are they used? Italian water ice and sorbets have long been enjoyed as seasonal fun-foods. Because they yield a greater cooling effect than ice cream, they are ideal warm weather treats. For a water ice to be enjoyed by the consumer, the product usually will need help. That help comes from the use of a stabilizer.

Stabilizers provide creamy meltdown and smooth texture while also preventing the ice crystallization and coarseness associated with heat shock (common language – why are they so hard to scoop). They make scooping easier, and they extend shelf life. Most stabilizers for water ice or sorbet production are made up of:

• Guar Gum: Retards ice crystal growth nonspecifically by slowing mass transfer across the solid/liquid interface. It shows good stability during freeze-thaw cycles.
• Exanthan Gum: Helps create the pleasant creamy texture in ices.

All the recipes in our books and newsletter use the stabilizer 9100 from Main Street Ingredients – a cold water stabilizer that is simple to use. It’s used at the rate of .20-.30% by weight. If your finished product seems too soft or stringy, you used too much, so be careful, less is better than more.

Usage level is 8 grams for a 2½-gallon batch and 12-16 grams for a 5- gallon batch. Simply mix the stabilizer with dry sugar and add to liquid ingredient(s) with good agitation. Allow a few minutes for the stabilizer to hydrate before freezing.

SAMPLE SORBET & ITALIAN WATER ICE RECIPE

2 ½ GALLON BASIC WATER ICE RECIPE
Ingredients:
3 1/2 Gallons Water
6 pounds Sugar
3 pounds 36 DE corn
8 grams Stabilizer- 9100 (.02%-.03% by weight)
2-4 ounces Fruit extract flavoring-(amount used depends on the manufacturer’s recommended usage level)
Batch Time: 15-18 minutes

2 ½ GALLON BASIC SORBET RECIPE
Ingredients:
3 1/2 Gallons Water
6 pounds Sugar
3 pounds 36 DE corn
8 grams Stabilizer- 9100 (.02%-.03% by weight)
12 pounds-30% or 16 pounds 40% Fresh or frozen fruit

Preparation:
Mix together all dry sweetener ingredients- sugar, 36DE corn, and stabilizer “thoroughly.” Add 1 1/2 gallons hot water to above mixture, blend thoroughly. Pour this mixture and the rest of the ingredients into the batch freezer. Turn on the dasher for 2 minutes to stir the mixtures together. Set timer for 15 minutes. Turn on refrigeration and begin batch. As mixture firms up and looks wavy, turn off refrigeration and extrude finished product.

Ice Cream University has stabilizers from Main Street available on our online shop. If you have any questions, please contact malcolm@icecreamuniversity.org.

In the class we will cover:

• Base diversification: White, egg, chocolate made from scratch using a pasteurization process.
• Sorbet: Using fresh fruit as the base with different sweeteners and stabilizers
• Mixes: Nonfat and lowfat gelato, and high fat super premium ice cream
• Stracciatella: making a liquid chip from scratch
• Complex compositions: using different sweeteners, stabilizers, skim milk powders, and 36-42 DE corn syrup
• Preparing fruit flavors: Fruit flavoring and marinating fruit
• Aromas: Use of extracts for boosting flavor composition
• Recipes: For many gelatos, ice creams and sorbets

Private consultations will be available to discuss individual needs and issues with each student.

Let me tell you something about Giacomo and La Sorbetteria. When I first walked into his shop several years ago, I felt something that is hard to explain. It was the anticipation that I was going to experience something that I was not prepared for.  And then it hit me when I tasted his pistachio (for which he makes his own paste). It was like nothing I have ever tasted. It was smooth and clean but with a burst of pure pistachio flavor that is exceptional. It was a WOW experience, which I have always wanted to share with my students. Now is your opportunity of a lifetime to learn from an expert who will show us what true passion is all about.  Take it from me, you have never tasted such flavor anywhere.

MASTERS CLASS PRODUCTION WORKSHOP SCHUEDULE
DAY 1
Morning Session
An opening orientation on the equipment we will be using, the Carpigiani Batch Freezer.
A presentation by both Giacomo Schiavon and Malcolm Stogo who will discuss their passion for making gelato and ice cream and the route they took to become experts in frozen dessert production.

The class will prepare with Giacomo’s instruction, three basic gelato base recipes  (White, Egg, and Chocolate) from scratch with a Carpigiani pasteurizer.

The class will learn how to use different sugars, skim milk powders, and stabilizers

Flavors To Be Made
Vanilla Gelato: The old saying: “you are always judged by the vanilla you produce.”
Chocolate Gelato: Both dark and milk chocolate. It takes patience, but the results are worth it.
Nocciola, Amaretto and Pistachio Gelato:  From scratch, grinding the nuts, creating a paste. The finest nut flavors you will ever produce.

Afternoon Session:
Fragola, Peche, Fruit di Bosco and Mango – we will prep the fruit by a marination process, puree some and integrate the balance into the finished flavor.

We will have a break-out session to discuss individual concepts (privately) and answer all of your individual questions..

DAY 2
Morning Session
The entire morning session will be spent making additional gelato and ice cream flavors, Italian ice and sorbet flavors. The afternoon session will concentrate on gelato/ice cream cakes, and novelties

The balance of the day will be spent on individual needs of the participants creating any requests and needs.

For more information, please email or call.

DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE! There are only two non-dairy seminars being offered in 2012 and the next one is on May 9-11, 2012.

Reserve your spot today before the seminar sells out. Class size is limited to 11 participants.

Why Non-Dairy?
Homemade premium organic vegan ice cream is an idea whose time has come. Increasingly Americans are aware that their diets play a crucial role in their well-being and they are looking around for newer, healthier options. Across the United States, from Los Angeles to Manhattan, foods such as soy milk, tofu, and spelt have crossed the threshold from specialty items found only in health food stores to products stocked in large supermarkets.

Why Vegan? Why Organic?
By creating delicious, non-dairy ice cream that uses healthy and organic ingredients, you will be able to capitalize on an explosive growth area in the gourmet food market. By offering ice cream lovers a chance to eat a remarkably delicious, low-calorie and low-cholesterol dessert that is free from dairy and refined sugar, and filled with only natural ingredients, you will feel confident that not only customers, but doctors and food critics will soon become our biggest fans.

This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who wants to produce and sell a non-dairy frozen dessert made from scratch using the following ingredients:
•    Soy
•    Hemp
•    Coconut Cream
•    Almond Milk
•    Rice milk
•    Sorbet

Learn how to use different alternative sweeteners other than refine sugars like:

•    Agave
•    Organic cane juice
•    Sugar free sweetener

Prepare a wide assortment of fresh/frozen fruit sorbets and water ices using different stabilizers and corn syrup solids in order to create a smoother dipping sorbet and/or water ice.

•    Class size is limited to 11 participants
•    Each participant will receive a manual that includes all desserts produced with recipes.

Call us for more information, or reserve your spot online.

Yes, it was great. Our 2012 Gelato Tour of Italy was a major success. The SIGEP convention was a merchandising mecca offering the perfect opportunity to seek out the best equipment, packaging and gelato ingredients Italy has to offer. At the SIGEP convention, our group of 16 learned new ideas, tasted new flavors from many manufacturers, and talked directly with the experts.

For over 13 years, Ice Cream University – lead by Malcolm Stogo – has been bringing people from all over the world to Rimini—both in the industry and those who are thinking about going into the incredible ice cream/gelato business to see first hand what Italy and gelato has to offer.

After leaving SIGEP, we spent one and a half days in Bologna where the group had a private four-hour workshop at Italy’s finest gelateria – La Sorbetteria. Working with Giacomo and Marina Schavion we participated in using the Cattabriga pasteurizer to create the base and vertical batch freezer to produce the following:
•    Producing the finest finished gelato product from scratch
•    Making out of sight Gelato cakes
•    Learning how to make Gelato stick pops
•    From scratch, producing an incredible hot chocolate drink using the most natural ingredients.
•    Learning to make chocolate gianduja candy from scratch from the finest chocolate maker in Bologna, Marina.

After leaving Bologna, twe spent two days in Verona, seeing all the sights Verona has to offer.

A special feature of the tour is the eating and wine drinking experience. And of course, Italy’s wine and food culture is absolutely amazing.

Even better, the networking among the tour’s participants in the tour bus and at the fair was somethiung very special, that money can’t buy.

While we are a year away from our next Gelato Tour of Italy, we are now taking reservations for this fantastic trip in late January, 2013. If you have the time and are really interested in learning more about making gelato, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.

This coming year is going to be terrific for anyone in the frozen desserts industry. As the economy begins to grow again, ice cream will be in vogue big time. All we need is good summer weather.

• Ice Pops – In Mexico, they call them Paletas. Easy to make, reasonably priced, and a novel way to increase business. In the USA, more pop shops will open.

• More non-dairy frozen desserts products will reach the marketplace because of the increased presence of diabetes and lactose intolerance in the population

• More self service frozen yogurt shops will open as the national demand for this kind of concept keeps increasing.

• Small size ice cream cakes – People are really tired of baked cakes for occasions. This year-around business is ripe for expanding your business.

• Ice Cream Pricing – Most ice cream retail shop operators will raise prices slightly because of increases in milk, sugar, cocoa ingredient availability and the economy.

• This summer will see more traveling to resort areas, and ice cream shops in these areas will do quite well.

• Since the ice cream retail industry has shown to be very lucrative, we will see more ice cream store openings than ever before.

• Frozen custard will continue to decline in popularity because there is not enough foot traffic venues to support this business.

• Tart tasting frozen yogurt has reached its maximum range of attracting the traffic needed to sustain the large growth of shops the past three years.

What trends are you seeing for 2012?

• Seminar 106: Taking the first steps – How to get into the Ice Cream/Gelato Business
• Seminar 108: “Beginner” Ice Cream batch freezer hands-on short course
• Seminar 105: Emery Thompson short course seminar

We’ll also offer a number of specialized seminars, including:

• Seminar 103: Ice Cream Cakes, Made Easy
• Seminar 109: Non Dairy Frozen Desserts – Hands-on production

CLICK HERE to view the full 2012 seminar schedule and for location and pricing information.

Also, if you sign up for any 2012 seminar by December 31, 2011 you’ll receive a $150 discount on that seminar.

INGREDIENTS (COMMERCIAL VERSION)
10-Qt Batch

1¼ gal – Ice cream mix (B)
1 oz – Two-fold vanilla extract (B)
1½ lb - Apple pie filling (B)
1 oz - Cinnamon (B)
8 oz - Raisins (M)
4 oz - Graham crackers, broken (M)

PREPARATION
Batch time: 8–10 minutes
Pour all ingredients except raisins and graham crackers into the batch freezer. Turn on dasher, set timer to 8 minutes, turn on refrigeration and begin the batch. Midway through the batch, add the raisins and graham crackers. When the batch is complete, turn off the refrigeration and extrude the finished product. Decorate tops of tubs with some cinnamon, graham cracker pieces and raisins.

MALCOLM SAYS: The apple pie filling and cinnamon are added at the beginning of the batch to create an apple flavor in the mix. The raisins and graham crackers are added while the batch is running to retain larger pieces that will give the finished product more substance.

INGREDIENTS (HOMEMADE VERSION)
8 Egg yolks
1 Tbsp Vanilla extract
8 oz Sugar
12 oz Apple pie filling
16 oz Milk
4 oz graham crackers
16 oz Heavy Cream
½ teaspoon Cinnamon
2 oz Golden raisins

PREPARATION
Use a double boiler to create a custard base. Pour the egg yolks, sugar and milk into the pot. Heat the mixture slowly but do not bring to a boil. When a film forms over the back of your spoon, remove custard base from heat and place the pot into a larger pot filled with cold water to cool. Add in heavy cream and place in refrigerator until cold (at least 2 hours). Then stir in vanilla extract, apple pie filling, and transfer to an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions At the end of the batch, add the golden raisins, cinnamon, and graham crackers, turn off refrigeration and extrude the finished product. Yield: 1½ quarts of ice cream