(Courtesy of Frozen Desserts Magazine, September 2006)
I have never met a pastry chef who didn’t like ice cream.
In fact, they all say they thought of making their own (and actually eating it is an awesome thought!) So why do all pastry chefs love ice cream or gelato?
Because it brings back the child in them. It’s fun, not boring, and most of all, not repetitious. For pastry chefs, it’s simply a natural learning progression. Because ice cream or gelato is so creative, one can devote an incredible amount of passion into the thought process of one’s own creation.
The options are vast without the everyday grind of doing the same thing over and over again. That is why so much passion goes into ice cream by anyone wanting to enter this business. But to do it well, you need passion. But what is passion?
Webster's Dictionary defines passion as "intense desire or being emotional about something."
Well, both definitions are right, but to me passion is simply loving what I am doing and doing it all the time. In the kitchen, pastry chefs have that option. While passion is the desire, carrying out that passion is hard work, thinking and creating, and when all is said and done, looking back and feeling very proud. With a frozen dessert, all of that is possible. It’s fun and creative taking a learned skill of pastry art to a different level- the art of creating an ice cream, gelato, or sorbet product.
The simple fact is that being a pastry chef means that you have the ability to create sweet things. It is true that when it comes to baked goods, there is more technical details to be concerned with. So, why do most pastry chefs like to make ice cream? Because it’s not so technical, and you can make a mistake and still come out with something great and delicious; it’s fun, and most important, you can be out of the box.
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Once you become a pastry chef, the training and skills are already there. It’s just a matter of taking one’s skills and passion in another direction. The point is simply to re-program what has already been learned.
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Let me tell you a roundabout story that makes the point of why I call this “a natural.” When I first started making ice cream in the mid 1970s, I said to myself, how can I make a candy-based ice cream? I went to the supermarket and bought some Milky Way and Snickers candy bars. To make the ice cream with the candy bars, I did two things: I cut them up into small pieces and pureed some of the pieces. Next, I infused the mixture into the ice cream base, and bingo! I had Snickers and Milky Way Ice Cream. For a pastry chef, it’s almost the same thing. Take a cheesecake that you have created, break it up into small pieces, puree some of this mixture, add the mixture to the ice cream base, and the result is a cheesecake based ice cream. Can anything be better or more creative?
The following baked goods make great ice cream:
- Apple Pie - For every gallon of ice cream mix, break up one apple pie into small pieces and add them to the semi-frozen ice cream about half-way into the batch.
- Italian Cannolis - You can make your own cannoli cream or buy it. Either way add to the ice cream base 1 pound of cannoli cream and 1/2 pound of broken pieces of cannoli shells to the semi-frozen ice cream half-way into the batch.
- Pecan Pie - Southern Pecan Pie, the kind you find all over the South. You know, that gooey sweet stuff that is great to eat around the holidays. For every gallon of ice cream mix, break up a Pecan Pie into small pieces and add them to the semi-frozen ice cream about half-way into the batch.
- Strawberry, Blueberry or Raspberry Cheesecake - Making a cheesecake ice cream was one of my first ventures of crossing the line from baking into ice cream. It was during the mid 80s and I wanted to create a cheesecake ice cream without spending a lot of money. I found a simple solution. I went to the supermarket, bought some Royal Cheesecake Powder, added it to my ice cream base with strawberries and broken graham cracker pieces spread throughout the finished product, and bingo—I had my Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. It was such a good idea that later on Lisa Tanner, co-author of our book Ice Cream Cakes, and I won a 1st Place Prize in Prepared Foods Magazine for the best new frozen dessert product of the year. But you, as a pastry chef, don’t have to do what I did. You can simply take your cheesecakes you have created, break them up into small pieces and add the mixture to your ice cream base. The ratio is 1 ½ pounds of cheesecake to each gallon of ice cream mix.
- Baklava - This creation came out of my work in the Middle East. It was so simple that I am embarrassed to take the credit for putting it all together. Simply add 1 ½ pounds of broken up pieces of Baklava to each gallon of ice cream mix. Or, you can do this from scratch. Add broken pieces of 8 ounces of Phylo dough, 4 ounces of raisins, 4 ounces of roasted pecans and 8 ounces of honey to each gallon of ice cream mix. This whole mixture should be added to the semi-frozen ice cream at the end of the batch.
- Biscotti - A biscotti based ice cream is delicious, especially if you coat the biscotti in chocolate to keep them crisp in your finished product. The ratio is 1 pound of broken up pieces of biscotti to each gallon of ice cream base.
- Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Is there anything more simple than this? Broken up pieces of cookies added to the batch of semi-frozen ice cream at the ratio of 1 pound of cookies to each gallon of ice cream mix. For an added touch, you can add extra chocolate chips or raisins to this flavor.
- Chocolate Bobka - Very Jewish and simply outrageous. I thank my friend Robert Ellinger of Baked To Perfection of Port Washington, New York for this idea. He makes the best Chocolate Bobka you have ever eaten and every time I get some from him, I simply scoop some vanilla ice cream on top of the Bobka. So, to take this to another level, take your Chocolate Bobka, break it up into small pieces, add some raisins and liquid chocolate and you will have an incredible creation. The ratio is 1 ½ pounds of cake to each gallon of ice cream mix, added at the end of the batch.
- Tiramisu - As a pastry chef, this is where your creative process can go into high gear. Create your own version of Tiramisu and add it to the ice cream base at the end of the batch. As an extra touch, add some Marsala wine or Instant Espresso to your mixture. And to make it very special, add some Ladyfinger Cookies.
- Chocolate Brownies - This flavor is so delicious and outrageous, especially when made in conjunction with Chocolate ice cream. The ratio is 1 pound of broken up brownie pieces to each gallon of ice cream mix, added at the end of the batch. As an added touch, you can add some pecans, walnuts or chocolate chips to your creation.
So pastry chefs, start creating your own frozen desserts. Create your own frozen desserts using all of that knowledge you acquired baking. But in this scenario, there are no limits. Just your passion to do something different and have fun doing it!
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