Coolhaus Ice Cream Book

When I found a recipe online that referred back to this book, I just had to have it. I've made a few of the flavours so far - some turned out better than others.As with most US recipe books, I find that the end result is usually too sweet, so you will need to experiment with the sugar levels - in the bases, I've cut it by a third and that seems to work nicely.In terms of the recipes, they're easy to follow, very detailed and the list of flavours is highly imaginative. I wouldn't recommend it for a first time ice cream maker, but if you already have some experience (particuarly with custard based ice creams - they do provide a non-custard one as well though) then this is definitely the book for you.A little bit expensive I felt, particularly as I got it on the Kindle, but overall I'd be happy to recommend it. The Dirty Mint Choc ice cream is now a family favourite and I have to make 2 batches - 1 for my husband and 1 for everyone else - if he's approached while eating it, he growls and threatens people with a spoon.......! ;)My plan for this weekend is to try making the Cuban Cigar ice cream.....! :)

Simplemente muy bueno, las recetas son muy buenas y se puede hacer a la perfección una excelente compra si eres fan de los helados

Per una "piccola" multinazionale che produce macchinari per il gelato artigianale (nel mondo anglofono Italian Gelato) stiamo "costruendo" una piccola biblioteca specializzata. Grazie!

For all the folks who bought this to look at the pictures, but don’t intend to cook from it, more power to you. If you intend to make ice cream from this book, I suggest you look elsewhere.I tried two recipes: Cuban Cigar Ice Cream, which sounded quite intriguing with liquid smoke and coffee flavor. You start with the Salted Caramel Ice Cream Base. The directions call for milk, cream and “1/4 cups” granulated sugar. 1/4 cups? Usually you need a very sweet base because freezing mutes the flavors. Is this a typo? It must be, because the standard base calls for 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar. However this mistake is repeated in ALL the other bases: chocolate, yogurt, chocolate-hazelnut base (as another review pointed out, this also contains no chocolate) Foie Gras and Olive Oil & Rosemary. Silly me, I followed the directions and had to throw that batch away.Next attempt: Bourbon Pecan Pie. Sounds great, right? This one uses the Plain Custard Base, so I’ve got the right amount of sugar this time. Then you toast 1/2 cup pecans in a stick of butter. Hmmm, seems like a lot of butter. Set aside to cool. Then, in a saucepan, cook corn syrup with a little salt until “the mixture is candy-coated and sticky.” Until what is candy-coated? Am I supposed to add the pecans? It doesn’t say. After you freeze, it says to add the pecans to the ice cream, but it never says what to do with the corn syrup candy. Well, except to “Set aside to cool.” Really? That is a bad idea.What I actually did was pour off the excess grease, mix the nuts into the candy and turn it out onto waxed paper, like I would a praline, before it hardened. Which it did. If I had left the candy in the saucepan, as the directions said, it would have hardened into a solid chunk. But, then again, it never says you’re supposed to add it to the ice cream, so maybe that doesn’t matter.So after two tries, and two failures, I’m done with this book. It is useful for ideas to add some wacky flavors to ice cream, but when the directions are this poor, I’m going to stick with my Fine Cooking ice cream recipe which fabulous and has lots of variety.I did get two good tips from this book that I’ll pass along, so you don’t have to buy it:1) if you’re adding alcohol, add it at the end of churning so the custard will freeze properly.2) the custard needs to cook to 177º to 180º. It’s nice to know the temperature when cooking so I don't have to watch so close. Those are two tips that were really helpful.Update: I was really cranky when I wrote that first review. The ice cream sandwich created with the Bourbon Pecan Pie ice cream was amazing. So I added back a star.

To be fair, I've only made one recipe and look forward to trying some of the cookie recipes (esp. snicker doodle and pine nut). I got this b/c my husband loves their vanilla/choc chip cookie sandwiches sold in stores. I've tried twice now the eggless vanilla recipe. First, as written. It did not freeze (I have the standard Cuisinart). I think this is due to 2 reasons: 1: the recipe says you can use it right away, despite dissolving sugar on low heat and 2: the volume produced.. I tried the recipe a second time and refrigerated the base over night.. I also added less to ice cream maker than both Cuisanart and the book recommended..this time it froze well.I've had much better luck with Jeni's Homemade Ice Cream recipes. Her book is great and you can get her recipes online... Both the making (easy) and texture have been better than my experience thus far. I don't think I'll go through the bother of trying another ice cream recipe from Coolhaus.. but will try to cookies..