Smoked ice cream – another insidious concept, once you’ve heard of it, you’ve got to cook it (right?)
And where better to debut such a dish than tomorrow’s cook-off?
This particularly piece of insanity is from Extebarri – a restaurant rapidly developing legendary status. The owner, Victor cooks virtually everything over charcoal, using specially made adjustable height grills. Of course the charcoal is home-made. I can’t really think of anything greater than this.
If you are watching Rick Stein’s latest program on Spain you will have seen it featured in episode #2. Rick also seems quite happy with the concept.
The ice cream recipe is actually fairly standard. The difference is that before you make the custard, you hot-smoke the cream, milk and in this case glucose mixture over oak for about an hour.
Having just made it I can tell you the resulting milk is absolutely delicious. I was drinking it direct from my Pyrex jug. I could even see this being served on its own – maybe as a posh dessert course, or perhaps set into a clever take on burnt custard (you heard it hear first, ok?).
If you fancy trying it, here’s the recipe, lifted and adapted from the brilliant book Planet Barbecue! by Steve Raichlen. I reckon it’s easier to do with a Bradley Smoker but you could do it on the BBQ, probably for less time.
2 parts double cream to 1 part whole milk (the higher the fat content the better IMO)
3/4 part glucose
1/4 part sugar
5 egg yolks per litre of ice cream
Combined cream, whole milk and glucose. Smoke over oak chips at 250 degrees F (120 degree C) for an hour or until it has developed a rich smoke flavour.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar until creamy.
Add hot milk in steady stream while whisking (don’t allow to curdle).
Add mixture back to pan and cook whilst stirring until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon (again don’t let it curdle).
Cool down over night and then churn in an ice cream maker.