Flavors – Page 27

May 9, 2013

Sweet Pea Almond with Rye Caramel

Springtime! It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming! Right? It is coming, right? Finally, it is actually here; we think. Soon, the fruits of Spring will start showing their colors, and our flavors will start reflecting all that is seasonable in Minnesota. In preparation for such a late start this year, our friends over at Bossy Acres have been busy in their new greenhouse. Last year Bossy was accepted into the Organic Field School incubator program, giving them access to more land, training, and equipment usage. As part of the program, they are allowed to use a portion of the Gardens of Eagen greenhouse, which gives them a big head start with these Minnesota winters. Such a head start, that it’s enough to inspire this weeks flavor: Sweet Pea Almond with Rye Caramel.

We are so itching to get on to Spring and Summer flavors, and we can’t tell you how happy we were to get a message from the great farmers at Bossy Acres letting us know they had pea shoots for us. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Just look at how gorgeous they are. If you haven’t had them, you best find out the next time Bossy is selling at the market, because these pea shoots epitomize Spring with their snappy yet tender and sweet, earthy pea flavor. This is where it all begins…

For the ice cream, I decided I wanted to infuse the sweet pea and almond flavor into our ice cream base. To get the most flavor out of the almonds, we first slow roasted them in the oven and gave them a quick pulse in the food processor.

The pea shoots and crushed almonds are steeped in our cane sugar base, then strained through a fine mesh strainer. The sweet pea and almond-infused ice cream base is ready for churning.

The final component of this week’s flavor is a rye caramel. As soon as I heard “pea shoots”, I immediately had visions of creamed peas on rye bread. Ice cream translation: sweet pea ice cream with rye caramel. For the caramel, we first ground whole rye berries and steeped them in our cream. We then caramelized granulated sugar and made a traditional caramel adding in our rye infused cream after caramelization. The result is a light and subtle rye flavored caramel that gets layered into the sweet pea almond ice cream during packaging.

Springtime! It’s here y’all! At least it’s here in our Sweet Pea Almond with Rye Caramel ice cream with Bossy Acres pea shoots!

Want to try it? You can win one of the only two pints in the world, filled with this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. 2 lucky winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 5/10 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally and give us feedback. Pints must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

May 2, 2013

Aged Gouda + Honey

Our love for cheese just about eclipses our love for ice cream and that’s been no secret over the years. One cheese at the top of my list for use in an ice cream flavor is the incredible aged gouda “Jeff’s Select”. The cheese is the product of a partnership between Jeff Wideman, master cheesemaker from Maple Leaf Cheese in Wisconsin, and Jeff Jirik, founder of Fairbault Dairy in Minnesota. What could be more perfect than a cheese that geographically represents our former and home state? The gouda is warm aged for 9 months in the sandstone caves of Fairbault.

The result is an aged gouda with an incredible nutty flavor to it, without being overly salty. So good we chose it to be the main flavor component of the ice cream.

The cheese was finely shredded to allow it to evenly melt into the cream base during the cooking process. For a harder cheese, it melted wonderfully and incorporated into the cream base without issue.

I wanted to pair the cheese with something, and considered a lot of fruit options. However Ames Farm honey from Watertown, MN was the hands down winner.

Ames Farm honey is something for Minnesota residents to be proud of, and been a staple in our kitchen for years. For this flavor we swirled it in as the aged gouda ice cream was packed into pints.

What we ended up with is a magical pair. The nuttiness of the aged gouda translates perfectly in the ice cream, and its subtle salty undertones are nothing less than harmonious with the ribbons of honey.

Want to try it? You can win one of the only two pints in the world, filled with this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. 2 lucky winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 5/3 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally and give us feedback. Pints must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

April 25, 2013

Sumac with Apricot Carrot Jam

This week, it seems appropriate to head back down a path we explored on paper but never really materialized; Sumac. After releasing our Coconut Hibiscus and Lime last week, it felt natural to break out another one of our plant based ice creams. Also, we were flavor-bombed in a Facebook message last week with suggestions like: Cranberry Sumac Sorbet, Wild Rice Pudding with Maple Syrup and Juniper Berry, and Lingonbery-Ginger Snap Swirl. It made it hard not to move some of these ingredients to the top of our list, as they’ve hung in limbo in the past. Andy Wright, we consider those to be damn good suggestions, so just consider yourself an “appreciated flavor genius”, k? But, instead of going down the cranberry sumac sorbet route, we solidified this week’s ice cream flavor into a Sumac with Apricot Carrot Jam. Let’s get it on…

This is a fruiting sumac bush, photo taken at the Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington, MN(photo cred: unknown). And yes, sumac is the Fall plant we all know so well here in Minnesota that turns fiery red along our highways in September and October. And yes, it’s going into our ice cream. Sumac berries similar to these, but of a different variety, are ground into powder, as shown above, and used quite often in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. The ground berries possess a very subtle lemon flavor with some earthy notes that will set a nice backdrop for this week’s flavor. The ground sumac is steeped in our cane sugar ice cream base and strained out before churning.

For the next component, I knew I wanted to utilize these beautiful dried Turkish apricots. It had also been suggested, as of late, that we make a flavor with carrots. Carrots, listen up; we’re just getting started with you; this is only the beginning of a long relationship with you in our ice cream. Had to get that off of my chest. The carrots, together with the apricots, will bring a naturally sweet element to the ice cream, as well as contribute to the driving Mediterranean-esk theme. Everything is falling into place. For the jam, the apricots and carrots get diced and tossed in a sauce pan with water and sugar.

They’re simmered down until soft and caramely, at which time, we used an immersion blender to puree into a jam-like consistency. The apricot carrot jam is layered into the pints during packaging.

Sumac with Apricot Carrot Jam! The sumac provides a subtle backdrop of earthiness, followed by the sweet apricot carrot jam that brings it all together and materializes into something other than old thoughts on paper.

Want to try it? You can win one of the only two pints in the world, filled with this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. 2 lucky winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 4/26 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally and give us feedback. Pints must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

April 18, 2013

Coconut Hibiscus and Lime

A few weeks ago I was enjoying a dinner at a local mexican restaurant when I noticed a hibiscus drink on the menu. I had been kicking around the idea of making a hibiscus ice cream for awhile and this cool, sweet hibiscus tea got my gears turning. After some more research, I discovered this dark red tea is an international favorite, loved in the Phillipines, Middle East and South America. Different cultures have slightly different ways of making it, but all utilize the Hibiscus flower as the main flavor component. However, with the Jamaican kick I’ve been on, my path was already chosen. It turns out Hibiscus tea is so popular in Jamaica that it is actually ordered simply as a Jamaica in some areas of the U.S.

For this flavor, I went back to our vegan friendly/dairy free coconut base. The coconut cream was a perfect backdrop for a Jamaican inspired flavor.

As is often done when this drink is served in Jamaica, i added lime zest to give it a citrus-y kick.

These gorgeous Hibiscus flowers are packed with Vitamin C and are steeped in our coconut cream base to extract all of their bright floral flavors.

The Hibiscus petals dye the ice cream a pretty pink.

The result is a rich, coconut based ice cream, laced with a tangy, floral hibiscus with a zippy finish of lime. Vegan friendly and dairy free.

Want to try it? You can win one of the only two pints in the world, filled with this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. 2 lucky winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 4/19 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally and give us feedback. Pints must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!

April 11, 2013

Bee Pollen

It isn’t often that we release a flavor that rides alone – one ingredient – no further augmentations. I can only think of a handful, out of the one hundred or so flavors that we’ve released over the past two years, since starting this here blog. Those that come to mind: Black Walnut, Fennel Pollen, Tomato, and of course, Triple Chocolate. There comes a time when we just want to know how certain flavors taste, on their own, in ice cream. Well, this week is one of those times. We chose one ingredient to ride alone – Bee Pollen!

This is bee pollen. When a worker bee lands on a flower, it gathers the dusty pollen from the plant. This dust sticks to the back of their legs, and the bee then uses it’s head, along with it’s nectar, to pack down the pollen dust, forming these bee pollen granules. They carry the pollen back to the hive where it is used as protein/food for the colony. Bee keepers have devised ways to knock the pollen off of the bees legs as it enters the hive, therefore bringing these pollen granules to market. Bee pollen is readily sold as a nutritional supplement, as it has been said to be very nutritious and claimed to cure certain health problems. Scientific research over the years has not confirmed this.

So now that you know the basics of bee pollen, let’s make ice cream with it, ok? The different colored granules symbolize the variety of plants the bee visited, which will effect it’s unique aroma and flavor. It’s flavor is sweet and nutty. We steeped the pollen in our standard cane sugar ice cream base, give it a generous salting, and strained through a fine mesh strainer before churning. That’s it!

Bee Pollen Ice Cream!

It’s sweet, creamy, nutty, honey-esk. It’s unique! And that’s why we needed to throw this one out there for a good ‘ol solo run.

Want to try it? You can win one of the only two pints in the world, filled with this fabulous, scratch made craft ice cream in our weekly pint giveaway. Enter your name in the comments section here, or on our facebook page under the posted contest. 2 lucky winners will be drawn randomly on Friday 4/12 at 4pm. Winners must be able to pick up locally and give us feedback. Pints must be claimed by email within one week or we will redistribute. 🙂 Good luck!