Cream Cheese Blueberry with Candied Lemon

Many of our flavor concepts are first, based on seasonality; second, a specific technique;  and of course we are generally striving to push the envelope with flavor pairings and techniques alike. And then there are concepts like this week where we just want to make whatever it is that we want to eat. I mean, we’re definitely staying true to seasonality, and that means most things, such as berries, are only around for so long. And this week, we’re talkin’ blueberries. Local blueberries Ripe blueberries that are the kind of blueberries dreams are made of…at least my dreams. And this is an ice cream flavor that I want to sit down and destroy…I craved it before I even attempted to make it. If you are into what I’m about to show you, then I’m pretty sure you’re going to have similar sentiments. Let’s get this on, with this weeks flavor – Cream Cheese Blueberry with Candied Lemon.

 

 

Cream Cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cream Cheese, from Swiss Valley Cooperative in Luana, Iowa. This is a full flavored cream cheese with a nice tangy note to it. Also, extremely dense. Why cream cheese? This is my flavor jam, and I have all glutinous instincts in motion. It’s the Wisconsin in my blood. It’s that I know what this ice cream will taste like after I incorporate this block-o-cheese into the ice cream. So that’s what I’m doing here. The cream cheese is incorporated into our organic cane sugar base during the cooking process. Next, the whole reason designing this flavor ever came about…

 

 

Minnesota BlueberriesCrushing Blueberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straining Blueberry SolidsSimmering Blueberry Syrup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blueberries! Local blueberries from our very own Midtown Farmers. Before finding these blubes, I hadn’t decided how exactly I would get them into the ice cream. These were very ripe and sweet, almost past their prime, but perfect for juicing and making a syrup. And after a taste, I knew that was my approach. I smashed them with a potato masher and then brought to a simmer. Then, strained the juices through a fine mesh strainer. Next, sugar is added and the juices are simmered down. Blueberry syrup? Check. I layered it into the cream cheese ice cream during packaging.

 

 

Organic LemonsJulienned Lemon RindBlanching Lemon Rind

 

 

 

 

 

Shocking Lemon Rind in Ice BathLemon Rind Simmering in Simple Syrup Candied Lemon

 

 

 

 

 

Next I worked on making the candied lemon. I toiled with idea of making a cream cheese lemon ice cream base, but in the end, I wanted a little texture differentiation, and chewy candied lemon just seemed right. It is right. In preparation, the lemons are first peeled and julienned. The rind can be quite bitter, so I first blanch the rind in boiling water for a 20 seconds or so and then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. I repeat this 3 times, each time changing out the water. Now that the bitter oils are removed, the rind is simmered in a simple syrup of sugar and water until translucent. The candied rind can be used as is, or I like to toss them in sugar, so they don’t all stick together. The candied lemon get tossed into the ice cream during the churn. Some of the candied lemon start to break down in the ice cream, creating little pockets of intense lemony goodness.

 

 

Cream Cheese Blueberry with Candied Lemon

 

 

 

Are you into what I just showed you? – rich cream cheese ice cream studded with candied lemon and laced with an intense blueberry syrup. It’s my jam and it’s what I want to eat.

 

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 8/2/13 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!

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Oat with Mulberry Syrup

This week we’re taking on a lesser-known berry, but one that is found growing wild all over the city of  Minneapolis – Mulberries. It’s one that is underutlized, but can channel deep rich berry flavor that usually isn’t associated with the species. We decided to pair the Mulberries with one of our favorite breakfast ice cream bases – oat, which brings us to this week’s flavor: Oat with Mulberry Syrup. Let’s get started!

 

Oats

Oat Cream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully everyone knows what oats are, or at least look like. If not, take a good look…these are oats, and we are going to steep them in our ice cream base. And if you were to eat our ice cream steeped in oats, you’d love love love it. The oats are added while cooking our organic cane sugar base. During the process, they release their starches into the cream making for an ultra rich and velvety texture accompanied by their natural nuttiness. After steeping, the oats are strained out and the base is ready to churn.

 

 

Mulberries - Minneapolis Grown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mulberries!! Thanks to our friend Christine for the major loot of Mulberries! Christine and her hubby own a vacant lot next door to their house in Uptown. There, Christine has created an extremely diverse and ambitious garden of both fruits and vegetables. Cucmbers, beans, tomatoes, watermelons, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, asparagus, apples, plums, and cherries just to name a few. Oh, and mulberries…and they are beauties. And they’re going in our ice cream in the form of mulberry syrup.

 

 

Mulberry MashMulberry Syrup Simmer DownMulberry Syrup

 

 

 

 

 

For the syrup, we first crush the berries using a potato masher and a hand-held pastry blender. After the juices are crushed out, the mulberries are strained out leaving only the juice. If you’ve never eaten a mulberry picked off of the tree, they could be described as a watered-down version of a blackberry. Because of their watered-down flavor, they are less saught after, but it is the exact reason why we first reduce the juice down by boiling. Once the juice has reduced, we add our organic cane sugar and reduce a bit more until a syrupy conistancy is achieved. The syrup is cooled and is ready to get layered into the pints during packaging.

 

 

Oat with Mulberry Syrup

 

 

 

It’s breakfast ice cream. Ultra creamy oat ice cream layered with intense mulberry syrup. Trying to put this lesser known berry on the map. Love, Frozbroz

 

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 7/19/13 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!

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Amarula

This is usually the time of year that we start rolling out all things local, since berries are finally coming around here in Minnesota. But this week, we are featuring a flavor that utilizes a fruit from across the Atlantic and then used to make a cream liqueur called Amarula. We were just recently introduced to Amarula by a couple who was interested in having us make it into an ice cream for their wedding. After making the flavor for their tasting, we decided it was definitely one we needed to release to the masses. This one is for you Shira and Bill! Let’s get started with this weeks flavor: Amarula…

 

 

Amarula Cream Liqueur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amarula Cream Liqueur. Made with Marula fruit, only grown in Africa, and said to be tart, sweet, refreshing, with a “guava-like” taste. The Marula fruits are squeezed of their juices, de-seeded, and then fermented into a wine. The wine is then distilled twice and cream is added. The result is a unique cream liqueur that is caramely like an Irish Cream, but has a hit of sweet/tart fruit to it.

 

 

Amarula ready for reduction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To get the Amarula into the ice cream we unfortunatly need to remove the alcohol from the liqueur. To do this, we boil the liqueur on the stovetop and reduce slightly. The reduction is added straight into our organic cane sugar ice cream base and given a genrous salting before the churn.

 

 

Amarula

 

 

 

Amarula ice cream y’all! It has an ultra creamy texture, similar to our Oat with Maple Brown Sugar, accompanied by notes of  tropical fruit and salty caramel.

 

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 7/5/13 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!

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Asparagus with Truffle Honey

Ok, so this week we are going to test your inner most ice cream love. And not just your inner love, but your preception of ice cream love. And not just your percieved love, but your adventurous ice cream love.

On a recent trip to Pizzeria Lola my wife and I ordered one of the weekly specials: pizza topped with asparagus and truffle honey. Not only does Lola live up to all hype given, but this weekly pizza special was off the charts good. The idea resinated immediatley, and I couldn’t stop thinking about my process and how I would break it down into ice cream. Once asparagus hit the local farmers market, we were on it. Let’s get started with this week’s flavor, Asparagus with Truffle Honey.

 

 

Asparagus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asparagus from the Midtown Farmers Market.

 

 

Asparagus BlanchBlanched AsaparagusAsparagus PureeAsparagus Strain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We cut off the tips and blanch them in boiling water to soften up and bring out their vibrant green color. We reserved the staulks and grilled them for delicious eats guys. After blanching, into the food processor for a spin. The puree is added into our organic cane sugar ice cream base right after cooking. We give it a generous salting and the solids are strained out through a fine mesh strainer. The asparagus ice cream is ready for churning.

 

 

Nordeast Nectars HoneyTruffle Oil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the asparagus ice cream is done, we’re ready to make our truffle honey. We were lucky enough to get our hands on some of the last remains of Nordeast Nectars honey. Last year many of their bees died off, but thankfully their queen is still alive. This year Britt Lundberg and her neighborhood crew are making efforts to regroup, and hopefully, with a name change, new packaging, and much hard work, we will see more of this local liquid gold from them. To make the truffle honey, we stir a small amount of truffle oil into the honey. The oil becomes suspended in the honey. The truffle honey gets layered into the pints during packaging.

 

 

Asparagus with Truffle Honey

 

 

Asparagus with Truffle Honey! It’s creamy asparagus ice cream with an itital burst of truffle flavor leading into a sweet honey finish. Testing your inner love, perceptions and adventures in ice cream. Love, FrozBroz

 

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 6/21/13 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!

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