Althouse: Low-carb ice cream...

May 9, 2014

Low-carb ice cream...

... requires a good ice cream making machine, and we love this thing.

Of course, you can make great sugared ice cream too, but you can also buy great sugared ice cream. You can't buy decent low-carb ice cream. Not anywhere I've seen.

24 comments:

Geoff Matthews said...: This one is better:

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-100-Compressor-Cream-Gelato/dp/B006UKLUFS/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1399672561&sr=1-9&keywords=ice+cream+maker; 5/9/14, 4:56 PM
ddh said...: Do you have a favorite recipe for low-carb ice cream that you wish to share?; 5/9/14, 5:11 PM
Wince said...: What ingredients do you substitute for sugar and/or makes it low carb?; 5/9/14, 5:21 PM
Rusty said...: What do you use , Splenda?; 5/9/14, 5:34 PM
Meade said...: 10 oz. frozen wild blueberries, thawed.
Stir into blueberries: 1-2 TBLS liquid stevia

1 Cup heavy cream
2 Cups Half and Half
1/2 Cup greek yogurt

Add stevia sweetened blueberries to dairy mix after 10 min. churning.; 5/9/14, 5:38 PM
dbp said...: For years I've made something similar just using a blender:

Put frozen fruit (blueberries, strawberries, banana or frozen cubes of mango pulp) into a blender.

Add milk, cream, yogurt or some combination of these.

Blend. This can be tricky since if it is thick, it tends to cavitate. You can avoid this by pulsing the power and/or by letting the milk/frozen fruit sit a minute or two before mixing. This softens the fruit and partially freezes the milk.

The result is more of a milk shake than ice cream, but it is very quick and most people already have a blender.; 5/9/14, 5:54 PM
grackle said...: There's almost always a way around the food Nazis.

For instance I like coffee and I like cocoa – two flavors that for me never grow old. I sweeten with Splenda or it's generic equivalent. So I combined the two, at first using sugar-free chocolate syrup. But the syrup imparted an annoying salty taste. Ugh.

My go-around? I use pure cocoa, a tablespoon per 10 oz. mug of coffee, along with a dollop of cream. Delicious!; 5/9/14, 6:41 PM
Curious George said...: Ha I have a ice cream amchine and am on a low carb diet...was talking about this last night.; 5/9/14, 6:50 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Frozen fruit (especially bananas) can give you the thickness you need to make an ice-cream like dessert using a blender, but the ice cream machine is great if you're doing low-carb and can use plenty of cream.

I got the machine to work on a recipe that would use Splenda, cream, milk, and vanilla.

Still haven't tried it, because Meade is in there with his blueberries every day.

I might buy a second bowl (for $22) so I always have one frozen and ready to go.

I think the much more expensive machine Geoff links to works without freezing the special bowl. It does its own freezing on the countertop.

I don't know how well that works, but the $80 one we bought works great.; 5/9/14, 6:52 PM
ddh said...: Thank you. The blueberry ice cream/yogurt recipe sounds good.; 5/9/14, 7:05 PM
Joan said...: I have found frozen Splenda tastes impossibly bitter. I could never find a low carb recipe I liked, and then I figured out that dairy triggers my RA, so now mostly just put frozen bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate syrup in the food processor until it's smooth, and eat that like soft serve. Delicious, dairy-free, and the right texture... I don't worry too much about sugar anymore, since I hardly ever eat any.; 5/9/14, 7:09 PM
pm317 said...: Stoneyfield's Creme Caramel low fat frozen yogurt is a great substitute for any ice cream..; 5/9/14, 7:41 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Stoneyfield's Creme Caramel low fat frozen yogurt is a great substitute for any ice cream."

Is that no sugar?

In any case, we don't want low fat.; 5/9/14, 7:59 PM
Beldar said...: Prof. Althouse, thank you for posting this. Thanks, Meade, for the blueberries recipe. Prof. Althouse, could you please share or link the vanilla recipe too?; 5/9/14, 11:48 PM
mpeirce said...: http://www.breyers.com/product/category/113546/carbsmart

Carb smart is pretty good. It contains Splenda.

I buy it at Kroger's.

I will be trying Mead's recipe - thanks!; 5/10/14, 7:35 AM
Lamoreaux said...: Meade -
What brand of liquid Stevia do you use?; 5/10/14, 8:58 AM
Meade said...: 365 Stevia Extract Liquid from Whole Foods.; 5/10/14, 9:05 AM
Meade said...: Correction on my recipe:

1-2 TEAspoons liquid stevia.; 5/10/14, 9:49 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Prof. Althouse, thank you for posting this. Thanks, Meade, for the blueberries recipe. Prof. Althouse, could you please share or link the vanilla recipe too?"

So far, I haven't had a chance to work on it, and I'll experiment with the ingredients mentioned above.

My sense of taste is very minimal now (and smell too), so what works for me may not translate to what you'll like, but I will be able to say what produced a good creamy texture (which I'm quite sensitive to).; 5/10/14, 11:43 AM
grackle said...: I have found frozen Splenda tastes impossibly bitter.

As opposed to what? Sugar? Not criticizing here, merely curious. Myself, I would prefer using Stevia but like the commentor with Splenda I find Stevia just too bitter to tolerate.

Also, I LOVE ice cream but my diet frowns upon any dairy product.; 5/10/14, 1:27 PM
Mattman26 said...: As long as we're turning this into epicurious, let me add to the fray. I accidentally bought non-liquid Stevia (in the raw, whatever that means), and then at the last minute chickened out on the Stevia and went with 3 tablespoons of light blue agave nectar (16g sugar/tablespoon). So that "sugar" content plus what's in the blueberries naturally takes the total to about 65 g sugar. That's a hell of a lot less sugar than regular ice cream, and it was very tasty coming out of the ice cream machine. Hope the texture stays nice in the freezer.; 5/11/14, 4:49 PM
Beldar said...: Having just enjoyed my first bowl of ice cream using Meade's recipe (including the tbsp --> tsp correction), I repeat and expand my thanks for it, and for Professor Althouse's post about the machine.

First bowl of ice cream I've eaten in two+ years, but even adjusting for that, it was quite tasty. I look forward to further experimentation on my own, and will look for a new post with your vanilla recipe when you perfect it, Professor Althouse.

Two thumbs up!; 5/14/14, 4:35 PM
Beldar said...: Thanks again, Mr. Meade & Prof. Althouse, for your recommendations. The Cuisinart device is a good one, and I'm embarked on a very satisfying program of experimentation as a result of your report.

Without the berries, Meade's recipe reminds me very much of Mellorine, which has pleasant childhood associations for me.

I'm inclining, though, toward increasing the fat content by substituting heavy whipping cream (f/k/a "cream") for half-and-half. I've learned that it's important to label-shop even frozen fruits like cherries — they may be sugar-added! — but the stevia works well enough for my taste, and the higher proportion of butterfat results in a produce that freezes with less chalkiness.; 5/27/14, 9:23 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Hi, Beldar. Glad this is working. I agree about the cream!; 5/27/14, 9:39 PM