Scoop: 125 Specialty Ice Creams from the Nation's Best Creameries [Paperback]

Ellen Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2011

Summertime's here, and 'tis the season for making ice cream at home for parties, backyard barbecues, and beach getaways. A guide to more than two dozen of the nation's best artisan dairies, Scoop takes you on a colorful tour with photos, stories, and histories of these mom-and-pop shops.

Author Ellen Brown has reinterpreted classic frozen recipes for the home cook, each fitted to the most popular ice cream freezers on the market. Explore the nation's favorite ice cream shops with a plethora of delectable photographs and 150 recipes--featuring ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and more. This is the must-have guide for the at-home ice cream connoisseur.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Providence Journal, 5/25/11
"Anyone can follow her recipes and make premium ice cream, gelato and even dairy-free sorbets. By mixing fresh fruit with sugar, milk and a few seasonings, you have your own small-batch homemade ice cream…. In fact, the book is rather current, with stories about great ice cream shops, old and new, across the country. In that way, it serves almost as a travel guide…. In fact, there is very little in the world of ice cream, gelato, sorbet and sherbet not discussed within the pages of Brown’s 240-page “Scoop,” and all of it will make you crave a cone or a cup."

Mariani's Virtual Gourmet Newsletter, Vol IX
"I'll sit down for hours with any cookbook Ellen Brown writes--and there are a slew of them--so I pay attention when she turns her focus on what is, let's face it, the world's favorite food.  Had this book only been a collection of Brown's recipes it would be well worth the modest price, but this is much more, for Brown has always been an astute culinary historian, and she lovingly describes the background and special qualities of wonderfully ice cream stores all over the USA, from Bassetts in Philadelphia and Herrell's in Northampton, MA (she rightly credits Steve Herrell for creating the artisanal ice cream movement) to Graeter's in Cincinnati and Sweet Republic in Scottsdale, AZ.  The recipes are culled from these icons, and Brown makes sure they work for use in the home kitchen."

"What makes Brown's book so great (is) making ice cream isn't difficult, it simply requires more focused attention than we think to make that revelatory every night scoop.
 
Jenn Garbee, LA Weekly, May 13
Brown's recipes (Campari grapefruit sorbet, cashew caramel swirl ice cream) aren't exactly complicated, they're more the highly focused types. What's interesting here is that Brown lassoed in and adapted recipes from some pretty stellar ice cream shops around the country, along with plenty of just plain old "good" affairs -- the sort of rare balance that makes us want to actually make that chocolate Cabernet ice cream (Moomers in Michigan) and its black licorice ice cream cousin from Wisconsin's Door County Ice Cream Factory."

Bar Harbor Times, 6/22/11
"Ellen has a highly developed palate, the ability to recreate the dishes she samples, and razor-sharp writing skills. She brings all of these skills, plus her encyclopedic knowledge of the chemistry of cooking, to “SCOOP,” a collection of recipes for ice cream, gelato, sherbet, and sorbet from the best artisanal purveyors of frozen delights across the country… If you only have room for one ice cream cookbook on your shelf, this is the one."

gayout.com
"Brown breaks the myriad of fanciful flavors into clear-cut, reader-friendly chapters: for instance, classic vanilla, chocolate and coffee are allotted their own sections, as are fruits, nuts and seeds and even liquor-infused ice cream. Furthermore, among the many ice cream selections you'll find creative standouts like the Grapefruit Campari Sorbet, the Mojito Ice, the Fig Gelato, the Chocolate Peanut Butter, the Sesame Brittle Cinnamon and the Apple Pie Ice Cream. There are also instructions for homemade hot-fudge, marshmallow and butterscotch sauces."

Marin Independent Journal
“Brown makes it simple in ‘Scoop: 125 Specialty Ice Creams.’ Her first chapter ‘The anatomy of ice cream,’ breaks it down into basic science. ..To create the soft creamy texture of ice cream, the key is aeration. Brown describes it as ‘solids, liquids and gasses all happily and deliciously mixed up.’ …Thankfully, Brown adds techniques for avoiding common pitfalls, like scrambling the eggs in your custard-style ice cream by overheating them. …This is a lovely cookbook. …It offers a kaleidoscope of flavors gathered from mom-and-pop ice cream shops across the country.”

About the Author

Ellen Brown is a 30-year veteran foodie. She is the author of 23 cookbooks, including several Complete Idiot's guides. She is the founding food editor of USA Today. Her writing has appeared in numerous major publications, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit, Art Culinaire, and The San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (May 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762437987
• ISBN-13: 978-0762437986
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #109,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Cheese & Dairy

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to follow recipes, great results! June 18, 2011

By Peter Bradley

Format:Paperback

I've been making ice cream for many years, and this is the first book that really explains the chemistry of how it happens in a clear and helpful way. This is definitely the best-written ice cream book I've found, and Ms. Brown's background as a journalist really shines. The descriptions of the different creameries make for great reading; in that respect the book is a travel guide. I look forward to visiting several of these shops on future travels. I've made four recipes from "Scoop", and each has been fantastic and easy to follow. If you love ice cream, buy this book!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Ice Creams Plus Much More!!! May 30, 2011

By Richard Besdine

Format:Paperback

I ordered this book because I know Ellen Brown's work from her weekly "Cost-Buster Cooking" column in "The Providence Journal." Every recipe I've tried from her column has been great, and I've wanted to get into making my own ice cream now that spring is finally here. First of all, if you eat with your eyes then this book is truly a feast. The photography is innovative and captures just what fun ice cream should be. Then before I made my first recipe I read the book from cover to cover. She has beautifully written histories of the different companies, and it was fascinating to read the backgrounds. Then in addition to the recipes for ice cream and sorbet there's a whole chapter at the end with a range of great sauces like Marshmallow, which I've always wanted to learn how to make, and ways to dress up ice cream like a traditional Baked Alaska. The two other recipes I've made so far are Coconut Pineapple Ice Cream and Pistachio Gelato, and both were terrific. This book is going to be used a lot this summer!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Luscious ice cream plus interesting stories! June 1, 2011

By Karen Davidson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

While I frequently read cookbooks for entertainment, rarely do they entertain like this one. This author gives well written thumbnail biographies of the firms from which she drew the ice cream recipes. Some of them, like Bassetts in Philly and Graeter's in Cincinnati, date back to the 19th century with wonderful old photos. Others, like Sweet Republic in Scottsdale, started in the last decade. There are lots of dairies in cities featured, but also some in small towns. And so far I've made four recipes, each better than the next. The Fig Gelato is made with dried figs and delivers such scrumptious flavor that today I am making my second batch!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars mixed results May 14, 2012

By Janine Hawk

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was very excited to get this book, but have had mixed results. I've made a few recipes from it, the ones using eggs as a thickener turn out fine...but there are quite a few recipes that use cornstarch. The recipes that use cornstarch turn out with an odd slimy texture. In particular I made the coffee ice cream with macadamia nuts, toasted coconut and chocolate chips adapted from a Lappert's recipe. This is one of my favorite flavors from Lappert's and it turned out nothing like the real thing. It was slimy, didn't freeze up well and the flavor was off. I did have luck with a vanilla, and a different vanilla with salted butterscotch swirl. This past weekend I made the hot fudge sauce, which called for unsweetened cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate but no sugar. Anybody who has worked with these ingredients knows that without sugar it would be inedible! I had to add tons of sugar to make it tast right. Not sure if this was an oversight or what. I've now become hesitant to try more recipes from this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not happy with recipes April 27, 2012

By Ladyprof

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book with high hopes. I'm disappointed by the recipes. The addition of cornstarch and nonfat dry milk gives the ice cream a weird texture. There's a strange coating on the spoon, and the ice cream didn't freeze as well as recipes from other sources have -- either in the ice cream machine or in the freezer. Most of the recipes have this unusual combination of ingredients. I'll be looking elsewhere for recipes.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! May 13, 2011

By Kenn Speiser

Format:Paperback

Great Book!
These are some of the best ice cream and sorbet recipes ever! This book cracks the code of why Italian sorbets always taste better than ones here. The sugar syrup is reduced and thickened with cornstarch so the sorbets have a creamy quality, although there's no dairy in them. The Blood Orange Sorbet is so delicious I made a second batch before I even finished the first one, and I made the Peach Sorbet with frozen peaches because fresh ones aren't in season, and it's great too. This is a book that every ice cream lover will love, and the photographs make it beautiful too.
Kenn

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book takes me home again! May 24, 2011

By bostonreader

Format:Paperback

When I lived in the Bay Area I adored flavors like Lychee and Mango ice cream at Mitchell's in Noe Valley and the Kona Coffee ice cream at Lappert's in Sausalito. When I moved to the Boston area a few years ago I found other flavors, but not these old favorites. That's why this book is like taking a trip home for me. The recipes are clearly written, and the four I've made have just wowed my friends! If I feel this way, I'm sure you can look in this book and find that perfect flavor from your hometown ice cream shop -- and it will remind you of the old days !! The short dairy biographies make the book more fun to read than most cookbooks too.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Ever July 25, 2011

By Catherine Golden

Format:Paperback

There is no shortage of ice cream how-to books around, but I have tossed out all my old ones and have shelf space only for Scoop. The recipes are models of clarity and precision and I have had only success in trying a number of them. Now that fresh peaches and berries are in abundance I look forward to more trials and happy dinner guests.