Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Although this book has off-the-wall ice creams (like Red Bean, Pine Nut & Prune), Granitas (Beet! ), Sorbet (Kumquat? makes me pucker just thinking about it!), it also has traditional flavors in an easy to follow format with lots of variations for each recipe. There're also sauces and toppings, shakes & sodas. There are even 3 recipes for cones. I love this book - we borrowed it from the library, then had to get our own copy.

Very few commercial ice creams can stand up to homemade. Oh, I know. I have my commercial favorites too. When you make your own, however, you're in control of everything. Too sweet? Cut down the sugar a little. Too rich? Substitute half and half or milk for some of the cream. You want a flavor that doesn't come in the stores? Then it's time to bite the bullet and make your own.

You'll find details on ice cream machines in this book, as well as the differences between (and pros and cons of) ice cream made with and without eggs, details on flavoring ice creams, and tips for making "mix-ins" (cookies, crackers, etc.) that'll stay crunchy longer. You'll even find three recipes for ice cream cones in here!

This cookbook packs a lot of punch into a surprisingly small amount of space. Let's use Pumpkin Ice Cream as an example. Below it you have four variations listed: Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, Pumpkin Raisin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Rum Ice Cream, and Pumpkin Seed Ice Cream. Mr. Weinstein could have done this a number of ways. He could have printed up a new recipe for each variation. He could have left them out entirely. Or he could have put the traditional paragraph of "oh, and you could try adding this, and this, or this." In the first case you pay more for a cookbook that could have been smaller. In the middle case, we would have been bereft of many extra fantastic recipes. In the last case, when we sat down to pick a recipe and make out our grocery list, we would have failed to read the last paragraph, and we'd eternally find ourselves saying "Oh, next time," without ever making the variations. So this is PERFECT. I wish more cookbooks did this. The variations are 1-3 sentence quick directions, but easy to pick out and implement. They're also listed as individual recipes in the index, so you won't have trouble finding them if you lose them.

You'll find a fantastic array of flavors. Apple Butter Ice Cream, for instance. Avocado Ice Cream, with a Gazpacho recipe to accompany it--I guess you can eat ice cream for dinner! The Banana Ice Cream and the Banana Ice Cream Philadelphia Style (no eggs) come with a stunning array of variations. When Mr. Weinstein suggests Bubble Gum Ice Cream, he even provides the toll-free number of a company that sells bubble gum flavoring! Now that's service for you. The book also includes sorbets, granitas, toppings, and ice cream drinks.

In all, this is the best ice cream book I've ever laid my hands on, and we have at least four such cookbooks. Mr. Weinstein has created a true treasure of ice cream creation, and deserves no less than a full five stars for his glorious work.

This is a recipe book that reads like your mother's recipe cards: lists of ingredients and how to combine them, but nothing about the technique or the science of what you're trying to make. You couldn't find a better book of recipies for ice cream. But if you want to know the whys and hows of ice cream making, this is a poor excuse for a cookbook.

Recipies, recipies, recipies!--not only for chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, but for corn, avocado, and oatmeal--this is certainly the right book for those looking for variety. Weinstein has done a fabulous job in assembling old-fashioned favorites as well as nouvelle experiments. His inventiveness of new flavors is as delightful as the astonishing accuracy with which he recreates ice cream parlour favorites.

The problem I have with the book is that it's extremely lacking in every other aspect you expect from a good cookbook. Weinstein never discusses the cooking and prep technique he presents. You'd think ice cream was impossible without a food processor, which he calls for in almost every recipe (but you can easily make these recipies without it). He never mentions why I must boil the milk and later strain the mixture (You don't really, unless you're using unpasturized milk). And why must I refrigerate the ice cream before putting it in the ice cream maker? (Okay, maybe that's not so mysterious.) I also became suspicious when I found a recipe for choloclate ice cream (there are many) that calls for cocoa but never for salt. (Salt almost always improves the taste of cocoa and would have the added benefit of lowering the freezing point of your confection, helping it not to freeze solid if you cure it in the freezer.)

Finally, dispite the impressive quantity of recipes, you won't find a single one for gelato. In fact, Weinstein implies in his introduction that ice cream and gelato are basically the same. While it's true they are both custards, gelato never contains cream, so the taste and texture is entirely different. But perhaps that's a fair omission in a book on ice cream.

The book seems to be written for people who want to make a fine frozen custard, but who would never make such a thing if they knew it was called that. Just do what the book says and no one will get hurt. You won't really learn anything about what you're cooking, but you won't embarrass yourself either.

I don't usually share my thoughts about cookbooks that I buy, but I have to say that this book is truly addictive. When I first started making the ice creams in the book I stuck to the recipes that didn't require eggs. The author calls them Philadelphia style, but my family calls them delicious. All the ingredients called for are fresh. Fresh berries, fresh peaches, fresh cream. I like it that the strawberry ice cream requires so few ingredients. But my husband grew up eating frozen custard so I decided to try a few of the recipes that required a little more cooking. Beat the eggs, add the sugar, beat in some flour or cornstarch to help thicken the custard, heat the milk - it scared me at first, I'm not a great cook. But I did it. The custard was rich and smooth. Then came the fresh fruit. We're totally addicted. And it's nice knowing that there's nothing artificial going into our ice cream and frozen custards. I also like the fact that all the eggs we eat are being cooked first. After reading a few of the reviews here, I decided to try an experiment. So many people said they were staying away from the odd flavors, so I made some - sweet potato and green tea. We're hooked. They're so good. Someone else said you shouldn't add flour to ice. I made the mint ice cream recipe from this book without adding the cornstarch as the recipe called for. The ice cream was icy, grainy is what my husband called it. So I made it again just as the recipe required and it was perfect and has become an instant staple in our freezer.

The Ultimate Ice Cream Book is the only ice cream "cook book" you'll ever need. The Ultimate Ice Cream Book contains hundreds of recipes. The book begins with an introduction on the two different types of ice cream recipes (custard style-with eggs and Philadelphia style-no eggs), helpful information on ice cream machines, mix ins, and finally tips on drinks. After browsing through the introduction you will flip through so many pages of different flavors of ice cream you will have a hard time chosing which kind to make. There are recipes for bubble gum, banana, pineapple, peanut butter, key lime, and white chocolate ice creams just to name a few. Don't let all the exotic flavors worry you. There are recipes for plain vanilla (4 recipes for vanilla in fact), chocolate, and strawberry. As if that weren't enough, there are sorbet recipes, ice cream cone recipes, shake and drink recipes, plus sauce and topping recipes. There is even helpful information in the recipes for finding some of the ingredients. Take the bubble gum ice cream recipe. Have no idea where to find bubble gum flavor? Not a problem. They list a company along with their phone number where you may order bubble gum flavoring. You can't go wrong with this ice cream book.

I just got my new ice cream maker and I purchased this book and the book "Gelato!" to get started. I found this book to be my favorite of the two. It is fairly straightforward and no-frills, and it's not the type of book to sit and read in an armchair ("Gelato!" is that type of book, with a history of Gelato making and rich text and accompanying photos). But this book has several recipes (rich to not-as-rich) for the basic flavors, and offers several variations on most of the recipes (such as grapefruit-kiwi sorbet after the main recipe for grapefruit sorbet).

Most of the recipes appear to be very easy to follow. If there is a complicated recipe, it's good bet he offers a simpler one for the same flavor, with a clear description of what the differences in your final product are likely to be. I haven't used my machine that much yet, but I have found the recipes I have tried from this book to be easy to make, with delicious results. It doesn't offer gelato recipes, but has many many ice cream, sorbet and frozen yogurt recipes. I think it will be a very useful companion to anyone's ice cream making at home.

I own this book and Ben and Jerry's and I like them both. However, this one is my favorite because it is more comprehensive. It is also nicely organized by recipe. Many flavors will have recipe variations listed below the main recipe. The Ben and Jerry's book is quite old and only has a few of their popular flavors which are listed under generic names and not the names sold in stores. If I did it over again, I would save some money and only get this book.

What a huge variety of recipes, and on top of that there are variations on each one making each recipe worth 5 to 10 recipes! I've had so much fun experimenting, and I've had great success with the sorbets. There really is something for everyone. Another plus is every section is in alphabetical order, so you can find exactly what your looking for in no time. No fumbling around for a specific recipe. All in all, this is a great all around ice cream book.

i've had this book for three years and it's the only ice cream book i ever use. i have others including ben and jerry's, but so many of ben and jerry's recipes use raw eggs which is not safe. and they don't give alternative ways to cook them. mr weinstein on the other hand, cooks all of the eggs that go into his custard based ice creams and that's important. but weinstein also has recipes for ice cream without eggs which are just as rich and delicious. i've bought this book for everyone i know with an ice cream maker and i've bought it along with an ice cream maker as a gift for friends that don't have either one. i guess i'm not alone - just read the rest of the reviews here, when i say the i think this is the best and only ice cream book for sale worth having.

This book is basically ten recipes with 'variations' ("Add walnuts!"). Instead of doing a technique section followed by individual recipies, he went crazy with cut and paste, including the same paragraphs about technique in each recipe on every single page. I don't know if this is because he's a bad writer or if the publisher was trying to pad the length and make the book appear more substantial than it is, but either way it is very annoying. There is no background whatsoever, no nice pictures or interesting sidebars, just page after page of the same recipe in the same format using the exact same sentences. Many of his recipes also produce a bad result (e.g. the green tea recipe) so I have to wonder if anyone actually tried them or if he just had a brainstorm and thoughtlessly wrote it down.

Do not buy this book. It's an insult to your intelligence. You would be so much better off with "Everybody Loves Ice Cream", the Williams-Sonoma book, or the Ben & Jerry's book.