Customer Reviews

Williams-Sonoma Collection: Ice Cream

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought an electric ice cream maker by GE at the store and had nothing but disasterous experiences with the recipes that came with it. In an attempt to try to get some use out of my investment I bought this book. Unlike the standard ice cream books it has many fruit recipes . My favorite, the one for blueberry ice cream, is always a hit because it has such an intense flavor and vibrant color.

I also especially like the fact that the book includes a recipe for peppermint ice cream since that recipe has been hard for me to find.

Overall the recipes work very well, the pictures are beautiful, and the instructions are easy to read. There is quite a selection of recipes in terms of time too. Many of the quick recipes do not involve egg (they involve milk and half&half instead) so they are faster than the others without the potential risk of tasting like scrambled egg if you do them wrong.

I have a few of the books in this series. The Ice Cream and Cake books are my favorites. The recipes are outstanding -- well-written and produce great results. The sidebars provide invaluable tips. If you enjoy the science behind cooking -- ala America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated and Alton Brown, you will enjoy the books in this series. WS, unlike Cooks Illustrated, presents just the winning method.

I've used this book more than my Ben and Jerry's book. I've made the vanilla, double chocolate, orange sherbet and carmel ice cream. With the exception of the double chocolate, I've had excellent results. I found the texture of the double chocolate was grainy, but I am not above admitting it could have been my error.

The ice cream basics section is really helpful.

Having purchased the Kitchen-Aid ice cream attachment it was time to find a solid recipe book to start with. I am very pleased with the other Williams-Sonoma titles in my collection so I was pleased to see they had an Ice Cream book ... I have not been disappointed! Like all of their books, Ice Cream is nicely photographed, and more importantly, very well written. The sidebars included with every recipe provide additional details that are interesting and always helpful. The book takes you beyond the recipes (by the way, the recipes are excellent) to learn the basics of ice cream making. I think experimenting with new ingredients is where the fun is going to be! I have already made the Blueberries & Cream, Raspberry Ice Cream, Orange Sherbert and Lemon Sorbet; all of these turned out great. And ... if you don't have a vanilla bean on hand, the recipe provides you with an alternative measurement for vanilla extract/essence. A great starter book or addition to your ice cream recipe collection.

Pros of this cookbook: The photos are beautiful, and they cover most of the basic recipes here. Another great thing is that while a lot of ice cream recipes in other books I've seen call for corn syrup as a quick, easy-to-use liquid sweetener, none of the recipes in this book do. Instead the Williams-Sonoma recipes use honey, sugar, or simple syrups that you make yourself. I think this is a great thing because, personally, I hate the flavor of corn syrup. This book has more of a natural-foods approach, which I like.

Cons: Most of the ice cream recipes are egg-based. That's not a problem in and of itself, but egg-based recipes tend to be more involved and take longer to make than Philadelphia-style recipes that don't use eggs. So it's nice when ice cream recipe books include a good selection of eggless recipes which are easier to make on the fly. In addition, I made a couple of the recipes and was somehow disappointed with the flavors and textures. Somehow they just weren't as tasty as other recipes I'd tried. Also, the recipes go more for depth than variety - you get a few solid classic recipes, but not a lot of fun variations.

I prefer Bruce Weinstein's "Ultimate Ice Cream Book." While a lot of the sorbet recipes use corn syrup, and there aren't any color pictures, you get a vast array of recipes and variations, including super-easy Philadelphia style recipes. There are so many fun ideas in Weinstein's book that you are more likely to end up playing and experimenting with creating your own recipes. Williams-Sonoma's approach is a lot more regimented and you're more likely to end up just following what their recipes say versus branching out and making up your own.

William Sonoma cookbooks tend to be strong and this one is no exception. Their recipes prioritize quality over short cuts and convenience and you can taste the difference. The recipes are more labor intensive than some of the basics, but the qualitative difference is worth the extra work. Many recipes are custard based which creates an added step, but results in creamier, richer textures.

i just got this book and an ice cream maker. the recipes in this ice cream cookbook are DELICIOUS!!! the people who complain about the recipes are nuts - they dont like waiting or the ingrendients invloved- then don't make ice cream- that's like complaining about making bread because you dont like waiting for the bread to rise. the bottom line is there may be other recipes out there and they are probably good too, but if you use these recipes you will not be dissapointed.

i have made made a few ice creams so far and they are all fantastic. very easy to make. yes there is some cool down time between cooking and making the ice cream, but the time that you are actually making this ice cream is no more than 30 mins (and 15-20 mins of that is letting the machine turn the ice cream).

This is an excellent primer for all forms of Ice Cream. I recomend this book. Those pining for the old Cooks Illustrated tome on ice cream should check out their latest Best 1000 Recipes. It has a great synopsis of their orginal tome on the subject.

I bought a Cusinart ice cream maker and tho I did like a few of the recipes that came included w/the machine, there wasn't a lot of variety. I have numerous Williams Sonoma cookbooks and have been pleased with them all. So when I saw they had an ice cream version, I had to get it. Lots of great and unique recipes as well as your everyday vanilla and chocolate ones. Easy to follow too. I saw that people complained about the cooking & cooling time, which seems ludacris to me. Because if you had to make icecream the old fashioned way! You would really have something to cry about. Ice cream makers today do everything for you, all you have to do is mix the ingredients and get them ready. And in about 30 mins you have delicious ice cream! Great recipe book for the beginner to the intermediate ice cream maker~ Also try the Ben & Jerry's ice cream cookbook too.

Williams-Sonoma is widely known for producing high-quality coffee-table books that delight visitors and can sometimes even come in handy in the kitchen. Their newest book, Ice Cream brings together over forty fine ice cream recipes into one location. These recipes are perfect for any summertime gathering or glamorous night in with friends. Readers will learn how to quickly craft frozen desserts that will be so delicious, your guests will wonder how you managed to ever pull them together.

The book is also easy to use and employs a sidebar filled with essential ingredients and techniques that are necessary for each recipe. Again, Williams-Sonoma combines high-quality photography with easy-to-follow recipes to create a book that will quickly become any ice cream lover's favorite.

[...]

This is the perfect book for someone who is new to making ice cream. It has a great variety of recipes, from classic flavors, to new and unusual. Make sure you try the Green Tea Ice Cream. Delicious!!