“I think of flavor the way a painter thinks of color. Ice cream is a blank canvas for flavor, filling your nose and mouth as it melts. Food is an art form to be experienced.”
~ Jeni Britton Bauer, artisan ice cream empress
Pre-order Jeni’s debut cookbook, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, which is being published by Artisan this spring. In it, she reveals secrets for recreating many of her signature flavors using a modestly priced automatic ice cream maker.
Matt made the homemade version of Jeni's Lemon-Blueberry Frozen Yogurt in our new automatic ice cream maker. He even used fresh local blueberries from the farmers market. It tastes just like what everyone around here stands in line to eat!
Maybe instead of a book club we have an ice cream social with everyone bringing their attempts at one of these flavors:
Summer Trip to Jorgensen Farm from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams on Vimeo.
“Last month, a few of us went on a field trip to Jorgensen Farm. There, we visited Val Jorgensen, our peppermint farmer. She showed us her green house and the field of Robert Mitchum peppermint we use to flavor our Backyard Mint ice cream. We got to visit with her chickens and sheep and clip some lavender to take home with us.”
“Stretching along High Street, south of the Ohio State University campus, the Short North is Columbus’s designated arts district and home to a hugely popular arts event called Gallery Hop. On the first Saturday of each month, street performers, musicians and artists hit the sidewalks, shops set up temporary exhibits, and art galleries remain open late. Drawing crowds since it started in 1984, Gallery Hop helped transform the formerly neglected, crime-ridden urban district into the vibrant, independent arts enclave that it is today.”
From “Hello, Columbus,” by Ingrid K. Williams, New York Times (March 14, 2010)
Our sweet friend Jeni recently developed recipes for making a few of her famous ice cream flavors at home. It took 75 attempts to get it right, but she is thrilled with the results which can be made using a modestly priced machine like this Cuisinart. The results were published in the June 2008 issue of Food & Wine.
You can take a stab at her Sour Cherry Lambic Sorbet which won a Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal this year in the outstanding fruit or vegetable category. When Jeni makes it, she uses Lindeman's Kriek Lambic from Belgium.
Jeni recommends scrapping the egg yolks which are typically used as a thickener in homemade ice cream. Boiling the cream and milk evaporates some of the water which gives most homemade ice creams their iciness. Adding cornstarch thickens the cream and absorbs more of the water.
It's true. Anyone who has tasted it knows the Denver Post and the New York Times aren't exaggerating. Even Al Roker, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, and Dean & Deluca are in the know.
In today's New York Times, Marian Burros writes, "Jeni’s of Columbus, Ohio, has surpassed the creativity of all other ice cream makers with its versions like goat cheese and Cognac fig sauce....Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams’ intense, offbeat flavors would be worth a drive to Ohio. My favorites were the goat cheese, salty caramel, coffee, Thai chili and torrone, plus lime cardamom lingonberry frozen yogurt and forest berry and pear riesling sorbets. Six pints start at $70; jenisicecreams.com, (614) 488-3224."
My favorites are pistachio, pumpkin five spice, dark cocoa mint gelato, and the pear riesling sorbet. You have to try her ice cream sandwiches with a thick slab of ice cream squished between traditional Parisian macaroons. I'm sure they will be world famous one day.
Deadline for ordering in time for Christmas delivery is 12/19.
Daron Larson
Freelance Contemplative
