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Plan some fun with a cooking class at Kitchen Window! We have an incredible line-up of topics, menus, and instructors. There are, literally, dozens of choices to choose from. Our classes make a great outing with friends, visiting relatives and a wonderful date night.
Our secret shoppers provide valuable input on everything from customer service to product selection and more.
 But, there are many cousins of our frozen favorite that are equally enjoyable. If you've ever wondered about the differences, here are some highlights and key terms: Ice Cream - Ice cream is made with milk, cream, sugar, sometimes eggs, and various flavorings. To be called ice cream, it must have at least 10% butterfat, and have no more than 50% air content. This air content, known in the biz as "overrun," is a key differentiating ingredient and not listed on the label. Premium ice creams have a higher butterfat content, up to 18%, and much, much less air.
Sorbet - Sorbets are fruit-based without any cream, milk, or eggs. The fruit, or fruit essence, is combined with sugar, water, and often lemon juice. The tangy result is totally refreshing! In fact, sorbets are often used as a palate cleanser
 between courses. Nutritionally, sorbets offer a no-fat, lower calorie alternative to ice cream. Use fresh fruit; canned or cooked fruit will not have the same impact.Sorbetto - Like a sorbet, sorbetto is made from fresh fruit, sugar, lemon juice and water. Originating as a southern Italian sorbet, this version features more fresh fruit and less water. The resulting dense flavor features a softer, less "icy" consistency. Gelato - This northern Italian version of ice cream shares the same ingredient list as ice cream, but in different proportions. Frozen Yogurt - The frozen version of this cultured dairy product is another lower fat Semifreddos - Translated from its Italian origins, semifreddo means "half-cold." The ingredients are similar to ice cream, but air is incorporated through the inclusion of whipped eggs, meringue, or whipped cream. The mixture is "still frozen" in a mold without being disturbed. The resulting texture is similar to a frozen mousse.
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Sherbet - The familiar, pastel sherbets are made with milk, sugar, and occasionally eggs, but use sweet fruit juice or puree as a substitute for the cream. Sherbets have a low butterfat content between 1-2%, and often a greater amount of sugar to keep it from freezing too solidly.
Gelato uses more milk and eggs, but less cream (5 - 8%) than ice cream (10-18%). Gelato flavorings are intense, as though the essence or a reduction of the flavoring has been used. The gelato texture is dense; the method for freezing gelato minimizes the amount of air incorporated in the final product. Churning injects some air in the gelato, but no extra air is added as is the case with most ice creams. By definition, gelato may be no more than 35% air. Gelato's density and lower butterfat content requires a slightly higher storing temperature than ice cream.
Granita - With ingredients similar to a sorbet, granitas differ in the way they turn from liquid to frozen, a process known as "still freezing." The fruit mixture is poured in a shallow pan and left to chill in the freezer. Every 20 minutes the mixture is stirred with a fork. The result is a slushy mixture with flaky, ice crystals. 
alternative to ice cream. Sweetened yogurt takes the place of the dairy fat in creating an appropriate texture that's not too firm.
Regardless of your frozen preference, the process and science of making your own list of favorites is quite similar. The target is a great taste and a perfect texture. The ice cream should be sweet and flavorful; the texture should be smooth, semi-firm, and melt in the mouth without any waxy feel. To accomplish this, the ingredients must be fresh, first quality, and in the right proportions. The freezing process must produce a consistent, fine, icy crystal.
The Other Stuff - The ingredients list on commercial ice creams sport words like monoglyceride glycerol monosterate, guar gum, carageenan, methylcellulose, xanthan gum, etc.etc. These additions are food chemists' attempts to imitate a natural texture and mimic the butterfat feel in our mouths. "Economy ice creams" can be up to half air and as little as 10% butterfat. This strategy forces the use of stabilizers and emulsifiers to create a desirable product. With homemade ice cream, we get to skip all these additives.
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The Ingredient Mix - In its simplest form, ice cream is made from milk, sugar, cream and flavorings. A good ice cream needs some of each of these ingredients to freeze well and taste good. The milk provides proteins essential for creating a structure that captures air bubbles and separates fat globules. The sugar provides sweetness and a lower freezing temperature that keeps the ice cream from freezing rock hard. The cream supplies the characteristic richness. Butterfat, the type of fat found in cream and all dairy products, is a complex fat whose components melt at different temperatures, producing a cascading effect as it passes through the mouth. If the ice cream contains eggs, it is known as a French custard-style; without eggs it is termed Philadelphia-style. With the sweet cream mixtures as a canvas, imaginative flavorings provide the unique tastes we've come to love. 
The Freezing Process - After the ingredients are mixed, the freezing process will determine the final result. A cold mixture that has been refrigerated for at least two hours will facilitate freezing. Regardless of the machine used for freezing the ice cream, cold temperatures are transferred indirectly to the mixture through some type of metal container. (See types of ice cream machines below). Continuous movement of the mixture while in contact with the freezing metal is pivotal to the process. Known as churning, or spinning, a paddle or dasher stands in the center of the mixture and connects to a crank. Turning the crank moves the dasher's blade along the insides of the metal container forcing newly formed ice crystals back into the mixture. The ice cream's temperature is lowered evenly and efficiently while allowing only the smallest of ice crystals to form. Within 20-30 minutes, the mixture grows more difficult to crank as it freezes and solidifies. The ice cream may be enjoyed at this point with its soft texture, or the container may be placed in the freezer for a few hours to harden or ripen to a firmer texture.
Making homemade ice cream is easier and less expensive than you might think, and today's machine options facilitate a nearly foolproof result: Ice Cream Makers - There are three basic types of freezing mechanisms: (1) ice and salt, (2) pre-frozen inserts, and (3) compressor units. A hand or electric-powered crank fits on top of the cylinder and bucket, and turns the internal paddle. The coldness of the ice slurry transfers through the metal container to freeze the ice cream mixture. Prefrozen Inserts - Several designs of ice cream makers utilize a pre-frozen insert. These reusable inserts are sealed, double-walled, metal containers with liquid inside. The insert is frozen ahead of time, then assembled with a hand or electrical cranking system. The cold transfers from the frozen liner similarly to the old-fashioned ice and salt method. One insert will make one batch of ice cream, then will need to be refrozen. Many fans choose to have an extra insert available, and at least one in the freezer at all times. Compressor Units - Serious ice cream aficionados may wish to consider free-standing freezing units. These machines generate the cold, freezing temperatures with a compressor-based system similar to a refrigerator's freezing system. The machine has a container for the ice cream mixture, an internal paddle, and a continuous freezing element. Batch after batch of ice cream may be made without any refreezing of an insert, or replacement of ice and salt.
Scoops, Spades, and Spoons - Whatever your frozen pleasure, dishing it up has bent more than one spoon at some point in time. Great scoops and spades in all colors and shapes are available to easily handle the task. Personalize your choice by finding a scoop that fits your hand, leverages your arm muscles, and thermally resists sticking to the ice cream. Showoff your talents by serving up your homemade delight in new ice cream dishes!
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Tip #1: Add fresh fruit to your favorite ice cream base by pureeing sweet, ripe fruit, and adding it to a cooled milk mixture. If you like chunks of fruit in your ice cream, you can avoid rock-hard pieces by macerating the fruit; sprinkle one or two tablespoons of sugar over the diced fruit and let set for a few minutes until juice appears. The sugar withdraws some of the water from the fruit, and the fruit absorbs some of the sugar. With this method, the fruit chunks will remain softer in the final product. Tip #2: Save time when scooping ice cream for a la mode presentations. Dish single portions into a muffin pan and cover with a freezer-grade plastic wrap. The ice cream stays cold and is quickly dished at serving time. A silicone muffin pan allows the ice cream scoops to "pop out" with ease. Tip # 3: Use rock salt when making ice cream with ice cubes. Rock salt dissolves more slowly, and the larger granules stick to the ice surfaces instead of slipping to the bottom as a fine grain salt would do.
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Q: My ice cream has a lot of ice crystals on the surface and an off taste. What's wrong? Q: Can I freeze a container of yogurt and make frozen yogurt? Q: Is there gelatin in gelato?
Q: What causes an ice cream headache?
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Q: When and how did the ice cream cone come to be?
The ice cream vendor ran out of ice cream dishes when a nearby waffle vendor came to the rescue with a waffle rolled into a cone shape. Flat-bottomed cake cones were designed and manufactured in the 1940's for the Dairy Queen chain. 
Vosges founder Katrina Markoff uses the finest ingredients from around the world. Her goal is to create a luxury chocolate experience while bringing about awareness of the world’s cultures by fusing a gamut of indigenous spices, flowers, roots, herbs and liqueurs with premium chocolate. Now she brings this sensibility to the world of ice cream If you’ve tasted Vosges chocolates, you can imagine the tantalizing mixture of flavors that these exquisite chocolatiers have concocted for their line of specialty ice cream. The unique combinations of spices with high quality ingredients work magic on your taste buds. The flavors play with each other in a special alchemy that creates a lovely dance of pleasure in your mouth. . "I wanted to shake up the ice cream market with some radical flavors,” says Katrina. “My favorite at the moment is wattleseed.” In addition to sourcing only the best ingredients, Vosges also closely monitors the manufacturing of the ice cream. It is produced in Pennsylvania, in a specially-equipped facility. Vosges uses vat pasteurization in making its ice cream. The ice cream is pasteurized at 145 degrees for 30 minutes. Vosges is one of only two companies in the United States that still use vat pasteurization. Most ice cream companies use flash pasteurization, done in 15 seconds at 161 degrees. The longer vat pasteurization time allows the flavors and herbs to steep for full flavor, almost like infusing tea, and gives the ice cream a lovely rounded custard-like mouthfeel. Kitchen Window is the only Twin Cities outlet to carry Vosges ice cream. We’re pleased to offer all four flavors for your summer enjoyment. Stop by for a taste. Red Fire Ice Cream Naga Ice Cream Pandan Ice Cream Wattleseed Ice Cream
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Homemade ice cream is an easy and delicious hot weather treat. While the tried-and-true favorites like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry hit the mark for simple summertime pleasure, if you crave something more exotic, the creations from Vosges Haut Chocolat combine worldly flavors with world-class ice cream.
A Passion for Ice Cream, 95 Recipes for Fabulous Desserts by Emily Luchetti. Photographs by Sheri Giblin. Copyright 2006. Published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco. Deservedly, A Passion for Ice Cream has been awarded the coveted International Association of Culinary Professionals 2007 Award for Best Cookbook on a Single Subject.
If you love ice cream, but have never made your own, this book is a great place to start. If you are looking for new and exciting ice cream creations, this book will inspire you. The cover photo is an irresistible invitation to pick up and open this book, and once inside you'll succumb to the wonderful creations, unique ideas, and novel presentations. Ms. Luchetti provides a great instructional manual about all things ice cream, sorbet, sherbet and granita. She helps us apply this knowledge with her offering of over 95 fabulous desserts. Each frozen treat would be enough on its own, but their inclusion as "a principal" in these creative presentations supersedes the notion of "just ice cream for dessert." Most of the recipes are lavishly illustrated with luscious, artistic photographs that make you wish for the spoils of the photo shoot. In our opinion, the combination of text and photography qualify this cookbook as a "coffee table book" as well as an indispensable kitchen resource.
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This trio of recipes will introduce you to the making of homemade ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, and a granita. Each concoction is perfect on its own, and certainly impressive in the suggested combination and presentation. |
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Gingersnap Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches This recipe features a French-style, custard-based ice cream. The addition of eggs and the extra steps of heating the mixture prior to freezing make for a rich, rich ice cream. The lemon zest and lemon juice, tempered with sweetness, bring a refreshing flavor that pairs perfectly with the gingersnap wafers. The ice cream is perfect on its own, or as the filling for these elegant ice cream sandwiches. (Photograph courtesy of Chronicle Books). View recipe |
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Mango Soup with Coconut Sherbet and Strawberry Sorbet
As colorful as it is flavorful, this recipe is a visual and gustatory delight! The coconut sherbet is made with both coconut milk and coconut cream churned to a smooth, bright white, frozen treat. The fresh strawberry and lemon base makes a tangy strawberry sorbet. Set scoops of both the coconut sherbet and strawberry sorbet in the mango puree. The mango sauce matches and ideally complements the other flavors. The mango mix can easily be frozen and transformed into a mango sorbet. (Photograph courtesy of Chronicle Books). |
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Iced Bellinis |
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Chill out and enjoy some homemade ice cream ! From all of us at Kitchen Window Kitchen Window |