Foodbuzz 24x24: We all Scream for Ice Cream - a NYC roof top tasting

Who hasnt heard this saying  - "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" at least once in their lives - well if you havent then this is your first of millions.

Like so many before me I knew instantly what my proposal was going to be for this months Foodbuzz 24 x 24. Summer heat brings summer fun and what's more fun than ice cream? I will tell you what. Ice cream with grown up flavors, thats what, and if not grown up flavors then dang good ones at that.

For my Foodbuzz 24 x 24 I decided I was going to make a few unique flavors of ice cream - how does 8 out of this galaxy creations sound - then invite a few friends over for a little roof top tasting. So I made some ice cream and I made some ice cream cones and I decorated the rooftop for this special festive occasion. When dont christmas lights make magic out of the mundane?

I started off with a basic vanilla ice cream and added flavors - how else would you do it?

Vanilla Ice Cream 

1/2 cup sugar

dash of salt

2 cups half and half
1 cup milk

1 egg, beaten (you can substitute cornstarch or xanthan gum if using eggs is an issue)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine sugar salt and all the milk and half the half and half in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture almost boils then reduce heat to low.

Gradually stir about half of this hot mixture into the beaten eggs to temper then incorporate all together and heat until it thickens stirring constantly, remove from heat and refrigerate 2 hours.

Whip the other cup of half and half with the vanilla flavoring until soft peaks form and fold this into the chilled mixture and pour into your ice cream maker and proceed as per its instructions.

When I had a few batches of vanilla made I then organized my flavors and the chemistry began.

some things from the garden some things from fruit stands

I should mention that "organizing" these flavors involved a trip to the Union Square Farmers Market as well as my garden, fruit stands and the supermarket - all on my trusty red bike. When I narrowed it down to the final 8 flavors - this was the result:

Mint Mojito Majesty is a twist on the mojito (obviously) with a little lime and a little mint and the tiniest splash of rum.

Luscious Lavender will make you wonder why you never had lavender ice cream before now. Aromatic, floral and sweet with the perfume of lavender makes this flavor special.

Mexican Chocolate Chocolate  is just that - Mexican chocolate - complete with the cinnamon and the spices and I added in a little bit of mulato chile just because I can. 

Sweet Summer Peach - just typing that makes me blush and to say it out loud makes me need a cold shower.

Fantastic Figgy Fig gave rum another mission - get it Mission figs - rum with a mission, hahahaha.

Don’t be Blue Blueberry  put a bright blue smile on your face with this blue blast of summer delight.

Lemon Basil Goat Cheese Vanilla takes a simple classic like vanilla and kicks it all the way out to left field with the complimentary tangs of the the lemon basil and the goat cheese - it may not be sweet but it sure is a honey - this baby is all grown up.

Carrot Cake a little carrot a little cinnamon a little cream cheese "frosting" and some "cake" - that is what is carrot cake isnt it? Isnt it? I cant play favorites - just sayin'.

The only way to make these fabulous flavors more fabulous would be to serve them in fresh made waffle bowls and cones rich with the flavors of malt and vanilla and since you are dying to know how I did it I will tell you.

Waffle Cones

2 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I used my home made vanilla extract again)
1/3 cup Ovaltine malt powder
1 egg
1 cup water (adjust water until a loose batter is formed)

Preheat waffle iron - if you have the actual waffle cone waffle iron then use that a pizzelle maker works great too but I am using an old waffle iron from Norway that makes heart shaped waffles like this. Mix all ingredients together forming a loose and liquid batter pour thinly into hot iron - you are not trying to make big fat waffles but thin waffles. Cook both sides until brown and quickly form into cones or bowls while hot.

I even made a little form for every one to fill out so I could get some focus group feedback.  I asked about mouth feel, texture (texture and mouth feel may seem the same but they are not), flavor and would you buy it - the results were interesting. Stay tuned for the next several posts as I am going to be leaking out each recipe as a blog post and then several detailed posts hinting about the consensus of my marketing survey before I actually post the results thereby milking this idea as much as I can so thats 8 ice cream flavors that would then become 8 separate blog posts....ha ha ha ha, just kidding - dont you hate when people stretch out blog posts like that - I know I do. I will give you the results here and now and the recipe is already there all you have to do is flavor it to your liking.

The over all favorite was the Mexican Chocolate Chocolate.  The creamiest was the Lemon Basil Goat Cheese Vanilla. The one that tasted most like actual carrot cake was the Carrot Cake. Then Luscious Lavender and Mint Mojito Majesty got best of show for most "cultivated" flavors, and while "most cultivated" was not part of the criteria these two shone through and created a category all their own. This isnt to say that Sweet Summer Peach,  Fantastic Figgy Fig, and Don’t be Blue Blueberry werent good rich flavors its that the tasting panel felt they were not exotic compared to the others and everyone would buy every one except the fig - they said it just wasnt figgy enough. So there you have it now go Scream for Ice Cream!