I'm going to try making kefir ice cream today. I'm draining a quart now, planning to loosely follow a recipe for frozen yogurt in a book I have. I'm thinking I'll make it a lemon-vanilla flavor. That should go well with the tanginess but still let the texture show through, whatever that may be!

If it works out, I'll make it with strawberries next time.

P.S. Kefir cheese is wonderful!

Binki, I bet the lemon-vanilla ice cream is very tasty.

I've made jello's lemon flavor fat-free, sugar-free instant pudding (yes, blushing*) with kefir, and it tastes really good. The lemon flavor goes very well with the tangy kefir.

How did you make your kefir cheese? Do you just ferment in longer and drain off the whey?



*The pudding mix, 6 g. carb per serving, includes maltodextrin, which is classified as a complex carbohydrate (for some reason). I wouldn't call it an ideal LC dessert so much as a guilty pleasure... when we want a dessert PDQ.

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

The kefir cheese is just kefir left to stand in a strainer (line it with cheesecloth, or use a coffee filter...I use a cheapo mesh coffee filter from the supermarket) for a couple of days. The whey drips out (oh, yeah, you want to put that strainer over a container of some kind, that's kind of important) and you're left with a thicker creamy "cheese".

I just made the ice cream, and I'm cautiously optimistic. I let it turn for 40 minutes and it still hadn't really thickened as much as I'd like, but I decided to freeze it anyway. This may be a kefir issue or it may be because I didn't properly chill one of the elements so the mixture was warmer than it should have been. Probably the latter.

I'll post the recipe later tonight if it's good when I try it. Early experiments suggest it will be... the stuff frozen to the sides of the ice cream maker's freezer bowl was definitely thicker and good consistency, as far as I could tell.

I can't wait to hear how it turns out!

BTW, that cheese ... mix in a bunch of herbs, some garlic & onion powder, and it tastes like Boursin! Really good.

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I'd say it was a success! Here's the recipe:

Lemon-Vanilla FroKee

1. Have your freezer insert good and cold if your machine requires one.

2. Set 1 quart of finished kefir to drain in the fridge for three hours or so.

3. Meanwhile, pour one cup of heavy cream into a Pyrex 2-cup glass measure. Add MASTER BLEND (see below) or your choice of sweeteners. If necessary, microwave for a minute or so, stirring every 20 seconds, until any lumps or crunchy bits are gone. Put in fridge to cool while the kefir is draining.

4. Squeeze lemons (approx. 4 to 6) until you have half a cup of liquid. I added a couple drops of lemon extract but I don't think you need this. I also added a tablespoon or so of vanilla, which I highly recommend. Put in fridge with the rest of the ingredients.

5. After at least 3 hours, the kefir should be done straining and the sweetened cream should be cold, as should the lemon juice. Mix them all up in a big bowl and freeze following the instructions for your ice cream maker.

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BINKI'S MASTER BLEND FOR ICE CREAM
This replaces 1 cup of sugar and results in ice cream that is scoopable, socially acceptable afterward, and totally swoonworthy, even from sugar eaters:

1 cup polydextrose
1/4 cup erythritol
1 t maltitol
6 drops Sweetzfree
sprinkle of SweetOne
1 t vegetable glycerin
1 t lecithin liquid

This is the blend I use. Feel free to improvise with the sweeteners you have on hand; I think the most important thing is the number of sweeteners and the cup of PolyD. You could use stevia in place of the SweetOne (aceK) and xylitol in place of the erythritol, for example.

If the word "maltitol" causes you to make finger crosses and back away hissing, go ahead and omit it, though I believe it helps the texture and, really, 1t over the whole batch isn't very much per serving.

That sounds good, Binki!

Unfortunately, my BGL's don't "like" the polyD, so it's not on my list of acceptable ingredients.

Anyway, my ice cream maker died last year and I haven't replaced it yet.

When I replace it, I'll start to 'speriment again. I think adding the glycerin and lecithin might help with the scoopability issue. My ice cream does tend to over-harden, being made without sugar. However, I've found that taking the container out of the freezer and nuking it for a few seconds makes it "servable."

(Note to self: Look into replacing the ice cream machine.)

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

LOL @ Teel's subliminal suggestion!

I just upgraded my printer, so there's no ice cream maker (of any sort) in the budget at this exact moment. I've lusted after one of those fancy types for years.

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My next one is gonna be the $250 Cuisinart one with the compressor, for sure. But that's not until this one wears out completely. I am putting money aside for it, though, it's meant to be!

Maggie: before I learned about Polydextrose, I had an older Master Blend that worked pretty well. Maybe it would be better for you? I found an old post of mine at another site and I think this is it:

For every cup or so of sugar called for, I use:
2 teaspoons Maltitol
1/4 cup Erythritol
10 drops liquid Splenda (you could substitute 1/2 cup powdered Splenda, but that would add 12 carbs to the recipe)
1 tablespoon Lecithin
1 tablespoon Glycerin
and a few shakes, maybe 1/4 teaspoon, of Xanthan gum.

The polyD definitely makes it more scoopable and for longer, but this was pretty darn good, I think. I made a cheesecake ice cream one time with it, and I still haven't found my socks.

Thanks, Binki. That looks promising. I'll probably just skip the maltitol and use some Thick'n'Thin NotSugar in place of the xanthan gum ... or maybe some konjac powder. They throw in a bottle of this stuff whenever I get my shiritake noodles and it seems capable of "jelling" plain water in small amounts, LOL!

Maybe I'll make some jelled cream with it and stick it in the freezer as a preliminary investigation.

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I think the NotSugar will work perfectly, since afaik it's made of guar and xanthan gums anyway. I read a while ago that you need to use all three of the glycerin/lecithin/xanthan combo for it to work, so I always have.

Maltitol helps with texture too, so you may want to use a bit more erythritol to compensate if you leave that out. Maybe toss in some stevia or aceK or something to keep the synergy going. Just taste it as you go; if it's a little too sweet before you freeze it, it'll be perfect once it's done.

Just what is the lecithin? I bought some lecithin granuals at the HFS once, but I threw them out when I moved as I didn't think they were the right thing for ice cream. Or, if they were, I didn't know how to use them

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

Terry, lecithin is a natural emulsfier, typically processed from soybeans. It has numerous health benefits. When used in icecream, it is suppossed to help make the ice cream more "scoopable". However, I have not noticed much improvement in the ice cream I have made using it. hth

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Henry

Did you also use glycerin and xanthan?

If you don't have any lecithin, a couple of egg yolks would probably do the trick as well, with the added benefit of lending a nice yellow color to the mix! Not sure if the glycerin and xanthan would still work/be necessary in that case.

I'm not sure the egg yolks will be very helpful, in and of themselves. My "standard" ice cream is a french vanilla (since I can top it with whatever strikes my fancy on a given day) with a bunch of egg yolks in it. Still had the rock like quality after a day in the freezer ... which is where my quick nuke approach was adopted.

I'm thinking that I'm going to add some vodka to my recipe, as well. Alcohol, not being prone to freezing, might help some, too. Couldn't hurt, anyway.

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