9.17.2006

Stevia Ice Cream

One of the hardest things for me to have to give up in my journey was ice cream. I don't enjoy suffering, no matter the cause; and so for years I was making 'alternative' ice cream in my cute little Cuisnart ice cream tumbler. Alternative meaning not cane sugar but substitutes I felt were healthier such as maple syrup, brown rice syrup, barley malt and so forth.

I always recognized that these are still sugars though!

Ice cream is not an exact science and is in fact very forgiving with experimentation, so here is what I have come up with in a bold stroke of genius if I do say so myself...
(Don't forget, milk is still a sugar! But one I'm willing to live with for now)

I use a Cuisinart gel tumbler ice cream maker, you can get them for $50 these days at many stores that sell kitchen goodies.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
*2 cups (light) cream (you can use heavy; I prefer to make Light)
*1 cup (skim) milk (again, use what you like)
1/2 tsp Stevia
1-2 tsp extracts (optional)
4 oz unsweetened (baking) chocolate (optional)
nuts, berries, whatever...

*you can substitute soy milk or nut milks- they have enough fat that it's ok if there's no cream. There is also a great book called Vice Cream that uses Stevia, and is vegan if that's what you're after.*

Beat the eggs.... beat in the cream, then the milk... beat in the stevia. Remember to mix the stevia well, it gets funny with fatty ingredients.
I like Mint Chocolate Chip myself, so here I add 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tsp peppermint extract.

Pour the mix into the machine, follow the manufacturer's instructions.
I wait to add nuts or berries (best if prefrozen) into the mix when it's nearly ice cream (when it's churned up to the top lip of the blade and cover).

For 'chocolate chips':
Melt the chocolate before the ice cream reaches the lip. Add 1/4 tsp stevia, stir well. Add to the ice cream when it's reached the top; the chocolate should be warm enough to flow and make little blebs, but not so hot that it's turning it all back to milk- melt, wait 5 minutes, add. It takes a little finesse, and is tough to explain, sorry... I cook like my granny did...

Freeze, and enjoy!!!

Not all Stevias are created equal...

A word of caution for you new stevia users out there....
When I began my journey to be sugar free, I got great advice and guidance from a good friend who has been fighting Candida for years. She had been cooking without sugar then for some time. She advised me to buy the Kal brand of Stevia, because it has no aftertaste.

And so I did.

I think I became spoiled, complascent; people would talk about Stevia having a bitter taste and whatnot, and I would think: huh, I haven't experienced that; maybe I can't taste that?

Then people who never eat stevia would eat my peanut butter cups and exclaim that they were wonderful, they were fooled, they'd never suspect it wasn't sugar... so I guessed I wasn't crazy, Kal really is that good.

So recently, I bought a cheaper version of stevia from Trader Joe's. Let me state here that I love TJ's, love their selection and service, etc; but the stevia they got is TERRIBLE. I ruined a batch of PB cups because it was the nastiest, most bitter gross thing EVER. At least they have a good return policy! So Kal it is and shall remain.

So be careful, if you are new to it and experimenting; don't let a bad stevia experience turn you off. It takes finesse to work with it. It takes patience, adding a little at a time, tasting and tasting until it's right. There's not a lot of resources out there yet promoting it as a sweetener because of the FDA b.s., but hopefully one day we will be free of that nonsense and able to eat safe sweets.

Until then, happy cooking!