Ice Cream (a.k.a. “Standard” or “Philadelphia Style”)

The term ice cream is commonly used to refer to almost any dairy-based frozen dessert, yet technically it is its own category. Simply put, an ice cream is an emulsion and then, after churning, is a foam in which the air bubbles are stabilized by freezing a large amount of the liquid around them. How much of the liquid is frozen depends on the sugar content of the base (see sugars).

In order to be called ice cream, the ice cream base should contain no egg yolks (or it would be a custard-base ice cream), and for this reason it requires the addition of an emulsifier (see emulsifiers) for optimal results. Remember that emulsifiers have a determining effect on the even dispersion of fat globules throughout the ice cream base in order to produce a smooth product. Without an emulsifier, the texture might be grainy and icy. Ice creams can be made from milk or a combination of milk and heavy cream. Heavy cream is used in smaller amounts than milk (use 2 parts milk to 1 part cream as a rule of thumb). The addition of heavy cream will obviously add fat, which in turn will produce a richer texture, but not necessarily a better one. Heavy cream is not recommended to use alone in ice cream bases because its high fat content will seize and harden while processing in a batch freezer or Pacojet. The result will be a grainy finished product, and that grainy texture is congealed fat (butter).