Ice Cream Ireland

I’ve received the first sample spreads for our book from Mercier Press, and it’s beginning to feel real! We’ve even made it onto the “Authors” page of their website. With a bit of luck, books should be in all the shops in Ireland by the end of April and available on-line as well…

I’m off to Dublin, with my wellies in the bag!

Technorati tags: cookbook, ice cream, Irish, publishing

I’m half thinking, for the craic, of going to the blog awards dressed in full ice cream man regalia, including white wellie boots, which I have always wanted to wear in Dublin, and a big floppy Gelato chefs hat. Of course, it would be easier to pull off such a thing with my brother Sean (photo, right), who is fearless but sadly unable to attend. Still, it is tempting. What do you think?

 For anyone interested, I will be on Newstalk tomorrow (Thursday) around 11:30am talking about tasting ice cream. I think there will be someone on from Green and Blacks as well, so between the ice cream and the chocolate, it should be a sweet show…

Thanks to Declan Burke who was on Matt Cooper yesterday talking about books from bloggers (a rapidly growing bunch) and kindly gave Ice Cream Ireland and our upcoming book a mention.

Finally, this site has made the finalist shortlist for the “Best Blog” category at the Irish Blog Awards along with Bock The Robber, Maman Poulet, On The Record, Fatmammycat.com, Beaut.ie, Twenty Major, Gingerpixel, Irish Flirty Something, Grannymar. I’m thrilled to be among such an impressive bunch!

Technorati tags: tasting, radio, Newstalk, Matt Cooper, podcast

 I’m in such a good mood! The sun is shining here in Dingle, this morning I found the most beautiful crocus (photo above) in my garden, there are daffodils popping up everywhere, and it well and truly feels like Spring!

I’m happy that my friend Cynthia won an Oscar for her documentary Freeheld, and I was delighted for Glen Hansard as well, who we’ve been lucky enough to hear in Dingle on numerous occasions.

And, best of all, after almost a month of grinding through yearly accounts, paperwork,  and pre-season planning, I’m finally going back into the ice cream kitchen this afternoon to play (developing caramelised coffee sauce and better chocolate chunks). Things are looking up!

Technorati tags: Dingle, Irish, spring, crocus, Oscar, Freeheld

A journalist asked me a couple of days ago whether I’d keep blogging if I didn’t get any comments or feedback. Although I enjoy writing about the sweet things I love, there is little doubt in my mind that some of your excellent comments as well as feedback like this keeps me at it. So… I’m adding “Recent Comments” to my sidebar as a little way of saying “Thanks!”

 Anyone who knows us and our shops, knows that we are incredibly obsessive about coffee. I’m not sure it’s healthy or that it makes much financial sense, for we spend too many countless hours tasting and trying to get it right. But that’s what we do.

Over the years, we have made many improvements, both in terms of process and taste. We’ve also moved to a Fairtrade bean and lately organic milk. Those are steps that we feel very good about, but the trick is to keep the coffees tasting good and coming out consistent.

I have written here about the difficulties of milk in the winter - how the lack of protein makes it harder to get good foam. The bubbles are too large (see photo), and the foam collapses easily. This seems to be compounded with organic milk, although some days it seems that it works better than others. Customers have noticed, and they are complaining.

The bottom line is this - using fresh and natural products is not always, by any means, the easiest thing to do. There are many reasons to go with the easy way - there is milk designed for frothing that is controlled for protein and froths perfectly every time. That’s really appealing because consistency is probably the most important part of keeping happy customers. The only problem is that we don’t like the taste.

I think the benefits of using organic milk, both in terms of how it tastes and for feeling good about it, make it worthwhile to stick with it and work on a solution. There’s a Chinese proverb, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor people perfected without trials.”

Let’s hope the last bit applies to cappuccinos!

Technorati tags: organic, coffee, cappuccino, milk, frothing

 If you have a Mac, love chocolate, and want to try your skills at becoming a chocolatier, I came across this computer game: Chocolatier by Play First.

The blurb reads:

Become a master chocolatier one ingredient at a time as you travel the world to find the best prices and maximize production… but don’t forget about those conniving competitors who wish you poorly! Do you have what it takes to conquer the world through chocolate?

Just beware of price fixing!

Technorati tags: chocolate, chocolatier, game, price fixing, Mac

 I just booked a place at the Irish Blog Awards, which is rapidly creeping up on us, and anyone who wants to go and hasn’t booked had better get over to the awards site pronto, because it’s almost booked out!

Ice Cream Ireland is up for two categories along with quite a long short list of excellent sites:

Best Blog Sponsored by PutPlace:  Skin Flicks, Fustar,  Slugger O’Toole, House is a Feeling, Gingerpixel, Grannymar, Irish Flirty Something, On The Record, Twenty Major, Ellen McDermott, Arseblog, Red Mum, Ice Cream Ireland, Maman Poulet, The Cedar Lounge Revolution, Primal Sneeze, Eat Drink Live, Bock The Robber, Irish Taxi, Bookmark, Present Tense, Fatmammycat.com, The Limerick Blogger, Beaut.ie, The Waiting Game, Irish Sally Garden, Style Treaty

Best Business Blog Sponsored by FirstPartners:  Brightspark Consulting, Bubble Brothers, Pat Phelan, Keith Bohanna, Ice Cream Ireland, BH Consulting Blog, The Blacknight Blog, O’Conall Street, McGarr Solicitors, Interactions, Worldwide Cycles, Fortify Your Oasis, Frank Fullard

Technorati Tags: Irish Blog Awards, Awards, Irish, 2008

 A reader of this blog emailed me asking for a green tea ice cream recipe, so here it is! It’s a recipe that will be in the upcoming book, and it’s one I love.

In New York, where I grew up, Asian food was part of the staple diet. Whether Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, or Korean, the standard was high and the variety amazing. Some of the best meals I have ever eaten were Asian cooking, and my dessert of choice, when available, was green tea ice cream.

Here in Ireland, I have also come across green tea ice cream in some of the ever-proliferating Asian restaurants, so perhaps you have tried it as well. If so, just be aware that since we don’t believe in food colouring, we use green tea leaves (see photo right) and not the matcha (green tea powder) that is usually used for ice cream. This means that it will not be bright green and will have a slightly different taste, but I think it’s even more delicious.

For this recipe, I like to add crystallised ginger, a real favourite of mine. I love the spicy sweetness and intriguing consistency of the ginger, and since it’s coated in sugar it stays soft in the ice cream.

Murphys Green Tea and Ginger Ice Cream 

Ingredients:

• • 130g sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 240 ml cream
  • 250 ml milk
  • 2 tablespoon green tea leaves (4 bags)
  • 60 g crystallised ginger
  • 1 tablespoon honey

What to do:

1. Heat the milk to a low simmer over medium heat.
2. Add the tea and honey and maintain at a simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and remove the tea bags.
4. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
5. Beat the milky tea into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
6. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat.
7. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
8. Immediately remove from the heat.
9. Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool (5C).
10. Chop the crystallised ginger into small pieces.
11. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks - don’t over-whip).
12. Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
13. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals.
14. Add the ginger once the ice cream has become semi-solid.
15. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Yield: 8 servings

Note:

To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

Technorati tags: green tea, ginger, Asian, ice cream, recipe

I’m sure you all know about Google News, but I’ve just discovered it. What fun! I looked up “ice cream,” and here’s what I learned after reviewing the news in the world of ice cream:  

The Top Ten Current Ice Cream Stories

1. Ice cream is just as prone as anything else when it comes to changing tastes.

• The Electric New Paper reports that in Singapore, a tree with a miraculous image of a monkey god on it is no longer the huge religious draw it used to be, forcing an ice cream vendor to close down his business.

2. The ice cream trade is far more violent than I had ever expected, living and working in the safety of Co. Kerry. A few examples:

• The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a 19-year-old Richmond man was convicted today on charges that he shot and gravely wounded a Blue Bunny ice-cream vendor on a school playground parking lot in October.
• The Scotsman has a story that an ice-cream man who was gunned down as he served children from his van has complained of still being haunted by the attack.
• The Nevada Appeal: Henderson police say officers trying to issue a speeding ticket shot and killed a 42-year-old woman who they say took a knife from her ice cream truck and made threatening moves.
• The Telegraph has a story that an ice cream director was held hostage in France and only freed when the police stormed the building.

3. Ice cream could be a potential decider in US politics.

• The Boston Globe: Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s fame has endorsed Barack Obama, the Illinois senator’s campaign announced today.

4. Gravity applies to chocolate sauce.

• The Telegraph reports that an upmarket ice cream parlour is refusing to pour chocolate sauce over its cones because of health and safety fears (they are worried that customers might slip on spilled sauce). 

5. Never underestimate the effect of sweetening up your customers!

• The Boston Herald reports that Toscanini’s, a venerable ice cream firm in Cambridge, MA, had its assets frozen by the Internal Revenue Service and was on the verge of bankruptcy before it was saved by customer donations.

6. A certain natural sweetener is potentially endangered.

• CNN Money talks about how the widespread disappearance of bees is impacting on ice cream companies. Haagen Dazs is taking up the fight.

7. Ice cream theft (as tempting as it might be) is still theft.

• The Maui News declares that the students arrested in the theft of ice cream from their school will be charged with second degree burglary.

8. You can make ice cream out of snow, but avoid yellow patches!

• The Leader talks about the traditions and potential hazards of making ice cream from snow.

9. You don’t need racing cars for a Grand Prix.

• The Sanremo News announces the ‘Grand Prix del Gelato Artigianale’ in May, so if you’re in Italy, you can taste lots of ice cream and find out who will be this year’s champion gelato maker.

10. If you’re in the ice cream business, pray for a heat-wave.

• The Herald (South Africa) reports that the sales of ice cream and bottled water have soared amid summer sizzler.

Ah, that has me dreaming here in the cold of February. Heat-wave? That’s not likely to happen any time soon. I bet that statistically there’s a better chance of a monkey god appearing in a nearby tree… And, by the way, any US Presidential candidates are welcome to come to Dingle or Killarney for an ice cream if they are looking for an endorsement!

Technorati tags: ice cream, news, top ten