Static Ice Creams...What The Heck's That?

So today we worked with static ice creams and honestly even though I made them, I still have no idea what the heck they really are. My pastry chef dictionary doesn't even have a definition. All I can tell you is that I think that static ice creams are ice creams that are not made with a traditional custard base but made instead with bases that have whipping cream and then a custard or meringue base whipped in. The texture of these ice creams is not like that of regular ice cream because of the whipped heavy cream that is added to the base just before freezing. As whipping cream (believe it or not) helps to lighten desserts that it is added to, there is a much airier and lighter texture in the static ice cream when you taste them. Also, because of the texture of the static bases, they can be placed into molds and formed into different shapes. Our class used silicone molds but you could easily use a loaf pan lined with cling wrap.

Our group made two flavours of static ice cream today. One was made with pineapple, coconut milk and rum and the other was made with raspberry puree. With the pineapple base, we took sugar and pineapple juice and boiled it until it was 240F. Then, with a kitchen aid mixer on, we added the syrup to lightly beaten egg yolks and then we mixed the yolks and syrup until it was thick, light and cool. While the kitchen aid was mixing, we whipped the heavy cream, rum and cream of coconut milk together and when the egg and pineapple syrup mixture was cooled, we simply folded the two together and poured it into the molds. The raspberry static mixture was even easier. First, we made a Swiss meringue by whisking sugar and egg yolks in a double boiler until the sugar was dissolved and the mixture was hot, hot, hot; then we whipped the meringue till it was thick, white and cool in a kitchen aid. While it was whipping, we mixed raspberry puree with lemon juice and whipped cream (by hand thank you -- I'm getting faster too!) to stiff peaks. Once the Swiss meringue was ready, we folded the raspberries into the meringue and then folded the cream into the raspberries and meringue and voila, fruit based static ice cream!

As you can see, it wasn't too complicated, just a little tricky because we had to know the basics in order to accomplish the advanced recipes. Seeing as we made two different flavours, we were able to freeze them together and create a two-tone dessert. Below are three pictures, one of them is our molded static ice cream, one is of a classmates' (they made coffee and praline flavours and I thought that they were nicely plated so I snapped a picture) and the last picture is one of some amaretti cookies because they looked so pretty in their little paper jackets. Enjoy!

As a side note, for those of you who know my Collin Murray, he got a stage job yesterday (stage = an unpaid externship) with a brand new restaurant that is super busy and super well reviewed and owned and executive chef'd by super famous Top Chef judge, Tom Colicchio. Yeah Collin! Please send good karma and vibes his way!


Pineapple, Rum and Coconut and Raspberry Static Ice Cream Mold


Jenna and Lucia's Praline and Coffee Static Ice Cream Molds


Pretty Cookies.