Recommendations for making ice cream with milk and corn starch (corn flour)

cornstarchice-cream

I started off making ice cream in the French style with cream and egg yolks. I've mostly been using David Lebovitz's web site and his fantastic book the Perfect Scoop. I've recently been experimenting with using a milk/corn starch base which isn't really covered in his book. As a technique it has several advantages:

  • Lower fat content
  • Lighter flavour than cream and egg yolks so the flavours come through more vividly and the ice cream is less rich.
  • Easier to thicken corn starch base without overcooking or under cooking.
  • Doesn't need cream which we don't buy as a household staple
  • Ingredients have longer shelf life.
  • Easier to make ice cream on impulse without going shopping first.

I'm looking for web site, book or general technique recommendations for this style of base. Looking to achieve similar quality of texture and scoopability as cream/egg bases.

For non-cream bases so far I've tried:

  • Milk with 3 egg yolks per litre
  • Milk with 3tbsp corn starch per litre
  • Milk with 2tbsp of corn starch per litre + 2tsp liquid pectin (recommended in Cuisinart ICE-100 recipe instructions)

To my taste the pectin version has the best texture. Is it likely to be hard to digest for people with dietary intolerances or delicate stomachs?

Any another base ingredient recommendations to try? e.g. Dried milk powder, Xantham gum etc.

Any general tips for adapting recipes that are designed for different bases e.g David Lebovitz's brilliantly balanced cream+egg base recipes?

The recipe below seemed to work very well with corn starch + liquid pectin base. It's even possible to make caramel sauce with milk rather than cream if added slowly and carefully.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/better-than-snickers-chocolate-peanut-butter-caramel-ice-cream-recipe.html

Best Answer

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer has a (somewhat) similar base to this, in that it has no eggs, and uses a mix of milk and cream - along with a tiny bit of cream cheese to provide the requisite proteins, and corn starch to thicken.

In my opinion, it's one of the best ice cream bases out there.

I also have the Perfect Scoop, and have had no trouble switching the recipes I've tried from it over to Jeni's base.