Ingredients and factors to make ice cream in a restaurant

Ice cream has great potential in restaurants. The possibilities offered by this product within a menu and some restaurants that have taken advantage of them are infinite. ​There are innumerable, interesting and varied possible combinations that this product offers within the restaurant industry, and the possibilities that we have within our reach are infinite if we know how to take advantage of all the resources of a kitchen.

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A leftover fruit can be the sorbet of the next menu or banquet, a background of sweet or distilled wine can, by magic, be transformed into a delicious cream or a spectacular sorbet. Not to mention the possibilities offered by a piece of blue cheese, a piece of salmon or a few mushrooms. Treating ice cream in restaurants is placing this product in its most natural environment. Ice cream was born in a kitchen and I have to add that it should never have left it.

The restaurant professional, perhaps due to a lack of sufficient technique, gives up making ice cream, thus depriving himself, at the time of preparing a letter or a menu, of a highly attractive product and, if he does, he does not always obtain all the performance possible.

As a general concept, we can say that ice cream is an elaborate product that is consumed cold. For its elaboration we need to gather some ingredients, balance them taking into account the composition of each one of them, and subject them to an elaboration process that, in the ice cream maker or sorbet maker, by means of simultaneous beating and cooling, manages to incorporate a certain amount of air and to make the finished product present, despite being kept at low temperatures, a plasticity that allows it to be served and consumed in the best conditions.

Not infrequently, sorbets and granitas are confused. Nor is the relationship between ice cream and sorbet very clear.

Milk or cream ice creams are those that contain milk fat, milk powder and milk proteins in their composition. During the production process they have incorporated a certain amount of air. They are presented in a pasty form and despite being subjected to low temperatures, they must present a texture with sufficient plasticity for their service and consumption.

Sorbets are ice creams that do not contain fat or powdered milk in their composition. They must contain a minimum of 15% fruit, juice or concentrate and 20% or more total solids. During the production process they have incorporated a certain amount of air. They are presented in a pasty form and despite being subjected to low temperatures, they must present a texture with sufficient plasticity for their service and consumption.

And granitas are preparations that are presented in a semi-liquid state with a minimum of 10% dry extract. They do not contain air. Its service temperature is between -2 and -4ºC. The thickness of the ice crystals they contain is related to the amount of sugars in their composition and the cooling capacity of the slush machine.

AussieBlends® offers a wide variety of Ice Cream Mixes to cover the requirements of ice cream makers.  We offer Dairy Mixes, Vegan Mixes, No Added Sugar Mixes, and Sorbet Mixes.  Our Ice Cream Mixes are blended for different ice cream preparation processes like Gelato, Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream, Soft Serve, and Rolled Ice Cream.