Prune and Armagnac ice-cream

Ingredients :

* 500g (1lb 2oz) no-soak prunes
* 275g (9¾oz) double cream
* 275ml (9¾fl oz) single cream
* 4 egg yolks
* 1 dessertspoon cornflour
* 110g (3¾oz) golden caster sugar
* 2 tablespoons Armagnac.

You will need

A food processor and an ice cream maker ( pre-frozen according to the manufacturer's instructions) or an electric whisk.
A small baking tray.

Method :

First place 350g (12oz) of the prunes in a medium-sized saucepan and add 425ml (15fl oz) of cold water. Bring this up to simmering point, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, then leave to cool. Now whip the double cream until it reaches the floppy stage but isn't too thick then pop it into the fridge to chill. Next make a custard - first pour the single cream into a medium saucepan, then carefully heat it to just below boiling point. Meanwhile, beat together the egg yolks, cornflour and caster sugar in a bowl until absolutely smooth.

Next pour the hot cream on to this mixture, whisking as you pour. Now return the custard to the pan and continue to whisk over a medium heat until it has thickened and come to just below boiling point again (don't worry, it won't curdle - if it does look at all grainy, it will become smooth again when whisked off the heat).

Rinse out the bowl and pour the custard into it. Then place it in another larger bowl of cold water with a few ice cubes, stirring it now and then until it is absolutely cold. While the custard is cooling, drain off the cooking liquid from the prunes and purée them in a food processor with the Armagnac until very smooth. Now roughly chop the remaining prunes into 5mm (¼in) pieces. When the custard is completely cold, stir in the prune and Armagnac purée, then fold in the chilled whipped cream.

Now pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and freeze-churn according to the manufacturer's instructions (you may have to do this in two batches and it will take between 30-60 minutes depending on the capacity of your machine). When the ice cream is soft-set, add the diced prune and churn it until all is incorporated, then transfer to a plastic box and freeze for 2 hours before you serve. If the ice cream is made well in advance and has frozen solid, remove from the freezer for 30 minutes before serving to soften.

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Amaretti with brandy and ice cream

Ingredients:

* 1-2 crushed amaretti
* ½-1 tsp brandy
* 2 scoops ice cream of choice, such as vanilla, chocolate or home-made orange
* cocoa powder for sprinkling

Kitchen Kit

* champagne flutes or wine glasses

Procedure

1. Place half the crushed amaretti in the champagne flutes or wine glasses, then cover with the brandy.
2. Add scoops of ice cream and top with the remaining crushed biscuits and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

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Low Carb Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

One of the great things about the Atkins Diet is that you can indulge in some fantastic foods that you just can't eat on any other diet. Of course, there are also a bunch of foods you can't eat, but most Atkins Dieters are happy with trading the low-fat, high-carb foods for delicious treats like the ones you can now eat.

That's why this Low Carb Vanilla Ice Cream recipe is such a treat. This recipe yields 2 pints of ice cream (not ice milk!) at only 5.5 grams per 1/2 cup serving. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

7 packets Equal or Sweet'n'Low

Procedure:

Whisk the egg in a bowl till it's fluffy. Should take a couple of minutes. Whisk in the sweetener for another minute. Pour in the cream and vanilla and keep on whisking for another 2 minutes. Pour this concoction into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer.

If you don't own an ice cream maker and really want to make this ice cream from scratch, do this:

Get two clean and empty tin coffee cans with the plastic lids: one a 3 pound can, the other a 1 pound can.

Put the smaller can into the larger one. Remove the small lid, fill with the ice cream mixture, and replace the lid. Pack ice cubes all around the small can, inside the larger can, all the way to the top.

Sprinkle rock salt or Kosher salt liberally on the ice. If you don't have rock salt, try table salt. Put the lid on the larger can, tip it on its side, and roll the can back and forth every minute or so for about 10 minutes. Open both cans to see if the ice cream is solidifying along the edges of the smaller can. Replace the small lid, pack more ice around the small can, sprinkle some more salt, put the large lid on, and keep rolling.

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The Indian ice cream industry

India’s ice cream market is valued at Rs 4,300 crore per annum of which the organised sector accounts for Rs 1700 crore. It has emerged as the fastest growing dairy favourite in the Asia Pacific region. The major players in India are: GCMMF’s Amul, NDDB’s Mother Dairy, Hindustan Lever’s Kwality Walls, Vadilal, Baskin Robbins, Dinshaw and Hatsun’s Arun. The rest of the State Cooperative Dairy Federations in the country are also manufacturing and marketing ice cream under their own brand names. The import of ice cream is permitted unrestricted but attracts duty.

Ahmedabad-based Havmor Ice Cream is considering overseas expansion for its chain of restaurants and ice cream parlours. The largest ice cream manufacturers in Western India are looking at enquiries for setting up franchises in the US and Dubai. The company which has come up with novel ice creams, including the non-alcoholic whisky-flavoured ice cream for premium clientele for parties or weddings last years, is also experimenting on diet ice creams. The company aims to a turnover of Rs 175 crore by manufacturing 1.5 crore litres of ice cream this year. The company is seeing a growth of 25-30 per cent every year.

American ice cream brand Swensen’s has opened its first outlet in Bangalore, at what is purportedly the largest mall in India, The Manti Square. The Swensen’s franchise for South India is held by the Ravi Jaipuria (RJ Group)-owned Devyani International Limited (DIL). On the anvil over the next few months are a Swensen’s outlet at the international airport in New Delhi, three more outlets in malls and one in a high street in Bangalore. DIL is also scouting for suitable locations at malls and streets in other major South Indian towns and cities to bring the count to over 80 during the next five years.

Ice cream is available in various forms such as cones, cups, bars (candy) and party packs. Candy sticks account for about 25 to 30 per cent of total volume, whereas cups and other novelties contribute the rest. Looking at flavours, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate predominate and together account for more than 70 per cent of the market, followed by butterscotch and fruit flavours. Population of thick milk shakes, softy mixes, sherbets, syrups and special toppings for ice creams by ice cream parlours and fast food outlets offers new business prospects. These item’s volume may be limited at present but, measured in terms of value, their contribution is significant to many entrepreneurs’ bottomlines. Industry experts predict a big spurt in their popular appeal in the near future.

The non-organised sector though accounts for 60% pf the Indian ice cream market, it is shrinking considerably in the urban areas. However, in rural areas, kulfis/ice creams made by small/cottage industry are popular. In small towns and villages, there are thousands of small players who produce ice creams/kulfis and cater to the local demand.

The market for the organised sector is restricted to large cities. Eight cities account for 60 per cent of India’s total ice cream consumption. One notable shift in the consumption pattern is from impulse purchase by youngsters as fun food to its regular use as dessert. Thus, the sale of ice cream bricks is increasing.

The share of take-home sector over five years has increased from 50 per cent to 60 per cent.

However, India’s per capita consumption of ice cream is just 750 ml compared to an estimated 30 litres in the US and 1.2 litres in China. So, in India there is enough scope for more growth than the 15% observed over the past few years.

The Government of India dereserved the production of ice cream in 1996-97. Earlier the manufacture of ice cream was reserved for the small-scale sector. This move has encouraged high investment from medium and largescale sector and helped the market grow.

The country’s western region has a much higher consumption than the all-India average. Almost 35 per cent of the ice creams sold in the country are consumed in the western region with Ahmedabad being the main market, followed by 30 per cent in the north, 20 per cent in the south and 15 per cent in the eastern and central India. Delhi and Gujarat together account for 30 per cent of the country’s ice cream market. The Kolkata market is the largest for ice cream in the eastern region.The ice cream prices in India are reported to be three times higher than the prices prevailing in America. One reason is the legal requirement in India stipulating at least 10 per cent milk fat in ice cream. This standard needs to be reviewed to bring down the ice cream prices for increasing its consumption. Another inflationary factor is the high cost of transportation, particularly the refrigerated type. Taxes also contribute to high prices of ice cream. Absence of a nationwide efficient and reliable cold chain distribution restricts the ice cream sales to the bigger cities. A strong distribution network, including retail chain with supporting infrastructure of refrigerated transport, cold storage and freezer cabinets is a must for the healthy growth of the ice cream industry.

Extended season
Though April to June is the peak season for the organised ice cream market, 50 per cent of the sales are taking place during the rest of the year. In fact, October-November festival season is being considered as good season. This festive season contributes 15-20 per cent to annual sales volumes. Manufacturers undertake various brand-building activities through on ground promotions around specific festival events. Winter is not really strong in the western and southern parts of the country. Thus it makes sense to launch aggressive marketing campaigns throughout the year.

Popularisation of thick milk shakes, softy mixes, sherbets, syrups and special toppings for ice creams by the ice cream parlours and fast food joints opens a new business prospect. Presently, their volume may be limited, but by value their contribution is significant to the bottomlines of entrepreneurs. Industry experts predict a big spurt in their popular appeal in the near future.

As is evident from the low per capita consumption level, India’s ice cream market is on the threshold of registering an unprecedented growth. Some essential policy changes by the government, as desired by the industry, would facilitate and accelerate this growth. On their part, the entrepreneurs must bring in the latest technology and launch innovative products to capitalize on the business prospects offered by the ice cream marketing.

Free flowing Ice Cream
An in-house product of Space Dots Foods Pvt. Ltd, Dotz claims to be the next generation ice cream free from the hassle of dripping – free flowing ice cream. It comes in tiny dot-shaped beads and being kept at -40°C and served at -35°C. Dotz is the world’s coldest ice cream. Pune is the second place in the world where Dotz is being manufactured with the other location being USA. To make it appealing, it has been made in the form of dots appropriately called Dotz. Soft and hard ice creams contain an air content of 40 per cent to 100 per cent whereas Dotz has no air content. It’s all ice cream. Also a fat content of 14 per cent makes Dotz one of the richest quality ice creams in the world. The technology that has gone behind this new product is cryogenic technology (used in rockets) and the dots are flash frozen to maintain the individual dot consistency and locks in the flavour.

Take a small ice cream unit with the production capacity of 500 litres of ice cream and 1,000 pieces of water ices per shift of eight hours. The capital investment for such a unit totals Rs 35 lakh. Such a unit can in the first year expect to generate annual sales exceeding Rs 75 lakh, assuming 100 per cent sales for only five months in a year, diminishing sales for five months and no sales for the remaining two months of winter. In the case of a larger unit of 150 litres per hour capacity, the capital investment required would be around 60 lakh. Such a unit can be expected to generate Rs 150 lakh of gross sales, assuming 100 per cent sales for five months in a year and declining sales rest of the year. An ice cream unit includes one pasteurizer, aging vat homogenizer, continuous freezer, cooler, deep freezers, Lolly tanks etc.

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Pumpkin Ice Cream

Ingredients:
* 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree or canned unsweetened pumpkin puree

* 1 tsp. vanilla extract

* 2 cups heavy cream

* 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

* 5 egg yolks

* 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

* 1/4 tsp. salt

* Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

* 1 Tbs. bourbon

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups of the cream and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Cook until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the egg yolks, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Whisk until smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve.

Remove the cream mixture from the heat. Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the egg mixture back into the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping the custard at a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it, 4 to 6 minutes. Do not allow the custard to boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

Place the bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice water, stirring occasionally until cool. Whisk the pumpkin mixture into the custard. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the bourbon during the last minute of churning. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving. Makes about 1 quart.

For Pumpkin Puree:

To make your own pumpkin puree, use 1 large or 2 medium Sugar Pie or other eating (not field) pumpkins. Cut out the stem and quarter the pumpkin lengthwise. In a preheated 400°F oven, bake the quarters, cut side down, in a shallow roasting pan with a little water in the bottom until tender, about 1 hour. Let cool, scrape out the seeds, cut the flesh from the peels, and force it through a medium-mesh sieve or the medium disk of a food mill. Freeze any leftover puree for up to 2 months.

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How Many Different Ways That There Are to Eat Ice Cream

Ice cream is a good snack for any time of the day. Some people go out to eat ice cream just to have some thing to do. Others eat ice cream as a snack before they go to bed. Ice cream is usually really popular thing only in the summer time. The in the wintertime it is usually too cold to eat ice cream. Many people still eat it in the wintertime though.

There are many ways to eat ice cream. Most people love to eat ice cream, but some people that are not able to eat ice cream because they are lactose intolerant. They are not even allowed to drink milk; there are other ways people get their calcium though.

Ice cream is some thing that a lot of people use as some thing to eat at birthday parties with their cake. They even make them ice cream cakes now. This way you don't need to buy the cake and the ice cream, you can just buy an ice cream cake. They are very delicious, and the prices vary on the size that you get.

There are many different flavors of ice cream, and they keep making more. The three flavors that they started with originally are chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. Now they got mint chocolate chip, peanut butter, rainbow, butter pecan, strawberry cheesecake, chocolate swirl, orange cream, and many more flavors too. The flavors of the ice cream matters too. If you are not allowed to eat some thing certain, you should not eat that flavor of ice cream either.

You do not like to eat your ice cream with just a bowl and spoon, make it into a milk shake and use a straw. A milk shake is made with the flavor of your ice cream, some milk, put it in a blender to mix it up, and you got your milk shake. You can use any flavor of ice cream that you wanted to.

If you use one that has chunks of stuff in it may be hard to suck it through a straw. Mint chocolate chip would be a good example. The chocolate chips would get stuck in the straw. The milk shake would be excellent though.

There are many other ways to eat ice cream than just in a milk shake. You can get an ice cream sundae too. These are made any way you want them. They have any flavor for them too. Some of the flavors are butterscotch, fudge, peanut butter, and more. You can purchase your ice cream in a cup too. You could pretty much get your ice cream any way you want it.

Getting an ice cream cone is the most common way of getting your ice cream. You can get any flavor that you want in it, how ever many scoops that you want in it too. They also have two types of cones the waffle cones, or just the regular cones, when you get your cone if you like sprinkles, nuts, or any thing like that you can get that on your ice cream cone too.

Vanilla ice cream is used to make other ice cream treats too. Banana splits are common too. That is another way to eat your ice cream. Root beer floats are very good too. They are now making root beer floats out of other flavors of soda too. They are using Choc- Cola, and Dr Pepper also. It may be just as good, but the root beer float is the original float.

Ice cream is such a great snack that they are even making different flavored candy out of ice cream flavors. They have limited edition skittles that have the pink skittle as strawberry flavored. They also have that basket robin's hard candies that are ice cream flavors. If you like ice, cream that much.

You could take ice cream to work without it melting. It is in a hard candy instead of in a bowl. There are a lot of different ways to choose from to eat your ice cream, but it is all up to you and how you may want to try to eat your ice cream next time.

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Baskin-Robbins' 'Happy Weekend' Gaurantee, the launch of chocofest

This festive season Baskin-Robbins gives all Chocoholics a reason to celebrate. Every weekend from October 23 to November 28, Baskin-Robbins celebrates Chocofest - an indulgent escape for the chocolate lovers to treat their taste buds with the best chocolate ice cream flavors of the world. Avail of their scrumptious offer and take home a regular handpack with the purchase of a large handpack on any of your favourite chocolate flavors.

Baskin-Robbins, known for its exotic and mouthwatering flavours, has selected ten assorted chocolate flavours to give its fans a complete chocolate experience. This offer is valid on 10 yummy chocolate ice creams like Choco Chips Mousse, Chocolate Ice Cream, Bavarian Chocolate, Gold Medal Ribbon, Three Cheers Chocolate, Malted Choco Fudge, World Class Chocolate, Mint Milk Chocolate Chips, Milk Chocolate Chips and Mississippi Mud. Take your taste buds on a sinful ride by indulging in these lip smacking delights.

"Ice-cream as a product is mostly consumed collectively. With the festive feel in the air, we thought this would an ideal time for us to launch Chocofest and give our consumers another reason to celebrate with their friends and family. Chocolate flavours being a big hit with our consumers, I am sure that this offer will delight everyone and add to the fun and festivities. And as our campaign tag line goes, it's a 'Happy Weekend' guarantee for all ice-cream lovers", says Mr. Ashwin Uppal, General Manager, Marketing, Graviss Foods Pvt Ltd.

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Ice creams lift Unilever sales

Consumer products giant Unilever has said this summer's dismal European weather failed to dampen sales at its Magnum ice cream business. The ice cream and Lipton beverages division posted a 6.1% jump in sales in the quarter to September 30, the strongest of Unilever's four divisions. It said the launch of Magnum Gold in 29 countries helped trading, while there was an improved market share in the United States due to the performance of Klondike, Ben & Jerry's and new product launches.

"Strong ice cream growth was very encouraging, especially given the unfavourable summer weather in Europe," Unilever added. Across the business, Unilever posted sales growth of 3.6% after a stronger-than-expected rise in volumes of 4.8% offset a 1.2% drop in prices.

The company's personal care division also performed well with sales growth of 4.5% in the quarter, helped by strong sales in the deodorants category following the launch of Dove Men+Care in Europe.

Despite rising commodity prices, Unilever said it had cut prices in those areas where it needed to stay competitive. Overall, it said it expected some underlying growth in prices towards the end of the year. Unilever said the third quarter saw solid progress, particularly given slow economic growth, weak consumer confidence and higher commodity costs.

It added: "Whilst market growth continues to be sluggish in the developed economies, the emerging markets continue to grow strongly albeit more slowly than the levels seen earlier in the year."

Unilever said sales in the savoury, dressings and spreads category held up well after a return to price growth. And although the spreads business remained weak, the Pro-active brand showed improvement on the back of a new campaign. Sales in the division were 1.7% higher in the quarter, while in home care the figure was 2.7% higher.

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Let Everyone Eat Strawberries And Ice Cream

8,700 punnets of fresh Spring strawberries and 2,500 litres of ice cream will be sold by New Zealand Hospices around the country in early November.

New Zealand hospices in Dunedin, Marlborough, Wellington, Lower Hutt, Paraparaumu, Havelock North, Napier, Gisborne, Hamilton and throughout Auckland will be running the second "National Strawberry Festival" to raise funds for Hospice services.

"Summer is almost here; we are enjoying the lighter evenings and we want people to have some fun, enjoy the lovely new season's strawberries and support a very worthwhile cause -their local hospice," says Karen Doucas, Festival spokesperson. "Part of hospice philosophy is about enjoying life and making the most of it.

Among the events, the 2,500 visitors to the "Hospice Holly Trail" in Havelock North will be able to refresh themselves with strawberry sundaes in the town centre. Strawberries and ice cream will be sold to competitors and visitors at the Queen Charlotte Classic Multi Sport Race in Picton where 1,000 competitors are expected along with several thousand spectators.

Fifteen hundred visitors to the "Kumeu Arts in the Garden" event in Auckland can sample strawberry Devonshire teas. Wellington's public servants will be able to scoff strawberry sundaes in Grey Street and Midland Park and a number of Wellington restaurants will be selling strawberry themed desserts. Approximately 50 craft and food stalls will be running in Hamilton for Hospice Waikato during the weekend of World Rowing Championships. Family fun days are being run in Gisborne and Kapiti.

"Our hospices provide a very high standard of care for terminally ill New Zealanders free of charge and funds raised from the Strawberry Festival helps towards keeping those services free," says Karen Doucas. The first "Strawberry Festival" was run in Wellington in 2005 by Mary Potter Hospice and it has since grown to become a national festival in 2009.

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