[Sca-cooks] OOP: Lo-carb ice cream update

[Tara Sersen Boroson]

I've made another batch of ice cream, and have made some progress :)

I decided to try using a very small amount of sugar and see how much of 
a difference it made.  I used one tablespoon for the whole batch, in 
place of one tablespoon of the Splenda, and the difference was 
tremendous.  The result was scoopable and didn't need to be microwaved.  
It was still a bit stiffer than ideal, but it was acceptable to me.  I 
imagine a second tablespoon would make it even softer.  Each tablespoon 
adds about 1.2 grams of carbs per half cup of finished product.

So, the solution to the solid ice cream debacle is to decide how many 
grams of carbs you consider worth indulging in for a half cup of ice 
cream, subtract 4.3 (or 4.9 if you use milk instead of half-and-half,) 
and divide the result by 1.2.  That tells you how many tablespoons of 
sugar to use.  If you decide that 6 grams is your magic number, ( 6 - 
4.3 ) / 1.2 = 1.42, or a little over one tablespoon plus one teaspoon 
(or four teaspoons.)

Point of reference, Atkin's ice cream advertises 4 grams per half cup, 
but on the back of the box they list 2 grams of sugar alcohol carbs - 
which, despite their advertising, does affect blood sugar.  Therefore, 
Atkin's ice cream has 6 grams of carbs.  At approximately 5.5 grams of 
carbs, my latest batch of ice cream costs about half as much (and that's 
using organic products,) and is incredibly more flavorful.

I recommend buying 4 oz. containers and portioning it before freezing.  
Personally, I get pretty liberal if I get to eyeball servings while 
scooping, and become a victim of Carb Creep.  The recipe I posted makes 
about 10 half-cup servings, though one serving worth was so frozen to 
the side of the freezer bowl that it was lost.  And, I ate one fresh out 
of the bowl, so I needed 8 Gladware "disposable" containers.

-Magdalena
doing the Ice Cream Happy Dance...
now, if only I can come up with a low carb chocolate sauce that tastes 
better than those bottled ones...

-- 
Tara Sersen Boroson

You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him to find it for himself. - Galileo Galilei