The Perfect Scoop, Revised and Updated: 200 Recipes for Ice Creams, Sorbets, Gelatos, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments[A Cookbook]

This past spring/summer I got on a crazy canning kick--jams, peaches, sauces, etc. We live near one of the best ice cream shops in Los Angeles (don't worry, I'm getting to the point) where they serve "homemade" ice cream like "Guinness" ice cream, salted caramel, Rose Petal, lavender honey--ice creams made with real mint, rose petals, etc. So, back to being on a homemade everything kick, I decided it would be fun to get an ice cream maker for our anniversary so we could make homemade ice cream like our favorite local shop (and seriously, save $$ considering how much we spent there this summer). My first attempt was Lavender Honey Vanilla Bean ice cream (yes, I dove right in). Unfortunately, while the recipe had great ingredients, it didn't give me proper directions on making a custard, so, you guessed it, my custard curdled (which i didn't realize) and my ice cream turned out lumpy. It tasted good but the texture was so weird and unfortunately I just couldn't get past the weird texture to truly enjoy the flavor. Then I came across David's blog and his Chocolate Mint Ice Cream recipe which then led me to his book, The Perfect Scoop, and I felt like I hit gold. I was in heaven leafing through the book with my daughter drooling next to me over the beautiful photos. So far, every recipe I've tried has turned out fabulously. He goes into detail about the proper tools, equipment and step-by-step methods (including how to prevent curdled custard!!). I've made Chocolate Mint (his book only has Mint, but all you need to do is add the chocolate during the churning process) and Holy Cow!!! the best mint ice cream I've ever tasted and I'm a true mint chip connoisseur! Next came Lavender Honey (and I added Vanilla Bean just because) and oh my yumm-o! Pure decadence. Following was salted caramel. OK, this recipe isn't in his book, it's on his blog, but again, he gives step-by-steps to making caramel (which is in the book) and it's so darn easy and I nearly wanted to faint after eating the ice cream. He even has a Guinness recipe (you know what's next for me!). The book covers various inspirations surrounding the colder desserts: ice creams, sorbets and granitas. From the simplest chocolate or vanilla ice cream (with and without custard base) to complex, more labor-intensive combinations. He covers a variety of homemade topping/sauces/accompaniments, mix-ins, and methods of presentations (ex: ice cream cookies, truffles, sugar cups, etc.)--assuming you can keep yourself from eating them before you add the ice cream. I really enjoyed his little anecdotes before each recipe, usually detailing where the recipe came from or how it was inspired. He's a quippy writer and I didn't find any fluff, just straight forward, interesting and educational content. I can't wait to try every single one of the ice creams and although I'm not a huge sorbet or granites lover, the flavors he puts together will tempt me for something a bit healthier. This is a great book and you will definitely not be disappointed with the results. Seriously, you will impress your guests with these homemade ice desserts. While making ice cream isn't as easy as dumping ingredients into a machine (unless you have $1000) David's directions are so clear and concise that it feels almost effortless. Oh, and check out his blog for even more inspiration. And I promise, he's not paying me to write this, he doesn't need to.

I got this book based on what others on Amazon have said. They weren't kidding, this is really the only ice cream recipe cookbook you need. I will only write about ice cream as that's what I love and what I bought it for. This book also has recipes for sorbets, and granitas. For reference I own three other ice cream books: Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book , Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream , and Big Gay Ice Cream . All these are fine on their own. B&J's is a bit vanilla and has safe flavors, Molly's was too experimental, and Big Gay Ice Cream was okay. This book has all the prerequisite classics like chocolate, and vanilla; to modern favorites like cheesecake, or toasted coconut [see photos]; to some unconventional flavors and combinations like sweet potato, and orange-Szechwan pepper ice cream. I have a lot of pages bookmarked as I slowly make them one by one. One thing I really wished they had was more photos. The photos provided are few and compositionally-bland; they should've hired a better photographer to take more pictures of their delicious recipes. One of the "secrets" of making ice cream, and revealed in this book is: you should add a little bit of matching alcohol to all your ice creams. The reason for this is to help with the consistency of the ice cream—it won't make it too hard to scoop. Example: say you make cherry ice cream, you would add a teaspoon of cherry liqueur. If you have chocolate ice cream, you add a chocolate liqueur. The point is not to make it alcoholic, but to help with the creamy nature of home-made ice cream. That is one of many tips in this book. If you want to start making ice cream today, I recommend getting the following items: • Tovolo Ice Cream Tub • Tovolo Ice Cream Scoop • Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker • Cuisinart Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker , if you have the budget Buy this book to discover new and wonderful ice cream flavors you can make yourself, or give them as casual party gifts for people (instead of, say a bottle of wine). And remember, use the freshest and purest ingredients for the best taste. Recommended.

Possiedo tre diversi libri sui gelati, ne ho guardati altri in libreria: questo è definitivamente il più esauriente, completo e dettagliatamente spiegato ogni in commercio. Ricette a prova di inesperto (io) con abbinamenti e complementi perfetti. Imperdibile.

I bought this book at the same as Lola's one (also available on Amazon). I've been told by a number of people that Lola's is the best ice cream book on the market. Having gone through them both, I beg to differ....! Lebowitz' enthusiasm and sense of child-like wonder about ice cream really comes through in this book, whilst I find Lola's a bit cold (pardon the pun) and scientific. Lebowitz has a larger variety of recipes, sometimes giving custard and non-custard varieties of the same one for when you absolutely positively need ice cream as soon as humanly possible. The range and inventiveness of the recipes is also incredible - so far I've done bog standard vanilla (with a berry swirl), roasted banana, butterscotch and pecan and avocado (inspired) and they have all come out brilliantly. There are some properly weird sounding ones (cracked black pepper ice cream anyone?) which just sound so mental that they must be good. Next up - caramelised pear. Whilst I have yet to try the sorbets, sherbets or granitas I have every confidence that they will also be delicious. The book itself is very nicely put together, with hints, tips and serving suggestions available on most recipes. I find this gives me the confidence to muck about a little and put my own spin on things. Although this does mostly involve just adding a shot of bourbon to everything. Mmmmm grown-up ice cream... Oh - I would recommend investing in an ice cream machine too. Makes life so much easier and gives you a much creamier final product with no ice crystals in.

O livro é bem interessante e as receitas são fáceis de executar. Gostei bastante das explicações e dos detalhes. Valeu a pena.

I've been making recipe after recipe from this, and they're all delicious. Nothing too out there or weird, ingredients aren't difficult to obtain. No recipes asking for corn syrup and everything is in metric measurements(!) which is a real breath of fresh air. Once you nail the basic ice cream base it's easy to make just about anything in this! Some of the recipes call for a lot of egg yolks, but I've found I can reduce them down without losing thickness in the custard. If you don't like the 'eggy' flavour in some of the milder recipes, this won't throw out the recipe!

This book will tell you nothing about modern gelato using stabilizers and dextrose, the recipes are great but tradional using eggs and cream a lot. It is very well written and presented though, with good tips and tricks. I have been buying a lot of books on ice cream lately and the one I found by far the most usefull was Italian Artisinal Gelato, but this one is better suited for beginners, and much better written and presented. I would have adored it 20 years ago, but I have moved on and had hoped for more recipes and information on Italian Ice Cream.