With little skill, surprisingly few ingredients, and even the most unsophisticated of ice-cream makers, you can make the scrumptious ice creams that have made Ben & Jerry's an American legend.

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book tells fans the story behind the company and the two men who built it-from their first meeting in 7th-grade gym class (they were already the two widest kids on the field) to their "graduation" from a $5.00 ice-cream-making correspondence course to their first ice-cream shop in a renovated gas station.

But the best part comes next. Dastardly Mash, featuring nuts, raisins, and hunks of chocolate. The celebrated Heath Bar Crunch. New York Super Fudge Chunk. Oreo Mint. In addition to Ben & Jerry's 11 greatest hits, here are recipes for ice creams made with fresh fruit, with chocolate, with candies and cookies, and recipes for sorbets, sundaes, and baked goods. The 90-plus authentic recipes are spiced with Lyn Severance's bright, quirky, full-color illustrations.

Anyway, about the book and what makes it so great: Ben and Jerry tell you how to make their most popular ice creams, and a bunch that I never saw before. They provide multiple recipes for chocolate ice cream, and write clearly about how they are different. A friend of mine once made all the choclate ice creams and had a tasting party. It was interesting to see how different they really were. (And this book taught me the secret to great chocolate ice cream taste: a pinch of salt--really!)

If you are worried about using eggs, you will want to use a pasteurized egg product in place of the raw eggs. Other than that, this is a terrific book. Lots of good ideas, excellent recipes, and enough discussion about how to create new flavours to encourage even the most reluctant recipe-inventor to go hog wild.

I wish there were a sequel.

122 of 132 found the following review helpful:


Good Tasting Recipes with Fresh Ingredients Fun to Make  Dec 01, 1998 By Jeffrey Harris "Jeff Harris"
Who doesn't like Ben and Jerry's premium commercial Ice-cream? The recipes in this book are for their familiar flavors and more. All ingredients are fresh and pure. There is plenty of unusual detail in the book. For example, who else bothers to mention that it takes some fresh lemon juice to restore a tanginess to the all too sweet flavor of over-ripened bananas in banana ice-cream?

Unfortunately, Ben and Jerry are shy about providing techniques for refining the texture of the homemade version. But then why should they know them? They make ice-cream with commercial coolers. For refined techniques specific to homemade ice-cream, you will need to look elsewhere, like Liddle and Weir's "Frozen Desserts".

254 of 283 found the following review helpful:


Fun but flawed  Oct 23, 2005 By dnk "dnkboston"
Like many other people, I love Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Unfortunately, the premium taste also comes with a premium price, so many years ago my husband gifted me with this book.

It's fun to read about how it all began (two chubby little boys who liked eating more than gym- and who can blame them?) and how they fought off the evil Pilsbury Dough Boy to take a stand in the giant world of commercially delivered ice cream. But really, I'm here for the recipes. Sadly, they had some flaws.

While I realize this was written over ten years ago, I think it's almost inexcusable that nowhere do the authors mention cooking the eggs before you use them. Even if you aren't concerned with salmonella (and if you're using egg yolks, you should be), the difference between a raw and cooked egg base is immense- no matter how much chocolate you throw at it, raw eggs just aren't going to be as delicious. Reams of dessert recipes later, I've figured out how to do it (beat the eggs and sugar, scald the milk, slowly add to egg mixture then carefully cook over low heat until you have something resembling a custard sauce NOT scrambled eggs; chill, then add your cream- THEN use the ice cream maker). Was that so hard?

Also, while I appreciate that they are ice cream makers and not bakers, the recipes they give for their ice cream cakes are off as far as amounts given. For instance, for their brownie ice cream cake, they advise baking their Superfudge brownies in two six inch cake pans and then covering the confection with 1 quart of beaten whipping cream. Having made this recipe several times, I can say without any doubt that their proportions are all wrong- you'll end up with enough left over batter for more than a few cupcakes and possibly another layer. And having doubled this recipe and successfully frosted it with the whippings of two cups of cream, either they whipped their cream to butter or they miscalculated (and didn't test) this recipe.

Still, once you have the technique down (Nigella Lawson's books are good for that), the ingredients and amounts they list work pretty well (again, if you're not baking). I'll never part with this, but I wouldn't give this to anyone just starting out on their homemade ice cream adventure.

40 of 42 found the following review helpful:


CREATIVE EASY TO PREPARE ICE CREAM RECIPES  Aug 25, 2000 By sdh537
This is a great ice cream book, full of simple no cook - no wait recipes with ample illustrations to keep your mind alert. The author's sense of humor makes it a very enjoyable read, but the recepes themselves are the stars. They share such favorites as Cherry Garcia, Mocha, Health Bar Crunch, Orange Cream, Kiwi Sorbet, Cantaloupe and Oreo Vanilla.

My only problem with this book is because it was written awhile ago, they are still using raw eggs in their most popular/recommended ice cream base. Substitute with a pasterized egg product (Egg Beaters/Better N Eggs) if you aren't sure of the freshness/safeness of your eggs.

32 of 33 found the following review helpful:


TIPS, METHODS, & THE WHOLE MAGILLA  Mar 01, 2009 By FaireMaiden
There's A Reason Why These Guys Are Famous and, in this book, you will find out why! *vbs*

Let's start with the particulars: The book is artistically illustrated in a kind of cartoon style... fun, fun, fun.

It measures 8" wide x 7" high; it's paperback; and it's 127-pages long with a Table of Contents in front, and an Index in the back.

The first 11-pages are the historical biography of Ben & Jerry's beginnings. A fun read, *s*

Then, 8-pages of Ice-Cream Theory: The Sweet-Cream Base; a Butterfat Chart; Sweeteners; Eggs; The Hidden Ingredient (Air); Ice Crystals; Soft or Hard Ice-Cream; Flavourings; Salt; Liqueur; Fruit; How to make a Pint-Sized Batch; and, Cookies & Candy.

Please note: None of this reads like a text book, more like a comic book, *lol*

Next come the Recipes: Beginning with the three (3) Sweet Cream Bases; then--->

ICE-CREAM:
Almond Delight
Apple Strawberry
Banana
Banana Carob Chip
Banana Cinnamon Rum
Banana Fudge Chunk
Banana Peanut Butter
Banana Strawberry
Ben's Chocolate
Blueberry
Butter Pecan
Candy's Chocolate Candy
Cantaloupe
Cappuccino
Cappuccino Chip
Cherry Garcia
Chocolate Almond
Chocolate Banana
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Chocolate Chocolate Chip
Chocolate Cinnamon
Chocolate Cinnamon Carob
Chocolate Fudge Pecan
Chocolate Gingersnap
Chocolate Graham Mocha Supreme
Chocolate Malt
Chocolate Mint
Chocolate Mystic Mint
Chocolate Nutty Fudge Chunk
Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie
Chocolate Oreo Mint
Chocolate Peanut Butter
Chocolate Reese's Cup
Chocolate Superfudge Brownie
Coconut
Coconut Almond
Coconut Cantaloupe
Coconut Chip
Coconut Rum
Coffee
Coffee Almond Swirl
Coffee Heath Bar Crunch
Dastardly Mash
Egg Nog
Fifth Avenue
French Vanilla
Fresh Georgia Peach
Health Bar Crunch
Honey Apple Raisin Walnut
Jerry's Chocolate
Kahlua Almond Fudge
Kahlua Amaretto
Kit Kat
Kiwi
Light Chocolate
Mandarin Chocolate
Maple Grape Nuts
Maple Walnut
Mocha
Mocha Chip
Mocha Fudge Chunk
Mocha Heath Bar Crunch
Mocha Swiss Chocolate Almond
Mocha Walnut
New York Super Fudge Chunk
Nutty Fudge Chunk
Orange Cream Dream
Oreo Mint
Peanut Brittle
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl
Plum
Pumpkin
Raspberry
Rolo Cup
Strawberry
Strawberry Coconut
Vanilla Fudge Chunk
Vanilla Malt Chip
Vanilla M & M's
Vanilla Oreo
Vanilla Superfudge Brownie

SORBETS: (Icy Slush or Creamy Slush)
Apricot
Beer
Kiwi
Lemon Daiquiri
Mimosa Ice
Raspberry
Strawberry

BAKERY: (All those wondrous goodies they make and put in their Ice-cream)
Blonde Brownies
Chocolate Chip Blonde Brownies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Maple Walnut Brownies
Superfudge Brownies

SAUCES:
Almond Hot Fudge
Grand Marnier (Orange Liqueur) Hot Fudge
Hot Butterscotch
Hot Fudge
Hot Honey Apple Cinnamon Raisin Topping
Peppermint Hot Fudge

DRINKS:
Hot Chocolate Float
Ice Cream Soda
Jerry's Jumbo Shake

SUNDAES & CONCOCTIONS:
Apple of Your Eye
Brownie Ice Cream Layer Cake
Charoses Special
Chestnut Mare
Chocolate Nut's Delight
Flaming Cherries Jubilee
Fried Ice Cream
Fruit Lover's Frolic
Healthfood Heaven
Hot Burgundy Cherries
Hot Cherry Fudge
Leave It To Beaver Special
Minty Morsel
The Jerry Berry
Vermonster
Vermont Sweet Tooth

And now, a word about what Ice-cream actually is. Almost all Ice-cream Bases are made from Custard ingredients--> Eggs, Milk or Cream, Sugar, Vanilla, (I always add a pinch of Salt too, and really don't want to get into a debate about whether one should or shouldn't add Salt. I just do, and that's that, *lol*).

When Heat is applied to this Custard Base, as through an oven, (in a Bain-Marie--> a water bath), you get what we all know as Custard, Flan, or Crème Brulee (Custard with the toasted sugar on top). If you apply Freezing Cold to the Custard Base, as with an Ice-cream maker, you get Ice-cream.

Which brings us to the next word about Ben & Jerry's Sweet Cream Base #1. They use 2 Eggs, beaten, but they do not cook them; they just beat them with the Sugar and Cold Cream/Milk mixture, and then put in the fridge to chill until ready for the Ice-cream Maker.

As for me, this is unacceptable, so, I cook these ingredients as a Custard like most all-other Ice-cream recipes do. It's not that I wouldn't trust eating Ben & Jerry's Ice-Cream from the store, for I do eat it, and LOVE IT! But, they are a Commercial Ice-cream Enterprise. Their freezers, refrigerators, and general coldness of their factory preparation, instills every confidence in me that the Ice-cream they sell is A-Okay.

Alas, at home, I'm not so sure. And, since I have been a victim of Salmonella-poisoning, I just won't take chances. So, if you're worried about this too, it's really no problem.

Here's the Method-->

Beat your Eggs for a couple of minutes. Then, beat in the Sugar, by thirds, until thick and creamy.

Heat 1/2 of the Milk/Cream called-for in a saucepan on the stove to almost boiling/scalding. Then, with your beater beating the Egg mixture again, add the HOT Milk/Cream to the Eggs. This is called 'Tempering the Eggs'--> in essence, cooking them while you're beating them with the HOT Milk/Cream.

(If you don't 'Temper the Eggs' first, but just add them to the HOT Milk/Cream on the stove, you will have scrambled Eggs in your Custard Base... yuk).

Pour the HOT Milk/Cream/Egg mixture back into the saucepan, and put it back on the stove. Keep cooking it on LOW til thickened up a bit, whisking all the time. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THIS PROCEDURE, it goes pretty fast at this point. Keep your eye on it, and when you see the mixture beginning to come to a boil, take it off the heat, and whisk, whisk, whisk. Put it back on the stove and do it all again. I always do this a total of three (3) times. (I want those Eggs cooked! *lol*). All this only takes seconds to accomplish, certainly not more than a minute.

Take the saucepan off the stove, whisk in the Vanilla or whatever flavouring you're using, and then pour the Custard into, preferably, a glass bowl that has a lid to it--> like a Pyrex storage bowl.

Whisk in the other 1/2 of the COLD Milk/Cream called-for in your recipe. This should cool down the Custard enough to cover and place in the fridge. If not, you can let it set on the counter for a few minutes, just long enough to let the major heat of the Custard dissipate before putting in the fridge.

If you're really in a hurry, you can always make an Ice-Bath. Take a bowl that is twice as large as the bowl your Custard is in. Put a whole bunch of ice cubes in it, and add some cold water from the tap, (ice water is colder than ice and will cool down your Custard right quick).

Set the Custard bowl in the larger bowl, (if done right, the Custard bowl will be sitting somewhat on top of the ice, with the sides of the bowl submerged about halfway-up in ice-water. Be sure to keep a hold of the Custard bowl tho--> you don't want it sinking into the larger bowl and getting ice water in your Custard). Keep whisking the Custard to help dissipate the heat. It will cool very quickly in an Ice-Bath. Put the lid on, and place in the fridge til you're ready to make Ice-cream.

Of course, to the above cooled-down Custard, (usually before putting in the fridge), you'll be adding the various flavours, mashed fruits, chocolate, etc. that is called-for in your recipe.

Enjoy this wonderful book chock-full of recipes and ideas. For our family, 'Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Book' has proved to be just the BEST!

NB: The Ice-cream recipes in this book make a generous One (1) Quart; and, by generous, I mean about a Quart-and-a-half! But that's Ben & Jerry for ya--> never skimping on the good stuff, *lol*

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