The Ultimate Ice Cream Book: Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, And More [Paperback]

This cookbook packs a lot of punch into a surprisingly small amount of space. Let's use Pumpkin Ice Cream as an example. Below it you have four variations listed: Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, Pumpkin Raisin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Rum Ice Cream, and Pumpkin Seed Ice Cream. Mr. Weinstein could have done this a number of ways. He could have printed up a new recipe for each variation. He could have left them out entirely. Or he could have put the traditional paragraph of "oh, and you could try adding this, and this, or this." In the first case you pay more for a cookbook that could have been smaller. In the middle case, we would have been bereft of many extra fantastic recipes. In the last case, when we sat down to pick a recipe and make out our grocery list, we would have failed to read the last paragraph, and we'd eternally find ourselves saying "Oh, next time," without ever making the variations. So this is PERFECT. I wish more cookbooks did this. The variations are 1-3 sentence quick directions, but easy to pick out and implement. They're also listed as individual recipes in the index, so you won't have trouble finding them if you lose them.

You'll find a fantastic array of flavors. Apple Butter Ice Cream, for instance. Avocado Ice Cream, with a Gazpacho recipe to accompany it--I guess you can eat ice cream for dinner! The Banana Ice Cream and the Banana Ice Cream Philadelphia Style (no eggs) come with a stunning array of variations. When Mr. Weinstein suggests Bubble Gum Ice Cream, he even provides the toll-free number of a company that sells bubble gum flavoring! Now that's service for you. The book also includes sorbets, granitas, toppings, and ice cream drinks.

In all, this is the best ice cream book I've ever laid my hands on, and we have at least four such cookbooks. Mr. Weinstein has created a true treasure of ice cream creation, and deserves no less than a full five stars for his glorious work.

Recipies, recipies, recipies!--not only for chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, but for corn, avocado, and oatmeal--this is certainly the right book for those looking for variety. Weinstein has done a fabulous job in assembling old-fashioned favorites as well as nouvelle experiments. His inventiveness of new flavors is as delightful as the astonishing accuracy with which he recreates ice cream parlour favorites.

The problem I have with the book is that it's extremely lacking in every other aspect you expect from a good cookbook. Weinstein never discusses the cooking and prep technique he presents. You'd think ice cream was impossible without a food processor, which he calls for in almost every recipe (but you can easily make these recipies without it). He never mentions why I must boil the milk and later strain the mixture (You don't really, unless you're using unpasturized milk). And why must I refrigerate the ice cream before putting it in the ice cream maker? (Okay, maybe that's not so mysterious.) I also became suspicious when I found a recipe for choloclate ice cream (there are many) that calls for cocoa but never for salt. (Salt almost always improves the taste of cocoa and would have the added benefit of lowering the freezing point of your confection, helping it not to freeze solid if you cure it in the freezer.)

Finally, dispite the impressive quantity of recipes, you won't find a single one for gelato. In fact, Weinstein implies in his introduction that ice cream and gelato are basically the same. While it's true they are both custards, gelato never contains cream, so the taste and texture is entirely different. But perhaps that's a fair omission in a book on ice cream.

The book seems to be written for people who want to make a fine frozen custard, but who would never make such a thing if they knew it was called that. Just do what the book says and no one will get hurt. You won't really learn anything about what you're cooking, but you won't embarrass yourself either.