The Ice Cream Diet

Look, this is not a paid endorsement for an ice cream maker, but I own a machine like the one pictured here.

I bought it last year at a vide grenier sale in St. Cyr La Roche near Objat in the Correze for 6 Euros. I rarely ever buy used appliances, because I figure you are usually buying someone elses problem....but....

This machine looked absolutely new.  

It came with an instruction manual in Dutch. When I got home, I looked it up on line and I found it was the latest model by the brand. I was able to download the maual in English.

I bought it because my wife and I had bought a number of cheap ice cream makers over the years and they never did what they said they would do. Then I saw the newer models, with the double walled bowls filled with the freezer gel stuff they use in ice packs. I wanted one.

So, we tried it out and it worked great. We started to research and invent ice cream recipes. Vanilla? Chocolate? Nutella Swirl? Mint? Maple Pecan? You name it, we tried it.

We  started to eat ice cream everyday and...I know it sounds crazy, but since I started eating Ice Cream every day, I have lost over 12 pounds and not only kept it off all winter, but continued to lose weight.  I have no idea what the mechanism is, but I think that the recipes we are using are pretty low fat and a little ice cream seems like a lot.

I have recommended this to friends and they tell me that it seems to be working for them.

Suddenly jeans that were a source of grief, relegated to the bottom drawer seem to fit again, in fact perhaps better than ever. Don't just take my word for it, try it!

WARNING! THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH HAGEN-DAZ!

YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE ICE CREAM YOURSELF!

So to start out, here's a fantastic recipe for something I can only describe as Chocolate Sorbet. It seems a little tricky, but we have done this a few times now and everytime, it turns out perfect. To me, this is more satisfyingly chocolaty than ice cream....

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 8 1/4 hr (includes chilling and freezing) Yield: Makes about 1 quart INGREDIENTS:  1 1/4 cups sugar 3 cups water 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla Special equipment: an ice cream maker PREPARATION:  Cook sugar in a dry 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted into a deep golden caramel. Add water (caramel will harden and steam vigorously) and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Add cocoa and salt, whisking until dissolved, then transfer to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally. Stir in vanilla, then chill, covered, until cold (about 2 hours). Freeze in ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Let me know if you want more recipes...Tomorrow night we are having a  dinner party and the dessert will be home made raspberry ice cream (not sorbet) and vanilla. The raspberry ice cream is just pureed frozen raspberries. I strain out the seeds, sugar, lemon juice and whipped cream...then frozen in the ice cream maker....