There's a slew of home-made lowcarb ice cream, sherbet and granita recipes in Fran McCullough's "the Lowcarb Cookbook" .... using a food processor and your home freezer. In general, sugarless icecreams and sherbets and slushes tend to freeze harder than those made with sugar, so a crank-style icecream freezer does not work well; in fact I've heard tales of the blades actually breaking.

These are very nice, lower in carbs than commercial "sugar-free" ice cream, and you know exactly what's in it ... or NOT in it.


Doreen

Hi there I am just a beginner on the low carb diets and I am doing the diet with my mum. Just before we went on the diet we got an ice cream maker. Mum tried some different ideas without using the sugar but they just are not very good. Anyway I read your thread and unfortunately I am allergic to eggs therefore these recipes would be no good for me but we were wondering about using a product called Glycerin which is known to keep things softer. However there is no carbohydrate content on the bottle I was wondering if anyone could help us??? And one more thing we were wondering if there is any low carbohydrate chocolate because of course my favourite ice cream is chocolate.
If anyone can help both me and my mum would be very grateful.
Ta Cath

Is a "sugar alcohol" and technically a carbohydrate, though it *generally* doesn't raise the blood sugar as it is processed in the liver rather than in the intestine like normal carbohydrates. Many people find it affects ketosis, which also occurs in the liver.

Glycerin/glycerol/glycerine (all the same thing) has 4.34 or thereabouts kCals per gram.

For valuable information, see the LowCarb Tips section (above, on the menu bar) where Doreen has assembled a truly excellent collection of information on various sweeteners, including glycerin and other sugar alcohols.

I'm sorry, but I've never tried to use it as an egg substitute in ice creams, and have no idea how it would freeze, though it's an interesting concept. Many recipes for sugar free ice creams use maltitol (different properties than glycerin), another sugar alcohol, as a sweetener/texturizer... Many use gelatin, which is likely a "safer" low-carb alternative.

Cream, a bit of gelatin and perhaps some alcohol (a touch of vodka, perhaps?), then only make in small batches as needed (so it doesn't freeze like a brick), that's my recommendation.

Good luck!

hope you can help me. i've seen recipes with the ingredient "heavy cream," but when i go to the grocery store, my only options are "heavy whipping cream" and "half and half." is "heavy whipping cream" the same thing as "heavy cream"?

thanx,

lynn

I have found the following recipe , adapted from an Atkins recipe really good for a basic icecream machine. (That is one that has the 'bowl' frozen in the freezer and then you add the top motor and churning beater).

half a cup of cream
half a cup of water
one egg yolk
splenda to taste
splash of vanilla

(can add extra flavours as needed;
-e.g. cocoa, imitation flavours, coconut, strawberries)

Mix ingredients together well with a whisk in a bowl.
Set up icecream machine and turn on.
Pour mixture into icecream machine and let it churn for up to 40 minutes and icecream has formed.
Obviously you will need to adapt recipe to your icecream machine.

Enjoy, kezza

If you go to Peapod.com, you can look up different products, then use the Hidden Carb Calculator here in this site. First, half and half has milk and cream; heavy cream is just cream (for most brands). Using the calculator, half and half (Deans brand) has 1.2 grams of carbo per tablespoon. Again, using the hidden carb calculator, heavy cream (Deans brand) has .41 grams per tablespoon. It would be much better to use heaving whipping cream or heavy cream, not half and half. Hope this helps.

Thanks, 6596. That's what I've been doing.

Irish

My husband and I love ice cream and I make it often; so often I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker.

One of the best ideas I have ever had was to at store bought ice cream to see if I could figure out why my initial attempts at ice cream were great when just made, but turned into icy rocks in the freezer. I noticed that they all have gums: guar gum, xanthan gum, etc. So, after doing some research on gums, I bought some xanthan gum and added 1/2 tsp to my custard (for a quart) just after finishing the cooking. Well, actually, I wisk it in vigourously, then strain the custard.

Now my homemade ice cream is just as smooth and creamy after freezing as it is if we eat it right away. It does need to be softened by placing it in the frig for half an hour or so, or in the microwave at low temperature, but it does not develop ice crystals at all.

I do have a caution, however. I have made ice cream this way in a Donvier, but you can only let it sit for ten of fifteen SECONDS between spinnings and you will have a sore wrist. You could try a little less xanthan gum or try guar gum instead.

The Cuisinart has no problem with ice cream made this way, but it will take much less time to freeze, which I count as an added benefit.

Karla

do, thanks for posting these! I was thinking that I wanted some ice cream this summer, and am relieved to see I don't have to buy an ice cream maker!

I make berry sorbet without any sweetener at all...so I'm fascinated to see what the effect will be of really lightening up on the sweetener amounts for ice cream, too!

happy summer, and thanks again

The great thing about guar gum is that it lowers cholesterol:

Tuomilehto J, Silvasi M, Manninen V, Uusitupa M, Aro A. Guar gum and gemfibrozil - an effective combination in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis 1989:76:71-77.

Also, atkinscenter.com sells a guar gum, xanthum gum thickener to use in everything from sugarfree pudding to gravy. It's called ThickenThin. It helps make your soy flour bake mix rise better for cakes and breads. And as Karla said, it's great for ice cream.

" I bought some xanthan gum and added 1/2 tsp to my custard (for a quart) just after finishing the cooking. Well, actually, I wisk it in vigourously, then strain the custard. "

Karla I would be interested in the steps and ingredients of Your custard recipe.

yes please do post your custard recipie i miss custard lol

Karla I also have a cuisinart and to date have not been successful in making ice cream without it being rock hard unless I have guests over and polish it off just after being made...please tell me Scout's Honor that the guar gum or xanthan gum is the key ( I have both here at home)...I am on several LC message boards and the consensus has always been the same...you cannot make LC ice - cream and freeze it without it becoming rock hard.... another question...why do you strain the cooked custard?...

Bonnie

Bonnie,

I use the ice cream recipe in Fran McCullough's book "Living Low Carb," whic is sinfully rich and yummy. I guess it's ok to post one recipe from her book, so here goes:

7 large eggs, separated
1-1/2 cups half and half
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup Splenda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Beat the egg yolks in a medium-size bowl until they are thick.

Heat the half and half over low heat and bring it just to a simmer. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the egg yolks.

Pour the mixture into a heavy pan and set it over low heat, stirring constantly until the custard is slightly thickened. Add the xanthan gum and whisk vigorously. Strain into a bowl and let cool.

When the custard is cool. beat the egg whites with the salt until they form soft peaks. Stir the cream, vanilla, and Splenda into the custard, then whisk in the egg whites.

Refrigerate the mixture at at least 2 hours to develop the flavor. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

The recipe the way I make it makes almost a quart and a half, but I think she intended it to be a quart; could be the xanthan gum, but I don't know. With Splenda the entire recipe has 53 g c, but I use sucralose and it's only 27 grams.


It is a bit of a production, but this ice cream is worth it! The xanthan gum makes it creamier and, yes, Bonnie, I promise it does keep the ice cream from developing ice crystals in the freezer. As I said in my earlier post, it does get hard, but if you let it warm up a bit in the frig or even put it into the microwave for a minute or so on the next to the lowest setting, it is just as smooth and creamy and delicious as it was when you first made it. Now I will admit that in our house it never lasts more than a couple of days, but for that long at least is is great.

So far I have made vanilla, mint chocolate chip, coffee, chocolate, and butter pecan and they were all good enough to make Ben and Jerry cry.

Karla

Thanks for this Karla.. the only thing I would substitute is real vanilla bean for the vanilla extract...will give it a whirl (pardon the pun)

Bonnie