Frozen Desserts: The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati, and Other Frozen Delights

This book tells you everything you need to know to make frozen deserts, & then some. It's so concerned with the details that it even informs the reader that some parts of the recipes won't work if you live at over 6,000 feet altitude! Where other books tell you to use "simple syrup," this book actually goes into HOW to make it, & the advantages & disadvantages of different methods (I've tried both, & believe me, I'll stick with the heating method from now on). My only complaint (as a complete beginner) is that I would have liked to have seen some more basic deserts. They have recipes for fancy Seville Orange sorbet & fancy Orange Blossom sorbet, but no recipe for plain old orange sorbet. They have recipes for Coffee granita, Expresso Coffee ice cream, Coffee Fudge Ripple ice cream, but no recipe for plain old Coffee ice cream (just leave out the fudge ripple?) or Coffee sorbet (is there such a thing?). And for such an otherwise complete book on frozen deserts & drinks, what about slushes/frozen carbonated drinks? The term is not even mentioned in the book, athough they go into depth on more obscure items like "Sa'alabs" & "Kulfis" & "Spooms!"

In the kitchen I tend to burn stuff and not follow directions to the level of accuracy they require, but every recipe I've tried in here has turned out fabulously with heaps of praise from family and friends. Lots of little tips along the way ("let the bananas get almost rotten, then they're perfect.", "the alcohol content will not have this ready-to-eat from the maker", "watch the mixture like a hawk"). The "Everyday Chocolate", "Well-Behaved Vanilla", and toffee/Heath recipes are highly recommended. This book was slightly less than I'd hoped for though. Reasonably thorough with 5 different vanilla recipes (some non-cook, extra rich, more difficult, or less time-consuming), 4 chocolates, and a host of exotic ones (avocado, bay leaf, brown bread, lemon grass, many more), this is still the book to beat for frozen confections. Sorbets, sherbet, and ices are covered in blissfully vegan detail, but say arrivederci if you're looking for gelato recipes. Comes up short for fruit ice creams (no blueberry or strawberry recipe, but has spoom and ice instead) and ones with stuff in them like bubble gum, caramel, and fudge ripple.

If the presentation of the book were somehow "thicker and glossier," I would like it better. I dislike many of the figures in the book, particularly those portraying old advertisements. Those tastes aside, I think many of the reviews on Amazon give the book too little credit. This book is researched in meticulous detail, from the history of ice cream through the details of production of all the recipes. The guide to ingredients is helpful in ways I have not found elsewhere. It is clear that the authors have themselves produced every recipe in the book, and they've left clear enough instructions that I can, too. (I'm not a very good cook.)It is true that several recipes include ingredients that would be hard to find in rural America. Some reviewers think that is a negative. Actually, it isn't negative. There are plenty of recipes you can make with ingredients you can get easily. As a bonus, if you ever do get your hands on exotic ingredients, you'll already know what to do with them. Proper guidance is included for European and North American measures.In a world that has too many half-researched cook books, I think it is important to give proper credit to authors who take the trouble to craft their book with great care. These authors have.

This is a good book with some good recipes/ideas and history/theory of ice cream, but because the author lives in the UK, some things don't apply to those who live in the U.S. There is a definite slant towards the UK. For example there are many supply souces listed for Europe/UK and only a few for the US, also some of the terms used are definitely British.The recipes are often complicated and/or time consuming, more so then any other Ice Cream book, and I do own MORE then a few. But I guess this book was meant for the true "expert chef" not an everyday cook like myself with limited time.Overall I am happy with my purchase and this book, but I don't consider this to be the "Bible" of Ice Cream books as so many others seem to think. I don't think this book really deserves the high praise that It has gotten, I think "Ice Cream! : The Whole Scoop by Gail Damerow " deserves that honor, especially for those with limited time and who live in the U.S.

This is more of a cook book than a mere recipe book. For people who see their ice cream maker as a convenience product, this book probably isn't ideal. Not that the recipes are hard, but they do feel like actual cooking. Other authors take advantage of the fact that even poor ice cream tastes pretty good. Weir and Liddell look for the best recipes, although they do advocate shortcuts where they don't compromise the result.I would estimate that about half of the recipes are unusual or exotic. Flip through the inside-the-book index, and you'll see Fresh Bay Leaf Ice Cream, Jackfruit Sherbert, and even one calling for caviar. Although the classics are included, it seems like a waste to buy this if you aren't looking to experiment a bit, or perhaps don't ant to track down unusual ingredients. I like the fact that I can buy seemingly anything at the market and find a corresponding frozen dessert recipe in this book.

This is a unique book with some excellent recipes. I dislike that they tend to send you back to a ‘mother’ vanilla ice cream recipe as a starting point, because that involves a lot of back-and-forth flipping, but otherwise, a really great book.

One of the better restaurants in our beach resort area offered a yellow gazpacho with basil sorbet. It was wonderful. I've looked and looked for a recipe for basil sorbet, even trying to make one up. No luck.Until this book. This book has pages and pages of innovative ices, ice creams, gelati, and sorbets. Among them are many herbal sorbets. Can't wait to try them all.I highly recommend it.

I read the other reviews & thought they must be friends of the author! But I bought the book. They may be friends now. Apart from not having any pictures (I'm afraid I'm a cook still at that level) the book is great. Some very unusual & tasty recipes. Try the Grapefruit & Campari Water Ice. It's worth the price of the book just for that one!

Very disappointed with this book as thought it was going to be different from the previous book by the same author. However, it is exactly the same but just a different title and picture on the front!