A collection of delicious and flavorful frozen treats made from simple, natural ingredients easily found in most pantries from Brooklyn’s beloved and wildly popular ice cream emporium.
The Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Book includes ice cream recipes for every palate and season, from beloved favorites like Vanilla to adventurous treats inspired by a host of international culinary influences, such as Masala Chai with Black Peppercorns and Apple Crumble with Calvados and Crème Fraîche. Each recipe—from the classic to the unexpected, from the simple to the advanced—features intense natural flavors, low sugar, and the best ingredients available.
Determined to revive traditional ice cream making using only whole ingredients sourced from the finest small producers, Ben, Pete, and Laura opened their ice cream business in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with little more than a pair of buttercup yellow trucks. In less than a decade, they’ve become a nationally recognized name while remaining steadfast to their commitment of bringing ice cream back to the creating rich flavors using real ingredients.
Richly illustrated, told in a whimsical style, and filled with invaluable, easy-to-follow techniques and tips for making old-fashioned ice cream at home, The Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Book includes captivating stories—and an explanation of the basic science behind these delicious creations. Enjoy these irresistible artisanal delights anytime— The Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Book shows you how.
So apparently July is National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday in July (July 19 this year) is National Ice Cream Day. Who knew? That - and summertime in general - makes the release of the new Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream cookbook pretty perfectly timed.
I can remember homemade ice cream as a kid: it was an event. An EVENT. It meant breaking out that big bucket with the blister inducing crank. You needed serious muscle to get that going - and to get an actual edible serving of ice cream. As you can imagine it wasn't something we did very often.
These days homemade ice cream is MUCH easier with most of the machines on the market doing the major work for you. We got one of our very own as part of our wedding registry but after using it to make sherbet and slushies few times it ended up being shelved and fairly forgotten.
Until now!
The Van Leeuwens run their very own ice cream shop in Brooklyn, so the name is likely known by many in those parts. Way over here in the midwest it was their cookbook that served as introduction for me. And what a cookbook! With a focus on quality ingredients and phenomenal flavors, the Van Leeuwens have inspired me to break out the machine and get to making ice cream again.
Many of the recipes are custard based but the authors provide perfect step-by-step instructions for pretty foolproof results. Recipes for additions like Homemade Marshmallows, Candied Citrus Peels, and Pistachio Shortbread are included and there's a chapter on other icy treats like Sorbet and Granitas, too.
Two of my favorite things about the book, though, are the vegan chapter and the egg whites chapter. Now, I don't have any dietary restrictions but I know plenty of people who do and I love the fact that the authors have included an entire chapter devoted to vegan ice creams (and a recipe for making your own Cashew Milk). It means not having to miss out on all the fun if you can't eat dairy or eggs. Even better, for me, is the chapter on what the heck to do with all those leftover egg whites! Custard ice creams require yolks - lots of yolks - and I personally can't stand the idea of that many egg white omelets or of tossing the egg whites out.
Whether you're devoted to the classics or are an adventurous ice cream lover, I promise you this book has something (many things) to tempt your palate. There are chocolate options galore - Milk, Spicy, Mocha Almond Fudge, and White Chocolate with Almond-Cocoa Nib Brittle, to name a few - and favorites like Vanilla, Strawberry, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, but there are also some truly unique and imaginative flavors as well. We had to test the Sour Cream Blueberry and the Honey with Roasted Fig and Walnut immediately. (Both are AMAZING but the Blueberry was the overwhelming favorite. The sour cream in the base is magical!) I even tried my hand at the Citrus-Scented Angel Food Cake, which given my baking issues required quite a bit of courage. I'm pleased to announce that the recipe seems to be cursed kitchen proof.
Note: You need an ice cream maker to use this book, but if you've got that and a desire for truly awesome ice cream, you're set!
Get this book for all the recipes, but especially for the vegan ice creams. Seriously, those look like the best recipes in the book: rich, creamy, and dairy-free. Yum!
Jeni’s remains our go-to ice cream recipe source, despite all of the other books we’ve read. This has a few interesting and novel recipes we could try, as well as some fundamental flavors which may be good for those who are new to ice cream making. However, as noted by the artisan label, there are also several kind of fussy recipes or recipes with specialty ingredients that we probably wouldn’t bother with for homemade ice cream.
For vegans or those who need to be dairy-free, there are a good number of appropriate recipes. For those with nut allergies (like our family), there are numerous recipes that rely on nuts, so the book may be less useful for you.
Very in depth in terms of how to make great ice creams, both vegan and dairy-based.
It'd get 5 out of 5 if it didn't spout health nonsense every other page. You're making icecream, it's never going to be 'healthy' even if it has 'less' or 'better' sugar. Also sourcing ingredients from across the world is never going to be a 'better' solution, just say you're going for flavor or pretense over environmental concerns but don't claim environmental awareness when you're flying in ingredients.
4 stars, finished i will admit with no shame that i went into this with no expectation of making ice cream in the future, i simply wanted some inspiration for dessert flavors and combinations that i might not have heard of before. and though that still remains true, i would not be opposed to trying many of these ice creams, as the flavors sound too delicious to ignore (especially the savory ones—i need to try corn ice cream and that goat cheese blackberry ice cream NEOW)
I came for the vegan ice cream recipe and...that's about all I got from this one. I know it says "artisan" in the title so I should have known, but like, ice cream is not this fussy (or if it is, it doesn't need to be). I could buy some Sicilian pistachio paste from some artisan store, but like, why don't I just blitz my own pistachios in the food processor? Will I taste the difference? For me, I don't think it's worth it.
I love van leeuwen. I love to cook. but I don't do desserts-- so far at least. maybe I can try one day. so many flavors here that I haven't had-- and when ingredients are good, it's not surprising the results are good.
Made the black sticky rice ice cream. Pretty good! Nothing really revolutionary in here, but a few pretty interesting recipes. I might make the Earl Grey ice cream eventually too.
Who couldn't love a book about artisan ice cream? Really delivers some great recipes to try ... and I'll try some even if it is during fall and winter!!
I don't have the opportunity to follow any of these ice cream recipes at the moment, but they seem delicious!! I'm looking forward to visiting this cookbook again in the future. :)
Beautiful book with an engaging introduction. I loved that the author was obviously passionate about cooking with natural ingredients but didn't dissolve into a political rant demonizing everything mainstream as so often seems to be the case with whole foods cookbooks.
The recipes are a little more involved than simply throwing ingredients in a machine, but they also look totally doable. My ice cream maker is MIA so I couldn't try any recipes right now. However, I anticipate giving them a go in the future and maybe bumping my review up to 5 stars after a taste test.
Ice cream cookbook. Vegan ice creams! Regular ice creams! Lots of ideas for off-the-wall ice creams (think sticky black rice; goat cheese; stout; and olive oil) and a great explanation on how to execute a fantastic custard.
Lots of theory behind making ice creams. I'm still making my way through it but I do want to try a vegan mint chocolate chip, which got a fantastic review in the NYT.
And now I’ve tried a few - will definitely be trying more. So far have enjoyed chocolate, strawberry and roasted banana. Upping our homemade ice cream to a custard base has been a game-changer...
Not a lot here that you can't find in any other standard ice cream recipe book. There are a mere handful of standout recipes, one of which was the kaffir lime ice cream.