Williams-Sonoma Collection: Ice Cream (Williams-Sonoma Collection (New York, N.Y.).) Reviews

• Perfect Ice Cream

  
  By APWM4QA6JO968 on 2003-09-03
  I bought an electric ice cream maker by GE at the store and had nothing but disasterous experiences with the recipes that came with it. In an attempt to try to get some use out of my investment I bought this book. Unlike the standard ice cream books it has many fruit recipes . My favorite, the one for blueberry ice cream, is always a hit because it has such an intense flavor and vibrant color.

  I also especially like the fact that the book includes a recipe for peppermint ice cream since that recipe has been hard for me to find.

  Overall the recipes work very well, the pictures are beautiful, and the instructions are easy to read. There is quite a selection of recipes in terms of time too. Many of the quick recipes do not involve egg (they involve milk and half&half instead) so they are faster than the others without the potential risk of tasting like scrambled egg if you do them wrong.
  
  

• Excellent Recipes and Good Reference

  
  By A3LDQM3GCURG92 on 2005-10-22
  I have a few of the books in this series. The Ice Cream and Cake books are my favorites. The recipes are outstanding -- well-written and produce great results. The sidebars provide invaluable tips. If you enjoy the science behind cooking -- ala America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated and Alton Brown, you will enjoy the books in this series. WS, unlike Cooks Illustrated, presents just the winning method.
  
  I've used this book more than my Ben and Jerry's book. I've made the vanilla, double chocolate, orange sherbet and carmel ice cream. With the exception of the double chocolate, I've had excellent results. I found the texture of the double chocolate was grainy, but I am not above admitting it could have been my error.
  
  The ice cream basics section is really helpful.
  
  
  

• Good introduction to ice cream making

  
  By A2RUVXNEF6EYJ0 on 2006-07-22
  Pros of this cookbook: The photos are beautiful, and they cover most of the basic recipes here. Another great thing is that while a lot of ice cream recipes in other books I've seen call for corn syrup as a quick, easy-to-use liquid sweetener, none of the recipes in this book do. Instead the Williams-Sonoma recipes use honey, sugar, or simple syrups that you make yourself. I think this is a great thing because, personally, I hate the flavor of corn syrup. This book has more of a natural-foods approach, which I like.
  
  Cons: Most of the ice cream recipes are egg-based. That's not a problem in and of itself, but egg-based recipes tend to be more involved and take longer to make than Philadelphia-style recipes that don't use eggs. So it's nice when ice cream recipe books include a good selection of eggless recipes which are easier to make on the fly. In addition, I made a couple of the recipes and was somehow disappointed with the flavors and textures. Somehow they just weren't as tasty as other recipes I'd tried. Also, the recipes go more for depth than variety - you get a few solid classic recipes, but not a lot of fun variations.
  
  I prefer Bruce Weinstein's "Ultimate Ice Cream Book." While a lot of the sorbet recipes use corn syrup, and there aren't any color pictures, you get a vast array of recipes and variations, including super-easy Philadelphia style recipes. There are so many fun ideas in Weinstein's book that you are more likely to end up playing and experimenting with creating your own recipes. Williams-Sonoma's approach is a lot more regimented and you're more likely to end up just following what their recipes say versus branching out and making up your own.
  
  

• Excellent choice

  
  By A2RX4UZNRGM8K8 on 2006-05-16
  Having purchased the Kitchen-Aid ice cream attachment it was time to find a solid recipe book to start with. I am very pleased with the other Williams-Sonoma titles in my collection so I was pleased to see they had an Ice Cream book ... I have not been disappointed! Like all of their books, Ice Cream is nicely photographed, and more importantly, very well written. The sidebars included with every recipe provide additional details that are interesting and always helpful. The book takes you beyond the recipes (by the way, the recipes are excellent) to learn the basics of ice cream making. I think experimenting with new ingredients is where the fun is going to be! I have already made the Blueberries & Cream, Raspberry Ice Cream, Orange Sherbert and Lemon Sorbet; all of these turned out great. And ... if you don't have a vanilla bean on hand, the recipe provides you with an alternative measurement for vanilla extract/essence. A great starter book or addition to your ice cream recipe collection.
  
  

• James Droste

  
  By A6JA2PZA8ZQ30 on 2006-06-15
  This is an excellent primer for all forms of Ice Cream. I recomend this book. Those pining for the old Cooks Illustrated tome on ice cream should check out their latest Best 1000 Recipes. It has a great synopsis of their orginal tome on the subject.
  
  
• Summertime Read
  By A2QCQ2T6J5Y0PH on 2006-07-07
  Williams-Sonoma is widely known for producing high-quality coffee-table books that delight visitors and can sometimes even come in handy in the kitchen. Their newest book, Ice Cream brings together over forty fine ice cream recipes into one location. These recipes are perfect for any summertime gathering or glamorous night in with friends. Readers will learn how to quickly craft frozen desserts that will be so delicious, your guests will wonder how you managed to ever pull them together.
  
  The book is also easy to use and employs a sidebar filled with essential ingredients and techniques that are necessary for each recipe. Again, Williams-Sonoma combines high-quality photography with easy-to-follow recipes to create a book that will quickly become any ice cream lover's favorite.
  
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• Good recipes, good instructions
  By A3GHRWW5RS8J1N on 2006-01-11
  Contains your basic flavors, although--this being from Williams-Sonoma, after all--the vanilla ice cream has to be made with vanilla bean (c'mon, how many people actually have that on hand?) instead of vanilla extract; also contains some interesting-sounding concoctions like ginger ice cream that I haven't tried yet, but would like to. The recipe for strawberry produces some great stuff, the chocolate is drop-dead delicious. and who knows? This book might empower me to actually try the more sophisticated recipes.
  That being said, this was my second choice after I couldn't get the Cooks Illustrated ice cream book. Cooks Illustrated cookbooks are simply the best for clear, detailed instructions. If you can get their ice cream book, opt for that.
  
  
• disappointed
  By A12OZRAQ4HTZQD on 2007-10-02
  if I had known then what I know now I would not have purchased the book,it had a four and a half rating,no one mentioned liqueur,rum,bourbon etc. or the fact that 1/2 the recipes call for 4-5-6 egg yolks.All the recipes require cooking and cooling which take up time,that's ok up to a point,but all? On the more positive side the pictures are beautiful,but I do wish I had known these things,I would not have gotten the book,and stayed with my Ben&Jerry or the recipes I found on the internet. I can't really recommend this book,as I'm not at all happy with it.
  
  
• Beautiful book and pictures
  By A1FBHYKZS4B08A on 2007-04-11
  but alot of the recipes I probably won't make. My favorite chapter is elegant ice creams, for holidays this year I would absolutely make the peppermint and raspberry. I adore the sauce/topping recipes.
  
  If you collect recipe books as I do, this will make a nice addition, or perhaps as a gift.
  
  
• Great ice cream cookbook!
  By A2RA6JPBRB78OP on 2007-10-10
  William Sonoma cookbooks tend to be strong and this one is no exception. Their recipes prioritize quality over short cuts and convenience and you can taste the difference. The recipes are more labor intensive than some of the basics, but the qualitative difference is worth the extra work. Many recipes are custard based which creates an added step, but results in creamier, richer textures.
  
  

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