15 May 2012

some are born to rise above sleepless nights and sloe gin love love love


If you wouldn't mind indulging me for a moment:


I've become slightly infatuated with Cinemagram, this app on my phone. It lets you create little gif-like moving images that can border from the barely mediocre (ahem) to the breathtakingly gorgeous. If you can't view the above, what's there is a bowl of ice cream ingredients and a bottle of cream, the former eternally emptying its delicious contents into the grateful latter. 

I won't, however, use this as a segue into talking about indulging in ice cream, because I refuse to buy into that. Ice cream is just what I eat when I feel like ice cream, no need be stacking on the guilt when you could stacking on the chocolate sauce instead. Right? Right. 


And I feel like eating ice cream a LOT. Good thing my ability to think up ice cream recipes can keep up with desire to eat ice cream. 

What a week it has been. On Thursday morning I read the news and punched the air joyously at Obama vocalising his support of marriage equality. On Friday night Tim and I went to Queer the Night, a march against homophobia and transphobia, with friends of ours. We ran into more friends along the way, and walking the streets of Wellington on a clear night chanting "two, four, six, eight, don't be sure your kids are straight" felt right and good. Hearing heart-clenchingly sad stories from those who spoke was a reminder that there's no place for complacency. An impromptu-ish party followed, from which my fondest memories include so many hugs, spreading crackers with butter and sprinkling them with salt, doing a highkick and landing in the splits (at the encouragement of others, not of my own volition, although I hardly require arm-twisting) and gasping over the staggering beauty, and utter importance of the Parks and Recreation final. I freely admit I've been inordinately affected by this half hour comedy show, and that there was a whole lot of crying and shaking going on. I may or may not have (or actually did) tweeted "Leslie Knope, moon of my life." Make of this what you will. 

And on top of all that, I thought that Gin and Tonic Ice Cream would be nice. Gin and tonic go together so excellently well. Why wouldn't they excel together in ice cream form? Well, it wasn't so much "nice" as "high-kick-then-landing-in-the-splits-ingly rapturous", but you be the judge. 

You no more need an ice cream machine for this than you need to know how to do the splits. It really couldn't be easier. Or more unconditionally delicious. Seriously, this is one of my finest creations, and I say that as someone who says that every time they create something, so...who can you trust? Only your own tastebuds, once you've made this for yourself.

Gin and Tonic Ice Cream

A recipe by myself.

1 cup sugar
Juice of a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons gin
125 ml tonic water
600ml cream

Tip the sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice, gin, and tonic water. Stir to dissolve a little, then pour in the cream. Whisk till thickened. You're not looking for whipped cream here, just something that has the texture of, say, a good thickshake. Transfer to a freezer-proof container (like - haha! - an old actual ice cream container) and allow to freeze, of course.


Whilst vodka and soda water with no lime is my very favourite (I like a sneeringly dry drink) I have much room in my heart for gin. Gin comes with a sense of occasion and history. It calls to mind high summer, when I knew I was cool because mum and her friends let me have a G&T with them when we were camping. (Okay, 'cool' and 'hanging out with one's mum' can be mutually exclusive, but hey.) It speaks of nights spent watching Gossip Girl with dear friends. And...I just really like the taste. What you end up with here is an ice cream bearing a delicate yet absolutely present hit of gin's citrussy bitterness, which the inclusion of tonic, the arch older cousin to lemonade, only helps with. 


The proportion of liquor to cream gives you the most ridiculous texture - it's like soft-serve ice cream, straight from the freezer. Alcohol slows down the freezing process, but you don't want too much or you'll never actually get to the point of ice cream. It'll be sludge. Exquisite sludge, but still. For all its simplicity, this is one of the most delicious ice creams I've ever tasted. Creamy and aerated, yet with a lemon sorbet-lightness. And importantly, it's on just the right side of boozy, so you don't make this face when you eat a spoonful. 



And, if you're given to flights of dinkiness and frivolity, which I often am, you might as well garnish it with a slice of lemon.
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Title via the Lowdown-down from the other version of The Wild Party musical, both equally as exciting as each other, really. This one had Eartha Kitt, Mandy Patinkin, and a swell Toni Collette as Queenie, who sings this glorious song.
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Music lately:

Frail Girls/Salad Daze, the double A-side single from Street Chant. Will likely form some more comprehensive thoughts around this soon, but for now: I really, really, REALLY like these songs.   

Ghostface Killah ft Raekwon, Kilo. He's coming to NZ! And not just NZ, but Wellington. If I had a nickel for every act that just went to Auckland, probably entirely justifiably, but still, I'd be able to afford to fly up there more often.
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Next time: Not sure, should probably do an actual dinner recipe or something as a bit of a contrast though, I guess....

18 comments:

  1. I love that cinema gram, I guess that with my old iPhone 3 I cannot get it... anyway, I can't remember my Apple password Lol!!!

    More ice cream, good, I like to put more alcohol in mine, but the kids complain! Oh well, a few more years of strawberry and cream and chocolate (at least that is very dark!).

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  2. Nice post and blog.
    For a bit of light relief, you might enjoy this Cartoon

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  3. Wow...wow..wow and wow. Yum!

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  4. Looking forward to trying this - I have all the ingredients ... just waiting for summer.

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  5. Oh WOW great stuff - oh that ice cream looks like heaven - YUM! I adore the cinemagram - must give that a whirl. Though I only have an ancient old mobile phone - poo! Must save up for an iphone. Great post hon! Becks xxx

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  6. Fist pump to Obama, squee for Parks and Rec because I bought the first three seasons for my mum for mother's day and we watched the first season in one go (six episodes, but still), she loves it, but keeps asking "When does Rob Lower arrive?" because I've hyped his character up in the past.

    I'm not good with spirits but I have Demeter's Gin and Tonic perfume. That keeps our cross-ocean sister thing going enough, I'm sure :)

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  7. The way the cream is pouring in the gif makes me hypnotically queasy. I can't take my eyes off of it! Similar to the guy spitting up his drink. Blerrrgh.

    What a lovely ice cream, and not just because the amazing patterned chair that I love made it into the background again:)

    Oh, that Laura, she likes a sneeringly dry drink - I wish I could think of something posh like that to say about myself, hah.

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  8. Queer the Night sounds like an AWESOME event! Sounds like a good night if you were drunk tweeting. :P (the new drunk dialing, for sure)

    gin and tonics have grown on me over the years and EVERYTHING tastes better in ice cream form...so I'm bound to love this!

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  9. Ooooh, downloading cinemagram ASAP! And probs gonna go buy some ice cream asap too, but...wish it was yours.

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  10. I have never made icecream before but I am going to have to try this. Gin and tonics are my favourite, I also enjoy a 'sneeringly dry drink' ! Which is weird because I have a dangerous sweet tooth.

    I love your teatowel by the way! That NZ Commonwealth Games logo is one of my favourite designs.

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  11. AnonymousMay 17, 2012

    Looks very elegant and refreshing! Lovely as usual :) Good on you for taking part in the march too

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  12. Cinemagram looks like fun! I like gin and tonics - this ice cream is a stroke of genius, and the texture is beautiful.

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  13. So much win in this post! The march, "Leslie Knope, moon of my life," and gin and tonic ice cream may be the best idea ever.

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  14. Just perfect for a weather like today !
    And I like the animated gif of the pouring cream ;)

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  15. Hmm, gin and tonic ice cream. So post 1980's cocktail hour.

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  16. This is so tasty! I substituted lime for the lemon (since that's how we prefer G&T's in my house), but I think the sharpness of lemon would be a better choice in this recipe, or maybe double the lime (the lime sort of got lost). Beautiful texture and a wonderful treat for the first hot days of summer in North America. I will make this one again. Thanks for the recipe!

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  18. AnonymousJune 22, 2013

    Just found this recipe and whipped it up...I used half lemon/half lime, some zest, too. Pinch of salt. I used the gin we make a the distillery where I work. http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/products/grain-spirits/watershed It's a sweeter, more floral gin than a London dry, so I assume it would really change the flavor of the finished ice cream from what you originally made. Mine is already insanely good and I just put it in the freezer!!
    Thanks for your terrific idea!

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