I visited Mount Rushmore and made Thomas Jefferson's famous Vanilla Ice Cream recipe while I was there. I give a brief history of the monument and why Jefferson carved it, as well as the interesting story of how ice cream was such a hard thing to make everyone happy.
Hey there, we're at Mount Rushmore. This is a really awesome park and the history with the sculptures are is just really amazing. We're also so excited to be here and try Thomas Jefferson's ice cream. However, they didn't have any, which was such a letdown. It's such a bummer but I did get his recipe so we'll be trying this at home. I think I'll do the cookies and cream. What makes the Jefferson ice cream tastes different. So a strong vanilla we came up here to obviously see the monument and to try Thomas Jefferson's vanilla ice cream. And sadly, they don't have any they've been out of supply for three months because their supplier their building, like got hailstorm crushed or something like that, which is really sad. So we're just eating regular ice cream. The really neat thing about Thomas Jefferson is he's credited with having the first ice cream recipe in America. And written down that is ice cream in America had been around but the first recipe is from him. But something that I learned is that if he wasn't exposed to ice cream before going to France, because it was here in some form in America, but then when he went to France he had ice cream there which was very popular. And his granddaughter later wrote down almost the exact same recipe at the bottom credited to the chef that they had in France. So most likely the recipe Jefferson's recipe that we have now is from his French chef when he lived there. And his recipe it is says two bottles of good cream, six yolks of egg, half a pound of sugar. So that's all that the main ingredients in here the lady who is helping us I asked her what the difference is between Jeffersons vanilla and regular vanilla that we have today. Or at least what what they sell here the difference between the two and she said that his vanilla is more, it's stronger, you have a stronger sense of the vanilla and it sounds like it's a vanilla bean ice cream that they use. So you see the the bean seeds in there. It's strong apparently. So this that I'm eating I got a pleasing cream and honestly it tastes like a typical cookies and cream. It melts very quickly in your mouth. It's very, very sweet. I'm glad that I get to share it. It's kind of grainy as well. It's like cotton candy, where you put it on your tongue and it just dissolves and it has that grainy, sugary texture as cotton candy does as well. Ice Cream obviously is fun anytime anywhere. And you eat what you what's available. But if you really want quality ice cream then most likely you'd have to pay good money for it or learn to make it yourself which I could teach you at Creamery deco you can learn how to make your own amazing, delicious exactly how you want it ice cream. For me ice cream, really amazing quality is a very creamy texture. So this is not very creamy. It's just kind of grainy. It literally just dissolves on your tongue. Also this one it kind of tastes a little bit freezer burnt. So so the flavor is kind of off to me. So quality is very creamy. A den a dense ice cream. When that my ice cream, it can touch your tongue, but it's not going to melt immediately. Obviously it does begin to melt because your mouth is warm. But it's not like cotton candy melting with my ice cream. It's dense, you're able to chew it which is very important to me. And it also kind of leaves this coating of cream in your mouth. It leaves a lovely kind of after taste in your mouth. And I really liked that with with really good ice cream Yeah, so much air and the texture. It doesn't even hold. It doesn't hold it all on my list finishing the ice cream. Good job all dead. All dead. Oh I'm very curious, it says two bottles of good cream. I don't know exactly what how much that is. So I'm going to use four cups and it says six egg yolks and a half a pound of sugar, which is to essentially two cups of sugar. And the last time I made ice cream that use two cups of sugar. It was so sweet, just sickly sweet, and the ice cream really wasn't very good. So I'm going to actually half this recipe. And still using these four cups of cream. I really, I have no idea how this is going to turn out I'll use three egg yolks. And it also in the recipe says to use one stick of vanilla, I couldn't find any vanilla bean. So I've out found the vanilla paste. And it does say to us, one teaspoon is equivalent to one vanilla bean. The first thing it says to do is mix the yolks and the sugar. So I'll do that, I'm just going to use three eggs. And then it says to add half a pound of sugar, so I'm going to use one cup of sugar. Now by doing it this way, we should not have any scrambled eggs. When we put it on the stove, we putting it on a medium heat. Now essentially with this, we want to dissolve the sugar and cook the eggs. temper the eggs. Our mixture is hot enough, it did not come to a boil. It's just before a boil to take it off the heat. And what I'm going to do is add a teaspoon of vanilla paste. It's all mixed. Now we let it get really good and cold and strained through a towel. Well, we did not do that. Put it in the sub. I don't even know how to say this word Sebo tear, then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. Oh, how about Alpha Kappa Alpha. So I obviously don't know what most of that means. Because we don't use methods like that anymore. Our method is going to be very modern. And we're just going to put this in the fridge until it's very good and cold. And then we'll turn it in our ice cream machine. So let's do that. We're gonna put it in a new container. Oh, you can see the vanilla bean paste in there some of those seeds into the fridge we go until it's really good and cold. It is the end of the day and our Thomas Jefferson vanilla ice cream bass has been in the fridge for many, many hours cooling and during that time, I was able to take my kids out on a fun little activity with friends. So now that it's the nighttime, we are going to churn our ice cream. And I want to say that you can smell the egg and the vanilla. But it's so subtle that I really can't tell what I like about this as you can definitely see the vanilla bean in here. It is I think it gives it a really pretty, you know, dimension. What I also noticed is it doesn't seem very thick. Whereas my ice cream is much thicker, even in a liquid form than this is Oh, it does look really pretty seeing the flex of vanilla bean in there is definitely more yellow because of the egg yolk, which is different from mine because I don't use a egg. I really, really hope that this tastes good. I want it to. I want Thomas Jefferson's recipe to blow me away. It is fun to just pour it in here. All right, two pints. You're gonna stick these babies in the freezer. Get them real good and hard. That's what's best. And hopefully when we try these later, they will be so good. We're going to try the Thomas Jefferson ice cream. It has been in the freezer overnight. I hope that this is good. We'll find out. Let's get your first reaction go. Well, first off, it definitely feels a little soft. It's good. Yeah. I like it. It's soft. But there's still a little bit of density to it. Yeah, there's any follow the recipe exactly right? Well, exactly in the sense that I used all the ingredients that it called for. But I hacked it. And I used a vanilla bean paste instead of a vanilla bean. Because I couldn't find any. And I made it in the modern way. I used a machine and ice and salt to make it. Yeah, it definitely. And I'm not just saying this because it's Thomas Jefferson and that era, but it has kind of an old fashioned taste and a good way. And it does kind of breathe throughout your mouth a little bit with the flavor. And in contrast to yours, your vanilla, which you haven't done a vanilla bean yet. So that's what I think we need to really compare like apples to apples with that there is a pretty good creaminess with this, that I do like, yours definitely has more density and two, which to me, means creamy. Yeah, in my mind, like, I think of cream. I think mine is definitely more creamy. This is pretty creamy and the egg yolk in there. Will it assist in the creaminess of the ice cream, it also helps in the stabilization of the ice cream, meaning that it won't melt immediately coming out of the freezer, so that a egg helps in that. And I use other ingredients in my ice cream to help in that process. You can definitely taste a difference because it's more egg based, right? Didn't call for a lot of eggs. Yeah, the recipe called for six egg yolks. And I only ended up using three because you have to because I have to. And also there is I used only heavy whipping cream in this recipe. Because that's what it said. Two bottles of good cream. So I interpreted that as four cups of heavy cream. Because I have no idea what not well, and the directions. Do you feel like the directions were clear because they were basically transcribed from what Thomas Jefferson wrote in his journal. I mean, it was written down. I don't know where he wrote it. Yeah. And I don't know how anybody fully can read the handwriting from back then. Yeah, I just I don't I can't do it. All the cursive and it's smudged off and it's so small, and everything just looks the same. I don't know how they did it. It looks like old parchment cursive. There's words crossed out. It smudgy. It's true to that time. Yeah, I think this tastes really good. Oh, what I was gonna say about that flavor. If you like whipped cream. That is exactly what this tastes like. Because it's just cream and vanilla and sugar. Minus the egg in whipped cream. But that is what it tastes like. And it kind of does the same coding of your mouth as whipped cream would when you just take a spoonful of it. Yeah, that's kind of a buttery numbness in your in your mouth. That's kind of what the bass like the breath of it feels like it's it's harder but I was just thinking about can I be honest. I still like yours better. I thought you're gonna see you like this. No, no, and I'm not just saying that like it's funny because as we've been sampling a lot more places in During the reviews, as we'll keep doing, like, I'm definitely usually behind the scenes capturing it. But as I've also tasted the ice cream, it's kind of like, when you go at such a level of quality, it's hard to go back. And so anything that doesn't measure up, doesn't taste very good to you. And you don't really know what you're missing, right, we have our two boys under five, who are gonna be in love with just sweet sugar tastes. And they have no concept of like, oh, you know, they're not snobby. I do have a critique with this ice cream, I would add salt to it, it would just cut through just a little bit of salt, it will cut through some of the sweetness, it would also enhance the flavor a little bit, give it a little more dimension. That's a really good point. Because I think about this with other foods, sometimes they turn really bland. You know if it lacks spices or flavors, or just variety of what you're contributing, say to certain meats, or other side dishes. And so to me with this, I think the salt or other flavors, and I think that's why people sugar, vanilla is one of those popular flavors, but people also go to other adding toppings or son Dean sundaes or other variations because sometimes just the straight, one sided flavor gets kind of boring. I would make it again and add salt to it to see how it changes. Could be a good way to celebrate like the National Holiday holidays are something right Fourth of July. How perfect to make Thomas Jefferson's ice cream on the Fourth of July to celebrate our independence. Yeah. Oh my gosh, it's going on the calendar. Well, yeah, and the calendar and your shop, too. I wonder what that looks like. Right? Like, if we're able to resell Yeah, in your shop, because it's obviously a departure from your signature style. Yeah, your signature base, but it could be one of just celebratory like, Hey, we're recognizing one of the founding fathers this way. So cool. I would love to do that. And you can find this recipe online. I don't think that it's exclusive to Mount Rushmore. It was built up in my mind before we show up in Mount Rushmore around like, Oh, this is a big feature a big thing. It's Thomas Jefferson's ice cream. And then you show up and it's like, oh, we know up until 11. Like, okay, and then we showed up to the ice cream section. And they're like, oh, we can't Scoop it here or we don't have ice cream. And then of course, we heard the news that they haven't had ice cream delivered for last three months because they manufacture Thomas Jefferson ice cream. That is such a good point to make is so many places that we have been to do not make their ice cream in house, it is delivered to them. And I really want to make that change. And to change that in our ice cream shop. When that is open. We will be making ice cream in house. It's not going to be made anywhere else. I want to be able to have full control over the process. Yeah, and a lot of times those who are scooping it don't really know much but ice cream. Yeah. And they're just there to kind of great take an order, you know, they could have a nice scoop going on. So I kind of felt underwhelmed. Of course Mount Rushmore is a cool feature and a cute cool monument. So that was obviously a highlight among other things with their family. But they basically turn you away, they don't really have a good solid response apart from it's sold out. But they still have ice cream at another part, Mormon cafeteria area. And they had one little small sign, pop it up here where you see a picture of Thomas Jefferson, and you can get his recipe, but they don't have it there. And they have all these other very generic ice creams that are some ways they average compared to what you get at the store. Honestly, that's how I felt and and I don't mean to be mean here, because that's not my intention. But the ice cream that we had, there was just, it was not very good. It was too sweet. It was too grainy. It was too airy, it just melted. There's a perception, at least for me for a long time of when you see big barrels of ice cream being scooped by someone behind the counter. There's a perception that that's going to be really good to you and that like it's ice cream, ice cream. Yes, give it to me, I want it, you know, cup cone, whatever. And now since learning more about what makes quality ice cream from you, and actually tasting it, it really has changed my perspective. And so yeah, not a lot of people are gonna approach ice cream shops and they're gonna have that same perception around like I am seeing people Scoop it so it must be good because I'm at an ice cream shop and they're professionals at the fact that they have an open shop delivering ice cream. But that's really not the case with so many ice cream shops. And that's why I am a big believer in what you're doing, that you're looking to change that educate people on what is truly the highest quality premium artists and ice cream out there. And so people have that understanding. So that way, you ruined many ice creams. But I'm saying that like, they can still appreciate ice cream, of course. And there's still good store bought brands and scoop shops out there. And of course, there's specialty scoop shops out there that you can enjoy. But that's kind of they didn't like you've ruined ice cream for me, among all these other companies and brands. Because when they go to mass distribution, they're putting so much air in it, it's losing the density, it's losing the quality of ingredients for us to retain that for you to retain that with Creamery and to ruin ice cream. I just dawned on me, I didn't think about this before. But yeah, that's kind of what it's doing in a good way. But hopefully, when we do have a shop open and people come and have creamer ice cream, they it will blow their mind. It is kind of like we don't drink alcohol. But I've been around a lot of people and I've I've heard a lot of the language around how you describe, you know, wine, having legs, or appreciating the nuances of flavors and the quality behind different drinks. And in a funny way. Yeah, I want that with ice cream. Right? It's like, you know, you have a little serving, and you're like, you know, you do the little and then spit it out and then you know, you swallow it, you appreciate it. But can I have that that critique? Ice cream? And cuz you don't see that. And ice cream has been around for hundreds of years, as has drinks and of course other foods that people can appreciate. So yeah, let's change that. Let's help people appreciate what true quality looks like. Yes, like, Thank you, Thomas Jefferson for recording this recipe. I do think that it's good. I wish that we had it at Mount Rushmore because but also, if we had had it at Mount Rushmore, I may have not appreciated it as much there as they do making it here at home, reading the recipe, and hopefully, it tastes like how theirs is or was depending on if they ever get a shipment back. But I did think it was good. I would add salt. Case close down. Thanks for joining me on ice cream stories, I would definitely recommend trying Thomas Jefferson's ice cream if you can't make it to Mount Rushmore. And if they don't ever get a shipment again of the ice cream, no worries, no fear. You can make it at home using his recipe. And it is very easy and simple. You don't have to follow how he froze his ice cream because that method is painstakingly long, just use an ice cream maker. That would be a lot easier. Or if you don't have an ice cream maker, then you can use his method. Also that seven tear word or whatever is essentially a bowl full of ice and salt and then you stick another bowl with your cream in it and that's how you make your ice cream. So you can do that. But definitely try it. It's very good. And I'm happy with how it turned out. If you want to learn more about Creamery ice cream, and how to make ice cream the way I do, you can go to Creamarie.co and read our blogs, buy our courses and eventually buy our pints that will be shipped nationwide and also eventually come to our scoop shops.
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