Strawberry Matcha Latte with Matcha cookies Ice Cream and Olive Oil Ice Cream

After I made my first batch of ice cream, the freckled chocolate, I was inspired to make more!

I'm heavily inspired by Salt and Straw and so I've put them up as a standard to achieve. They're MAD creative, they invite a plethora of different textures and flavor profiles; they constantly push the bar for what's creative and unique. I've been reading the book, and also watching some of their videos for inspiration. They've taught me to be more daring and they're getting me to try some new techniques.

I LOVE matcha. I'm really extreme when it comes to flavor. I typically gravitate towards the extreme side of the spectrum in flavor. My savory foods need to be packed with salt and MSG to get a reaction out of me, my sweet foods need to be near diabetic conditions in order for me to taste it, my hot foods need to be scalding and lava-like for me to enjoy the mouthfeel. So when it came to matcha...I really wanted to make a strong matcha...and I completely bombed it.

I can't figure out why exactly I decided to stop at two teaspoons...I might have been just feeling cheap...maybe I was scared that the matcha was too old...maybe I was scared it might taste like seaweed or something savory. I straight up did not put enough! Putting matcha powder directly into the ice cream base was a mistake. It immediately clumped into little nubs everywhere and I was not expecting that. I had use another aluminum bowl and run the ice cream base through a sieve in order to re-distribute the matcha more evenly.

Mistake 1: NEEDS MORE MATCHA POWDER

Second thing, I really wanted to integrate a strawberry puree ripple into the ice cream to be reminiscent of like boba guys famous strawberry matcha latte. I wanted the aesthetic to be correct; flowing smooth sweet ribbons of strawberry folded into each scoop of matcha ice cream. The problem was, I didn't reduce the strawberry! The strawberry puree directly into the ice cream made it very icy! It was NOT the texture that I was expecting either! It was like putting chunks of popsicle into my tub of ice cream damnit. The taste of the strawberry was well done though I'll give myself that.

Mistake 2: REDUCE AND BOIL DOWN THE STRAWBERRY PUREE

In attempt to be like my idols Salt and Straw, I tried my best to integrate crunchy cookies into the mix for that contrast of texture. I took a high quality matcha chocolate cookie that I typically purchase from my local Japanese Market, chopped it up into tiny little squares and sprinkled it into my ice cream while it was churning. That was a mistake. It pulverized my cookie into dust and you could BARELY get the crunchyness of the cookie.

MISTAKE 3: FOLD COOKIES INTO THE MIXTURE AFTER THE CHURNING IS COMPLETE.

So for my first time making this very daring ice cream, I'm sorta satisfied with it...I give it a 6.0 out of 10. I know my mistakes now and I'll do my best to not fuck it up next time. Maybe instead of adding matcha chocolate cookie, I'll attempt to make a soft matcha cookie dough and churn it into the mix.

Here are some pictures of the final product:

After the Matcha Strawberry Ice Cream, I made a rushed olive oil ice cream to bring to my middle school group of friends Friends-mas for Christmas heh.

This ice cream was easy and semi-rewarding but it was missing something ...different. The flavor and fat-texture was excellent but it was missing something to really lift it up...It needed like a citrus or acid to make it more balanced. I forgot to take photos of this but it really looked like a vanilla. I used a very high quality olive oil from a local distributor called Amphora. I was to use the grassiest and tangiest olive oil there was; The grassy notes stuck around but the bitter tang of phenols dissipated when mixed with the cold cream. This ice cream gave me the quickest turn around time compared to the previous two flavors.

Alright, getting tired, more to come next time!