Make your own Ben & Jerry's ice cream whenever. (Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream and Dessert Book - Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield)

Member Name: Vixstar

Product:	Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream and Dessert Book - Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield
Date:	27/06/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ice cream recipes! Enjoyable; entertaining

Disadvantages: American ingredients; assumes you have an ice cream maker

I have been making ice cream for the past few years and, like many others, Ben & Jerry's is one of my favourite ice cream brands. So when I saw this book I had to have it.

Before I go any further with this review can I make one thing clear this recipe book wiil not show you how to recreate exactly you favourite flavours of B&J as seen in the supermarkets, however the recipes do appear to be based on what the sell in the US (can't comment never been) and are definitely B&J style ice creams (and suitably delicious).

The recipe book is split into several sections. It starts with an entertaining section on the history of the B&J partnership and brand. There then follows a few pages on Ice Cream Theory looking at how the ingredients you use will affect the ice cream you get - who knew ice cream was eductional! We then get to the serious stuff - the recipes. This is further broken down into sections on bases - the start of any B&J ice cream; greatest hits - famous flavours; chocolate ice creams; fruit flavours; downtown specials - as requested by customers; cookies and candies - ice creams with bits in; sorbets; the bakery - cakes and cakes with ice cream; sundaes - things to do with your ice cream if you can reist eating it straight away;sauces; and finally drinks.

The book is highly illustrated with cartoon drawings throuhout and every single page is very colourful. There are also interesting facts and tips dotted throughiut the book which help to make this more enjoyable than your average recipe book.

The recipes are very easy to follow and many can be made very quickly without any cooking or long ingredient chilling required - ideal when you need a quick ice cream fix. I'm pretty confident there's a recipe for everyone in this book, everytime I open it I find something new I fancy making - this time it's the banana peanut butter ice cream that has caught my eye.

There is however one annoyance to this book, it has been written by Americans for Americans. Meaning that all the ingredients listed may not be easily available in the UK so some ingenuity may be required to find suitable alternatives; also all the ingredients are measured in cups but this isn't really an issue. The book, unlike other ice cream recipe books, assumes you have an ice cream maker and doesn't include alternative instructions for how to make the icre creams totally by hand.

The book currently retails for £4.79 on Amazon and may be found in larger high street book sellers.

And just to put your mind at rest there is a recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, although I am ashamed to say I haven't made it yet.

Summary: Make Ben & Jerry style ice cream in the comfort of your own kitchen