N-Ice surprise

Rejoice, Daiquiri Ice lovers.

Due to popular demand, Baskin-Robbins has brought back the original recipe for their Daiquiri Ice sorbet. They had replaced it with a revised formula a year or so ago, called Lime Daiquiri Ice, and it just wasn't the same.

The B&R Web site has it listed under "Flavors of the Month," so it may only be available on-and-off, during the summer months.

But, if you are a fan of the flavor, make sure to go over to Baskin-Robbins and have yourself a scoop or two.

Or, you can always try my daiquiri ice clone recipe. I put this together a few years ago when Baskin Robbins first pulled the plug on the original recipe.

BASKIN-ROBBINS DAIQUIRI ICE CLONE VERSION
(this is NOT Lime Daiquiri Ice)

The key to getting the right tartness level is the citric acid powder. The amount of citric acid powder will need to be adjusted depending on how sweet (or sour) your limes are.

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lime (fresh squeezed, a little pulp is fine)
1 tsp imitation rum extract
Between ½ and 1 ½ tsp citric acid powder (sold under the brand name FruitFresh. Or you can go to a health food store or online for generic food grade citric acid)
1 drop green food coloring

Heat sugar and water just until sugar melts. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon citric acid. Stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool a couple minutes, then add rum extract, lime juice and food coloring. Taste, and add more citric acid powder as needed, a quarter teaspoon at a time. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Churn in an ice cream machine for 25 minutes. Spoon ice into freezer-safe bowl, and move to the freezer for an hour before serving.

Note: The recipe only makes a little over 2 cups, so you may want to double the ingredients.

The Original Daiquiri Ice - clone recipe

My husband's favorite Baskin-Robbins item is the Daiquiri Ice. Unfortunately, in 2007, we learned that the recipe had changed. It is now LIME Daiquiri ice, and has a LOT more lime flavor, and is WAY too tart.

I searched high and low for a clone recipe, but there were none. So, I came up with one of my own. It’s a pretty good clone of the original recipe, and a light, refreshing dessert for a hot summer day.

BASKIN-ROBBINS DAIQUIRI ICE CLONE VERSION
(this is NOT Lime Daiquiri Ice)

The key to getting the right tartness level is the citric acid powder. Usually, 1 teaspoon does the trick, but may need to be adjusted up or down depending on how sweet (or sour) your limes are. Err on the side of tartness, but not so much so that it makes your mouth involuntarily pucker. Of course, if you prefer things sweeter, use less powder to taste.

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lime (fresh squeezed, a little pulp is fine)
1 tsp imitation rum extract
Between ½ and 1 ½ tsp citric acid powder (sold under the brand name FruitFresh. Or you can go to a health food store or online for generic food grade citric acid)
1 drop green food coloring

Heat sugar and water just until sugar melts. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon citric acid. Stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool a couple minutes, then add rum extract, lime juice and food coloring. Taste, and add more citric acid powder as needed, a quarter teaspoon at a time. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Churn in an ice cream machine for 25 minutes. Spoon ice into freezer-safe bowl, and move to the freezer for an hour before serving.

Note: The recipe only makes a little over 2 cups, so you may want to double the ingredients.

I posted this on an anonymous food forum about a year ago. So, if you come across this recipe somewhere else on the Internets, it’s mine. This is a completely original recipe developed by looking at the ingredient list of the original Daiquiri ice, and by referencing Shirley Corrhier's Cookwise for information on how to set up a basic sorbet recipe.

Consider this recipe Creative Commons. Feel free to repost and redistribute, but please link to my blog or credit me if you do.

A rant

My friend took a joke to its logical extreme the other day. Working from the premise "bacon makes everything taste better," he decided to test this hypothesis, up to and including putting bacon on ice cream. His report was "it doesn't make it better, but it didn't really make it worse."

Ha ha. Except, on the Next Iron Chef the other day, one of the chefs MAKES a bacon ice cream. And the judges find it UNORIGINAL. The quote from one of the judges was something like--make sure you read this with the proper tone of elitist disdain--"This isn't the first time we've had a bacon gelato, you know."

On the one hand, how pretentious can you get? But, on the other hand, a statement like this makes me start to second-guess my tastes. I'd love to have had the chance to try some bacon ice cream, but where I live these days, the innovation in going out to eat is severely limited. Even if I did live in a more cosmopolitan metropolis, I'd still be limited by what I can afford.

I really do feel like an uncultured hick some days. Never been abroad. Never been to New York. Never been to LA. When I went to Chicago, the closest city of any real culinary chops, I went to the fondue place (and I'll defend that decision to the day I die, but it's not terribly innovative).