This is my new baby – so to speak, OK gizmo, it’s a gizmo. My friend J brought one over for a crazy dinner we did and I had to get it. Thank you hubby for the birthday present. It’s still really hot, humid summer – see exhibit A, note the visible atmosphere and dog, Mo, enjoying the shade:
Given the above, August is the month to explore the various uses of a foam machine.
My device is from ISI. There are some great websites that show the versatility of foams and provide inspiration. Check these out:
And, the ISI site
Desserts, drinks, espumas, soups, sauce, batters. With all this information, and having used the device before, you’d think I wouldn’t screw it up but…
I managed to create a delicious mistake. My perfectly great (thank you David Lebovitz) almond cake was enhanced by a tasty, but quite ugly rum black pepper whipped cream. So here’s what I learned.
Black Pepper Infused Rum Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons rum
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients in a measuring cup and use a whisk to ensure no lumps. Pour mix into the whipping canister. Charge with one cartridge. Shake 5-6 times vigorously with cartridge attached. Remove, and serve along cake. Now that’s better. Sort of.
The big lessons:
- Shake the canister a lot after charging it. I did so about 10 times for the shot in the left.
- Finely ground the pepper. Or- make sure the sauce is finely pureed. If you look, this whipped cream still looks a little chunky. I think that’s from the pepper. In round 1, I used coarsely ground pepper and it was even worse, the sprayer kept getting jammed. Directions talk about a strainer – I’m investigating.
- When you are done, you need to let all the pressure out BEFORE you can take off the lid. Don’t force it until then.