Why New England-Style Ice Cream Stands Out From The Rest

A bowl of soft serve hits the spot when you're craving a cooling sweet treat. However, for die-hard ice cream connoisseurs, there are plenty of premium gelatos and dairy ice creams that turn this simple mixture of eggs, cream, and sugar into an ambrosial scoop of heaven. One such product is New England ice cream. Rich, buttery, and full of body, this variety of ice cream has a sumptuous bite-able texture. But why does New England ice cream stand out from the rest? This dessert has a higher concentration of butterfat and is churned at a slower, considered pace, garnering a product with a denser texture that's perfect for chomping.

Regular ice cream has around 10% butterfat; meanwhile, New England ice cream has around 14% butterfat, which makes it richer with a luxuriously thick consistency. Churning it at a slower rate prevents too many air bubbles from getting trapped inside the mixture, resulting in a sweet treat that has a condensed body and stronger structure. Other varieties of ice cream are churned more quickly, which incorporates a greater amount of air, thereby producing a softer texture. Described as overrun, this extra air boosts the overall volume of the ice cream, ensures it melts on the tongue, and prevents it from having a heavy quality. With New England ice cream, the overrun is kept at a minimum to produce a dessert that's thick and structured enough to bite into.

As the sticky texture of New England ice cream has a greater density and a distinct stretchiness, it can withstand lots of chunky add-ins, from cookie dough and fudgy brownies to chocolate chips, sprinkles, and salted caramel. This characteristic means that even the simplest custard can be used as a base and transformed into an array of scrumptious ice cream varieties. Due to its lower air content, New England ice cream also melts at a slower rate, which means it can support bits of fruit and nuts for a longer period than the regular stuff that melts more rapidly and collapses.

If you want to make New England-style ice cream at home, use the richest ingredients you can find, such as full-fat milk and cream. Adding a starch, such as arrowroot, will help stabilize the mixture, encouraging it to thicken up as it is whipped and preventing the formation of unwanted ice crystals. Other effective stabilizers in ice cream are corn syrup, eggs, and evaporated milk. Churn your ice cream just until it has come together (any longer and you'll lose that thick, chewable consistency), decant it into a tub, and freeze it immediately to reduce the creation of any gritty ice crystals that could ruin its sumptuous quality.