When I was researching Ingrid Bergman and her food likes (everything, basically) the comment I saw most often was that she adored ice cream. That is what swayed her to develop a career in the US. After she was lured to New York from Sweden, she admitted to eating at least two ice cream sundaes every day. I guess Sweden is basically a freezer so they have directed their dessert skills more to pastries than perfecting frigid solids. Some say Ingrid could eat her own weight in ice cream daily. She took to playing nuns and medieval characters who wore robes, so she wouldn’t need to be thin for the camera.
This makes me suspect that the real reason she had an affair with Roberto Rossellini and moved to Italy was actually the ice cream there. Italian ice cream is, in all honesty, better than any other. Yeah, there is nasty weird fluffy ice cream in all the Italian touristic places, but if you dart around the corner nearly every local pastry shop will have pretty amazing store-made ice cream in unlikely flavors such as fennel. Amazing, that fennel ice cream.
If you are in Tuscany and take a wrong turn in Siena, you may end up in San Gimignano. Trudge to the top of the main (and only) street, go to the fountain and turn left. You will see a shop window in which is pasted a large photo of a smiling Bill Clinton and a banner proclaiming ‘world’s best ice cream.’
It is true.
So who could blame Ingrid for defecting for a while?
If you like to cook but don’t have an ice cream machine, I have a sublime recipe for you ice cream lovers. You do need a heavy-duty electric mixer and the ability to follow directions. It is the ultimate expression of ice cream as made in France. They call it ‘parfait,’ which means perfect – and it is, if you like your ice cream rich and creamy.
The parfait is sweet so a dark chocolate sauce makes a good contrast.
PARFAIT ICE CREAM
1 cup/250 ml whole milk
1 cup/200 g granulated sugar
1 whole vanilla bean, split down the middle
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup/125 ml heavy whipping cream, chilled
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, half the sugar and the vanilla bean just to a boil. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 20 minutes for the flavor of the vanilla to infuse.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, beat the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar until it is very thick. Reheat the milk, then pour a little of it onto the yolk mixture, whisking so you don’t cook the yolks. Then transfer the yolks into the saucepan containing the rest of the milk. Heat, whisking slowly but constantly, until this custard thickens slightly but do not boil!
Pour the custard (which is what this is, now) into the bowl of a heavy duty mixer with a whisk attachment. Remove the vanilla bean, scraping the seeds from the pot and putting them in the custard.
Beat on high speed for two minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low for about five minutes. Reduce the speed further to low and beat until the mixture is very, very thick and mousse-like, about 12 – 15 minutes. Stop immediately if it starts to lose volume.
Meanwhile, beat the heavy cream to soft peaks. Gently fold into the custard mousse, then spoon into a container (a fancy mold or Charlotte pan is nice) and freeze.
Keep in the freezer at least eight hours or longer before serving. The ice cream will be firm, but still soft enough to scoop easily. You can scoop the ice cream directly from the bowl. If you use a fancy mold, dip it very briefly into scalding hot water once (or a few times) to release it onto a platter.
For the sauce:
1 cup/250 ml light cream
8 ounces/225 g bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chopped chocolate. Do not stir for one minute, then whisk until smooth. Serve warm. A glug of whisky makes a nice foil to the sweetness of the ice cream.