Dreaming of Ice Cream - It's easy NOT being green! Mint Ice Cream

So much to blog, so little time!  I'm sorry I've been delinquent, and will try to catch up with posts I've had planned for a while, as well as yummy new experiments.

Onward!  This is a yummy new experiment

I'm back to full low carb/ketogenic eating (getting there, anyway) and so I've returned to my fully sugar-free ice cream recipe.  I am keeping the milk option, from my more recent recipes, because I love the lighter texture (more like gelato).  See note at the VERY bottom for a comment on the milk/cream situation.

I'm still working my way through my Jeni's ice cream recipe book, taking inspiration and trying to convert these to sugar free.  I can't say enough good things about this book though!

Last year, I planted chocolate mint in my garden (you can see it here with the strawberry (dark 3-leaf), rhubarb (massive leaves), gooseberries (left, top) and red currants (far right) earlier this year).  The mint has pointed oblong leaves that grow in pairs. 

Beware: mint grows like a weed (it sends out runners) and can easily take over the garden. I'm ok with that!

It's doing well, and I thought-- hey! My husband loves mint ice cream, and I haven't made any yet this year.  And gee, look at all that mint... I'll make it with fresh mint, instead of extract!

So I found Jeni's recipe for "Backyard Mint" ice cream and gave it the de-sugarification treatment.

I waited to tell you about it until I could try it after a full 24 hours in the freezer, and I do declare, it is a success!

You can give this a whirl with other herbaceous, um, herbs.  I think Tarragon would be great (I had that once in a restaurant, along with a warm chocolate cake), or maybe Basil?
So think of this as a technique, and you can play with it.

As always-- to make sugar-free ice cream scoopable, you'll need some combination of the following "specialty" ingredients-- you can find all of these online, and most at your local stores (cake decorating supply stores would be your best bet for glycerine and isomalt). 

• Glycerine - imparts a bit of sweetness, but helps with scoopability
• Xylitol - this sweetener is gaining popularity. Helps with the freezing temperature. Can cause stomach upset, so I'm trying not to use too much nowadays
• Vodka - helps with freezing temperature (the faster something freezes, the smaller the ice crystals, and the smoother the texture).
• Guar/Xanthan gum - don't be scared of the weird names, these are natural fibers that work to thicken liquids (and don't need boiling, like cornstarch does). I mix them in a 1:1 ratio and keep them in a shaker
• Isomalt syrup: I use this instead of corn syrup, which adds to texture and not freezing too firmly.  You can read more about it in my Pecan Pie Tartlet recipe on FluffyChix's blog.

So, go gather yourself a BIG HUGE bunch of fresh mint (peppermint, not spearmint... unless you like spearmint. Which is fine. You can do that. But it's not my thing... #ew).

Ingredients:
2c. whole or 2% milk (I wind up using 2% often and it's totally great)
1/8 tsp fine sea salt (or regular table salt. DON'T use kosher salt or chunky grains of sea salt)
1.5c heavy whipping cream
2T glycerine
2T vodka
2T isomalt syrup
2T xylitol
guar or xanthan gum(s) for thickening
additional liquid sugar free sweetener to taste (I used 12 drops of sweetzfree sucralose liquid). You could also use powdered sweetener, packets, what-have-you
1-2 bunches of fresh peppermint (I harvested about 10-16 sprigs from my garden, and just used the leaves, but you can use the stems too, since it all is strained out). We like things minty.

Technique:
In a medium heat-proof bowl, mix the glycerine, vodka, and salt.  Prepare a HUGE bowl with ice and some water (you'll cool the medium bowl in the big bowl later).

Wash your mint well, and then rip the leaves into smallish pieces (you're exposing the mint-yummy-cells to the mixture that will be poured over it) and put it in the bowl with the glycerine mix.
In a 4-quart (um... 4 liter) saucepan (because this bubbles up... bigger pot is better), mix the milk, cream, salt, xylitol, isomalt syrup, and heat over medium-high until it hits a rolling boil.

Boil the mixture for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat for a moment, and mix in a few shakes of your guar/xanthan gum thickener (one/both/either whatever you usually use).  You don't want it too thick, or your machine will have trouble freezing it.  No more than 1/8th tsp. I shake mine from a "icing sugar" type of shaker, so it's not even that much.
WHISK VIGOROUSLY while you are adding the shakes of the thickener, or you will get clumps!

Return to the heat and boil for 1 minute (less if you sense it will boil over).

Pour a small bit of mixture at a time, over the ripped mint/glycerine mixture in the bowl.  Stir everything together.

Place the bowl into the big bowl of water/ice (don't let any water get in!), and give that a stir every few minutes until it is cool.
You can then place it in a covered container in the fridge, up until a full day.  It will just get mintier.

I used mine as soon as it was cold because I'm terribly impatient.  Strain through a sieve, pressing to get all the liquid, and don't forget to clean off the outside of the sieve too.

Freeze in your ice cream/yogurt maker according to directions-- should take 25 minutes, give or take a few.

Quickly transfer to your container for the freezer, smooooooth it out, and get that in the freezer QUICKLY.
Let it firm up for a few hours, 2-4 at least.

And VOILA! Best mint ice cream ever!  

A few flecks of mint leaf got through, but you wouldn't call this green by any stretch of the imagination.

You taste the "sweet cream" aspect, and the fresh mintiness, and the herbal quality comes through too.

And no, it's not green. ;)

Nutrition information:
Let's say 8 servings:

Using 2% milk--
225 calories
77% from fat
18g fat
66mg cholesterol
81mg sodium
128mg potassium
9g carb
4g fiber (depending how you count xylitol and glycerine)
3g protein
10% calcium
16% vitamin A
9% B2

If you use whole milk, there's 232 calories, and 78% from fat (getting better for the Keto folks).  You can play with the milk/cream ratio if you like-- just keep in mind that more fat means that your tongue gets coated and you don't taste the flavors as much.

Dreaming of Ice Cream: The Only Chocolate Ice Cream recipe you willever need

This post has been sitting for a while, and now's the perfect time to get it out there for you.  You can trick this out for the holidays with some crushed mint candies, or about 1/4 to 1/2tsp of pure mint extract for an A-MAZING mint chocolate ice cream.

I'm working my way through the Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home book, trying to lower the calories and remove as much sugar and carbohydrates as possible.

So far, the Roasted Rhubarb frozen yogurt was great, and now, I'm working on the Darkest Chocolate Ever ice cream.

As I go along, I'm also experimenting with different types of sugar-free sweeteners and different types of thickeners.

The results so far have been good.  Jeni's recipes don't use eggs for thickening, emulsifying, or texture. Instead, she's discovered a mix of cream cheese, corn syrup, and cornstarch gives good body and scoop-ability to the mix.

I'd like to move away from cornstarch and corn syrup.  In this recipe, I'm working with a mix of guar gum and xanthan gum (I mix them together myself in a roughly 1:1 ratio) for thickening the dairy base.  You could also try the same type of product (a mix of low-carb, fiber-based) that is commercially available, like "thick it up" by Dixie Diner (check out www.netrition.com as a reliable online retailer).

I'm also working with xylitol as a sweetener.  It has about 1/2 the calories of sugar, and has some great properties, like actually decreasing the incidence of tooth decay.  In ice cream, I find it helps keep the mix from freezing too hard (though your freezer settings have a LOT to do with that of course) in much the same way that sugar does. 
To lower the calorie count further, I use a syrup made from isomalt (in a 3:1 proportion with water, cook until melted and combined.  Voila! Great substitute for corn syrup. Leftovers will recrystallize in the fridge, however. You can always melt it again).  Isomalt  has about 1/4th the calories of sugar, and has different interesting properties.

Finally, if I need extra sweetness, I can turn to Splenda (powder or liquid concentrate, available in a lot of places), but I've not yet had to use much, if any, of it.

Ok, so that with that preamble out of the way, let's get to the best chocolate ice cream I've ever made, ever!

Ingredients:

For the chocolate syrup:
1/2c Very excellent unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the "black label" house brand from my local grocery store, but I've used Ghirardelli in the past for other things and that is excellent too. Use the best you can get your hands on).

Here is my regular cocoa (on the left) and my premium cocoa (on the right):

1.5 oz very excellent very dark chocolate (I used an 85% cocoa solids bar that I like to eat, but you can use lighter chocolate, in the 55% to 70% range will work, but won't be as daaaaark)

1/2 c brewed coffee, or 1.5 T instant coffee mixed into 1/2c hot water (I used this. Decaf even!)

1/2c Xylitol (I use this in about 1:1 with sugar... maybe a bit less, but about that ratio)
pinch of salt (1/8th tsp)--  most chocolate-containing recipes call for salt, because it brings out the flavor in the chocolate more.  I'm not making salted chocolate, so just a pinch, ok?

For the Ice Cream Base:
2T. Isomalt syrup (see notes above)

2c. Whole milk

1c. Heavy cream

1.5 oz (3T.) Fat free cream cheese

1/2c Xylitol (remember, there's sweetness coming from the chocolate syrup)

Isomalt syrup

1/4 tsp thickening gum mix (see note above), and a very fine sieve or a powdered sugar shaker (or use the 1T plus 1tsp cornstarch called for in the original recipe)

Directions:

First, melt the xylitol and coffee together over medium heat. When all the crystals are gone, mix in the isomalt, and the cocoa. Mix well, until everything is incorporated and glossy. Remove from heat, drop in the chocolate (broken up), and set aside to let melt. Give it a stir once or twice, off heat.

This is the cocoa sitting on top of the other ingredients for the syrup, waiting to be incorporated. Be patient.

Once everything is incorporated, it becomes smooth and glossy

Adding the chocolate to the syrup, off heat. Let it melt in, and stir now and then.

Next, in a separate bowl (medium to large, since this is where everything will come together), mix the cream cheese and the chocolate syrup, added a little at a time, until very smooth.

Prepare a very large bowl with ice and some water.

Then, mix the milk, cream, xylitol, and isomalt syrup together in a 4 qt pot (because it will get foamy), bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat, and boil, stirring, for 4 minutes. 

Starting to boil. See all the room in the pot?

Super boiling now. Note how much less room there is!

Take off the heat, and using a sieve or shaker, sprinkle in the thickening gum powder, while whisking. 

Return to the heat for another minute. 

It will not thicken as much as cornstarch would, but will thicken even more upon cooling.
(If you are using the cornstarch-- mix the cornstarch with a bit of the cold milk to make a slurry, then add the slurry to the milk/cream mixture off heat, then bring back to the heat).

Remove from heat. 

In a medium bowl, whisk a small amount of the hot liquid into the cream cheese/chocolate mixture until smooth. Keep adding and whisking, a little at a time, until all incorporated.

Mix the cream mixture into the chocolate/cream cheese mixture, a bit at a time

Now--either pour the whole thing into a ziptop bag, and put that bag in a big bowl filled with mostly ice and some water OR, put the medium bowl you have everything in already into the bowl, not letting any water get in. Sort of like a cold "bain marie" :)

Here's my medium bowl sitting inside the big bowl of ice and water

 

You need the mixture completely cold if you are going to make the ice cream right away.  Keep changing out the ice/water as it melts, and give the mixture a stir too, to get the hot and cold sections mixed up.

TIP: If you don't need to make the ice cream right away-- skip this step. Just put some plastic wrap over the mixture so that it's touching it (won't form a skin that way) and refrigerate overnight, and make the ice cream tomorrow.

When you are ready, pour into your ice cream maker and follow the maker's directions until the ice cream is ready (about 25-30 minutes for most brands).

Scoop out and either eat soft-serve right away, or, pack it into an airtight container, and freeze at least 4 hours until firm.

I would totally have a picture of the finished product for you... but I forgot, and then we (and friends) ate it all.  I'll make it again soon though!

From the Oven: Making light of baking - Honey cake and Banana Yogurt cake/muffins

I've been wrapped up in the renovation, and then travel for work, and then getting really sick because of... well, who knows why one gets a stomach virus, but I can tell you that stress and travel don't HELP at all.

I'm starting to feel better, so I thought I'd update you with some baking experiments I've snuck in here and there (pre-and-post sickness, lest I bake the virus into something...).

It's starting to be Fall here in the northeast, and I didn't have a chance to get together with my family at the big family dinner in September, so I wanted to remind myself of "home" AND try out all my new counter space.

So I dug out my old food processor recipe book.

Don't snicker.  This was my second recipe book (more on my first, some other time) and food processors were making their way into home kitchens in the 80's.  This one, The Pleasures of Your Food Processor by Noreen Gilletz, is basically a version of Second Helpings Please, with the recipes tweaked for the processor (check out her other books as well... looks like the food processor one has a 30th anniversary update!).

I remember reading my mother's copy all the time. There were great tips at the start of most chapters-- like why your cake would have "tunnels" in it, different types of substitutions you could make for ingredients, and metric to Imperial conversions.

My copy has this neat feature where the cover bends back, so it becomes its own recipe stand!

The bend in the cover is so it can fold back and become a recipe stand. GENIUS!

I love a lot of the cake recipes from this book, and the two I've made recently are great in their original format.
However, since I'm watching my calorie intake, I decided to try to lighten up both recipes, and am delighted at my own success!

Honey Cola Cake
My all-time favorite honey cake recipe.  My mom and I aced this cake years ago, which was great because my Great-Aunt Celia also made Honey Cake yearly, but she burned the heck out of them (and I don't think she was aware), and so my first memories of honey cake are not the greatest... but this cake is foolproof, and really delicious.

The original recipe from the above book calls for brown sugar, eggs, 3/4c of oil, 1/2c of cola (could be regular or diet), 1c of honey, and the regular flour, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon.

I swapped out the entirety of the oil for unsweetened applesauce, which brought the calorie count per slice (for 12 generous slices) down from 363 to 249.
This is a great trick, and can be used in any cake that calls for oil. Substitute some or all of the oil for unsweetened applesauce, which helps keep the cake moist.

By doing this, I lowered the fat from 15g per slice to 1g, and cholesterol became negligible.
I also swapped 1/3 of the brown sugar  for splenda (so 1/2c brown sugar and 1/4c splenda), and reduced the calories further to 232.
You can safely remove 1/4 to 1/3 of the sugar from any cake recipe-- in this case, I kept some in, for it's various properties (aside from sweetening, sugar adds texture, draws in and keeps moisture, adds to browning, tenderizing the gluten... this is why you can't just straight substitute sugar for Splenda or other non-sugar sweeteners, which don't all have these properties).

So the final count for this cake (1/12th) comes to:
232 calories
1g fat
53g carb
4g protein
1g fiber
7% calcium
10% iron
2% vitamin A
trace vitamin C

Here's how to make my lightened Honey Cola Cake:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 large eggs

1 cup honey

3/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1/2 cup diet cola

1/4 cup splenda (bulk)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Make sure to do this 20-30 minutes before you start baking, to ensure the oven is at the proper temperature (the first beep isn't the right temperature... you basically need a good oven thermometer to ensure you're there).

Grease (or use a spray oil, like Pam) a 12" Bundt pan, or 10" tube pan.  You need that hole in the middle of the pan to ensure the cake bakes evenly.  You could try other pans, but will have to adjust the baking time.

First, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until blended.
Put aside in another bowl.

Flour mix, set aside, and the applesauce, standing by.

Process the brown sugar splenda, and eggs for about 30 seconds.  Then add applesauce and honey, blend for another 90 seconds.

Eggs and sweeteners (splenda and packed brown sugar) before blending.

Remove processor cover, and add the dry ingredients, pour the cola over that. Pulse for 4-5 quick turns, just until the dry ingredients are incorporated (a few lumps are ok, you can grab those with your spatula).

Immediately pour the batter into your pre-greased pan. 

Before baking

Bake at 325 degrees for about 1hr, and check that the cake is done with a fork or toothpick-- stick it into the middle, and if it comes up pretty clean (a crumb or 2 is fine), you're set.

Also, when the cake starts to pull away from the sides, you are for sure done!

After baking. Yes, it is gorgeous!

Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, before you remove from the pan to cool on a cake rack. 

Look at that light texture! It's really a delicious and easy cake.

The cake keeps well (honey is a deterrent to weird things growing, and keeps it moist), and definitely freezes well.

*******************************************************************************************************


Similarly, I was able to convert my favorite banana cake recipe.  The recipe has yogurt in it for tang and to help leaven the cake (you'll see!).

In this case, I replaced the butter with unsweetened applesauce (which is a bit risky-- butter and oil are NOT the same, chemically speaking.  Butter has fat AND water, and milk solids, whereas oil is just a pure liquid fat.  But it seems to have worked), and replaced the 1.5 cups (!) of sugar with 1/2c brown sugar, 1/2c xylitol, and 1/2c splenda.
The brown sugar is more flavorful than white sugar, and contains molasses, which helps make it moist (and is where the brown flavor and color come from).  The Xylitol is a great sugar substitute, with good flavor and browning abilities-- I'm liking it more and more in my sweet treats.  Splenda just adds sweetness, but doesn't do much in terms of texture, which is why I needed the other sweeteners. It is the lowest calorie sweetener of the bunch.

The original recipe made 9 servings, which must've been HUGE... I decided to make muffins, and I made 18 muffins, so we'll compare against that number.

The original would've been 187 calories per muffin, with 6g of fat (3 saturated) and 38mg cholesterol
My lightened version  has 123 calories per muffin, 1g of fat, and 24mg cholesterol.
Lots of folate and B1

here's the stats for 1 of 18 muffins (I made 12 slightly bigger and 6 slightly smaller, but let's say I made them all even, and this would be the count):
123 cal
1g fat
24mg cholesterol
111mg sodium
101mg potassium
27g carb
6g fiber (some of this is how the xylitol is counted)
3g protein
4% calcium
5% iron
2% vitamin C
1% vitamin A
8% B1
7% Folacin

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup splenda (bulk)

1/2 cup xylitol

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large bananas

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup greek yogurt 0% fat

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Do this a good 20-30 minutes before you start baking.

In a food processor, combine the eggs, applesauce, sweeteners, and vanilla.  Whiz for 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl once.
While it's running, drop in the banana in chunks, and whiz until fully processed and smooth.

Meanwhile, in a 2c measuring cup or a bowl, mix 3/4c of yogurt (greek 0% or regular non-fat, or even regular yogurt of a different %, but you'll have higher calories), with the 1tsp of baking soda.
This will take about 2 minutes to DOUBLE IN VOLUME.
Have the kids watch that... :)

Mix the 2c of flour with the 1tsp of baking powder. Set aside.

Mix the yogurt/baking soda puff into the banana mixture with a few quick pulses.
Then mix in the flour/baking powder with about 4 quick pulses.

Pour into your muffin pans,  sprayed with Pam, or a well greased 9x9 pan, or a bundt pan... you can't really go wrong with this recipe.

Well, unless your oven isn't hot enough...then your muffins will be flat, like mine. The leaveners need a quick BLAST of high temperature to start working, and this is why pre-heating your oven is SO CRITICAL.

Let this be a lesson!!!

they still taste delicious though...

 

Yes, the muffins are flat. My oven wasn't hot enough.  Still delicious, but flat.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 and check for done-ness.  Bake up to 50 minutes total. (Muffins take less time than a full pan of cake).
Easily frozen, and could be frosted if you like that kind of thing.

Dreaming of Frozen Yogurt

I'm on an ice cream making roll... well, not so much ice cream now, but frozen yogurt.  And maybe not a roll... maybe more like a.... umm... brioche? Can't think of baking now, I have frozen treats to tell you about!

First, some history-- last year, when I bought my Whynter Sno ice cream maker, I bought an ice cream recipe book.  Naturally, it was full of sugar, and almost every recipe called for creating a custard with the eggs and milk/cream. UGH.  So not me, ya know?

About the exact same time, a beloved friend came to visit, and brought an ice cream recipe book for me as a hostess gift! Coincidence? No such thing! The universe clearly wanted me to make ice cream! 

Now this book was no ordinary book.  Nay nay.  My friend lives in Ohio, and this book was from Jeni's Splendid Ice creams (book here, website for ice cream here).  Jeni's is currently only available in Ohio, 2 stores in Nashville, and if you are lucky enough to live in the US, there is overnight home delivery (swoon). 

I looked over the recipes, thought it was interesting that she didn't use eggs (my kinda ice cream), but still had lots of stuff I don't usually use: sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup.  Everything has a reason, mostly texture and mouth-feel.  But still, for the way I was eating at the time, too many carbs for sure.

This year, I decided to crack the books open again.  I'm focusing mostly on calories right now, so a bit higher carb count in a treat isn't going to rock my world.

And I remembered- Jeni's doesn't use eggs, and since I really am not a fan of the whole egg/milk tempering thing (soooo easy to make gross scrambled eggs), I got out my molecular gastronomy thinking cap, and am now working to convert her awesome recipes to lower calorie, lower sugar, but just as delicious versions.

That Said...

Here is the result of my first attempt.  Roasted Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt.

I'll admit, I think I could further adapt this recipe-- I could use guar/xanthan gums (maybe even konjac powder) in place of the corn starch.  I could also reduce calories further by tweaking the xylitol and isomalt ratios.  I'll keep working on that. 

But the current result is pretty good!

Note: this recipe involves advanced prep.  You'll want to make the roasted rhubarb and the drained yogurt the night before.

Ingredients:

    Rhubarb compote:
1 lb. fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/3c Splenda or granular sweetener of your choice (nutritional info will vary based on what you use)

Frozen yogurt Base:
1 quart (I used the 650ml container) plain fat-free yogurt (could use low-fat, will change your nutritional values of course)-- drained 6-8hrs or overnight. More below.

1.5 c. whole milk

2 T. cornstarch

2 oz. (4T) fat free cream cheese, softened (could use regular, will change your nutritional values of course)

1/2 c. heavy cream

2/3 c. xylitol

1/4 c. isomalt syrup, or light corn syrup (nutritional values are for isomalt, using corn syrup will change these of course)

 

Advanced preparations:

 

1) roast the rhubarb: set the oven to 300 degrees, combine rhubarb and sweetener in a 8x11 glass plate or ceramic baking dish, stir to mix well.  Bake for about 40-45 minutes, stirring every 15 min or so, until the rhubarb is soft and falling apart a bit, but still nice and pink.

 

You will use 3/4 c. for the recipe.  Let all of it cool, covered, in the fridge until ready to use.  Leftovers are great with strawberries, or as a sauce on other ice cream, etc.

 

2) Drain the yogurt:  OK, I think you could just use 1.25c of fat free Greek yogurt, and not do the whole draining thing.  But the original recipe called for draining regular yogurt, so this is how to do that:  line a sieve with 2 layers of cheesecloth (or, frankly, paper towels) and fit over a bowl so that there's good space between the bottom of the sieve and the bottom of the bowl.  Pour in the yogurt (the whole container) and let it drain for 6-8 hrs, or over night, in the fridge (leaving it out won't do anything bad, but then you have a bit more of a "cheese" and that's not what we want here...).  Dump out the liquid- there will be a lot!

The start of draining the yogurt. There's a bit of liquid there at the bottom

You will have about 1.25 c. of thickened yogurt.  I used all of it in the recipe.  This is also really tasty for dips, but that's another post for another time...

 

3) Isomalt syrup:  if you don't want to use corn syrup (and I didn't), then make isomalt syrup.  Isomalt is a sugar substitute, used in sugar-free hard candies and other things all the time.  Lots of interesting properties, and it's a bit lower in calories than xylitol. 

To make a mock-light-corn syrup, simply heat 3 parts isomalt to 1 part water.  Just heat until everything is melted.
You can refrigerate whatever you don't use, but don't freak out, it will fully crystallize again in the fridge.  It will melt again when heated.  It's ok. I promise.  Use 1/4c of syrup for this recipe.

 

To make the frozen yogurt once the prep is done:

Measure out the 1.5 c. of whole milk.  In a small bowl, measure out about 3T of the milk, and the 2T of cornstarch, and mix into a slurry.  Set aside.

 

Mix the rest of the milk, and the cream, xylitol, and isomalt (or corn) syrup in a 4 quart pot.  This is critical, because this will bubble quite a bit and you don't want it boiling over.

The milk/cream/sweetener boiling. It puffed up even more when I stirred it.

Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and cook for 4 minutes.

Remove from heat, and whisk in the milk/cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to the heat, stirring, for 1 more minute.  It will be quite thick, like sweetened evaporated milk.

After adding the cornstarch/milk slurry and boiling for 1 minute more. Very thick.

Remove from heat.

In a big bowl, measure out the fat-free cream cheese, and whisk a bit to make sure it's soft. 
Slowly, in small additions, mix in the hot milk mixture and ensure it's all smooth, until it's all incorporated and smooth.

Next, add the 1.25 c. of drained yogurt and the 3/4 c. of cold roasted rhubarb.
Chill the bowl inside another bowl with ice and water, or cover and put in the fridge until cooled.  Ice water will work a bit faster, if that's what you want.

Cooled mixture ready to go into the ice cream maker

Once the mixture is cool, it will be VERY thick.  Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's direction, but keep an eye on it. 
Mine finished waaaay early, b/c the rhubarb froze and the whole thing got thick and hard to stir.

Transfer to a container for the freezer, and let it set up for a couple of hours at least.

Finished product. Tart and sweet and made with my very own rhubarb from the garden!

 

So there you have it.  The base is still a work in progress for me, but as it is, it's very, very good.  Not too hard, no eggs to deal with, scientifically sound (the reason you boil the milk with sweeteners it to evaporate some of the liquid, so your ice crystals will be fewer, and smaller. And you also create a sweetener syrup, which is better than dry crystals mingling about).  You could use this base for other things, instead of the full heavy cream/milk base. Tangier.

 

Excellent taste and texture (that scoop there in that picture? I ate that!).

 

Oh, and no math! Just chemistry ;-)

 

Nutrition info:

For the recipe, as posted (i.e if you make changes, you have to figure your own stuff out)

 

8 healthy servings (I bet you can get 10 smaller ones... but let's say 8):

 

215 calories

7g fat

31g carbs total (19g are fiber, incl some of the sweeteners. 12g net carbs, if you count that way)

3g protein

23% of your day's calcium

6% of vitamin A

6% of Ribovlavin (B2)