Polar Vortex Ice Cream

When temperatures across parts of the United States plummeted in January, many people tried to spend as little time outside as possible. At New York City's International Culinary Center, however, that was not the case. The team at the ICC decided to conduct an experiment to see if they could make ice cream outside.

Chef Jansen Chan, the Director of Pastry Arts at ICC, accepted the challenge and succeeded with flying colors. Chef Chan made chocolate soft serve ice cream in eight minutes using nothing more than the outside wind to freeze his chilly treat.

To make ice cream on a typical day in a typical setting, a custard base, air and a freezing component are needed. Usually the freezing component is liquid nitrogen or some form of machinery. The custard needs to be spun for 20-25 minutes in a frozen chamber.

Thanks to Chef Chan, we now know that next time a polar freeze hits our region, we can have some fun and make ice cream outside in under ten minutes.

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Video Courtesy: ICC YouTube Channel