Haley Pollock

Diana Li
NUSC 3234
10/5/16

Frozen Desserts
Introduction:
Frozen desserts are made from freezing liquids that may render a solid or semi-solid food
product. Frozen desserts are sweet and usually flavored. Unlike most food products, frozen
desserts must be frozen when serving to be accepted by the consumer. A melted frozen dessert
would not suffice as acceptable. There are agitated frozen desserts which use agitation to
incorporate air and minimize sugar crystals however there is still frozen desserts which do not
require agitation. In this lab, groups experimented with both types of frozen desserts to compare
and contrast structure, flavor, texture, and preference. The main factor which affect the quality of
a frozen dessert is sugar/ice crystallization. Sugar crystals must be kept very small throughout
the preparation process of a frozen dessert otherwise these crystals will render a gritty texture
and undesirable product. There are a few factors which affect sugar crystallization in frozen
dessert products, these factors include: agitation, fat, freezing point, stabilizers, and emulsifiers.
Methods:
When making Ice Milk #3 in exercise 3, 1 cups of whole milk was poured into a small
saucepan. The milk was heated until it started to bubble and became scalded. In a separate metal
bowl, one egg, cup of granulated sugar and a pinch of salt was whisked to combine. The
scalded milk was slowly tempered into the egg mixture meaning the milk was added a small
amount at the time while vigorously whisking the egg mixture so it did not curdle. Once all the
milk was incorporated, the bottom of a double boiler was filled, and the egg/milk mixture was
put in the top of the double boiler over medium heat. This mixture was whisked frequently while
it was heated. The mixture started to thicken and once the mixture was nappe or coated a metal
spoon, the mixture was transferred to an ice bath to cool. The mixture was cooled to around 80

degrees Fahrenheit and transferred to a frozen freezer bowl fitted with an agitation blade. A
height measurement was taken before starting the machine to calculate overrun. The ice cream
machine was turned on and agitated until fully frozen. Another height measurement was taken to
calculate overrun. Finally, the ice cream was transferred to a frozen metal bowl and stored in the
freezer.
Results:
Please see attached lab journal.
Discussion:
In the first exercise freezing temperature of ice was tested with different solutes and
concentrations of solutes. The addition of salt showed to have a better effect on lowering the
freezing point of ice compared to sugar. After twenty minutes both the 20 grams and 15 grams of
salt and ice had a freezing temperate of 14 degrees F whereas the sugar was 32 degrees F. When
comparing these results to the control, ice with no additions, the freezing temperature was the
same as the sugar, 32 degrees. Because there are more particles per gram in a NaCl molecule,
meaning its gram molecular weight is smaller compared to a sucrose molecule, more NaCl
particles can interact with water molecules. (1) This is a good thing in terms of ice cream
because the addition of salt makes it harder for ice/sugar crystals to form from the freezing of
water. This factor ensures the smooth mouthfeel thats desired in frozen dessert products.
The second exercise tests the outcome of a frozen dessert (orange ice) with the addition of a
stabilizer, gelatin. The orange ice made with gelatin was much smoother, sweeter, and had more
stability than the orange ice made without gelatin. The orange ice made without gelatin had an
undesirable icy mouthfeel, appeared much more melted, and had a tarter flavor. Gelatin is
derived from animal sources and contain collagen, a protein made of long chains of amino acids.
(2) These amino acids form a triple helical structure and when gelatin is added to other
molecules like those found in frozen desserts, this triple helix unravels into individual long

chains and stabilize a normally unstable (liquid) mixture. (2) This makes sense because proteins
are inherently macromolecules that create structure such as skin, muscle, nails, etc.
Various ice cream methods/factors were also experimented with in exercise 2. Ice milk #2
was an example of how agitation affects a frozen dessert product. This ice milk was not agitated
with a blade and had an extremely icy mouthfeel that was almost inedible because it was so
undesirable and very cold in the mouth. It was full of ice crystals and started melting quickly. Ice
milk 1 was made without egg, and was creamy but also a bit icy. It was not as smooth as the ice
milks which contained egg probably because the egg yolk contains lecithin which is an
emulsifier and gives a smoother mouthfeel. This ice milk was not as thick either which can be
the result of a lower fat content since it only contained whole milk and no cream or eggs. Ice
milk 3 was the same as 1 but it contained an egg which was cooked into the milk without
curdling. This ice milk was smoother, richer and thicker most likely from the addition of the egg
which contains proteins to stabilize the ice cream and give it more body. The French ice cream
was prepared with cream instead of whole milk and an egg which gives it a much higher fat
content. This higher fat content means the ice cream will be creamier, richer and have more body
and it did. This is because the higher the fat content the more fat available to coat sugar crystals
and limit their rigid formation. This type of ice cream gives a stronger colloidal emulsion so
there is more dispersion of fat suspended in the water-sugar-ice structure, giving it a smoother
mouthfeel. (3) The dairy free ice cream was also very high in fat because coconut milk was used
instead of regular milk. This ice cream was very creamy and had the most body out of all of
them, but also had a coconut flavor that some people may not enjoy. Finally, the one semi-solid
frozen dessert that was made was the chocolate mousse. The mousse did not set up properly, it
came out very runny. But it was very rich and creamy in texture and had a great mouthfeel. The
addition of a stabilizer such as gelatin could have made this mousse more stable and added much

more body to the final product. Unfortunately, a stabilizer was not used and although whipped
cream and beaten egg yolks were added (which add body) the unproportioned amount of liquid
milk in the recipe rendered it runny and unacceptable.
Finally the ice milks/creams with the higher fat content also happened to have a higher
overrun percentage. This could be explained by more air being able to be incorporated into the
fat molecules, but no online evidence could be found to support this theory. Of course the nonagitated ice milk had the lowest overrun because there was no air incorporated into this dessert,
so the volume increased very little.

References:
1. Bosma, Wayne. "Colligative Properties." Chemistry Explained. Web. 2 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Ce-Co/Colligative-Properties.html>.
2. "How Does Jell-O Work?" Boston.com. The New York Times, 02 Nov. 2009. Web. 02
Oct. 2016.
<http://archive.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2009/11/02/how_does_gelatin_powder_
make_liquids_hold_together/>.
3. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Ice Cream Works." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com. Web.
02 Oct. 2016. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/icecream.htm>.