Bonjour, Hola, Ciao, or Hello in whatever exciting language you speak! My name is Emma, I live in London, and I am lucky enough to call myself a Student Ambassador for Curious Cardinals. Since I’ve become a Curious Cardinals Student Ambassador I have met so many incredible people and made lots of new friends, from LA to NYC! I have also learned so many skills, from improving my writing to speaking up when I am most vulnerable with people that I am not familiar with. I discovered this extraordinary company over the summer when I was looking for an inspiring activity to fill and enhance my long summer days. My father recommended that I take a coding class, however, I wasn’t too eager as I thought coding was boring and super challenging. So, as always, I didn’t settle without a negotiation! We made a deal that I would try at least one class. And per usual, my father was correct… I adored it! In August, I started off with a beginners coding class where we used scratch, and now, in December, my best friend and I are building a website to publish our game on! Since getting involved with Curious Cardinals, and then becoming a Student Ambassador, I have grown so much (academically and emotionally) and discovered so many new things about myself, like the fact that if I trust in myself and work hard I see huge results.
On November 28th, I had the opportunity to view Ice Cream Scientist Dr. Maya Warren's spectacular workshop, organized by one of the many amazing mentors at Curious Cardinals, Montanna, as part of her Women in STEM class! Dr. Maya Warren is an optimistic, ambitious, and cheerful individual who has always had a passion for science, and of course, ice cream! After a few science classes in high school and then college, and a couple awesome internships, Dr. Maya was sure she wanted to work in the field of Food Science. She received a PhD in Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she further discovered her fondness of ice cream. Then she went on to be the winner of the 25th Season of The Amazing Race with Dr. Amy DeJong! Right now, Dr. Maya Warren is the main Ice Cream Scientist for the international division of Cold Stone Creamery and the host of Ice Cream Sundays with Dr. Maya. She believes everyone should follow their dreams and strive for their passions!
So, you may be wondering why Montanna decided to choose this wonderful speaker to run a workshop for the Women in STEM class, right? Montanna previously knew Dr. Maya Warren from when she won the Amazing Race, where she was the third all female team to win! Montanna later recognized her name in an article about the Cold Stone Creameries, and their new Head of International Research and Development, which completely stunned her. From Montanna’s perspective, Dr. Maya Warren represents having a dream and not stopping until you reach it, which relates to the roots of her Women in STEM class. The entire mission of her class is not only to get the students interested in STEM, but also to give them the opportunity and confidence to make decisions on their own regardless of stereotypes in our society that tell them they aren’t good enough! Therefore, Montanna believed that Dr. Maya Warren was a perfect example of following your dreams no matter if anyone doubts you; as well as making science as exciting and engaging as possible.
There was so much I loved about this workshop! After reading the title "Women In Stem & Dr. Maya - Ice Cream Scientist," I already knew that this workshop was for me. Partially because one of my favorite subjects is science, and obviously because I adore ice cream!
Although my favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip, I decided to go for a classic flavor, vanilla ice cream with blue, red, and white sprinkles.
One of the best parts of this recipe is that it is straightforward and super fun for a creative home activity. The ingredients consisted of:
- 2 Cups of Heavy Whipping Cream.
- 1 1/4 Cups of Sweetened Condensed Milk.
- 1/4 Cups of Evaporated Milk.
- Pinch of Salt.
- 2TSP of Vanilla.
- OPTIONAL: Whatever topping or flavor you would like to enjoy. In my case, I chose to add rainbow sprinkles.
Similarly, we needed some kitchen equipment, such as:
- A Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer.
- A Spatula and Ladle.
- Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons.
- 2 Mixing Bowls: One Large and One Medium.
- Storage Container with Lid (NOTE: you can use parchment paper or plastic wrap if you don't have a lid).
- Space in the Freezer.
After preparing all the ingredients and kitchen equipment, I started my ice cream adventure. As well as following these directions and having a go on your own, you can check out how Eleanor, another fantastic student ambassador, made her ice cream as she created an awesome Tik Tok that is super easy to follow along! To access this, you should open the Curious Cardinals Instagram page, then scroll through the highlights until you find the one titled 'Workshops,' and finally, click through until you locate her story :)
Steps to Making Some Marvelous Ice Cream:
- I found a large mixing bowl and added the Sweetened Condensed Milk (It should be smooth/glossy and have a high viscosity).
- I poured the Evaporated Milk directly on top of the Sweetened Condensed Milk.
- I added a pinch of Sea Salt.
- I poured in the Vanilla Extract (doesn't it smell delicious! WOW).
- I took my spatula and mixed the ingredients until a fantastic homogeneous mixture was formed, which is lower in viscosity than before!
- I removed the Heavy Whipping Cream from the fridge and found the medium-sized bowl.
- I poured the cold Heavy Whipping Cream into the medium bowl and whisked it until it formed a nice and silky whipped cream (Whip for 3-5 minutes - start at a slow speed and then speed up, which will allow you not to make a massive mess).
- At this point, I had two bowls of mixture (the Sweetened Condensed Milk mixture and the Whipped Cream) ready! I gently folded the Whipped Cream into the Sweetened Condensed Milk mixture. NOTE: don't fold in all of the Whipped Cream at once! Dr. Maya folded in two large scoops at a time.
- I folded the mixture until I had a new homogeneous mixture, where I then gave it a little taste test. It was incredible!
- I took out my ladle and chose the container that I wanted to store the ice cream in. Similarly, I made sure all the inclusions I wanted to add were prepared.
- I took the ladle and lined the bottom of the container with the ice cream mixture. Then, I added the inclusions (my sprinkles).
- I repeated this process until I reached the top of the container, which was the top later full of inclusions.
- Once the container was full, I put the lid onto the container and placed it into the freezer for around 3-5 hours (at least).
- My friends and I scooped ourselves some Ice Cream Sundaes, which were fabulous :)
ICE CREAM FUN FACT TIME:
Did you know that in the United States of America, for something to be classified as ice cream, there is a legal definition! It must have 10% or more Milk Fat! - Dr. Maya Warren.
So what is the difference between no-churn ice cream and churn ice cream? Most of the time, they consist of the same ingredients. However, in ice cream that is churned, you would usually use sugar rather than sweetened condensed milk and less water than in ice cream that is not churned (this water comes from the cream). Due to the higher content of water, when the ice cream is frozen, it becomes slightly more icy. Therefore, the overall difference is that when making no-churn ice cream, you must whip the cream to create the foam, whereas ice cream made in an ice cream machine doesn't have any foam yet!
Emma's Ice Cream Rating:
Taste: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This workshop opened many new visions for me, from the variety of opportunities in the science industry to the incredible concepts that Women in STEM can create! I had a great time whipping up some homemade ice cream with my adorable puppy. Although my parents didn’t trust my incredible cooking abilities, my friends came over and we enjoyed my surprisingly delicious vanilla ice cream topped with 4th of July sprinkles.
