Grapefruit ice cream

[Silly]

When I was in Paris, I stopped at a little stand by the Notre Dame and found... grapefruit ice cream.  The best thing I had ever tasted.  It wasn't a sorbet, it was like a pink ice cream with a lot of grapefruit flavor.  From then on, I stopped at every ice cream stand I saw in Europe (and still continue my search...)

I have not found it since.  So... I'm wondering how to make ice cream.  Is it possible?  Could I make it with grapefruit flavor?

Or if anybody knows a place to... like, special order ice cream online...

I NEED IT!!!

[smarmyclothes]

ohhh, this sounds strangely delicious. 

i bought an ice cream maker as a xmas present to myself and my boyfriend this past xmas.  it's awesome.  i believe i have the cuisinart ice-20.  http://www.epinions.com/Ice_Cream_Makers/search_string_~ice%20cream%20maker/adv_search_~1

it's pretty simple.  just freeze the special bowl and get your ice cream supplies handy and pour them in.  you might be able to find some grapefruit flavored syrup somewhere.

[danger.kitty]

I wonder if you could use grapefruit juice concentrate for this?  it's fairly syrupy when melted before you add the water

[gink]

Could it have been sorbetto? I've never seen grapefruit ice cream, but grapefruit sorbetto is the best thing on earth. It's different from sorbet, and you can find it at many Italian places that sell gelati.

Or if I'm wrong and it was ice cream, you could hunt down grapefruit sorbetto anyways because it would be easier than making your own ice cream! That's what I'd do, but sometimes I'm lazy.

[Lothruin]

http://www.recipes-from-friends.com/dessert/ice-cream/ruby-red-ice-cream.htm

There's also a book called "131 Ice Cream Maker Recipes" that has a Grapefruit Ice Cream recipe in it.

As far as special-ordering, I guess it depends on where you live, but you should be able to find an ice cream shop in your area that will make ice cream for you.  Even my smallish city (300,000) has an ice cream shop where all the ice cream is made in-house, and they do special orders.  It's the only place I can get Licorice Ice Cream besides the lovely little city park ice cream stand in Sheridan, WY.  (Sadly, Sheridan is too far away for me to get the good stuff more than once every 10 years.  If I want it more often than that, which I DO, I gotta special order it.)

[McAuliflower]

You could also make it with a vanilla ice cream base and add food grade grapefruit essential oil.
Essential oils can be found in most "health food" stores or specially made by garden nurseries.  Make sure to enquire from the manufacturer if it is food grade though (as some brands use formaldehyde or other bad chemicals in their extraction process).

If you don't want to use essential oil-
make sure to use a high fat ice cream base (whipping cream and half and half) if combining fruit juice with your cream.  The high fat of the cream will prevent the acidity of the grapefruit from curdling your mixture- yucko!

In my opinion, cooking down the grapefruit juice into a concentrated flavored syrup would change the flavor of the juice too much.  Grapefruit takes on an interesting spicy flavor when cooked.  You might want to try zesting several grapefruits (making sure only the peel and no white pith is attached) and gently steeping the zest in the milk/cream component of your ice cream base.  I think the zest maybe the key to imparting a juicy flavor without adding the acid.

I've got an ice cream recipe up on my website.  The recipe in question is a tea flavored ice cream (Sooo Good!).  To do the zest trick- just sub out the tea and add a bunch of grapefruit zest instead (and add a drop or two of red food coloring for the pink hue).

all in all, some fun and tasty food experiments can be had...
thanks for the to-do project idea!