Frontier Natural Coffee Flavor

I have been experimenting with some new home-made ice cream recipes recently. I attempted to make Chunky Monkey (or should I call that "hefty chimp" to avoid any trademark issues?)...using McCormick's Imitation Banana flavoring. That flavor was very artificial and turned out mediocre at best. I made pina colada, which was nice and refreshing and I also tried chocolate peppermint which was delicious. After seeing a Wendy's advertisement for Coffee Toffee shakes, I decided that this might be an easy and tasty treat to experiment with.

I found Frontier Alcohol-Free Coffee Flavor at Trader Joe's (if my memory hasn't failed me). The smallish 2 ounce bottle was not inexpensive at nearly five dollars per bottle. The recipe I use normally calls for about a tablespoon of flavoring, but on tasting the mix, I discovered it to be a bit on the bland side. Because coffee flavoring is more difficult to condense than some of the other extracts, I decided to put one full ounce in the batter. This seemed to be exactly the right measurement when I tasted the finished product. The coffee provided a smooth foundation which tasted like a mocha chino with toffee bits in it. The cream and sugar were, of course, natural complements to the flavor...for those of us who like our coffee light and sweet.

I have tried to make condensed coffee myself in the past to no avail. The brewing process makes the coffee very acidic and bitter when condensed. I have read about a cold process where the coffee is allowed to steep for a longer period of time without heating the bean that is supposed to eliminate the bitterness. That process seems too time-consuming and tedious to me. Having that convenience in a bottled product that can be bought off the shelf makes life a lot easier.

Frontier Alcohol-Free Coffee Flavor uses glycerin instead of alcohol. The glycerin serves several functions. Glycerin is a preservative for certain plant products. I am not certain if that is the main purpose for using glycerin in this product instead of alcohol, but the preservative qualities of glycerin may serve to keep the coffee from turning bad. Glycerin is also a sweetener that does not raise blood sugar levels. An element of sweetness to the coffee flavoring is certainly not a bad thing when using it to make ice cream. Finally, Glycerin acts as a thickening agent. You would think that condensed coffee would be naturally thick. The glycerin creates a slightly molasses-like consistency. The other ingredients are water and natural flavors (which I would hope means coffee beans but indicates other natural flavors as well).

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McCormick's Peppermint Extract

With the hot months of Summer comes the cooled off refreshment of home-made ice cream. I have been experimenting with new flavors, many of them based on specialty flavors I have seen at the store or on television. One of my favorite ice cream flavors is Haagen Dazs' seasonal peppermint flavor. The combination of peppermint and chocolate is refreshing and satisfying.

In order to recreate this flavor when it went out of season, I purchased a small bag of peppermint candy, a package of Nestle's Milk Chocolate chips and a one ounce bottle of McCormick's Pure Peppermint Extract. McCormick sells both "pure" and "imitation" flavors, the quality of which varies greatly. I did not find the imitation banana to be to my liking, but the Pure Peppermint is fantastic.

The concentrated nature of the McCormick's Pure Peppermint Extract allows a little bit to go a long way. One gallon of ice cream normally calls for approximately one tablespoon of flavoring. That is equal to one half fluid ounce (or half the bottle). That may seem like a lot, but considering that one tablespoon is providing the foundation for an entire gallon of ice cream, the intensity of the extract becomes obvious. I found the peppermint provided an exceptionally clean and refreshing flavor. Combined with the crushed peppermints and chocolate, the combination was almost as good as Haagen Dazs' original (which is phenomenal). I used two teaspoons instead of the full tablespoon because I was adding peppermint candies. This reduction was not evident in the flavor.

An ounce serving of McCormick's Pure Peppermint Extract will set you back around three to four dollars at Wal-Mart...more at the grocery store. The price may seem a bit steep, but considering it will flavor two gallons of ice cream, the cost seems a little more reasonable. If you were to extrapolate the cost of an equal amount of Haagen Dazs to the cost of a gallon of homemade ice cream, you will probably find that actually come out ahead in the end.

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