This was a great book! It was interesting to read a little history of Mexican ice cream and sorbets, as well a bit about the author and creator of these recipes! The recipes themselves are mouth watering to read! I can't wait until summer to try a few! I will have to add this one to my cookbook collection at home as well as recommend for purchase by my library!

This book has some beautiful recipes in it and I'll be attempting to make a few of them.. I just hope they work out like the book.

Looking forward to the summer to try some of these recipes out. Full review nearer publication.

In accordance with the publisher’s request, I will not publish the following review to Goodreads until 06 June 2017, which is within one week of the book’s publication date.

To be completely honest, when I think of really good ice cream, either I think of the dairy farm down the road from my parents’ house in New England that churns its own ice cream in the summertime, or I think of the lovely gelaterie that I ran across during my very brief travels in Italy. I have never associated Mexico with ice cream, but I have never spent significant time in Mexico. So I hoped that this book offered me the opportunity to learn something new and interesting.

According to the Introduction, the author’s intent with the book is to inspire the reader “to discover a new world of tastes, textures, and frozen treats.” The Introduction includes a brief history of Mexican ice cream, dating it back to gathering snow from the tops of volcanoes in pre-Hispanic times and tracing it through the arrival of Italian immigrants in the early twentieth century. In modern Mexico, many traditional ice cream makers still use unpasteurized raw milk from grass fed cows. Traditional Mexican ice cream is also unique because it is hand churned in a large metal cylinder that is placed inside a wooden barrel and surrounded by ice and coarse salt. The lower fat content from the higher quality milk and the denser texture from hand churning makes Mexican ice cream more similar to an Italian gelato than an American ice cream.

In the Introduction, the author assures the reader that all that is necessary to capture the spirit of authentic Mexican ice creams and sorbets is a trip to the local Latin American grocery store and a standard electric ice cream machine. There is a very thorough overview of key ingredients – from avocadoes to tamarind – including acceptable substitutes if authentic Mexican ingredients are not available. For example, if Mexican vanilla is not available, Tahitian or Madagascar vanilla is an acceptable substitute. Finally, there is an overview of some basic pieces of kitchen equipment that should make the ice cream making process more enjoyable. In addition to the ice cream machine, the equipment list includes no-brainers like measuring cups and spoons, saucepans, and whisks.

The recipes are categorized into five chapters according to their type: sorbets, classic Mexican ice creams, modern Mexican ice creams, spicy and boozy flavors, and cones, toppings and sauces. Each chapter begins with an introduction that discusses the unique qualities of the category of recipes to follow. Each recipe has the title written both English and Spanish. The recipe headnotes are often stories about the Mexican ice cream makers who shared their recipes with the author or about the author’s experiences with Mexican ice cream that inspired her to create the recipes. Sometimes the headnotes, like the headnote for Mole Ice Cream, are about the key ingredients themselves. The ingredients are measured by volume (rather than weight) in American measurements to the left of the recipe. The recipes are written in paragraph format, with several steps taking place within one paragraph. The individual steps are clear and concise, with little additional description, additional explanation, or unnecessary fluff added. To the author’s credit, she repeats the necessary steps in each recipe so that each recipe can stand on its own. Although that makes it a little boring when reading the cookbook cover to cover, it is much better for cooking than if she wrote a master set of steps and then had each recipe refer back to that set of steps on page 0000.

The full color photography in this book is absolutely stunning. I would have liked to have seen one photograph of each finished recipe – especially for the Modern Mexican Ice Creams – to get a better idea of the color and texture of the finished product; as it was there was only a photograph of every third or fourth recipe. The location photographs provide an excellent sense of place and culture to differentiate this book from any other ordinary ice cream book.

I am no newcomer to ice cream making. Most of my experience is from Lou Siebert’s book about ice creams and sorbets. However, Mexican Ice Cream did teach me some new and interesting things. Avocadoes ripen faster when stored in a paper bag with a banana. Some sugar in liquid form, such as honey or light corn syrup, can inhibit the formation of ice crystals during freezing and keep a sorbet smooth. Not all ice cream requires a custard base made with egg yolks; it may simply require some milk whisked with cornstarch. And so on.

Although I have marked several recipes as “must try,” I have yet to prepare any of the recipes from this book. I have to use up some of the surplus frozen goods in my freezer to free up enough space to fit the canister of my ice cream maker. Once I do that and am in the ice cream making business, I will update my review.

Another fantastic entry by Fany; I've reviewed her previous two titles on "My Sweet Mexico" and "Paletas," and from the moment I saw on FB/ Instagram that she had an upcoming ice cream book, I couldn't wait to dive in! These spice-and-tropical-infused treats will be sure to delight at the height of summer or any time of year.

This book was interesting. On one hand the formatting sucked. It was not made for ebook at all, and showed. This made reading difficult as words didn't line up, sentences got cut off, the formatting was bizarre, and so on. So it wasn't a satisfying read, but that isn't the book's fault. That's a fault of the publisher. It did influence my reading though and I ended up skimming more than reading. If I have to concentrate just to figure out where the next line is in not going to give the attention deserved.
That being said, the recipes were awesome. It's the middle of January where I am so I didn't make any ice creams or sorbets but I definitely made note of the ones I want to try! I'm most excited about the lime and Pulparindo sorbets. I can't wait to try them.
The recipes, once you got past the formatting, were easy to understand and clearly laid out. The pictures were bright and cheerful. The stories that went along with each recipe was a fun tidbit as well. I look forward to the actual cookbook and correct formating.

This is an amazing collection of recipes for sorbets and ice creams from different regions of Mexico. The author spends time discussing traditions, the regions, and the ingredients. It includes traditional recipes as well as some more modern takes on the favorite dessert of summer. While I'm not likely to make the ice cream that featured grasshoppers as an ingredient, it was interesting. The author includes a recipe for sugar cones as well as for several toppings. The recipes do require an ice cream churn/freezer. I received an electronic copy of an e-galley for review purposes from the publisher through NetGalley. However, I liked this book so much I'm certain I'll be ordering my own copy before summer.