Why you should take an ice course at Ballabeni Icecream
In beautiful Munich you have a lot of choice between very many good ice cream parlors and ice cream artists. A very well known Master of ice cream making is Giorgio Ballabeni. He and his team offer in winter ice courses where you can learn how to make them at home.
Recently I remembered that we visited one of these ice courses there a few years ago. Four years to be exact and therefore I can unfortunately show you only a few photos. Had I known at the time that I will have times this blog, I would have made of course more photos.
However, you can imagine that this is a very special occasion was. But let's start at the beginning.
How do I get a seat?
The first hurdle was to get a place on an ice course. Because the courses are much sought-after and you have to register in good time, to be able to participate in it. We have joined forces with our Mail address registered and were then informed which Dates there will be. These were quite far in the future, but of course we immediately registered.
Key data on the Ballabeni ice course
- Group size: 8 persons (Status 08/2022)
- costs: 215 Euro per person (Status 08/2022)
- Duration: approx. 3,5 hours (Status 08/2022)
- included are the Ingredients, drinks, a Apron, a Folder with recipes and a signed by Giorgio Ballabeni Certificate
- ...and the best thing is, you get to do lots of Ice try
The course takes place at Seidlstrasse 28 in Munich in the Ice workshop held. This is a beautiful bright room that has a lot of atmosphere. This is also the location where the new Ice cream creations for Ballabeni Icecream concocted and tested.
The group size is manageable. At the moment there are 8 people. With us, if I remember correctly, there were 12 people. But also our Group size was in any case still quite pleasant.
The Price can unfortunately already be called crunchy. But don't let that put you off! I haven't regretted a single cent and you get really plenty on offer.
Each participant also receives a high-quality apron embroidered with their first name. This is really a nice idea and makes it easier to address the various participants.
The little Folder Contains information on the Ice composition and the Recipes with appropriate calculations.
Besides, you can even use your bring your own ice cream machineto practice handling with it and get tips. This is a really great offer. For ourselves it was too much schlepperei our Nemox Gelatissimo to take with us. We were also very keen to try out a different ice cream machine. Another participant actually brought her own Unold machine and that was also very interesting for the rest of us.
Performance of the great master
Giorgio Ballabeni came into the room and greeted us warmly at first. He told us about his path to ice cream production. What can I say, you just have to like him. A real Italian, proud of his ice cream empire (and rightly so) and you can tell at every moment his Love of ice cream on. He was also incredibly eager to teach all participants.
First he gave us the Basics explained what the ideal composition of an ice cream is and how he tests new ice cream creations. It was all very interesting and also not too long, but just right.
The ice cream varieties in the course
Then it got exciting, because we learned What ice cream varieties we would do today in the course:
- Chocolate ice cream
- Espresso latte ice cream
- Hazelnut ice cream
- Yoghurt ice cream
- Banana sorbet
If you want, I'll take Ice cream recipes to this gradually include in my ice cream blog. Many of them are with egg yolk and that was me for a long time a little too elaborate and too tricky. Meanwhile, I have the knack, but I still often rather make ice cream without egg. In the ice cream course we have pasteurised egg yolk used from the Tetra Pak. This, of course, makes the preparation much easier.
At every type of ice cream was allowed one of the participants to the master at hand go. We learned an incredible amount of interesting facts about the processes, details about the varieties and there were also tips about the ingredients or possible variations.
For the Espresso Ice Cream very many cups of espresso had to be made. Again, one of the participants was allowed to try his hand at this. He was first introduced to the art of making espresso. Finally, after a few practice cups, the manufactured espresso was also quite passable for the taste of Giorgio Ballabeni 😉
At the Banana sorbet we got the tip to scrape off the outermost layer of the bananas after peeling, so that the ice cream is finer. And I must say, I have never eaten such a delicious banana sorbet. I now also do this for my Milk ice cream with bananabecause then it tastes finer.
All types of ice cream were exceptionally good and very easy to make. Unfortunately, after a short time we were already incredibly full of all the ice cream.
Comparison of two different ice cream machines
As I said. one participant their own Unold ice cream machine in the ice course. Unfortunately, I can no longer remember the exact model. But those who know the company, know that it is a very good machine, which is in the middle price segment. The really interesting thing was, the same ice cream mass from two different ice cream machines to be able to compare them directly with each other. And believe it or not, there is a tangible difference. It's not that one machine outperformed the other. But the ice cream from the Ballabeni ice cream machines was still a tad creamier, because much more air was whipped in.
The conclusion
At the end each participant gets a Certificate with a golden emblem. In addition, we were also allowed to other ice cream varieties from the Ballabeni assortment or the ice cream workshop try. However, hardly anyone could eat anything, since we already had so much ice cream.
Conclusion on the ice course at Ballabeni
I think you've noticed while reading very much liked was from the ice cream course at Ballabeni Icecream. Whether you are deterred by the nevertheless decent price, probably depends on how much you are interested in the ice cream production. I find in any case that one for his money the corresponding equivalent ...gets. I have there highly skilled and my Enthusiasmto make your own ice cream has once again grown with it.
Hello Sabine,
because of your lines here, I also visited an ice course at Ballabeni. I was able to get one of the coveted places and I was the whole day in a great mood. I can only confirm that it is really worth it, even if the course now costs 220 €. The prices for the materials (all only world's best, as Giorgio always affirmed and I also believe 😉 ) have also increased. I was able to take away many valuable tips and have ordered another Cube. Currently I have a Unold Gusto, but as you wrote... one notices the difference clearly. One participant had a Graef with him and in comparison, the ice cream from the Cube was much creamier. If you do not have the direct comparison, you really do not believe it.
I put a smile on Giorgio's face when I mentioned the additional scraping of the banana. "Where did you get that???" "From someone who took an ice cream class with you." He was visibly amused and pleased and he was at it again, at his love for the best ice cream in the world 😉 .
Thanks for your blog! There is nothing about homemade ice cream, we hardly go to an ice cream parlor and pack ice cream we buy already no more.
Dear Christine,
Thank you very much for telling us about your course at Ballabeni. I was very happy about your lines and I had to smile about the banana story 😀.
Glad to read that the course is still a great experience and that you enjoyed it. Giorgio is quite a character in his own right!
I wish you still a lot of fun with the ice cream production and of course with the food.
Very dear greetings