Often referred to as ‘astronaut’ or ‘space’ ice cream, this take on the delicious frozen treat is made using dehydration to remove the majority of its water content. As a result, it requires no freezing and is fine being stored at room temperature.
Initially developed by Whirlpool Corporation, who were working for NASA to provide transportable food for the long haul Apollo flights, it can now be found in many museum gift shops and is a popular purchase for those folks known as preppers.
More of a novelty food than anything else, it’s a fun snack to try with kids.
It’s also a great way to sneak in some educational discussions about the science behind it, without them guessing you’re trying to teach something!
How It’s Made
In order to make an accurate replication, you’ll need access to an industry standard freeze dryer. This works at reducing the air pressure and creating a partial vacuum, in order to cause the ice cream’s water content to evaporate.
In a process that can take several hours, the water is repeatedly heated and vaporized until only a slice of freeze dried ice cream remains. This is strangely crisp in texture, but remains soft when bitten into.
Given the above technology can be both expensive and hard to come by, however, we’re here to provide another method that’s slightly more cumbersome but equally tasty! It’s not quite the same thing, but it sure tastes good!
‘Astronaut Ice Cream’ Style Meringues
Okay, so this is sort of cheating, but since meringues are yummy and also have a texture akin to that of freeze-dried ice cream, they make for an excellent imitation.
Plus, you won’t have to wait hours for the dehydration process. Win-win!
You Will Need:
- Six egg whites
- A cup and a half of granulated white sugar
- Half a teaspoon of cream of tartar
- Flavoring of your choice - vanilla extract works great, but peppermint, chocolate or strawberry are good too! Just avoid oils.
- Food coloring, gel based (optional, but adorable)
- Electric or hand whisk
- Large mixing bowl (with additional bowls for every flavor you plan on making)
- Baking tray
- Wax parchment paper
Step By Step Guide
- First things first, go ahead and preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, then line your baking tray with parchment paper so it’s ready to go.
- Delicately separate your eggs as neatly as possible, saving the yolks for another recipe and putting the whites to one side.
- Using either an electric whisk (which will be a huge timesaver) or a manual one, gently beat the whites in your mixing bowl until they’re just beginning to foam.
- Once you’re at that stage, it’s time to add the cream of tartar, which helps to stabilize the eggs and ultimately make achieving bigger, better peaks a lot easier.
- Now start mixing again for a minute or two, stopping once soft peaks have been achieved - these would still fall out and onto your head, were you performing the upside down bowl trick!
- Once at soft peaks, you should begin to gradually add your sugar - don’t tip it all in at the same time, or your peaks will deflate faster than you can say astronaut! A few spoonfuls at a time is your best bet.
- If you’re making different flavors at once, now is the time to separate into two or three batches and add your extracts and food coloring, both of which are optional but make for even tastier, more realistic ‘ice cream’
- Try to be as quick as you can with the above separating and adding, then whisk all of your batches until stiff peaks have been attained. That means your mixture is ready to go!
- This should be enough for around 12 meringues, but you could make more or less by increasing or decreasing the size. Gently dollop a teaspoon or two of mixture onto your baking tray, being careful to leave plenty of room between each one to avoid spreading.
- Grab your tray with both hands and gently smack the bottom against a solid surface (you may have seen this technique on The Great British Baking Show) as this will help achieve a more uniform appearance. Skip this step if you’re not fussed about aesthetically pleasing fake icecream!
- Once ready to rock and roll, you’re going to want to bake these for at least an hour and a half, if not two hours, being sure to cast a careful eye over them every so often. It sounds like a long time, but you’re trying to replicate the dry, crispy texture of dehydrated ice cream, so stick with it!
- Give one meringue a tap to check if they are done - they should sound hollow inside, with a crunchy exterior and a slightly chewy interior.
- Leave to cool on a rack (or keeping them on the baking tray is fine) for around ten to fifteen minutes. Once nice and temperate, they’re ready to enjoy. Bon appetit!
Storage Suggestions
Once baked, these tasty treats will keep fresh for around two weeks, provided that you store then in an airtight container. This should be placed in a dry, cool place, and not refrigerated - your kitchen cupboard or pantry should suffice.
Of course, if you’re preparing a whole bunch of these in advance, it’s more than fine to pop them in the freezer, where they’ll stay delicious for at least a month or two. Put a sheet of parchment paper between each layer to avoid sticking!
After the freezing process, you’ll need to give them a couple of hours on a wire rack to defrost at room temperature. Avoid doing so in an especially humid kitchen or on a hot day, as they can very easily take on moisture and ruin that crispy texture.
You can reheat them post-freeze if you’re looking for that oven fresh feeling - preheat the oven to 200 degrees and pop them in for 10 minutes or so, which should crisp them up a little and make them feel just-bak