Process and Composition for Making an Alcohol-Containing Frozen Comestible

An alcohol-containing frozen comestible having at least a portion thereof of a frozen alcohol-containing composition having a substantially uniform consistency, said frozen alcohol-containing composition comprising from about 16% to about 24% of a sugar component, from about 12% to about 20% of a fat component and from about 15% to about 22% of an alcohol component;

• and
• wherein the alcohol-containing frozen comestible is made by a process comprising the steps of:
• a) freezing said alcohol-containing liquid composition at a rate to effect substantially simultaneous freezing of said components at a temperature of about −28° C. or less to produce a substantially single-phase solid alcohol-containing composition consisting of one or more solid alcohol-containing composition pieces;
• b) tempering said solid alcohol-containing composition pieces by raising the temperature thereof to a tempering temperature that is greater than said temperature of said freezing in step a) and that is within a range of from about −30° C. to about −15° C. so that the solid alcohol-containing composition pieces meld together to form at least one single mass;
• and
• c) cooling said at least one single mass to a temperature of about −35° C. or less to form said alcohol-containing frozen comestible;
• wherein the tempering temperature and time period of the tempering of step b) are selected to provide, after said cooling, a single mass frozen comestible with a desired level of creaminess and in a single phase.

A process for producing an alcohol-containing frozen comestible having a substantially uniform frozen consistency from a multi-component, alcohol-containing liquid composition, said process comprising the steps of:

• a) freezing said alcohol-containing liquid composition at a rate to effect substantially simultaneous freezing of said components at a temperature of about −28° C. or less to produce a substantially single-phase solid alcohol-containing composition consisting of solid alcohol-containing composition pieces;
• b) tempering said solid alcohol-containing composition pieces by raising the temperature thereof to a tempering temperature that is greater than said temperature for freezing in step a) and that is also within a temperature range of from about −30° C. to about −15° C. so that the solid alcohol-containing composition pieces meld together to form a single mass;
• and
• c) cooling said single mass to a temperature of about −35° C. or less to form said alcohol-containing frozen comestible;
• wherein the tempering temperature and time period of the tempering of step b) are selected to provide the single mass with a desired level of creaminess and in a single phase devoid of ice crystals,