What with the Bluebell listeria outbreak, some folks are mourning the end of their ice cream habit. But I have great news.
Ice Cream is ridiculously easy to make at home.
Seriously.
And best of all, you don’t have to invest in a fancy $50 ice cream maker (although those are nice to have).
All you need for equipment is a hand mixer and the freezer on top of your fridge.
My daughter and I made ice cream last summer with rich, decadent raw milk and practically every summer fruit we came across. It takes a few hours to make a batch, but very little of that is actual hands-on time. And by very little, I mean less than 10 minutes. Everyone has 10 minutes to spare on the weekend, right?
The best thing about this ice cream…aside from the rich deliciousness…is that there is nary a chemical in sight. Nada. It’s just good food. You can experiment with reducing the sugar, too. It really depends on what kind of fruit you’re using. Our version doesn’t contain egg.
You will need:
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 cups of cream (You can go really crazy and make it with all cream and no milk)
- 1 cup of organic sugar
- 1/2-1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- A dash of salt
- Optional: Fruit, nuts, chocolate, etc….the sky is the limit!
And a mixer. Of course. 🙂 This one is very nice and only $25. You could probably use an immersion blender with good results, but I don’t have one, so I can’t confirm this.
Directions:
1.) In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except your optional add-ins. Using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients for 1 minute.
2.) Put the bowl in the freezer and set a timer for 30 minutes.
3.) When the timer goes off, remove the bowl from the refrigerator and beat the soon-to-be ice cream for another minute. Return the bowl to the freezer.
4.) Repeat this every 30 minutes for 3 hours. It sounds like a lot of work, but in all, it’s only 6 minutes! Totally worth it.
5.) At the end of three hours, you will have a somewhat “slushy” texture. Now is the time to add your goodies. For best results, chop your fruit or whatever delicious thing you’re adding into small pieces. Add about 1 cup of deliciousness and beat the mixture for one minute. Return the bowl to the freezer, and this time set the timer for an hour.
6.) In an hour, use your mixer to beat the mixture again for a minute. If the texture is “flakey” instead of creamy, you can add a little bit more milk.
And that’s it! Not even kidding.
Your homemade ice cream is ready!
If you have any ice cream left over, transfer it into a covered dish and return it to the freezer.
The next time you are ready to eat ice cream, set the bowl in some warm water to soften it slightly before dipping it out.
Have an ice cream social!
Don’t stop at simply serving ice cream. Dress it up!
You can find out how to make homemade chocolate syrup HERE.
You can use jam that didn’t set quite as much as you might have liked as a fruit topping.
For add-ins, chop them into small pieces before you mix them in. Try nuts, chocolate chips, a candy bar (organic of course!), or fruit.
If you have an ice cream maker, you can learn how to make delicious and wholesome ice cream HERE.
