latest obsession, homemade ice cream!

[bright eyed]

OOOH! i'm a happy camper.

I had considered an homemade ice cream maker for a while, looked em up, etc. then costco was carrying the brand i had held on my amzn wish list so i got it! (i swear, not an impulse buy, plus it was my one bonus related purchase).

Anyhoo - since then, my daughter and i have enjoyed various concoctions and i have perfected the swirl!!!

don't know if any of you know about the pinkb*rry fad down in california, but it's a frozen yogurt that is sour like real yogurt. i had it once, it was good. but now i can make it at home for a 10th of the price.

last nite i made a low-fat vanilla yogurt...while that was churning, i got out the bag of frozen raspberries, threw in leftover blueberries, and mashed em up w/ some evap cane juice, lemon juice and let sit...after the froyo is done, put into container w/ layers of the fruit mash...had one squishy serving right away and put the rest to set up in the freezer...and it was all organic! woo hoo!

our first mix was vanilla ice cream with mashed up strawberries and blueberries, and madeline cookie crumbled in - my daughters idea...it was pinkish purple and yummy!

 

[sgeeeee]

Yum. Sounds delicious. You should tell us the brand and model you bought and give us a review so we'll all know what to shop for.

 

[bright eyed]

Amazon.com: Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker: Kitchen & Housewares

couldn't find it on the costco site, but it was around $50 there...

i haven't used other ice cream makers so i can't compare - but can tell you how this one works.

you usually mix together your base -of milk, cream, sugar or milk, yogurt sugar...i use a wand blender (highly recommend)...

you have to freeze the tub overnite - i keep it in the freezer so it is always ready! and pour in mixture, slip on top the mixer, and the lid above that - and switch on - very simple!

then we just dream up what we want to mix in!

i haven't tried making chocolate, but will prob do that next since we have perfected the fruit blend and swirl! also did a sorbet, which is just a simple sugar and fruit (lots of sugar!)...

if you have any ideas, i will try them - and eat it - and tell you how good it was! ha ooh, like food p*rn...

 

[ladelfina]

A couple of weeks ago, I made the first ice cream of the season (Lemon Ice Cream) from a recipe here:

Lemon Ice Cream Recipe at Epicurious.com

It was outstanding! I used 3/4 c. sugar rather than the full cup. You need about 3 lemons to get the amount of juice/zest called for.

We have a machine that does the freezing on the spot. It's pretty noisy and you do have to keep an eye on it as the ice cream comes to harden, since it doesn't have a mechanism to alert you or stop itself once the mixture starts to bind. It was on the cheap end of such machines -€200- still expensive, but seeing as there's no Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dazs here, it was worth it. There's a decent gelateria in town but a kilo --less than a quart?? a quart of milk weighs 2.13 pounds and a kilo is 2.2 pounds, but then you have to factor in air vs. sugar/other ingredients-- will run you something like $20. The supermarket alternatives are cr*p (probably to keep the gelaterie in business).

 

[bpp3]

I remember using a hand-cranked ice cream maker as a kid. Lots of work, but fun.

 

[Dawg52]

Homemade is hard to beat. But for the single lazy guy, like myself, Blue Bell is the closest thing to homemade in my neck of the woods. I just read that it is only sold in 16 states.

What is a good substitute for homemade in your area?

 

[REWahoo]

Last year we took a tour of the Blue Bell plant in Brenham, TX. Interesting process, especially to see them make ice cream bars. Of course the highlight of the tour was a couple of big scoops of your favorite flavor...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I have the same cuisinart model...works terrific and wins every consumer shootout.

Just make sure the sucker is running before you pour the stuff in. If you pour it in and then turn it on, the mix freezes and the plastic blades break.

Low Fat Ginger Ice Cream

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
Pinch salt
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the cream, milk, ginger, and salt over medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until pale yellow in color and frothy. Ladle 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs and whisk well to combine.

Stir the egg mixture into the hot cream mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent sticking, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes.

Strain into a large clean bowl through a fine mesh strainer, pressing with the back of a large spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator until well chilled, at least 3 hours.

Pour the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until ready to eat.

 

[HFWR]

This thread should result in an increase of postings in the "Wednesday Weigh-Ins" thread...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Garlic Ice Cream

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon honey
Pinch of salt
Pinch of white pepper

In a saucepan, gently heat the milk, cream and garlic just until steaming and small bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from the heat, cover, and let infuse for 20 minutes.

Place a medium-sized bowl inside of a larger bowl filled with ice water. Set aside.

Half-fill a clean saucepan with water and heat over medium heat until just simmering. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and honey until smooth and pale yellow. Reheat the cream mixture just until it begins to steam, not letting it boil, and in a slow and steady stream, add it into the yolks, whisking briskly as you pour.

Stir the mixture together thoroughly and then place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water. Stir slowly but constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, but do not bring to a boil or it will most likely curdle. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the ice cream base into the medium bowl that is set in the larger bowl of ice water.

Let cool completely and then freeze the custard in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

[Danny]

Have fun with homemade.

When the kids were very young I would hand crank with their help, became a tradition, as they got older they did more and more, thank goodness. Later I got an automatic. Will do it at the holidays if asked by one of the kids. Mostly I now just buy Breyer's at $2.89.

This has been our main receipe for 30 years.

3.5 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 qts half & half
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons vanilla
1 pint whipping cream

Directions:
Beat eggs well
Add 1 qt half & half
Beat well
add sugar, salt & vanilla
Stir well
Put in Container
Add rest

With Breyers selling for $2.89 a container lately - I just buy it.

 

[greg]

Last year we took a tour of the Blue Bell plant in Brenham, TX. Interesting process, especially to see them make ice cream bars. Of course the highlight of the tour was a couple of big scoops of your favorite flavor...

Ice Cream Factory: -2------- REWahoo!: +1 . . . um . . . lbs.

 

[bright eyed]

curious, cfb and other folks, what is the difference with the egg custard type recipes? i can of course make it to see - but i am tending on the lazy side and hate things with prep and 3 hours in between- etc!

but if it's worth the effort i will give it a try!!!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Thicker, richer, creamier, more fine air in the end result.

 

[bright eyed]

Low Fat Ginger Ice Cream

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
Pinch salt
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar

hate to see your full fat version!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

That was a joke and SHHHHHHHHHH...we arent supposed to talk about fat when we're talking about ice cream..

 

[ladelfina]

You can choose to not cook the eggs or egg yolks. For myself I would risk it given that it is eaten quickly (like a pasta carbonara). But it may not develop the all the thickness and creaminess that some cooking could add.

The eggs, cooked or uncooked, add richness. There are any number of recipes that don't require eggs, however. They just won't have that "French Vanilla"-type sumptuousness and "mouth-feel".

My Euro-mfr. machine has a recipe book in which only some of the egg-containing recipes indicate cooking.. Here are some no-cook recipes both with and w/o eggs from the booklet that came w/ my machine. The only one I have tried below is the banana, which was fine (but again, not "sumptuous"):


Rich Lemon Ice Cream
---------------------------
8 egg yolks
8 oz. sugar (this is by weight)
juice of 2-3 large lemons
1/2 pint double cream

Crack the egg yolks into a mixing bowl and add the sugar. Whisk until very light and frothy, then stir in the lemon juice and the lightly-whipped double cream. Pour into the machine and freeze/churn for approx. 20 min.



Banana Ice Cream
---------------------
1 lb. well-ripened bananas
juice of 2 lemons (this seemed excessive; I think I used one)
5 oz. sugar
1/2 pint milk
1/2 pint cream

Puree the bananas, sugar, and lemon juice in a liquidizer. Pout the milk and cream into the machine, add the banana puree and freeze/churn for approx. 20 min.


Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
----------------------------------
1 pint milk
1/2 pint double cream
5 oz. plain chocolate
4 oz. sugar
1 tsp. peppermint essence


Mix the milk, cream, sugar and peppermint together, put into the machine and freeze/churn for about 1/4 hour; at this stage the ice cream should be starting to solidify and you can add the finely grated chocolate. Freeze for a further 5 min. or so after this addition.



------------------------------------------------

If you really want I have a couple more, but I am tired of typing!
You could also go to Epicurious (Epicurious.com: the World's Greatest Recipe Collection) and do an advanced search on "ice cream" minus "eggs".

Times above are based on the machine, seen here:
Chef 2200 - Ice Cream Maker - Nemox
I was hoping the site had all the recipes.. sorry, no dice.


If you have any sense of planning at all.. yes, the "custard" aspect is worth it if you are looking for a real, sinful, ice CREAM as opposed to a "frozen dessert". The cooking itself only adds an extra 5-10 min. of active time; you just have to count on some cooling time in the fridge in addition.

A lot of things might come out fine w/o eggs or custard, perhaps many fruit-based recipes. For a sincere straight-up vanilla or chocolate, I personally can't imagine it w/o the custard factor.

But what do you have to lose by experimenting? Even the worst result will probably be better than a non-premium store brand.

 

[bright eyed]

cfb you must come from the paula deen school of dieting!!

thanks ladelfina, i agree, experimenting is definitely not a waste of time here...will report back my results!

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

This thread should result in an increase of postings in the "Wednesday Weigh-Ins" thread...

i was avoiding reading this thread. but i had some chocolate donuts this weekend and in my weakness i started reading about homemade ice cream.

i kept thinking: wednesday weigh in, chocolate ice cream, wednesday weigh in, lemon sorbet. wednesday weigh in.

thanks for snapping me back to my senses.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yep...skip that dang wednesday weigh in!

I havent even opened that thread...saves me a lot of trouble.

 

[Fireup2020]

I am one of those weirdos who generally prefer light sorbets/ices over custardy/rich ice creamy concoctions. (not a big milk fan)

I am eagerly awaiting some of those recipies on this board Can those be made in an ice-cream maker too?

 

[ladelfina]

Sure.. there are tons of sorbet recipes out there, and of course they can be made in any ice cream maker.

BBC - Food - Recipes - Summer ices
Ice Cream Recipes - Ice Cream Sorbets
Food Network Search
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/f...ype=advanced&threshold=52&operator=All&sort=1

Sometimes these call for a boiled sugar syrup, so will need cooling time.. but you can just start experimenting with straight fruit juices. You can also make the sugar syrup ahead of time and keep it in the fridge - lasts essentially forever.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, there are also ices, "granita"s and "semi-freddo"s that you can make in a freezer tray, stirring occasionally; you just won't get the smooth texture that a machine gives.

 

[bright eyed]

my finkberry low-fat froyo - it's tart cuz it's real yogurt!

3/4 cup of low-fat milk
1/3 cup of sugar
2 cups of low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons of whole milk
1/2 tablespoon of vanilla

for the swirl: bag of frozen raspberries, 1 lemon, sugar

mix the milk and sugar in a bowl - either whisk like mad or use a hand/wand blender. all the crystals should disappear.

blend in yogurt and vanilla

pour into the machine, and turn on.

take one bag of frozen raspberries, thaw or put in microwave for 30 secs, squeeze juice from one or half lemon (depends on your taste) and 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, mash and blend, let sit till icecream is ready. you can use sieve if you don't like seeds

scoop froyo into container, layering with the berry mix in ribbons, more froyo, more ribbons. after freezing for 1/2 hour or so, carefully fold only 2-3 times in your container for better swirl...

when serving, let the container sit out for a few minutes, since it is "light" it's icier, so better when slightly thawed...enjoy!

i haven't made a non-fat version because i tend to avoid non-fat - the true p*nkberry is non fat...