Two of my favorite memories are ice cream related.
"Ice cream" What do those words mean to you? Childhood memories are my first connections and mental images. Running after the ice cream truck. Begging mom for coins. And the delirious satisfaction at the first sweet, creamy smell and taste as it drips down your hand. Sigh.
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| Making chocolate ice cream |
As an adult, when my wife brought home an ice cream machine a few years ago, I had zero interest. “Great.” I thought. “More calories I don’t need.” So, I ignored it for a couple of years. Then the pandemic hit. And you know, time and opportunity, and boredom. On impulse one day I pulled the ice cream machine out of the pantry and started experimenting.
My first batches of ice cream were icy. Not exactly what I was attempting to make. So, more experiments. While edible, and fun to play with, my results were not satisfying. One day while I was looking for another ice cream recipe online, I saw in a comment the solution to my conundrum. Which led to my “Base” ice cream recipe below.
I’ve since tweaked my “Base” recipe and have come up with several other ice cream recipes. All use the “Base” recipe with some tweaks. My recipes are easy to follow, and are delicious and satisfying. While it is cheaper to purchase ice cream from the store, I only use the best ingredients. Besides, when did you last see Coconut Curry ice cream at the store? If you have an ice cream machine at home, or are considering the value of owning one, please read on. I make ice cream at home at least once a month. I'm also trying to create special ice cream memories for family and friends.
- William
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1. Base Recipe (Vanilla)
Sweetened Condensed Milk – one 14 oz can
Half and Half – one cup
Heavy Whipping Cream – one cup
Vanilla – one tsp
Salt – a pinch
Blend mixture thoroughly
Add mixture to ice cream machine and follow your machines directions. Freeze finished product about four hours. Enjoy.
* I have learned that if I use a bit more of the Heavy Whipping Cream, I can modify the mouthfeel of the ice cream. When using 12 oz of Heavy Whipping Cream, the ice cream feels different in a good way. Just a suggestion.
** I jazz up my vanilla ice cream sometimes with a Middle Eastern spice mixture I adore, Ras El Hanout. I add about one tsp. It adds a delicious flavor to the ice cream. I call it “Ras Cream”
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| Coconut Curry ice cream with peanuts. |
2. Coconut Curry
A crowd pleaser for foodies. I have taken this to potlucks and received many compliments. If you like curry, you will love this ice cream. The peanuts take it to another level. It is a personal favorite.
Sweetened Condensed Milk – one 14 oz can
Coconut Milk – one can
Heavy Whipping Cream – one cup
Vanilla – one tsp
Curry Powder – one Tbsp
Ground Ginger – ½ tsp
White Pepper – 1/8 tsp
Salt – a pinch
(roasted peanuts to garnish at serving)
Gently toast the curry powder, ginger and white pepper to release aromas and flavors. Add those spices to a bowl with the other ingredients. Blend mixture thoroughly.
Add to ice cream machine and follow your machines directions. Freeze finished product about four hours. Garnish with crushed roasted peanuts at plating. Enjoy.
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| Honey-Lemon Ginger Blueberry-Blackberry ice cream |
3. Honey-Lemon Ginger Blueberry-Blackberry
Love, love the color. So freaking delicious. And it is full of antioxidants to boot. Garnish with fresh blackberries when plating. Looks and tastes so good. Another favorite.
Heavy Whipping Cream – 12 oz
Half and Half – one cup
Sweetened Condensed Milk – one can 14oz
Vanilla – one tsp
Salt – a pinch
Black Pepper – a pinch
Fruit Compote:
Blackberries – one 8 oz package
Blueberries – one cup
Honey – one tsp
Minced Ginger – one tsp
White Wine- ¼ cup
Lemon Juice- one tsp
Fruit Compote: Add all ingredients for the fruit compote to a small saucepan and heat on medium until it gently bubbles. While gently stirring, reduce heat and simmer until all ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is fairly homogeneous. Reduce by 1/3. Then strain your fruit compote. Get all the juice but none of the seeds. Chill in refrigerator until no longer warm.
* note: If you forget to strain your fruit compote, you will end up with a crunchy, chewy ice cream. I don’t recommend it. Yuck. Big mistake.
Once the fruit compote has chilled, start making your base recipe in the machine as usual. Then slowly add your fruit compote before it freezes in the ice cream machine. The color will be amazing. Finish and freeze.
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| Lemon Ice Cream - so delicious |
4. Lemon (another personal favorite)
Wow! This recipe rocks! What a fun and delicious change of taste. Love it! I'm going to make this from now on. So, so good.
* Use the Base Recipe (minus the vanilla, just not needed)
Add:
¾ cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
zest of 3 lemons
Combine all ingredients, base recipe (minus the vanilla), lemon juice and zest and blend with a blender for 30 seconds. I used a hand held blender because it was handy. And easy to clean.
Refrigerate mixture for 2 hours.
Mixture will look very creamy like yogurt when you take it out of the refrigerator.
Add to your ice cream machine and finish per usual.
*note: This is the most ice cream like recipe. The acid from the lemons with the dairy make for a very rich and creamy look and mouthfeel. Yum! This recipe is amazing, I love lemons.
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| Milk Chocolate Ginger ice cream |
5. Milk Chocolate Ginger
This is different. It came out thick, rich and a bit caramel like. Different. The taste is intense. Room to play with this recipe. Chile powder, or coffee, or cookie bits, or other chocolate friendly ingredients could be added. You can make this recipe your own by playing with ingredients.
¼ cup cocoa powder
6 oz milk chocolate chips
½ tsp curry powder
2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp minced ginger
Heat mixture in a double boiler, whisk well until melted. Remove from heat.
Add the following to the chocolate mixture, add slowly, continually stirring:
Milk one cup
Sweetened condensed milk – one can 14 oz
1 tsp vanilla
Chill mixture at least one hour.
Add to your ice cream machine and finish.
* I don’t see milk chocolate ice cream out there. Which is why I decided to try to make it at home. A very thick ice cream. Had a caramel quality. You could always substitute dark chocolate for the milk chocolate.
**If you skip chilling the chocolate mixture, as I did, by adding the sweetened condensed milk to the still very warm chocolate mixture, it made it partially caramelize. Which explains why my batch of ice cream was so creamy thick and caramel like. Interesting.
Tips
1. Remember to clean your ice cream machine thoroughly when you have your finished product in the freezer. I hand wash and then inspect after. And will then hand wash again if I smell any milky residue. Before I use my ice cream machine, I will re-inspect and may hand wash again before using.
2. Storage containers. I have a few different size storage containers for my ice cream. They must be thicker to hold up to heavy use, as in ice cream scooping. And they must close securely to avoid freezer burn. I have several different ice cream containers, in several sizes.
There are so many different ice cream recipes you could explore. I haven’t finished experimenting. My matcha green tea ice cream was not bad. But my matcha was old and lost most of its green color, it looked gray. I’ll fix it with my next batch. Making ice cream at home with fresh ingredients you purchase will give you a better quality and healthier dessert. Ice cream is also a big treat for friends and family. If I come to your home with a dessert, it is likely to be an ice cream I made. The coconut curry ice cream has been a big hit with friends.
I've also played with making frozen non-dairy treats too. I made a Watermelon sorbet which had an intense watermelon flavor. I added sugar, which the watermelon did not need. Next time, no sugar.
Memories
The ice cream memories that are foundational for me, the memories which come unbidden, are of my grandmother Claudia and my great aunt Marjorie.
My grandmother Claudia was wonderful. Iconic. A grandmother archetype, the definition of “grandmother.” I wish everyone could have a grandmother like I did. The ice cream memory of her was when she drove my little brother and I to the little hamburger shack below Richland High School. The hamburger shack is still there, with a new name and paint job. As I recall, grandmother drove a red Thunderbird in those days. Around 1968 she drove us in her red Thunderbird to that hamburger place for an ice cream cone. When she pulled up to the window she made a point of asking, “Is it soft serve?” I thought it was an odd question because I had assumed all ice cream was soft serve when you went out. Nope. Soft serve ice cream was still a new thing when I was a little kid. It was delicious. Thank you grandmother. Miss you.
The second ice cream memory is of my Great Aunt Marjorie, my grandmother's sister. Over the years I’ve become more fond of my memories of my Aunt. We stayed with my aunt and uncle many, many times. My parents used them as babysitters. Uncle Harry was funny. Aunt Marjorie was more practical, no nonsense and not exactly warm and loving, to my eyes at the time. Occasionally, aunt Marjorie would spoil us with ice cream. She had a large pantry full of canned goods made from food they grew in the large backyard garden. And she often had a gallon tub of vanilla ice cream in the chest freezer. I can still hear and smell that freezer when she would haul out the tub of ice cream for us. It was glorious. Thank you aunt Marjorie. Miss you too.
Go explore the wonderful world of making ice cream at home. I did and I’m still having a wonderful time experimenting and eating my results. Hmm, I need to make a Green Tea and Scone ice cream soon. I even bought a gluten free Scone mix.
Later!
Be safe, be kind.
- William