National Ice Cream Month


Did you know that July is National Ice Cream month? There are still plenty of days this summer to enjoy this treat-we eat it pretty much EVERYDAY around here (including homemade three-berry tonight)!

In honor of celebrating, Elspeth and I will share some of our favorite ways to make homemade ice cream. It's one of our YUMMIEST Little Projects!

We both have this ice cream maker that has a freezable bowl.

It's great because it makes 1-1/2 quarts of ice cream in about 30 minutes and you don't have to keep salt on hand (so you don't have to plan ahead.) You just keep the bowl in the freezer and pull it out when you want to make your ice cream. With ice cream I guess I tend to be impatient. I want to enjoy it as soon as possible!

The basic ice cream recipe we use is:
2 cups milk
1 cup cream
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
You can replace about 1/2 cup of milk with yogurt to get a thicker ice cream. It's also softer to scoop if you freeze your leftovers.

After the basic recipe it's fun to use your imagination and see what flavors you can dream up!

We use whatever milk that we drink and have on hand rather than whole milk in the ice cream. Also, Elspeth likes to use table cream rather than whipping cream because if you stir the heavy cream too much it gives the ice cream a buttery texture. (Also, table cream is cheaper).

Jay doesn't handle milk well, so we also make sorbet. It's heavier on the sugar though than ice cream is :( We start by making a special sugar syrup (see below).

To make Sorbet:
Use your blender to puree about 4 cups of fruit in the blender along with 1/4 cup of this special sugar syrup.

add 2 Tablespoons of orange juice and 1-1/4 cups more of special sugar syrup (depending on desired sweetness) to ice cream maker-and freeze according to manufacture's directions.

special sugar syrup recipe for sorbet: 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water. Bring to boil in saucepan. Reduce to simmer about 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved. Cool to room temperature. You can use this syrup immediately or store until needed (makes 2.5 cups)
If anyone has great sorbet recipes, please share!

We make mostly fruit flavored ice cream at our house, but Elspeth makes all kinds of fun flavors. She will be back to share her favorites tomorrow. In the meantime, chip in a comment if you have a favorite flavor or would like a tip on making homemade ice cream. Enjoy making your own ice cream!


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