Summer is a great time for ice cream. The home made kind is a special treat. As kids, many of us remember getting out the ice cream maker. You needed a big tub, lots of ice, salt, the maker, and some people to crank the handle until it was too hard to turn. After the ice cream was finished, someone pulled out the beater and put it in a cake pan. Several kids would gobble up the ice cream stuck to it. You finally got a bowl of it with your favorite topping(s).
OH MY GOSH! MY BRAIN IS FROZEN!
Today, it is a lot easier to make ice cream. No salt is needed for some machines. Our maker has a mixing tub we keep in the freezer. Inside its walls is a liquid at room temps. It freezes when stored there, ready at any time.
Our recipe is from the instruction booklet. It is reliable and can be altered for variety. Today, we made vanilla. In the third ingredient, we used a cup of half-and-half with a cup of whipping cream instead of two cups of heavy cream. Sometimes we only use half-and-half. Mint Chip is great with peppermint and green food coloring. Try whatever recipe you like.
Mix up the potion and set it in the freezer for 30 minutes to give it a good chill. The machine freezes it in a shorter time when pre-chilled.
Here is the mix ready for the pre-chill. Stir it for long enough to dissolve all the sugar grains.
After 30 minutes in the freezer, pour it into the machine and turn it on. It takes ours 25 minutes.
The machine has an opening in the top to let you see the consistency of the ice cream. When it looks ready, turn off the machine and open it up. Looks good, huh? You can’t have any yet. It is going into the freezer for a few hours to get more firm. The bottom photo shows it ready to go in the freezer.
After a few hours, dish it out, add toppings if you like, and enjoy a great summer treat. Yum 🙂
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