Some day soon we'll begin to hear those iconic theme songs from terrifyingly worn down and devilishly enticing trucks as we desperately search our pockets for change among the lint. I don't care how old you are, there's something magical about ice cream coming out of a truck. As the bubblegum eyeballs start to droop and unnaturally red and blue rivers swell and deluge your hand you will be transported to a simpler time. A time before dirty dishes and overflowing trash cans and ingredients listings. Well, a time before you noticed those things, anyway.
It kind of throws me for a loop going to the grocery store and looking at the ingredients listings. I nearly slapped my own face off once while checking out a container of ice cream.... Do you know what's in ice cream nowadays?!?!? .... No, seriously. Do you know what it is? Because I can't even pronounce half of it.
You know what's in MY ice cream nowadays?
Meet our cast of characters for today.
Last year, the boy and I dug up a yellowed, hand-cranked ice cream machine from an ancient pile of kitchenware and took it upon ourselves to experiment. Through research, as well as trial and a lotttt of error, I have learned a couple of things. First of all, even bad ice cream made at home is better than most ice cream pre-packaged and on sale at your local grocery store. Honey is a great, distinctive sweetener that you probably wouldn't normally find in a cardboard tub but that is definitely worth experimenting with. And... Ice cream is crazy easy to make. So much so that I would very highly recommend you experiment like crazy with all sorts of flavors and proportions. And have fun with it! Here's a great, basic recipe with a very subtle and cleansing flavor.
Honey, Ginger, and Vanilla Ice Cream.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2% milk)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 egg yolks (Save the whites! I'll be posting an egg white brownie recipe next!)
1/2 cup honey
1.5"-2" fresh ginger (Juice it. Yields about 1-1.5 teaspoons of ginger juice.)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Separate the egg yolks.
Peel the ginger.
Juice the ginger.
(Note: If you do not have access to a juicer or fresh ginger, it would also be just fine to use 1/2 a teaspoon of powdered ginger.)
Into the bowl containing the 5 egg yolks, add the ginger juice as well as the 1/2 cup of honey. Whisk them together until they are fully combined and spontaneously sprout a giraffe. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, milk, and vanilla. Place on medium heat, stirring constantly until it becomes foamy.
(See! Foamy!)
Once the dairy mixture 'foams,' remove it from the heat and grab a ladle.
Grab your bowl full of egg yolks! One ladle at a time, slowly incorporate the heated milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while CONSTANTLY whisking. This will temper the egg yolks and prevent them from becoming scrambled eggs when they are added to the larger pot of hot milk. Don't be afraid to keep adding hot milk until your egg bowl is almost full... I am very much guilty of excessively tempering eggs but I am also pretty good and making sure they don't turn into breakfast. So... y'know... just keep adding milk until you're good and ready to stop doing so. I'm not going to judge you, friend.
Put the pot back on the burner on medium-low heat. Slowly pour your egg mixture into the milk pot, stirring constantly for about five minutes. If you start to see little granules or anything that even remotely looks like scrambled eggs, IMMEDIATELY remove your pot from the heat. (Don't worry, it's not ruined! The next step will fix everything!)
Once the ice cream mix has cooled to room temperature, run it through a strainer juuuuuuust in case there are any lumpies. Cover your bowl/container of ice cream mix with cling film and place it in the fridge for 3 or so hours. (For me, 'or so' hours means 'I usually forget about it for the rest of the night and don't come back to it until the next day. Whoops.)
Once the ice cream mix is chilled/you remember you were chilling it, pour it into your ice cream machine and churn it to your heart's content. (Note: "To your hearts content" means "However your instruction manual says you should churn ice cream.") Our ice cream machine doesn't have instructions, so I pretty much just churned it until it became about 1 1/2 times its size and was soft and delicious but held itself together without being soup.
Ta-da! You've made ice cream! I know, it's practically like magic.
Now, I may have used an ice cream machine to make this stuff, but in a pinch you can just pour the ice cream mixture into a zippy, fill a larger one with ice and rock salt, put the 'ice cream' bag into the ice/salt bag, and shake like crazy. I promise you, this technique will work.
Edit: It has been brought to my attention that the instructions for making ice cream without an ice cream machine are not entirely clear. This technique employs the use of two different zip-top bags. The first bag, containing the ice cream mixture, is to be sealed and then placed in the second bag, containing the ice and rock salt. The rock salt is included because it makes the ice even colder than normal, allowing for the ice crystals to form in the ice cream while being shaken. Once the inner bag containing the ice cream mix thickens enough after having been constantly shaken, remove the ice cream bag and put the ice cream in the freezer. You can absolutely put the bag straight into the freezer, although it is easier to scoop ice cream if it's in a tupperware of some type. The bag with the ice and rock salt is then discarded. Hope this helps!
Have fun, and enjoy!
As always, be brave in the kitchen. The rewards are always worth the risk.
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