No one is ever too old to enjoy a scoop or two of their favorite ice cream. If the rainy days have warm hearty soups to soothe the soul, the hot summer days will always be marked by hearty heaping of decadent, rich, and truly mouth-watering ice cream. But this delicious cold treat is not only good for keeping you cool on a really hot, scorching day. It’s also a great way to end a perfect meal, washing your palate with the rich taste of cold milk and coating it with the subtle hints of the other ingredients that are in the frozen delight. Now, instead of buying a pint or two of these cold treats, why not make one instead? Here are 3 easy homemade ice cream recipes that will have you salivating for more.
Vanilla Ice Cream
It’s one of the world’s all-time favorites when it comes to creamy cold desserts. It has this rich and creamy goodness that is accentuated by its pure and well-balanced flavor. Vanilla ice cream has been around for many years and it’s what many would use in a variety of dessert concoctions. It’s a great base for a cookie or candy mix-ins or served on pies. It’s one of the trio of ice creams in the classic banana split and other renditions. Of course, nothing can beat the vanilla ice cream on a cone as it can be topped or sprinkled with almost anything. Top it off with cherries, strawberries, or even avocado shavings and you can always have a delicious treat in your hand. That’s how versatile the vanilla ice cream is.
This homemade vanilla ice cream recipe will help you create a treat that everyone else in your family will definitely love and go crazy for.
You’d be surprised by just how easy it is to make this delicious icy recipe. It doesn’t require much. You will need an ice cream maker, though, for best results; although, there are some recipes that can be executed without this machine. A candy thermometer will also come in handy or even an instant-read thermometer. You will also need the following.
- 3 cups of heavy cream
- 3/4 cups of sugar
- 1 cup of whole milk
- Yolk from 5 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla
- Kosher salt
As for the steps in making this easy ice cream recipe with milk and vanilla, they are as follows.
- Turn on your gas stove and set it to medium heat.
- Put a medium-sized saucepan over the stove and whisk the heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla, sugar, and about half a teaspoon of Kosher salt. Let it simmer for a while. Turn the heat to low.
- In a bowl, beat the yolks obtained from 5 large eggs. Slowly add a cup of the hot cream mix and keep on whisking to create a creamy egg yolk mixture.
- Return the mixture into the saucepan while continuing on whisking. Turn up the heat to medium.
- Keep on stirring using a wooden spoon. What you are looking for in this is a thick consistency of the mixture. It should be thick enough that the mixture can easily coat the wooden spoon without running off. Ideally, the temperature of the mixture should be about 180 degrees Fahrenheit or roughly about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the stove and pour the mixture into a fine sieve with a large bowl underneath to contain the custard mixture.
- Discard any solids that may remain on the sieve.
- Keep stirring the mixture until it cools to room temperature.
- Get a plastic wrap and lightly press it over the surface of the mixture. This is to help prevent the formation of a skin. Put this in the fridge for about 3 hours to make it cold. If you want to hasten the chilling, you can get a larger bowl and put iced water. Set the bowl of custard into the iced water. Stir it occasionally.
- Get your ice cream maker and pour the mixture in. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Do not over-churn it as this can lead to a grainy texture on the homemade vanilla ice cream.
- Set the ice cream inside your freezer for at least an hour before serving.
Chocolate Ice Cream
It is very uncommon to meet someone who doesn’t like chocolate. And when you’re talking about ice creams, one of the most common flavors that people go for is chocolate. It may not be as versatile as vanilla ice cream, but it sure can give you quite a different experience that fills the senses. After all, chocolate is one of those foods that can provide you with a host of health benefits. Making your very own homemade chocolate ice cream should be relatively easy. We say ‘relatively’ because there are slightly more ingredients compared to the making of vanilla ice cream. However, the process will be essentially the same.
So, let’s get down to it. For this recipe, we’ll need…
- 2 ounces of coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, preferably unsweetened
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- Lightly beaten egg yolks from 3 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt
We can always follow the procedure for making homemade vanilla ice cream, except this time we’ll be using different ingredients.
- Whisk the cocoa powder, milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Make sure to stir constantly.
- Slowly add half a cup of the hot chocolate mixture into the bowl of lightly beaten egg yolks while continuously stirring.
- Return the egg yolk-choco mixture into the saucepan while constantly stirring until the mixture thickens. Make sure not to allow the mixture to boil.
- Once thick, remove from heat and slowly add in the chopped chocolate while continuously stirring. Keep on stirring until the chocolate has melted into the mixture.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl immersed in another bowl filled with iced water.
- Put in the fridge for 2 hours, at least, stirring occasionally.
- After about 2 hours, slowly stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.
- Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s guidelines in freezing.
Banana-Strawberry Ice Cream
This ice cream may not be as popular as our first two in this list, but it sure is one of the easiest to make. It also has the least number of ingredients; only three – bananas, strawberries, and vanilla. You don’t even need a machine to make the ice cream, although you will definitely want to have a blender on the go. Since it doesn’t require overly complicated procedures or even numerous ingredients, this homemade banana strawberry ice cream is perfect for those instances when you’re simply craving for something naturally sweet. There are no sugars added so it’s great for diabetics. And since you’ll be using bananas and strawberries, two of the world’s superfoods, you’ll be glad about the health benefits that they can bring to you. The antioxidants in strawberries plus the vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, in bananas are what makes this yummy frozen delight a great addition to a dieter’s and fitness buff’s health regimen.
As mentioned, to make this kind of ice cream right in your home, you will only need the following ingredients.
- 8 to 10 pieces of fresh frozen strawberries
- 2 medium-sized fresh bananas, frozen
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
You can adjust the measurements if you want. If you like more strawberries, then you should add more or you can reduce the number of bananas that you use. The same is true if you want more of the banana taste. If you like it sweeter, you can add more of the vanilla. Technically, everything is up to you.
Now, let’s start making this ice cream.
- Get your food processor or blender and put the strawberries and bananas in.
- Run the blender for about 5 minutes or until the banana-strawberry mixture has turned creamy. Be patient as this will take time, often depending on your food processor or blender. The thing is that you need to turn into a creamy mixture.
- Pour into a bowl and you can serve immediately.
You can also add vanilla extract if you like and if you prefer something a bit sweeter. If you do add vanilla, make sure to add it into the blender before pouring into a bowl and serving. This is more like a smoothie, but you can always put it in your freezer to firm up some more. If that’s what you desire, then a few hours in the freezer should turn it into the ice cream you’ll be asking for more.
Making delicious and nutritious ice creams at home isn’t difficult. Even if you don’t have a machine, you can easily make frozen delights that everyone in your family will love.
Sources:
- Banana Strawberry Ice Cream, Sweet & Savory
- Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream, Food Network
- Very Chocolate Ice Cream, All Recipes
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