Ice Cream

I scream! You scream! We all scream for ice cream!

Most of us, in the U.S., anyway, grew up eating ice cream, at one time or another. When I was a kid, my dad used to break out the ice cream maker and whip up a batch or two on holidays, especially for the 4th of July. Of course, back then, the ice cream makers were hand-cranked deals which tended to build up one's arm muscles. The electric ones are so much easier! And if you've never eaten homemade ice cream, I can vouch that it's much better than most of the stuff you buy in stores. So, for those who are looking for ice cream recipes, here are several to try. Enjoy!

COCONUT ICE CREAM

This is also from Carroll Pellegrinelli's blog. She writes, "This Coconut Ice Cream is incredibly creamy." To view this online, click here.

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 15 minutes; Yield: 1 to 1-1/2 Quarts

Ingredients:

15 ounces cream of coconut (like Coco Lopez)

1 cup milk

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup packed coconut

Preparation:

Mix cream of coconut and milk until completely combined. Mix in heavy cream. Refrigerate while setting up ice cream maker. Freeze according to ice cream maker’s directions. Quickly stir-in coconut before putting into a container for freezing.

BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM

For years, Kevin D. Weeks was About.com’s Cooking for Two guide. He wrote, “I'm not a huge ice cream fan, but sometimes I have clients ask for it so when I got a chance to buy a factory-rebuilt Cuisinart ice cream maker for $20 I jumped at the chance. I'm still learning the ins and outs of ice cream making, but I was pleased with this recipe. Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits (along with being, supposedly, a particularly healthy fruit) and this simple preparation is rich and luscious. Coriander has a particular affinity to blueberries, so I highly recommend including it. Makes 1 quart.” Prep Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground coriander

Pinch of salt

2 cups heavy cream

Preparation:

Dissolve sugar in 1/4 cup water in a medium sauce pan over low heat.

When sugar is dissolved, add berries, lemon juice, vanilla extract, coriander, and salt.

Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to burst.

Remove from heat and mash berries.

Cool to room temperature, then chill in the regrigerator.

Thoroughly combine berries and cream. Pour into ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer directions.

Note: You can subsustitute half and half for the heavy cream.

RASPBERRY SORBET

Carroll Pellegrinelli, About.com’s Desserts and Baking guide, writes, “The best way to describe this Raspberry Sorbet is by saying it's a little tart, but not too much. It's sweet, but not overly. Cold and refreshing says it all.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 15 minutes; Yield: 1-1/2 quarts

Ingredients:

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

5 cups fresh raspberries, gently washed and dried or 5 cups defrosted frozen raspberries with juice may also be used or 2 cups raspberry puree* may also be used

Preparation:

Bring 3 cups water and sugar just to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Cool.

Process raspberries, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth. Put through strainer to remove seeds. Stir lemon juice and puree into cooled sugar water. Mix completely. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pour mixture into the freezer container of a 1-gallon** ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturers' instructions

Notes in the Margin:

* If puree is already sweetened, omit the sugar.

** If you only have a quart ice cream freezer like I do, you can either make this in two batches or try this. Freeze extra raspberry mixture in ice trays. Use the raspberry cubes the next time you serve fruit punch or have a big punch bowl.

PEACH ICE CREAM: Frozen Summer Sun

Kevin D. Weeks was About.com's Cooking for 2 blog for a number of years. It is now written by Janet A. Zimmerman. This was from one of Kevin's posts. He wrote, "Although peaches are best when warmed, who can resist peach ice cream? It's like a bite of chilled sun. When I a kid my mother's peach ice cream had chunks of frozen peaches in it, which I didn't consider ideal. Ice cream should be smooth in my book. So I cook these peaches and then puree them*. I also forgo the egg base in this version and just use milk and heavy cream. Makes about 1 quart."

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 30 minutes; Yield: Approximately 1 quart.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. fresh peaches; peeled, pitted, and cut into small chunks*

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (depending on sweetness of peaches)

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground cardomom

Pinch of salt

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream**

Preparation:

Dissolve sugar in 1/4 cup water in a medium sauce pan over low heat.

When sugar is dissolved, add peaches, lemon juice, vanilla extract, cardomom, and salt.

Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until peaches are tender.

Remove from heat and puree. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Thoroughly combine peaches, milk and cream. Pour into ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer directions.

*Note 1: If you like those frozen chunks, feel free to peel and cut up another peach or two, chill the chunks, and toss them into the final mixture.

**Note 2: You can substitute half and half for the heavy cream.

ORANGE ICE CREAM: Frozen Florida Sunshine

From another of Kevin D. Weeks' post. He wrote, "Growing up, my ice cream preference is for things like orange sherbet, lime sherbet, and pineapple sherbet. Since buying an ice cream maker1 a couple of years ago I've been making ice cream in some flavor four or five times a year. Because I insist on experimenting, sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. This orange ice cream definitely worked and the high fat content not only makes it richer but keeps the ice cream softer. Makes 1 quart."

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes;Yield: About 1 quart

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (strain to remove pulp)

1/3 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar (or to taste)

1 Tbsp. orange zest

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup whole milk

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preparation:

Combine orange juice, sugar and orange zest in a sauce pan over medium and bring to simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Chill in refrigerator for 4 hours (until approximately 40 degrees).

Combine all ingredients and process in ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions.*

Chill in freezer for at least two hours until set. Garnish with candied orange peel or candied ginger.

*Note: I've found that 24 hours isn't long enough to get the container properly cold — I suspect because I keep opening the freezer for ice cubes in the summer. So I give it 48 hours to chill before making ice cream.

LIME ICE CREAM: Makes Me Feel Fine...

I think Kevin Weeks loved home made ice cream as much as I do. He wrote, "When the temperature hits the 90s I turn to ice cream to cool off and one of my favorites is lime ice cream. This recipe is adapted from my recipe for Lime Icebox Pie. Sometimes I even make graham cracker crust, break it up, and stir it in at the end but when I made this batch I didn't know I'd run out of graham cracker crumbs. Makes about 1 quart."

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk*

2/3 cup lime juice (4 - 6 whole limes)

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/8 tsp. salt

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk*

Preparation:

Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.***

Transfer ice cream to a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

*Note 1: You can reduce the calorie count by using 2 percent milk and low-fat sweetened condensed milk.