Here’s a few notes before we start:
Equipment:
There are a few options when it comes to machinery and the prices range from super affordable, to 'lets put this on the wish list and hope Santa gets the memo.'
If you don’t already own an ice cream maker your best bet is probably going to be one of the electric table-top models. They work great, and they’re both easy to use and affordable. I have this one by Cuisinart and I love it. You can find lots of similar types at cooking stores and places like Target.
There are also the traditional hand-crank models. These generally have the largest capacity, and they consist of a metal canister which you surround with ice and rock salt. If you like the nostalgia (and larger size) of this type of ice cream maker, but want the modern convenience of a motorized churn, then you can find ones like this which are electric.
And like someone mentioned in the comments recently, if you already have a KitchenAid stand mixer, they make an ice cream attachment that hooks right on there. If my little Cuisinart ever poops out on me, I’m totally getting this!
Egg or no egg?
There are a generally two types of homemade ice cream, custard based, and non custard based. The non custard based ice creams consist mainly of a cream and milk mixture, along with sugar and flavorings. Custard based ice creams are the ones that have eggs in them. I once gave a recipe to a friend of mine for one of my most favorite ice creams (one that Kate also loves and will be sharing this week!). My friend looked at the recipe and immediately said, “Oh, no thanks. I don’t like to eat raw eggs”
So let me clear this up right now. The eggs in custard based ice creams ARE NOT RAW! The base is cooked and therefore the eggs are fully cooked and not raw. So get over that right now! Ice cream that starts with custard will be much richer and creamier than those that do not. However both are simply ScRuMpCiOuS.
This Week
This week we'll not only be posting some of our very favorite ice creams, but also other frozen treats like sorbet, along with some yummy sauces to top them off with. There will be lots of surprises, so keep checking back! And if you don't have an ice cream maker- don't fear, there will still be things you too can make!
Question...
Lastly, if you're still reading this long post, leave us a comment to say hello and tell us your favorite flavor of ice cream!
Related Posts:
Fresh Mango Sorbet with Pineapple
44 Click HERE to leave a comment:
I'll start by answering my own question :) I love so many flavors of ice cream, but if I had to pick just one, it would be peppermint. I LOVE when peppermint ice cream comes out at Christmas time. And I *really* love it smothered in chocolate sauce :)
hmm, my most fav is chocolate ice cream with peanut butter chunks or swirls. Sometimes I can't find it, but that's not such a bad thing! My thighs will thank me later!! I was watching Good Eats w/ Alton Brown the other night and he made banana ice cream with heavy cream, inside of one vanilla bean and 6 frozen and thawed banana's. It looks really yummy...goes right along with this weeks theme!
Strawberry and Mint Choch Chip. Yum!
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY baby Kate!
My favorite is the one I'm posting tomorrow! Seriously...of all the flavors in all the world, this one is it.
If not that, then peppermint from Aggie Ice Cream at Utah State in Logan. If not that, then Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie. Which is funny, because the ice cream I'm posting tomorrow is neither minty nor cookie-ish. Piqued your interest yet?? ;)
Oh, and Gigi, thanks for the happy birthday wishes!! She thaks you, too! :) Don't worry, she's already a big fan of ice cream!
It has to be a toss up between Vanilla Bean and Mint Chocolate Chip. Of course, I've yet to find a flavor of ice cream that has offended me. :)
Ooh, the peppermint ice cream from Aggie Ice Cream is so yummy! Thanks for reminding me about what I can't have :) My favorite is mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Ack, Gigi, she doesn't "thak" you. That would be rude...She "THANKS" you!
My sister turned me onto your blog and its great. I love it.
We just made some homemade chocolate ice cream that had pudding in it - no egg. It was yummy!
Ummm, all ice cream. Kidding. It totally depends on my mood. Hot summer days call for fruity flavors and in the winter I lean toward chocolate of some sort. Mint chocolate chip, burnt almond fudge, cookies n' cream, etc.
I'd love it if you would post a recipe for gelato so I can figure out exactly what the difference is between it and all the other ice cream type lovely frozen treats.
Anything with peanut butter and chocolate. Mmmm!
I love the Andes mint ice cream, or some strawberry mixed with Oreos(if I'm at Dairy Queen) and our local dairy makes the best huckleberry.mmmm
I Love homemade Peach ice cream, yum! But strawberry, or with oreo cookies are my regular faves. Yum!
Aggie Ice Cream is the greatest! I'm a fan of the strawberry cheesecake.
Heidi, I debated on whether or not I should talk about gelato/sorbet/yogurts in that post.
The main differences between gelato and ice cream are these:
1. Gelato is made from whole milk, and not cream. (Although I think the high-end ones use cream too)
2. One of the big differences is in the amount of air. The way gelato is processed, it has very little air incorporated (as compared to traditional ice cream, which has a lot) so gelato has a much richer/denser texture.
3. It's served right away (without ripening like ice cream) so the texture overall is super soft.
I would think it would be easy to make a homemade gelato because it's not like we have heavy duty machines to whip air in anyway, right? Now I'm curious, so I'll go research and get back to ya!
And I'm going to be talking about sorbet later this week too.
My favorite ice cream is vanilla with raspberries from the garden on it! We love reading you blog and making your recpies!
I'm afraid I might have to buy the kitchen aid attachment.
My favorite is haagen dazs vanilla frozen yogurt with raspberry sorbet swirl.
Or cookie dough if I'm feeling more gluttonous.
Like a PP, I have yet to find an ice cream I didn't like. Go ahead, try me. ;)
I love chunky cookie dough... YUMMY!!
I too love peppermint at Christmastime. My other 2 favorites are rocky road and chocolate cookie/mint (which is hard to find and very annoying.)
Kate, I KNOW what kind of ice cream you are going to post about later in the week, neener neener neener. ;)
Well, I said I'd leave more comments...
I'll be honest...I'm not a huge lover of ice cream. Please don't hate me. I even have an ice cream maker that was a wedding gift. It's never been out of the box and I've always considered re-gifting it or selling it at the family garage sale! LOL!
However, if I am going to eat ice cream it must either be smothered in hot fudge sauce or it must be a chocolate ice cream of some sort. Oh, and I also really do love peppermint ice cream (especially Aggie ice cream!).
This is Camille FYI as if my screen name didn't make it OBVIOUS who this was! ;)
mango sorbet...will that be posted down the road?
chocolate chip cookie dough. . .
although lately I have been craving Gelato.
But I love anything homemade. Nate got an ice cream maker for his birthday last year (okay, so really it was a present for me) and we are in need of some more recipes!
Last year I helped my mom with an ice cream party. We made chocolate malt chocolate chip cookie dough (homemade cookie dough!)Seriously it was so awesome. I love malt, I love chocolate and I LOVE cookie dough. How do you go wrong??
Sara, thanks for the clarification about gelato...now it's time to start surfing for recipes! I've only had it a couple of times, and it's marvelous. I almost love it more than the full fatty kind. Almost.
I LOVE ice cream, but have never made it. My favorite is probably mint chocolate chip.
Hey, love your blog. You don't know me, I'm kind of a friend of a friend. However, I'm surprised to see I recognize Emily on here. Hi Emily!
My fall back flavor is cookies and cream--it's hard to go wrong with that, IMO. I also love the Blue Bell natural vanilla bean. I'm getting some good ideas from reading these comments, and I can't wait to see what your recipes are.
But, my husband and I love the buttermilk lemon sorbet recipe on epicurious.com, especially in the summer. You use buttermilk (which is low in fat), and you get this tangy, creamy concoction. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/LEMON-BUTTERMILK-SORBET-105187
oooh, lemon buttermilk sorbet sounds awesome.
So Jen, how do you know Emily? I'm always so curious how people around here are connected :)
Hey, Jen, we're glad you're here! :) I think we're kind of reaching a point where more readers don't know us than do, so you're in good company... :) I LOVE buttermilk and I'm about to have a whole bunch of buttermilk AND lemons leftover, so I will HAVE to try that!
I love Mint Chocolate Chip and Burnt Almond Fudge. Sherbet - any flavor - is another favorite (although technically it isn't ice cream).
But, if I go out for ice cream, my favorite is Cold Stone Banana flavor with brownies and walnuts. I usually don't like banana flavor, but theirs is delicious. If anyone has a copycat recipe I would really love it!
I was about to say my favorite flavor was good old World Class Chocolate from Baskin Robins (thanks to my mom!) but I just read your post, Sara, and realized that peppermint is definitely at the top of my list as well!
We have been doing a lot of homemade ice cream recently. My DH bought the KitchenAid attachment last year. It was great while it lasted. One day I got it out of the freezer and the coolant was leaking out of the bowl. Go figure! So for Mother's Day this year the family got me the 6qt electric Ice Cream maker by Rival. It has been great! I especially love the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream cookbook I got last year. I look forward to trying your recipes! Yum!
I've gotta go with plain old cookies and cream! Happy Birthday Little Miss M!!!
Sara, I know Emily and Nate because they are in my church ward here in Dallas. I assume you guys are LDS, or have LDS connections, since the guy who referred me here is also LDS. :)
Anyway, if you guys end up trying the buttermilk sorbet, I played around with the sugar amount, and like it better with less sugar. I like a more tart flavor. Also, some people are bothered by the lemon zest that tends to settle to the bottom. I think that can be fixed by putting the sugar and lemon zest in a food processor
LDS? What's that?
Just kidding. :)
I get that a lot in the South, though... :)
Nurse Heidi told me to come here! I'm glad she did. I only spent the last several hours reading every single post! I should really get back to doing my job sometime today. Favorite ice cream is strawberry if it's homemade, and peppermint if it's from the store.
Jen, Nate is my brother :) Small world! So now I have to ask who the guy is that referred you here! Just wondering if it's someone else I know :) Either way, I'm glad you found us and I hope you'll stick around!
Patti- that goes for you too. Glad you're here!
Ha Ha. . . Hi Jen!
I can totally picture your surprise to see my picture on here, thinking "wait, I know that emily doesn't know how to cook a darn thing. Now why would she be commenting on a recipe blog???"
I cook by computer osmosis. . .
actually thanks to Sara and this AWESOME blog I've been more adventurous in the kitchen. One of Nate's most frequent remarks is, "Mmmmmmmm. . . have you been reading Sara's blog again?"
Thanks Sara and Kate!!!
Emily, I just figured you were one of those people that always SAID they couldn't cook, but really could. :)
Sara, I don't know if I am allowed to reveal the identity of my source. I will probably e-mail you guys and tell you.
Anyway, that blueberry ice cream looks fantastic, can't wait to make it. I'm impressed on how many new recipes you guys post on here.
I LOVE ice cream and am so happy you are posting recipes! I worked at Baskin-Robbins so i tend to have favorites of their flavors.. daquiari Ice, peanut butter and chocolate, mint chip, jamoca almond fudge... and on and on. Ice cream, cookies, and bread are my three favorite things in life.
Cinnamon custard
Sara, I really like your blog beautifully laid out and very professional down to the last detail. Butch
Curious to know if you fell in love with B&J's Festivus ice cream. If so, have you attempted to re-create this heavenly treat? I've come up with a recipe combined from a few different ones but I've never made ice cream before so I'm a little nervous to try. If you've done something similar I'd love the recipe.
Trimble- I never tried the Festivus, but it sounds amazing! They explain it as, "Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ice Cream Loaded with Gingerbread Cookies & a Ginger Caramel Swirl"
If I was trying to recreate it, I'd start with Kate's Snickerdoodle ice cream base:
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/03/snickerdoodle-ice-cream.html
But I'd substitute brown sugar for the white, and ginger cookies for the sugar cookies (here's a good recipe, or just buy some http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/10/ginger-spice-cookies.html)
Finally I'd swirl in some caramel. Store bought, or this recipe with a little ginger added to it: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/buttermilk-syrup.html
Hope that helps!
Post a Comment