Watch Out, She's Got A Whisk!

Mother Nature saved the downpour for the first day back after the Labor Day weekend, so now I have no excuse not to finally post about ice cream.

My journey to making my own ice cream started with my Uncle Ralph in Delaware Ohio. When I was a kid, going to see my Uncle Ralph & Aunt Eloise was such a treat in so many different ways, but literally one of them was that he made ice cream.

My brother Matt, Uncle Ralph & my sister Melissa

He had the old kind of ice cream maker that was a wood exterior with a ceramic crock that the batter went in. It was hand cranked where you used rock salt and ice, and a lot of elbow grease. He only ever made vanilla and would sometimes add cherries, but oh my gosh, it was the best flavor and you savored every spoonful.

Less than 10 years ago I bought a ice cream bowl attachment to go with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and my ice cream making adventures began. I mailed my cousin Barb, and asked if she had her dad's ice cream recipe. The one that she sent me made a huge amount, and honestly did not come out like I remember it, so I started experimenting.

I went online and started looking at different recipes and comparing similarities in terms of ingredients and quantities and after just a few attempts I hit on what I consider my 'master' recipe that is now the base for several yummy variations. I also ended up giving away the Kitchen Aid attachment and got a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker which is so much easier to use I should have just spent my money on it in the first place. Mine is a 1 & 1/2 quart capacity, so my recipes are based on that.

Also I should state, that there are some pretty technical qualifications to Ice Cream. According to the FDA it must contain at least 10% milk fat. I like to use half and half, so mine is probably closer to ice milk than ice cream, but it has the texture and consistency that I like. So if you end up trying this, you could use whipping cream instead, or a combination if you want it creamier.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

1 quart Half & Half
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 whole vanilla bean
3 egg yolks

• In a medium size bowl I whisk together one fourth (1/4 cup) of the sugar and the egg yolks and set aside. 
• In a medium size saucepan I whisk together the other 3/4 cup of sugar and half of the Half & Half with the salt. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and add to the pan, then whisk over medium heat until it starts to steam. Remove the bean and set aside for a moment.
• Pull the pan off the heat and ladle about a cup of the steamed milk into the eggs yolks and quickly whisk until smooth. Add that mixture back into the saucepan and continue whisking over medium heat until the batter thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, being careful not to boil.
• Pull the pan off the heat and carefully scrape the vanilla bean contents into the batter, add the remaining Half & Half and chill for several hours or overnight and process in the ice cream maker according to directions (which for mine takes about 20 minutes).

So the first variation I made to this was to make Coffee ice cream, and so I did everything as above, but added 2 tablespoons of Medalia d'Oro Instant Espresso powder which I added to the warm batter before I pour in the rest of the chilled Half & Half. I do this with a flat whisk to avoid any lumping.

Another variation is to make it without the vanilla bean, but instead add 1 tablespoon of lemon extract. Yet another is to make it without the vanilla bean and add 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract, and then add chocolate shavings to make mint "chocolate-chip". The chocolate shavings are also a nice addition to the coffee.......

I'll post two more recipes in the near future. I'm signing off for now, but not without first posting my joke picture that I put together for the blog profile we did at work a year or so ago. Gotta love those phone apps!

Me, Boo and Julia (Is in there too)