Homemade Ice Cream

I love ice cream.  I even tend to eat more ice cream when it is cold outside rather than in the summer.  Weird, I know. :)  I like Cold Stone's ice cream because you can put several different things in it to make a unique treat.  David likes Baskin Robbins ice cream, but too bad for him that we no longer have one close to us. :(  Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla is probably my favorite store bought ice cream, followed by strawberry.  We just added the 90 calorie Twix ice cream bars to our ice cream resume...these are fantastic, but the ice cream I love more than any other has to be the homemade kind.  I can still hear the sound of my mom's ice cream maker churning away.  Her ice cream always tasted the best to me. 

Fortunately for us, we received an ice cream maker as a wedding gift and what better time to break it out than the WINTER! :)  These are alot different than I remember.  We don't have to use ice or rock salt, just place the bowl in the freezer overnight and then add the ingredients and churn for 30-35 minutes.

This machine comes with a recipe book that contains several great recipes, but this time I just wanted the Simple Vanilla Ice Cream.

Simple Vanilla Ice Cream

This ice cream can easily be dressed up by adding your favorite

chopped candies or sprinkles at the end of churning.

Makes about 7 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 1½ cups whole milk
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• pinch table salt
• 3 cups heavy cream (*Note:  I only used 1.5 cups of heavy cream, so I cut the rest of the recipe in half as well-We will see how that turns out.)
• 1½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

• In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or whisk to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.
• Turn the Cuisinart ® Ice Cream Maker on; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 30 to 35 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

NUTRITION:
Per serving (based on ½ cup):
Calories 260 (67% from fat) • carb. 19g • pro. 2g • fat 20g • sat. fat 12g • chol. 75mg • sod. 45mg • calc.
66mg • fiber 0g

I mixed all of the ingredients and placed the bowl in the refridgerator and placed the freezer bowl in the freezer. 


Ingredients put into the mixer for 35 minutes




Finished product :)



CRITIC COMMENTS:
Me:  I tried the ice cream last night and thought it was really good.  It was very creamy, and I thought it might have a little too much vanilla in it.  I will tweek that for the next recipe.

Husband:  He just tried one bite of my ice cream and his first thought, "it's really creamy?"  I let him know that it was supposed to be that way, but I'm not sure he will like it when he tries his own.  We will see.  Update:  He wishes it wasn't so creamy.