I like my gadgets. I have a food processor, electric juicer, a bread maker, soda machine (CO^2 dispenser)… I’ve been begging Ryan for an Ice Cream Maker. That and a Kitchenaid Mixer in a beautiful shade. Yeah. I am one of those women, you know… that covet the Kitchenaid Mixer. And for the most part our apartment is a gadget friendly home with 2 powerbook laptops, iphone, ipad, imac, keyboards, etc… Ryan is afraid of our apartment turning into the quintessential New York pack-rat apartment. I swear that half of all long time resident New Yorkers have apartments walled off with boxes. (My mother is evidence one, an ex-boyfriend evidence two, and my long time best friend’s grandparents as evidence 3. So there.) I think he’s also afraid of some sort of genetic hoarding gene of my mother’s to all of a sudden POP out… and devour him so that he ends up like one of those poor abused kitten remains that you find in the show Hoarders. Just saying…
If there is one thing I definitely need, it’s some help organizing my cupboards and closets.
So for my birthday, Sophear got me an Ice Cream Maker! Yay. I took it for a spin in May and made some yummy custard ice Cream with strawberries. It was really easy. I followed Simply Recipes‘s French Vanilla Ice Cream recipe. You want to use yolks, because they give the ice cream more depth, creaminess, and it helps keep the texture in the freezer. I mean, who doesn’t like custard? For the most part, I used the above as a guide, but since then, gotten away with using half the amount of yolks and it was delicious! It depends how decadent you want it. The worst part about a custard ice cream is that, I can’t stop eating the custard before it goes in the fridge. Oh yeah, and the prep time (ie. the time you need to both cool the mixture and freeze the icecream) is longer.
Strawberry Custard Ice Cream
Heat 2.5 cups of cream and 1 cup milk (I used the 2% I have lying around and used extra cream… just saying). Add half the sugar to the mixture. Stir. Heat the mixture up, but don’t have it steam and boil. Let cool for a few minutes.
Separate 4-6 egg yolks, depending on how melty/rich you want the ice cream.
Wisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar. Using a table spoon, ladle the heated milk into the egg while quickly wisking. DON’T LET THE EGGS COOK. Keep stirring. I did this 3-4 times, ladling in the hot cream mixture. Once mixed, slowly add in the egg to the milk mixture, stirring quickly. Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, let the mixture simmer slightly, but don’t let it boil or the eggs will start the burn.
Turn off the heat, let the mixture cool a bit (transfer it to a rubber bowl or something that won’t keep hot like a steel bowl).
Trim your strawberries and cut into small chunks. I pureed the whole thing, but if you want to leave some chunks, you can smash them and leave them as so. (Or puree half the strawberry amount and mash the rest.) Pour strawberries into the custard, mix thoroughly.
Place mixture in fridge/freezer to cool for 1-2 hours. (If you used more than 4 yolks, you can safely put it in the freezer and it won’t freeze.)
Freeze the ice cream according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Usually, you need to freeze the bowl over night, turn the machine on, and pour in the mixture. I let the machine freeze the cream for around 20 or so minutes. If you put a lot of yolks, like I did the first time, the ice cream won’t really freeze. It will have the consistency of runny melted soft serve. Pour out the mixture and put in the freezer for a couple of hours.
I was honestly a little discouraged after seeing the texture out of the ice cream maker. However, once frozen for at least 3-5 hours, it completely resembled ice cream and tasted amazing.
Here is some inspiration! In the near future, I need to make some Maple-Bacon icecream!
Next project: Frozen Yogurt (which was SUPER easy / doesn’t require any additional heating or freezing)
