Tag: ice cream maker

Minimal Monday: Fresh Lemon Ice Cream

This ice cream qualifies for Minimal Monday status because it takes less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish (if you use an ice cream maker) and it has the simple, clean flavor of tangy fresh lemon. The secret is lots of fresh lemon juice and a tiny bit of pure lemon extract to really bring that flavor out.

I added 2 tiny drops of yellow food coloring, mostly for the sake of the photos. I hardly ever use food coloring, and when I do I use it very sparingly. In this case it just takes the ‘edge’ off the stark whiteness of the ice cream, which enhances my appreciation of its lemony-ness.

I love this partly because I’m a lemon addict, but also because it’s such an unusual flavor, at least for ice cream. There are plenty of lemon sherberts and sorbets out there, but not too many actual ice creams. I almost added dark chocolate chunks to it, but held back in favor of the pure lemon. I think I made the right decision.

So far anyway I’ve been focusing on the simplest ice cream recipes, ones that involve no egg yolks, and no cooking. For this one I just whisk sugar into cold milk and cream, and then I poured the lemon juice in right before I added it to the machine. It curdled a bit but I figured it would work itself out as it churned, and I was right.

The best part of making your own ice cream is dipping the spoon in while it’s churning. One taste and I knew I had a winner. The large amount of lemon juice gives it a kick that you don’t expect from ice cream.

Fresh Lemon Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup sugar (I used superfine baking sugar, but you don’t have to)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 or 5 lemons)
1 tsp lemon extract
2 or 3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Mix the cream, milk, and sugar together and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Add the food coloring if you are going to use it.
Make sure your mixture and your lemon juice are cold, and when you are just about to add the cream to your ice cream maker, add the lemon juice and extract. Pour into the machine and process according to the instructions. On the basic Cuisinart machine it takes about 20 minutes.
You can eat it soft right from the machine, or freeze it longer for a firmer scoop.

Note: After this ice cream has been in the fridge for several hours it will be quite hard. Bring it out and let it sit for a while to soften up before scooping.

You can sprinkle on a little zest as a garnish, but again, I did that mostly for photographic purposes. I do think this lemon ice cream would be pretty spectacular with some homemade dark chocolate magic shell, or homemade bittersweet hot fudge sauce, though. Lemon and dark chocolate is a killer combination.

Recently I bought some quart sized cardboard ice cream containers, just like commercial ice cream comes in, and I love them. They’re great if you want to share your ice cream, or use it as a host/hostess gift. And if you have anyone in your house who likes to eat ice cream right out of the carton while they watch tv, letting it get all drippy and disgusting, and then put it back in the freezer, you might want to consider reserving a carton just for yourself.

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One year ago today—

White Chocolate Pecan Butter Cups

Roasted Rhubarb and Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

So, here’s the story on this ice cream. It was delicious, it has the subtle but unmistakable tangy taste of rhubarb, with chunks of dark chocolate to keep it from being too retiring. But my fresh rhubarb was on the pale side, and so the color didn’t come through in the finished ice cream as vibrantly as I’d hoped. It’s actually a little pinker
than it shows up in the photos, but without the visual cue you probably
can’t imagine the flavor. So from a blogging/photographic standpoint this was a failure, but otherwise, it was fun to make, and tasted really good. If you can find yourself some bright red rhubarb this spring, I recommend giving it a try.

The dark chocolate chunks were a last minute whim. I was watching the pale cameo pink ice cream churn around in the machine and my chocoholic side got the better of me. I grabbed a couple of dark chocolate bars, chopped them up and threw them in.

I broke out my new ice cream maker for this recipe. It’s the same one I used to have but got rid of in a fit of ‘lightening our load’ when we moved a couple of years ago. It’s so quick and easy and I love that you can watch the whole process through the open top. I dipped my spoon in a couple of times while it was churning.

Roasting the rhubarb brings out and intensifies the flavor. It only takes a few minutes in a hot oven. The puree is added to sugar, heavy cream and milk and then into the machine. If you don’t have an ice cream maker you can make this with a food processor or good blender. Check out my Blackberry Ice Cream post for details. Basically you freeze the mixture in a large zip lock baggie and then break it up into your processor and process till smooth and creamy. It works!

Roasted Rhubarb and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
oven to 400F
1 lb fresh rhubarb, washed, trimmed, and cut in 2 inch chunks.
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, pod reserved
1 cup sugar
juice of half a lemon
10 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Put the rhubarb on a silpat lined baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, just until it softens and starts to release its juice.
Puree the hot rhubarb in a blender or food processor. Process until very smooth. Add the lemon juice and set aside.
Heat the cream, milk, vanilla seeds, and pod to a simmer. Take off the heat and let steep until cool.
Strain the cream mixture to remove the vanilla pods, and whisk it with the rhubarb puree. Chill in the refrigerator until very cold.
At this point taste the mixture. Add a little more lemon juice if needed. Pour into the bowl of your ice cream maker and process according to your machine’s directions. When it is almost finished, add in the chocolate chunks.

I know most people would have started off with plain vanilla or chocolate for their first try. But I couldn’t resist jumping right in and experimenting. If you’re going to make flavors that you can easily find in every grocery store, what’s the point of having an ice cream maker?

Amaretto Poppy Seed Ice Cream

I’m sending up a flare here — If you like ice cream, almond, Amaretto, and poppy seeds, you have to try this. If you like almond poppy seed muffins, you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.

I stood over the ice cream maker as it was churning and added the almond extract and Amaretto until it was just perfect. I said it before, but I just love the way you can interact with the ice cream as it freezes, through the open top in this Cuisinart machine. You can actually create a flavor as you go. For someone like me who loves experimenting with unusual combinations, this is a blast.

The almond flavor in this ice cream is dreamy. The crunch of the poppy seeds is so unusual and so delightful. You will love it!

Amaretto Poppy Seed Ice Cream
makes about 4 1/2 cups
3/4 cup whole milk
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cups poppy seeds
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp Amaretto liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract

Heat the milk, cream, sugar and poppy seeds in a saucepan on the stove, just until it comes to a simmer. Take off the heat and add the almond extract, Amaretto, and vanilla. Let it cool and then refrigerate for several hours until completely chilled.
Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl of your ice cream maker and process according to your machine’s directions. Mine took just 20 minutes of churning.
Eat right away or keep in the freezer for a firmer texture.

I really like that my ice cream maker makes very manageable sized batches of ice cream. It’s just right for a small family, an intimate group of friends, or just you and your partner. Or just you. In any case you’re not going to be swimming in extra ice cream, which is a good thing.

You know, every minute you waste staring is a another minute you can’t be putting this in your mouth.

Follow me on Pinterest, I have an Ice Cream board filled with inspirational flavors to try. I scoured the internet for the best recipes, from the most common to the most outrageous, so you don’t have to.

One year ago today—

Pasta with Fresh Peas, Lemon and Mint