Creamy Vanilla Goodness

One of my best childhood memories of the Fourth of July was making homemade ice cream.  When I was little, we had a crank-type ice cream maker and I have vivid memories of the ice, rock salt, cranking, etc.  Even so, prior to today, I had never (as an adult) made homemade ice cream.  Earlier this week, I remembered that about 5 years ago I had bought a used electric ice cream maker at a garage sale for about $3.  It has sat in our garage for as many years unused.  So, I decided this would be the "christening" year for the ice cream machine.  Yesterday I googled a recipe and cooked up the custard.  And today, we successfully made some VERY yummy ice cream.  We had a few worrisome moments.  At first, the machine didn't seem like it was going to work at all.  But luckily, we got at least this one yummy batch from it and that makes it totally worth the $3 I paid for it.

Here is the lovely thrifted ice cream machine in all its Pepto-Bismol pink goodness.  And yes, it is rusty on the top.  My two boys enjoyed putting the ice cubes around the canister and helping to pour the rock salt in.

The whole time the ice cream was churning it was like a little "peep show" for me.  I was very anxious that it wouldn't turn out, so I kept leaning down and peeking into the clear plastic top of the canister to see if it was getting thicker.  And look at that fabulously creamy goodness in the left photo.  My mom and dad were here with us, and by now they are used to me taking photos of odd things, so no one batted an eye when I whipped out the camera and took a picture of the ice cream in the canister.  We scooped it into a glass bowl and popped it in the freezer for later.  After playing outside, we came in and enjoyed homemade vanilla ice cream with my mom's homemade apple pie.  You can't get much more American than apple pie!  It was very yummy.  My oldest son loved the ice cream so much he tipped up his bowl and licked every last drop out!!  Below is the recipe I used.  I can't remember what website I found it on yesterday.

Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 cups half-and-half cream

2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the first five ingredients.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon and reaches at least 160 degrees F.  Remove from heat; cool quickly by setting pan in ice and stirring the mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze immediately.  When ready to freeze, pour custard and vanilla into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer.  Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.  (Or wing it if you bought the freezer at a garage sale and have no idea how to use it :0) )

Comments

[Thimbleina]

That ice cream looks good

[Tina]

We have a Cuisinart electric ice cream maker and we love it! Hmm...DH hasn't made ice cream in awhile, I will have to request some. We bought an extra bowl that we keep in the freezer so we can always make ice cream without worrying about freezing the bowl first (or make two batches). We have this ice cream book and I highly recommend it. It's very good.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Ice-Cream-Book-Granitas/dp/0688161499/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215302072&sr=8-4

[Amber D.]

That recipe is totally different than the one I use, but I'm sure it was yummy! I am laughing at the pink color. Never seen one quite like that!