How Sweet It Is...

Yesterday, I made my very first batch of ice cream with my new ice cream maker. I decided to start off with a simple flavor like vanilla. Vanilla is not only my favorite flavor, but is basic enough that it seemed like a good flavor to start with. I figured if I couldn't make vanilla ice cream, I might as well nix this whole project. I also thought vanilla could serve as a good base for other flavors I may want to add into my ice cream in the future.

Alas, after mixing all the ingredients together, I realized I did not have any vanilla in my cupboard. I frantically looked through the recipe book to see what other flavors I could make, but could not find any that involved the same concentration of milk and sugar. With a friend arriving for dinner at any minute, I did not have time to run to the store to get vanilla. Rather than throwing the whole batch out, I decided to just try the batch as was (cooking with the ingredients we have and not the ones the recipe calls for is a popular tradition at my house). The cream, milk and sugar tasted sweet enough, so I figured I could just make my own version of Sweet Cream Ice Cream. According to the three of us that ate it, it was pretty tasty.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Cuisinart. The only change I made was leaving out the vanilla):

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cup granulated sugar
3 cups heavy cream

Combine the milk and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer on low speed whisk the milk and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved (this should take about 2 minutes).

Next, pour the heavy cream into the mixture and continue to whisk together.

Pour the entire mixture into your ice cream maker. My ice cream maker takes about 25 minutes to churn everything together, but depending on the type you have it may take more or less time. After churning the ice cream, give it a significant amount of time (a couple hours) to cool in your freezer. Otherwise it might turn out a little soupy.

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.