Ice Cream Making

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” The saying may be a bit trite, but the sentiment is not; ice cream is the universal favorite food of all ages and in all seasons. Although it is popular all over the world, America can rightly claim to be the champion of ice-cream consumption and proud innovators of more flavors and kinds than any other country on earth. In fact, ice cream is probably more American than apple pie. Therefore, July is the perfect month for making a batch of home-made ice cream.

Many of today’s children probably never turned a hand-crank ice cream maker but with all the new models available today, there’s really no excuse for not making it a “family fun” project. If you are a purist, or want to take it on a picnic, it is still possible to buy a hand-cranked ice cream machine. Either way, it’s a delightful undertaking for everyone. Most automatic ice cream makers have either a liner containing a refrigerant that must be put into the freezer ahead of time or an outer bucket to fill with ice and salt and a motor to turn the inner metal container that holds the cream mixture. I have both kinds and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. The kind you put in the freezer is easier, but you have to remember to put it in about 8 hours ahead of the ice cream making. The other type requires lots of ice and special ice cream salt, getting the ratio correct, having enough ice on hand, etc. which makes it a bigger project. Both turn out excellent ice cream.

We have been speaking mainly of ice cream, but before going any farther, let me mention all the “frozen dessert” possibilities you can turn out with your machine. Although there are dozens of classifications for frozen desserts such as parfaits, frappes, sherbets, sorbets, granitas, American ice cream, French ice cream, gelatos, frozen custards, and frozen mousses, there are really only three classifications that have practical functional differences: ice cream, milk sherbet and sherbet. Ice cream always has cream in it. Milk sherbets have milk or buttermilk in place of cream as well as water. Sherbets have no milk or cream. An exception might be made for the Italian Gelato, which is really a milk sherbet that has eggs incorporated into it.

While researching this column, I came across so many wonderful sounding recipes for ice cream and sherbet that I couldn’t decide where to begin. And then I remembered the time eons ago that I convinced a boyfriend to drive many miles out of town to a brand new “31 flavors” ice cream parlor that had just opened up only to end up ordering vanilla.
So, of course, we must start with vanilla—but not just any vanilla. I think the following recipe is really special:

6 cups light cream
One and one-fourth cups granulated sugar
2 vanilla beans (3-inch size), split
One-eighth tsp. salt

In top of double boiler, combine 3 cups cream, the sugar, vanilla beans and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. Remove bean pods, scraping pulp and seeds into the cream. Cool. Add remaining 3 cups cream to the cooled mixture. Mix well. Churn freeze.

This basic recipe can be the starting point for your imagination; just add fruits, nuts and flavorings to make it into your signature ice cream.

Here’s a quick and easy recipe that the kids will love:

Pop Ice Cream

2 10-oz. bottles flavored soda pop (I prefer strawberry)
1 (10-oz) package frozen fruit to complement the pop flavor such as strawberries, thawed
3 eggs, beaten
One-half cup granulated sugar
One and one-half cups sweetened condensed milk
One and one-half cups light cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Churn freeze

Now it’s time for a really grown-up, decadent and luxurious ice cream

Coffee-Pecan Ice Cream

One-half cup hot water (not boiling)
One-third cup coarsely ground coffee
Pinch of allspice, ground
One and one-fourth cups light cream
4 extra-large egg yolks
One-half cup soft brown or raw cane sugar
One-half cup granulated white sugar
One-half cup chopped pecans
One and one-fourth cups heavy cream

Pour the water over the coffee and leave to stand for at least five minutes. Strain the coffee into a pan with a pinch of pumpkin pie spice and the light cream, then heat gently until almost boiling. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and brown sugar together until pale and thick; pour the coffee-flavored cream onto the eggs, stirring continuously. Thicken and chill the custard at least one hour.
Prepare the nuts while the custard is chilling: Melt the white sugar slowly in a heavy small pan and then bring to a boil and heat until golden brown. Add the chopped pecans, shaking the caramel over them to coat them completely; pour the mixture onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Leave until completely cold and hard, then chop roughly.

Add the heavy cream to the coffee custard and churn freeze the mixture until thick. Add the chopped nuts and continue churning until the ice cream is ready to serve.


There are lots of books in the library on ice cream making. The two I used here for reference are The complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream by Carolyn Anderson and The Ice-Cream Machine Recipe Book by Rosemary Moon