In addition the “National Months” that have been featured earlier this month, July also happens to be “National Ice Cream Month”! (Didn’t I tell you it was going to be a tasty “National Month”?!) So… The recipes (Yep! Another “twofer”!) featured in this week’s “Tasty Tuesdays” post are for ICE CREAM! (I scream! You scream! We all scream for ice cream! Oops! I’m getting carried away!) The first “twofer” recipe is “Homemade Ice Cream”, and without further ado, here it is…
Homemade Ice Cream
(from “The Essential Amish Cookbook” by Lovina Eicher)
Ingredients
7 eggs
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 (5.1-ounce) package vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon salt
10 cups milk
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
Beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients. Mix together. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
“When we make ice cream, we use a hand-cranked ice cream freezer. We use ice and salt to harden it in the ice cream freezer, and in the winter we even use snow!”
Although this is seemingly such a simple recipe for making ice cream, I discovered that my beloved Betty Crocker Cookbook has a much more in-depth recipe for making ice cream as well as LOTS of variations! So, I thought I’d share Betty’s recipe with you as well as Lovina’s recipe. And now, without further ado, here’s the second featured ICE CREAM recipe!
French Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 cups chilled whipping cream
For crank-type freezer: Mix milk, sugar, salt and egg yolks in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until bubbles appear around edge. Cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla and whipping cream.
Pour into freezer can; put dasher in place. Cover and adjust crank. Place can in freezer tub. Fill freezer tub 1/2 full of ice; add remaining ice alternating with layers of rock salt (6 parts ice to 1 part rock salt). Turn crank until it turns with difficulty. Drain water from freezer tub. Remove lid; take out dasher. Pack mixture down; replace lid. Repack in ice and rock salt. Let stand to ripen several hours
1 quart ice cream
For refrigerator: Mix milk, sugar, salt and egg yolks in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until bubbles appear around edge. Cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla.
Pour into ice cube tray. Freeze until mixture is mushy and partially frozen, 30 to 60 minutes. Beat whipping cream in chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Spoon partially frozen mixture into another chilled bowl; beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into 2 ice cub trays; cover to prevent crystals from forming. Freeze, stirring frequently during first hours, until firm, 3 to 4 hours.
1 quart ice cream
Now that you know how to make ice cream according to Betty Crocker’s recipe, I’m going to share with you her long list of variations. Here goes…
Chocolate Ice Cream: Increase sugar to 1 cup and decrease vanilla to 1 teaspoon. Stir 2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate, melted (Do not use premelted chocolate.), into hot milk mixture in saucepan.
Frozen Custard Ice Cream: Decrease salt to 1/8 teaspoon and cream to 1 cup.
Frozen Strawberry Ice Cream: Decrease vanilla to 1 teaspoon. Stir in 1 package (16 ounces) frozen strawberry halves (thawed) after adding cream. Stir in a few drops of red food color if desired.
Nut Brittle Ice Cream: Stir in 1 cup crushed almond, pecan, or peanut brittle after adding cream.
Peach Ice Cream: Decrease vanilla to 1 teaspoon. Mash 4 or 5 peaches to yield 2 cups. Stir 1/2 cup sugar into peaches. Stir in peaches after adding cream.
Pistachio Ice Cream: Stir in 1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts or almonds, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and few drops green food color after adding cream.
Strawberry Ice Cream: Decrease vanilla to 1 teaspoon. Mash 1 pint strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar; stir into milk mixture after adding cream. Stir in few drops red food color if desired.
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream: Omit vanilla. Add one 3-inch piece of vanilla bean to milk mixture before cooking. Before cooling, remove bean and split lengthwise into halves. Scrape the seeds into cooked mixture with tip of small knife; discard bean.
Wintergreen or Peppermint Ice Cream: Decrease vanilla to 1 teaspoon. Stir in 1/2 cup crushed wintergreen or peppermint candy sticks after adding cream. Stir in few drops green or red food color.
So, there you have it: Not one, but TWO tasty recipes in honor of July also being “National Ice Cream Month”! Hope you take some time this month to make — and enjoy — a batch of homemade ice cream this month, but definitely by the end of summer! Please take a moment during your “fun in the sun” this summer to let me know how your batch of homemade ice cream turned out and/or which of Betty’s variations you liked the best. As for me, I’ve got some fresh peaches, so I think I’m going to make myself a batch of peach ice cream. Enjoy and take care!