Saturday, August 23, 2008

I Scream, You Scream

Hooray for ice cream! One of my favorite birthday gifts this year was this shiny red Cuisinart ice cream maker and Ben & Jerry's ice cream book. I couldn't wait to start whipping up frozen desserts. Having never made ice cream before, I was amazed at how easy it is. Mix together a few ingredients, pour into the ice cream maker, leave it to churn for 30 minutes and, voila, ice cream! My brother-in-law and I had a lot of fun making it :)


So far we've made two batches of ice cream (Oreo mint and heath bar crunch, both from the Ben & Jerry's book) and have learned a few things along the way.

1) Homemade ice cream is SO much better than store-bought. It tastes so fresh!

2) Be patient and let the ice cream freeze. My first batch, the Oreo mint, came together perfectly but I only froze it after churning for a few hours and it was soft - think the consistency of a Dairy Queen Blizzard - so I couldn't really scoop it like I wanted. But by the next morning it was the perfect ice cream consistency.

3) Freeze the bowl long enough! With batch number two, the heath bar, I put the ice cream maker bowl in the freezer in the morning before work, and about 12 hours later went to make my ice cream. The ice cream never really thickened in the machine and while it did firm up in the freezer it wound up kind of icy.

Regardless, both batches of ice cream were incredibly delicious! I can't wait to make more flavors!

Oreo Mint

2/3 cup coarsely chopped Oreo cookies
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk
2 tsp peppermint extract

Place the cookies in a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. Add the peppermint extract and blend again. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. After the ice cream stiffens (and about 2 minutes before it is done) add the chopped cookies and continue freezing until ice cream is ready.

*I also added a few drops of food coloring, since I like my mint ice cream green!


Heath Bar Crunch

4 original Heath bars
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Using a sharp knife, cut the candy bars into 1/2-1 inch chunks. You should have about 1 cup. Place the chunks in a bowl, cover and freeze. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend. Add the peppermint extract and blend again. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. After the ice cream stiffens (and about 2 minutes before it is done) add the candy and continue freezing until ice cream is ready.

*I also added a few tablespoons of peanut butter with the Heath bars - yum!

6 comments:

Becky said...

Oh La La! I'm so jealous of your red Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. I have one in white! DH says we could paint ours red! Hmm! Your ice cream looks wonderful, by the way!

Pamela said...

Both of these recipes look great. I guess I am gonna have to add the Ben & Jerry's book to my list! I love my red Cuisinart, too.

Jenn said...

OK, you all have me convinced to get one. It looks like fun and delicious.

Unknown said...

I have never made ice creams at home simply because i thought it wont be as good as shop-bought but yours looks great and i love oreo so may be i should give it a try:-)
Thank you for sharing:-)
X M

Jaime said...

ooooh! i love the heath bar crunch flavor! thanks for sharing the recipe :) while i don't have an ice cream maker yet, i've learned how to make ice cream w/o it and have been going crazy trying flavors ever since :) it's my weekend treat now!

White Toast with Butter said...

I just got the Cuisinart 2 quart at Price Club for 49.99 (that was the same price as the smaller one at the other stores) but it is stainless steel not beautiful red! I can't wait to try some recipes - I got a few books too - the Ben & Jerry's and Perfect Scoop. Happy churning!