Homemade Ice Cream

I made homemade ice cream tonight! I did the custard yesterday and kept it in the fridge until this evening.  I have the Kitchenaid ice cream bowl and this was my first time using it, even though I've had it for about 2 years now.  Worked pretty well.  A bit messier than my 2 previous stand alone ice cream makers in that you need to have to have the mixer going when you pour in the mix.  The recipe I used was quite thick so it wasn't easy to pour into the space between the mixer head and the side of the bowl.  But otherwise it turned out pretty well. 

I used dark and bitter sweet chocolate so it isn't very sweet. Unfortunately I made it with cream that I had left over from the black forest cake I made last week, so I can't eat it. The high dairy content of the ice cream would make me very sick.  But it should keep in the freezer for some months and I can serve it to friends/family when they come over.

I did have a teaspoon to taste it. And it's pretty good.  Definitely will need something sweeter to serve along side of it.

Oh yum. Chocolate! It sounds wonderful. Serve it over a sponge cake or a vanilla cake....that would give you a bit of sweet and it would be a great chocolate-vanilla combination. Plop a big ripe strawberry on top  of each serving! Strawberries and chocolate go great together.

We have a Cuisinart ice cream freezer and Rick loves that thing. His favorite is strawberry and he uses every chance he can get to make some. We'll have some homemade ice cream for our Memorial Day picnic this weekend.

Sounds delicious!

I love making ice cream! I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker too, and ironically I'm also mildly lactose intolerant. I've got coconut-based cinnamon ice cream waiting to be mixed tonight, but if you'd prefer lactose-alternatives for making your own ice cream, you can do bananas or full fat coconut milk. The last batch I made was strawberry banana ice cream. Just freeze the fruit and blend it all together, no sugar or dairy added.

My vegan professor linked me this page of awesome ice cream recipes that are dairy-free:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/amazing-vegan-ice-cream-recipes

I can drink Lactaid milk, so when I make ice cream I usually use that.  The only reason I used cream this time was because I had some in the fridge that I didn't want to waste.  Plus I make sorbets and frozen yogurt too.

Winchester and @JTbo I also have the cuisinart icecream maker. It's the one where you have to freeze the bowl. My icecream never turns out very creamy. Is there some sort of trick to it? I have the bowl in the freezer for 2-3 days and I cool the custard in the fridge overnight.

The last time we made ice cream, we had some trouble with ours, too; it didn't freeze as well as we thought it should. We froze the bowl overnight in the freezer, used whole milk, used heavy whipping cream, etc. Everything we could think of. But the ice cream was still more like soft serve ice cream. This time, Rick is going to make the ice cream on Saturday and then we'll put it in the freezer overnight for Sunday. That's about all I can tell you. We had trouble the last time, too. And we are careful to make the bowl is frozen, to make sure the custard is cold, to make sure we only use whole milk, heavy cream, etc.

We have a large White Mountain electric ice cream freezer. It's missing a couple washers and Rick keeps saying he wants to replace them. I think the best ice cream comes from an actual ice cream maker and not the little Cuisinart or KA things. Eventually they stop freezing properly and I don't know why. My MIL has a KA freezer that connects on to her mixer. Had it for several years and never had any trouble with it. It won't freeze now to save her life and she's always been very careful with it. My GF has a KA freezer, too, and hers stopped freezing after about two years or so. It's frustrating.

If anybody has any ideas, I'd like to hear them, too.

A lot of my ice creams tend to have a soft serve feel when they come out of the mixer, but once they freeze for a few hours post-mixing, they're pretty good to go. Have you tried adding an egg yolk to the mix? If I'm using a more watery mix or the cream or milk isn't as heavy (I routinely use 35% cream and 2% milk), dropping an egg yolk in and whipping it in after turning off the stove adds a rich and creaminess to it. If you make 1 quart, two egg yolks should be plenty.

I find it varies from freezer to freezer too - when I lived at home, since we kept so much stuff in the freezer, we had it cranked and it froze perfectly within 12 hours. When we had no space in our freezer, I took the ice cream bowl to my boyfriend's old place and froze the bowl for 3 days and it would still slosh a bit. The ice cream maker couldn't run for the whole 25 minutes before melting.

Thanks Winchester and thanks @JTbo

I am inspired to give icecream making yet another go. I'm going to try the extra egg yolks.

This is the recipe I used. I used bittersweet chocolate instead of the semisweet, and didn't bother with the ice water bath, or straining it.  I also used only 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup.

The ice cream like all ice creams fresh from an ice cream maker is soft serve unless you put it into a container and into the freezer to stiffen up more.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare an ice water bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large heatproof bowl and set aside.
    
2. Combine cream and milk in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until incorporated. Add chocolate and whisk until completely melted and smooth; set aside.
    
3. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add sugar and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour about a quarter of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the hot mixture doesn’t scramble the eggs.
    
4. Pour chocolate-egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the spoon, about 5 minutes. (When you draw your finger across the spoon, it should make a mark through the mixture, which should not run back in on itself.)
    
5. Remove from heat and strain through the prepared fine-mesh strainer. Stir vanilla extract into the chocolate base, then set the bowl over the ice bath to cool to room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes.
    
6. Remove the chocolate base from the ice bath, cover, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Natalie_ca said:

This is the recipe I used. I used bittersweet chocolate instead of the semisweet, and didn't bother with the ice water bath, or straining it.  I also used only 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup.


The ice cream like all ice creams fresh from an ice cream maker is soft serve unless you put it into a container and into the freezer to stiffen up more.



INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 
INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare an ice water bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large heatproof bowl and set aside.
   
    
2. Combine cream and milk in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until incorporated. Add chocolate and whisk until completely melted and smooth; set aside.
   
    
3. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add sugar and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour about a quarter of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the hot mixture doesn’t scramble the eggs.
   
    
4. Pour chocolate-egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the spoon, about 5 minutes. (When you draw your finger across the spoon, it should make a mark through the mixture, which should not run back in on itself.)
   
    
5. Remove from heat and strain through the prepared fine-mesh strainer. Stir vanilla extract into the chocolate base, then set the bowl over the ice bath to cool to room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes.
   
    
6. Remove the chocolate base from the ice bath, cover, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Click to expand...

Thanks Natalie_ca. Was the icecream creamy? I want mine to be creamy and smooth just like the icecream you buy in a cone. Do I expect too much?

Super creamy and smooth!  And very decadent.

I said I used 1/2 cup sugar, it was actually 3/4 cup. I do remember counting 3 scoops of sugar.  I really liked it with the bittersweet chocolate.

I'm going to use the recipe again, but next time I'm going to use 2% lactaid milk instead of cream. With the lactaid milk, I can at least eat it,  LOL

The trick is to make sure you whisk the eggs/sugar with one hand, as you pour some of the hot liquid into it with the other hand,  otherwise you scramble the eggs.  So put the bowl on a damp towel so it doesn't move, and start whisking fast and don't stop while you are pouring the hot liquid into it.  If you do it right, no need to strain the liquid before putting it into the fridge. 

I used to make ice cream all the time. My very first ice cream maker was a wooden churn type that I had to add ice and salt to and then crank the handle for almost 20 minutes! It was labour intensive, but it made great ice cream!

I really like the kitchenaid bowl because the bowl lives in my freezer and doesn't take up any additional space in my apartment. The kichenaid itself hangs out on my counter.

Natalie_ca said:

Super creamy and smooth!  And very decadent.


I said I used 1/2 cup sugar, it was actually 3/4 cup. I do remember counting 3 scoops of sugar.  I really liked it with the bittersweet chocolate.


I'm going to use the recipe again, but next time I'm going to use 2% lactaid milk instead of cream. With the lactaid milk, I can at least eat it,  LOL

The trick is to make sure you whisk the eggs/sugar with one hand, as you pour some of the hot liquid into it with the other hand,  otherwise you scramble the eggs.  So put the bowl on a damp towel so it doesn't move, and start whisking fast and don't stop while you are pouring the hot liquid into it.  If you do it right, no need to strain the liquid before putting it into the fridge. 

I used to make ice cream all the time. My very first ice cream maker was a wooden churn type that I had to add ice and salt to and then crank the handle for almost 20 minutes! It was labour intensive, but it made great ice cream!

I really like the kitchenaid bowl because the bowl lives in my freezer and doesn't take up any additional space in my apartment. The kichenaid itself hangs out on my counter.

Click to expand...

Oh my goodness. Oh. I need to get organised. I'm hoping to make it for sure. Thankyou. Thankyou. Thankyou.- well I may not Thankyou if my waist grows!!!!

Natalie_ca said:

This is the recipe I used. I used bittersweet chocolate instead of the semisweet, and didn't bother with the ice water bath, or straining it.  I also used only 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup.


The ice cream like all ice creams fresh from an ice cream maker is soft serve unless you put it into a container and into the freezer to stiffen up more.



INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 
INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare an ice water bath by filling a large bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large heatproof bowl and set aside.
   
    
2. Combine cream and milk in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until incorporated. Add chocolate and whisk until completely melted and smooth; set aside.
   
    
3. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually add sugar and whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour about a quarter of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the hot mixture doesn’t scramble the eggs.
   
    
4. Pour chocolate-egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the spoon, about 5 minutes. (When you draw your finger across the spoon, it should make a mark through the mixture, which should not run back in on itself.)
   
    
5. Remove from heat and strain through the prepared fine-mesh strainer. Stir vanilla extract into the chocolate base, then set the bowl over the ice bath to cool to room temperature, about 15 to 20 minutes.
   
    
6. Remove the chocolate base from the ice bath, cover, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Click to expand...

I've made it!!! Yay! The custard is in the fridge. I'll either churn it tonight or in the morning. I will post my final results. Wish me luck.

Tammat said:

I've made it!!! Yay! The custard is in the fridge. I'll either churn it tonight or in the morning. I will post my final results. Wish me luck.

Click to expand...

Yay!!!   Did you do the bittersweet chocolate?

Tammat said:

I've made it!!! Yay! The custard is in the fridge. I'll either churn it tonight or in the morning. I will post my final results. Wish me luck.

Click to expand...

Yay you! Good luck with it! 

It worked! It really worked!!! I didn't try it myself but everyone who tried it said it was wonderful. Now that I've finally been successful I'll try some more recipes. Thanks natalie_ca and thanks for all the other tips on this thread.

Yay!!!!  So glad it worked!  There is nothing like Homemade ice cream, you can really notice the difference between it and store bought, especially if you use heavy cream instead of milk. Super, super creamy!

Easy isn't it?  lol