Ice, Ice...baby

It’s summertime and the livin’ is easy. Well, if you’re a kid anyway. Of course, what would summer be without watermelon, lemonade, BBQ’s and, more importantly, for my friends in Phoenix, ice cream?

I have few memories of ice cream, probably because I ate so much of it. (Brain freeze! Yes, it does explain a lot). I do remember, though, what a treat it was when my mom got out the ice cream machine. I’m sure she made other flavors besides vanilla or strawberry, but for some reason I don’t remember her ever making chocolate, although I’m pretty sure she did. I can't see her not making chocolate ice cream. The one that I remember the most, though, was her peach ice cream. She didn’t put fresh peaches; they were always canned. But her trick was the J-ello. It made for a very peachy ice cream that is still my favorite today.

The one problem with making homemade ice cream is using the ice cream machine, or maker or whatever you want to call it. Even with an electric motor instead of the old Victorian-style hand crank, it’s still tedious, cumbersome and if you don’t know what your doing, easy to mess up. You have to get the salt to ice ratio just right. It could freeze to quickly and turn hard or not freeze at all. Not fun for a kid. But, there is another way, so easy even a child could do it.

In my research for my cookbook, several of the books I read mention ice cream. Harry Potter ate not only strawberry ice cream, but strawberry and peanut butter ice cream too. His cousin Dudley was a well known connoisseur of the Knickerbocker Glory which is nothing more than a British version of our Banana Split. The Great Brain wrote about how he and his brother would help turn the crank to make Chocolate or Pineapple ice cream. Ma Ingalls didn’t have an ice machine in that Little House on the Prairie, hand cranked or otherwise. She had to put the custard in an ice bath, cover it with a towel and stir it every 15 minutes or so. Thank goodness for the Industrial Revolution!

Making ice cream with custard is traditional. Think French Vanilla. It gets its yellow tint from the egg yolk. Otherwise it’s no different from Philadelphia style which has no eggs and is what we are all familiar with today. It’s easy to make, even for a child, but it does take practice. Maybe I’ll do a bit on custards later. Here are a few you can try that involve shaking the mixture in plastic bags.

Vanilla -

2 C Heavy Whipping Cream
2 C Half and Half
½ C Sugar
2 t Vanilla
Crushed Ice
½ C Rock Salt
1 Qt freezer bag
Gallon freezer bag

In a large bowl, combine the creams, sugar and vanilla and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a one quart zip-lock freezer bag. Secure tightly, making sure to press out any air pockets. Fill half of the gallon bag with ice and half the rock salt. Put the bag with the ice cream mix inside and surround with more ice and the remaining rock salt. Shake vigorously until the mixture starts to freeze and harden - anywhere from 5-10 minutes. If it doesn’t start to freeze after awhile, add a little more ice and rock salt. One the ice cream is ready, remove the bag and place in the freezer for a couple of hours.

To make different flavors of ice cream you can use this as a base. Just omit the vanilla and adjust the sugar.

Chocolate -

Omit the sugar and add Hershey’s chocolate syrup, more or less depending on how chocolaty you want it. You could even add chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or mini-marshmallows and peanuts for Rocky Road.

Pineapple -

Drain 2 small cans of pineapple chunks and puree with the creams and sugar. Add 2 cups of shredded coconut for a piña colada.

Strawberry -

There are two ways to do strawberry ice cream. First, cut the stems off a pint of strawberries, cut them in half and cover with ¼ cup sugar. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Puree the strawberries and sugar with the creams and ¼ cup strawberry jam. Or, you can omit the fresh strawberries and sugar and use ½ cup strawberry preserves, but personally I think the first way would work best.

Strawberry and Peanut butter -

You might want to use a 2 quart bag for this one. Adding the peanut butter, although only a small amount, might be just a little too much. Make the strawberry ice cream using the method above. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup smooth creamy peanut butter with ½ cup heavy whipping cream. It should be thick, yet pour-able. After you pour the strawberry mixture into the bag, spoon in the peanut butter mixture, but don’t stir it. After you’ve placed the bag in the larger bag with the ice and salt, gently rock it back and forth. If you do it too vigorously, and you might mix the peanut butter in with the strawberry. If you do it gently, it should swirl. I think…I hope! This one is actually best for an electric ice cream maker where you can add in the peanut butter mixture in just before the strawberry is done.

Peach -

I’m adding this one not just because of the memories, but because of James and the Giant Peach. Even though the only food mentioned in the book is the Fizzy Lemonade his evil aunts drank, James and the other insects did eat the peach while flying away.

Omit the sugar and reduce the vanilla to ½ teaspoon. Add one 3 ounce packet of peach Jell-O, and one 14 ounce can of peach chunks, drained. Or, you can use ½ pound frozen peaches. Thaw them out and chop them coarsely in the food processor with 2 tablespoons of sugar. If you use fresh peaches, peel and pit them and chop them coarsely in the food processor.

So, there ya have it! Ice cream done simple. There are so many different flavors you can do! I once did a rosemary ice cream that required seeping the rosemary in hot cream for an hour and chilling it. The possibilities are endless!