Hirsh and I got an ice cream attachment for our KitchenAid stand mixer for our wedding. An ice cream maker isn't a kitchen standard by any means, but it is certainly fun to have, and I was excited to learn how to make homemade ice cream. For the first time, I used the recipe that came with the mixer. It turned out great, but it was REALLY rich and had a whopping 8 egg yolks and 2.5 cups of heavy cream, making it pretty unhealthy. For my next attempt, I tried to dramatically reduce the fat, switching to egg-less Philadelphia style ice cream made with half and half and whole milk- the result was something closer to italian ice than ice cream. For my third try, I modified an Alton Brown recipe to get an ice cream that was smooth and creamy but relatively low in fat. This was a great success and it will now be my base ice cream recipe!Homemade Ice Cream
2 C half and half (1 pint)
1 C heavy cream (half pint)
1 C skim milk
4 egg yolks
1 C sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C crushed oreos or other add-in
1. Combine half and half, heavy cream and skim milk in a saucepan and bring just to a simmer. Remove from the heat.
2. Whisk egg yolks until they lighten in color and gradually add sugar, whisking to combine.
3. Temper cream mixture into egg mixture, adding a little bit at a time until about 1/3 of cream has been added to eggs (do it slowly so the eggs don't become scrambled eggs!).
4. Add egg mixture back into cream mixture and heat over low-medium heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170-175 degrees F.
5. Cool for 30 minutes and then stir in vanilla.
6. Refrigerate overnight.
7. The next day, add mixture to ice cream maker and churn for 25-30 minutes. Add 1/2 C crushed oreo cookies (or mix-in of choice) in the last 3 minutes.
*If you are using the KitchenAid attachment, freeze the bowl the night before when you make the ice cream base.
8. Remove from ice cream maker and store in an airtight container in the freezer overnight to finish hardening (it comes out of the ice cream maker as a soft serve).
Difficulty: Hard, requires a lot of equipment
Debbie's Rating: 10
Hirsh's Rating: 10
It's definitely not any cheaper than buying store bought ice cream, and it takes a lot of time, but it is certainly fun to make and it tastes delicious! I think our next "mix in" will be peanut butter cups!
Question: 2 C half and half + 1 C heavy cream + 1 C skim milk = 4 C half and half ?
ReplyDeleteI think the answer might be no, but it seems like it should be. But, I think there might me some government regulations about butterfat content necessary to be called half and half / heavy cream that end up making half and half something other than half milk and half cream.
Good question- I wondered the same thing at first until I did some more research. Heavy cream is 36% milk fat and half and half is only 10-12% milk fat, so the answer to your question is no. I thought it was interesting that it was called half and half when in fact, it has about 1/3 of the fat of heavy cream. I think that maybe "half and half" could be half light cream (18%) and half whole milk (4%), which would end up at about 11% milk fat. I am also still perplexed by fat free half and half in the grocery store...not too sure what's in it. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteIs this the first double 10 we've had?
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is! And not to spoil the surprise, but there is another double 10 coming up tomorrow!
ReplyDelete