Ice Cream!
I had almost finished this and lost it, so I’m going to have to recreate this from memory. Here we go.
For me, ice cream is to Memorial Day as fireworks are to the Fourth of July. When we were kids, before the sun came up on Memorial Day, our parents rolled us out of bed and after eating breakfast, we headed to the American Legion, where my father was active, to get everything ready for the big Memorial Day Ice Cream Social. We were there with all the other Legion families, and we started making ice cream in hand crank freezers, hundreds of gallons of ice cream because everybody all over the county would be there. By ten o’clock in the morning, all the ice cream was ripening in the freezers, and we set up the tables, the serving line, and hung the bunting. The social started at two o’clock, after we got back from the graveside services and decorating the graves, and we took turns working the line and cleaning spots at tables as people left–snitching mouthfuls of ice cream at every opportunity, of course.
You can buy excellent ice cream at the store, but the best premium ice cream doesn’t compare to homemade. I make ice cream all summer long (just made some). I’ve learned some things from sad experience, though, so before I give you recipes, let me share them with you.
First, I’ve owned four of those designer ice cream makes the gourmet shops sell, and I’ve hated them all. I’m talking about the ones that surround the canister in a chemical bath, like this one.
You pour in the mix, stick it in the freezer, and once every fifteen minutes or so, turn the crank. These have one major advantage: You can freeze a higher butterfat content mix. But the resulting product not only has an odd texture, but a vaguely unpleasant aftertaste.
Instead, run to Wal-Mart and pick up a crank machine, either a hand crank or an electric (they make equally good ice cream) for about twenty bucks.
Second, the colder the product, the less you taste it. You have to taste the mix. If the flavoring and sweetness is just right, you need to add more. The mix should be a bit too flavored and too sweet. That way, it will come out perfect.
Third, because a traditional freezer constantly stirs the mix with a dasher, it limits the maximum butterfat of your product. If you use a higher butterfat than 1/2 heavy cream and 1/2 half-and-half, you’ll get “butter” on the roof of your mouth when you eat the ice cream. It tastes good, but the “butter” is unpleasant.
There are basically two types of American ice cream: Traditional, also called Philadelphia ice cream, and “French” ice cream, or frozen custard. The former may or may not contain eggs (if it does, it doesn’t contain much) and is uncooked. The latter contains a high egg yolk content and is cooked like a custard. I’ve included recipes for both below; most other ice cream recipes are merely adding to (or changing) one of the two base recipes.
You’ll need ice (pick up a couple of big bags at the grocery) and rock salt. Make the mix, and if it’s cooked, chill it. Pour the mix into the canister, add the dasher, and put on the lid. Put the canister in the freezer, and add the top, fastening it down. Add ice about a third of the way up, then sprinkle heavily with rock salt. Repeat twice, until you have ice all the way to the top with salt on top. If you’re using a hand crank machine, take turns turning the crank. You can feel the ice cream start to freeze as the crank becomes harder to turn. When it gets really hard to turn, the ice cream is done. If you’re using an electric machine, plug it in (you may have to jiggle the freezer to loosen the canister so it will turn), and let it go until the machine stops (make sure you’re close enough to hear it; you’ll burn out the machine if you leave it plugged in long after the ice cream is frozen).
When the ice cream is done, either top the freezer off with ice and rock salt, cover it with a towel, and let it sit and ripen and harden for at least a couple of hours, or immediately turn out into a freezer container and stick it in the freezer, again for at least a couple of hours to ripen and harden. Before you turn out the ice cream, wipe the entire canister, top and sides, with a towel to remove the salt water (so you don’t accidentally get salty ice cream).
If you’re making ice cream with added ingredients, most recipes will tell you to add the ingredients after you’ve frozen the ice cream, or worse, ten or fifteen minutes after you’ve started. If, say, you’re making butter pecan (recipe included below) and you’re using pecan halves, you’ll have to stir them in after the product is frozen. If you chop them up, add them along with the mix, and stir the product when you turn it out.
I’m going to get myself in trouble here and offer my opinion that homemade chocolate ice cream is mostly a waste of good homemade ice cream. Sure, you can make great chocolate ice cream at home, but the chocolate overpowers the homemade ice cream-ness of the homemade ice cream. But I’ll include a good chocolate ice cream recipe for those who will not listen.
Finally, if you’ve never had homemade, it’s much heavier and denser than even premium storebought, which has air whipped into it. There is very little air inside the canister to get mixed into the ice cream. So when you dip it out, start with less than you would if it were storebought ice cream.
All recipes make one quart (more or less)–and don’t forget to taste before you freeze, and add more flavoring or sugar, if necessary.
Traditional (Philadelphia-style) American Ice Cream
1 large egg
2 c. each: half-and-half and heavy cream
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. vanilla extract
Mix everything together, then freeze.
French Vanilla
1 vanilla bean, or 2 T. vanilla extract
3/4 c. sugar
5 large egg yolks
1 1/2 c. each: heavy cream and half-and-half
If using the vanilla bean, chop it, seeds and all, into tiny bits, and add to the sugar; if using extract, add it at the very end, after you have cooked the mixture. Beat the egg yolks until light yellow. Add the half-and-half and the vanilla sugar, and mix well. Cook over low heat, beating constantly, until thick and double in volume. Chill, mix in the cream (and the vanilla extract, if using), and freeze.
Coconut Ice Cream
Use either of the basic recipes above. Nix the vanilla, and instead use 3 T. coconut flavoring. Just before freezing, mix in 1 small bag of sweetened, shredded coconut.
And apologies to New Englanders, but this is the perfect accompaniment to apple pie:
Cinnamon Ice Cream
Use either of the basic recipes above. Halve the vanilla, and add 3 heaping tablespoons of good, strong cinnamon.
Butter Pecan Ice Cream
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 T. butter
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c. each: heavy cream and half-and-half
Saute the pecans in the butter over medium-low heat until golden brown, then reserve. Beat the eggs until light, then beat in the half-and-half, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then simmer for four minutes over low heat, and chill. Add the cream and the chopped pecans, and freeze. You can make a hellacious butter almond by using almonds instead of pecans, and almond extract.
Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream
1 large egg
1 c. + 2 T. sugar
1 c. dutch-process cocoa
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. heavy cream
1 c. each: half-and-half and whole milk
Mix the egg, cocoa, milk, half-and-half, and sugar, until everything is thoroughly dissolved. Add the cream, and mix well. Freeze.
Chestnut Ice Cream
1 c. chestnuts in syrup, drained
4 egg yolks
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. each: heavy cream and half-and-half
1 T. vanilla extract
Puree half the chestnuts. Chop the remaining chestnuts. Reserve both. Beat the yolks, sugar, vanilla, and half-and-half. Beat over low heat until thick and doubled in volume. Chill, then add the cream and chestnut puree and mix well. Stir in the chestnuts, and freeze.
And just for variation:
Lime Sherbet
The grated rind from two limes
1 c. sugar
3 c. half-and-half
1/2 c. fresh lime juice (usually four limes)
1/2 c. water
I usually buy one more lime than I need, just in case, or buy one of those small bottles of lime juice, just in case. Mix all ingredients and taste, adding more lime juice if you need to. Freeze. Oh. You know this isn’t going to be green, right? If you have to have green, you’ll have to add food coloring.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have some of that coconut ice cream I made this morning.