Unfortunately I am reluctant to make my own just yet
Hi Mrsmac. Making your own doesn't have to be difficult. You can buy the small cheap ice cream machines for about $20 (I got mine from an Aldi store). I don't know if you've seen or used one before, but basically they're just a freezable inner tub (with the freezing brine permanently contained within this double walled vessel) and a small motorized paddle/churn.
Forget about fancy recipes that involve egg yolks and cooking up a custard etc, I leave those for the whiz kids and the smart alecs.
. The blueberry ice cream below is some frozen blueberries, some milk and some cream all thrown into the machine and churned for 12 to 15 minutes. Dead easy, and you have total control over what goes in so you really know what you're getting.
Here are some pictures of some that I just make today.
The basic mixture (this was just a little bit I had left over as I made a bit to much to churn in one go).
This is what it looks like as it comes out of the churn.
And finally, in the bowl and ready to eat.
Last time I posted about this someone asked for the recipe, but I wasn't sure of the qualities because I usually just go by "feel" and kind of make it up as I go. Anyway, today I payed a bit more attention to measuring stuff (well kind of approximately), so here is the recipe for anyone that is interested.
Procedure.
- Place 1 cup of frozen blueberries in a glass mixing bowl.
- Leave the berries for 15 minutes or so to partially thaw. (This prevents them from prematurely freezing the milk and making large crystals).
- Add about 3 or 4 teaspoons of Xylitol (or preferred sweetener) to the berries and mash a bit with a spoon to release some of the juice and colour.
- Add about a cup (200 ml) of milk and mix through to dissolve the sweetener.
- Add a similar quantity of cream.
- Place into the machine and churn it for about 15 minutes.
- Transfer to chilled bowl and place in freezer.
As with most homemade ice creams this is best served slightly soft, as it doesn't have the vegetable gums and other fancy stuff that commercial ice creams manufacturers use to prevent them from freezing too hard.