Ice Cream 101 - Mom and Dad's homemade ice cream

Every summer, Dad would pack us up in the camper, or later the motor home, and drive us all over the West.  Whether we went to Lake Powell, Flaming Gorge, Burr Creek, or Hamm's Fork, we were running around the wilderness instead of running around the house.  It was fun, we had a lot of good times and good memories, it kept us out of trouble and it's probably the reason all of us kids get along as well as we do.

And there was always the one constant in every camping trip: The cranking of the ice cream machine.  Dad still has the old hand crank ice cream maker.  Mom would toss the ingredients into the steel tub.  Dad would place the tub in the machine, break a block of ice to pieces with an ice pick, pack in as much ice and salt around the tub and take the first turn cranking.  The rule was, "if you want some ice cream, you'd better take a turn".  And with 20 people in our camp site, you'd only have to do it for a minute.  About 20-30 minutes later, the creamy mixture would signal it was done by expanding enough to coat the lid of the tub.  Dad would disassemble the machine, slowly extract the beater and toss it to the kids, like a bone to a pack of wild dogs.  We'd all lick a little off as Dad portioned out the dessert.  We'd then sit around the campfire at dusk, eating fresh ice cream, sometimes ladelled over fresh cake/brownies from a dutch oven.  Definitely one of those memories that is burned into my mind.

The ice cream recipe they used is extremely simple.  ANYONE can make it and can be assembled in just a few minutes. It works great in the electric ice cream makers, even the newest type with the freezer inserts.  Just MAKE SURE if you cook the ingredients that they are completely refrigerated before putting them in the insert.  If not, you'll melt the liquid in the freezer insert and the ice cream will never set. You can eat it straight out of the machine, it's what we had to do camping, but it's a little soft.  If you place it in a freezer for a couple hours, it'll harden right up to the perfect consistency.

Fruit flavored Ice Cream (example of Strawberry/Blackberry Ice Cream seen above)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped or crushed fruit
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

If you have time, combine the milk cream and sugar into a saucepan.  Stir and then heat until almost to a boil.  Remove from heat, place into a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.  If you don't have time, that's OK.  Just move onto the next step

Pour the milk, cream and sugar into a ice cream maker's tub and let the ice cream churn for 30 minutes. Now add the fruit and let it churn for another 10 minutes or until the machine begins to labor through its rotations.  You'll know when it's done when it increases in volume and it thickens.  Move to a bowl and place in the freezer for 2 hours, or just eat it immediately if you don't want to wait.

Non-fruit Ice Cream (Shown as Cookies and Cream above)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
And then other ingredients like 1 cup chocolate, candy cookies or nuts

 If you have time, combine the milk, cream and sugar into a saucepan. Stir and then heat until almost to a boil. If you're making just vanilla ice cream, add an extra 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla.  Remove from heat, place into a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours. If you don't have time, that's OK. Just move onto the next step


Pour the milk, cream and sugar into a ice cream maker's tub and let the ice cream churn for 30 minutes. Now add the other ingredients.  For Cookies and Cream, add 1 cup of slightly crusted oreos.  You can anything else; nuts, chocolate or caramel sauce, brownie pieces, M&Ms, crumbled Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chocolate chips, malt powder, even flavored extraxts like mint (no more than 1/2 teaspoon to start). Whatever you add needs to be at room temperature or cooler so you don't melt all of the work the machine has done for you.  Let it churn for another 10 minutes or until the machine begins to labor through its rotations. You'll know when it's done when it increases in volume and it thickens. Move to a bowl and place in the freezer for 2 hours, or just eat it immediately if you don't want to wait.

Garnish with whatever toppings sound good; hot fudge, marshmallow creme, crushed fruits or colored sprinkles.  Whatever it is, be inventive.
Now this recipe is the perfect size for a 1 - 1 1/2 quart countertop ice cream maker. But it can be cut in half, or doubled, or proportionally adjusted so you can have just enough to almost fill whatever ice cream maker you have.  Make sure you leave and inch or two at the top of the container so when the cream freezes, it has someplace to go.

Be as inventive as you want with these base recipes and make any flavor you wish.  Use multiple types of fruit.  Add some spices, like cinnamon to an apple ice cream.  Make chocolate ice cream and add crushed peanut butter cups or Butterfingers at the end.  Or just let your kids come up with some crazy combination and see how it turns out.  Either way, it tastes good and it's a great way to prepare a yummy dessert with your kids.