As the weather gets warmer it's a perfect time to talk about another piece of kitchen equipment that I use...and this one actually gets used a lot....my Cuisinart Ice Cream, Sorbet, Frozen yogurt maker. Sure its easy to just swing by the store and pick up some ice cream, but there is also something to be said for making it yourself so that you know exactly what is going into the stuff that you eat and feed your family. The process is pretty simple, you just store the cylinder in your freezer so that its ready whenever the urge to make up a batch of ice cream hits. You start with a base mix that consists of Milk, Cream, Sugar, Salt and Vanilla (extract or bean), you chill that for a few hours or overnight and you are then all set to make plain vanilla ice cream. if you want something a little different you just add it to the mix...fresh berries...chocolate....butter toasted pecans, the possibilities are pretty limitless, I have also make a moscato sorbet. Making frozen yogurt is much the same process, but you swap in yogurt and you are set. The churning process takes about 20 minutes and you get a soft serve consistency...if you want it firmer, just pop the mix into the freezer for a few hours.
I store my ice cream in these little containers from Tovolo that I picked up at my favorite toy store Sur La Table for around $8...each one holds just under a full batch, the little extra i just toss into a small twist lock container.
So there it is, if you want more control over the ingredients and the freshness of your ice cream then I recommend getting yourself one.
