Remember when those lazy, hazy summer days when you were a child? Remember when Daddy brought out the old ice cream maker, Mama whipped up the mix, and you and your siblings took turns cranking for hours, or so it seemed? Remember the ice cream salt you had to add every fifteen minutes or so? What about the puddle of melted sludge that formed around the ice cream maker and soaked your shorts? And don’t forget that excruciating “ice cream headache” you got from eating too fast when the long-awaited treat was finally ready. Not that it mattered. A headache was a small price to pay for something that tasted so darned good.
Now there’s a much easier and far less messy way to enjoy homemade ice cream on a hot summer’s day. Make it in your freezer. No cranking. No ice cream salt. No puddles. Plus, it’s guaranteed yummy. Of course, you can still get the infamous ice cream headache, so be forewarned and don’t gobble the frozen confection too fast.
Old Fashioned Vanilla
½ cup cold milk
l tablespoon vanilla extract
1 can (14 ounces) fat-free sweetened condensed milk (Not evaporated)
1/8-teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Stir milk, vanilla, condensed milk, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Beat cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted. Gently fold in milk mixture. Pour into a shallow 1 ½ quart metal bowl or pan.
- Cover and freeze at least 4 hours, stirring once after 2 hours or when edges start to harden. Serve, or spoon into an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 week.
gMakes 6 cups (3 pints) Per ½ cup: 240 calories, 4 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrates, 15 grams fat, 58 milligrams cholesterol, 77 milligrams sodium.
Try these other delicious flavors:
Strawberry: Omit the ½ cup milk and vanilla. Mash 4 cups ripe and hulled strawberries with 2 tablespoons light corn syrup; stir into condensed milk. Proceed as directed. Makes 8 cups.
Pineapple-Coconut: Omit the ½ cup milk and vanilla. Stir an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple (not drained) into the condensed milk. Proceed as directed. After folding the milk mixture into the whipped cream, fold in 1-½ cups toasted coconut. Freeze as directed. Makes 6 cups.
Coffee Almond: Stir 2 tablespoons instant coffee powder or granules into the ½ cup milk-vanilla mixture until dissolved. Proceed as directed. After folding the milk mixture into the whipped cream, fold in 1 cup toasted almonds. (Almonds may sink to the bottom but will be redistributed when stirred after 2 hours.) Makes 6 ½ cups.
Crushed Cookies: Prepare vanilla ice cream as directed. Just before freezing, fold in 2 cups coarsely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. Makes 7 cups.
Chocolate Mini-Chip: Prepare vanilla ice cream as directed. Just before freezing, fold in 1-cup semisweet chocolate mini-chips. (Chips will sink to the bottom but will be redistributed when stirred after 2 hours. Makes 6 ½ cups.
