Posts tagged fresh

Decadent and Simple Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

June 26, 2013 · Filed under Recipes · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

images (2)Last summer we got an ice cream maker and we perfected making frozen yogurt.  There are so many simple and delicious variations on frozen yogurt that we never got bored just making frozen yogurt.  Three of my favorites were nonfat key lime frozen yogurt, blueberry vanilla frozen yogurt and nonfat peach frozen yogurt.

This year I decided that it was time to give good old-fashioned ice cream a try.  Boy am I glad I did.  It is so simple and so delicious.  It is not exactly what I would call “healthy,” but as an occasional treat it is a wonderful indulgence.  I started with a basic recipe and then modified it a bit to make it how I wanted it. Due to the fact that it is strawberry season right now, the strawberries are amazing and brought such sweet and amazing flavor to this ice cream.   I made a double batch which should be for about 8 people, but realistically in our house it is enough for 6 people.

Here is what you need:

2.5 cups whole milk

2 cups light cream

1.5-2 cups sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

6 tbsp. corn syrup

6 egg yolks

1 tbsp. good vanilla extract

2 quarts strawberries, pureed but leave some chunks

Here is what you do:

In a saucepan, heat the milk and the cream together leaving 1 cup of milk aside in a separate bowl.  You will temper this in later with the eggs. Heat the milk and cream until it begins to bubble around the edges.  Whisk almost constantly while it is getting to this point. DO NOT BOIL.  In a bowl, combine the 1 cup of milk, the sugar, corn syrup, egg yolks and vanilla.  Stir to combine. Once combined, slowly whisk the hot milk and cream into the bowl.  Be careful to do this slowly so do not you do not scramble the eggs.  Once all of the hot milk has been added to the bowl, return the entire mixture to the saucepan and heat until bubbles form around the edges.  Once bubbles form, heat for approximately 5 more minutes, but do not boil.  It will begin to thicken slightly.  You must stir this constantly. Once it coats the back of a spoon it is done.  Next pour the custard into a bowl and add the strawberry puree.  Stir to combine.  Cover the custard and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.  This will take about 4 hours.  The custard must be thoroughly chilled or it will not set up in the ice cream maker.  Once chilled, add to ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

This experience showed me that making delicious old fashioned ice cream is simple and only takes a little time.  My family went crazy over this ice cream. I literally found myself taking a bite out of it every time I walked into the kitchen.  This is a treat that is totally worth it.

I would love to hear about your adventures in making homemade ice cream.  What is your favorite flavor to make?

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Blueberry Vanilla Frozen Yogurt for Your Birthday Breakfast

July 17, 2012 · Filed under Recipes · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Two years ago, my family decided that we wanted to start a tradition of having our birthday celebration in the morning.  This meant that instead of eating your cake after dinner, we were going to eat our cake before breakfast on our birthdays.  This has been so much fun.  My daughter was so excited this morning to roll out of bed and hurry downstairs to open her presents and blow out the candles on her blueberry frozen yogurt.  Last year, she had pineapple carrot cake (recipe to come) and this year frozen yogurt. The beauty of this dessert is that it is really quite healthy, so I felt good about it being breakfast.  My daughter felt happy because it was delicious.  I made the yogurt mixture the night before and let it chill in the fridge over night. Then this morning, we poured it into the ice cream makers and in 15 minutes we were eating frozen yogurt.

To make this delicious frozen yogurt, you will need:

1 quart fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt

3 cups of blueberries

1/2 c. of sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 c. water

Here is what you do:

Line a mesh strainer with two layers of cheesecloth and add the yogurt. Tie the ends together and place strainer in the fridge over a bowl.  The yogurt will lose a lot of liquid.  Allow it to drain for about 4 hours.  Then discard the liquid in the bowl.  In a medium saucepan, add the  blueberries, sugar and water.  While the mixture is heating up, use a potato masher to mash the blueberries.  We mashed most of the blueberries, but left some big pieces.  It made for great texture in the frozen yogurt.  Heat until it is warm enough that all the sugar has dissolved.  Remove from the heat, add the vanilla extract and allow it to cool for about 30 minutes. When it is cool, stir the blueberry mixture into the yogurt mixture.  You could now refrigerate it for a couple of days if need be. It is best to chill the yogurt mixture for at least 2 hours before adding to your ice cream maker.  When the yogurt mixture is chilled, add to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacture’s instructions.

You could certainly use the yogurt portion of this recipe as a base and add any flavors you like.  We have been picking a lot of blueberries lately and they are our favorite so they were a natural choice for us.  This is a simple, delicious and healthy recipe that the whole family will love.  Thanks for reading!

What is your favorite flavor of frozen yogurt? Have you ever tried to make it?

My little birthday princess!

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