how to make homemade ice cream – Homemade ice creams have no parallels. Their taste, texture and color coupled with your personal attention set these apart. Ice creams are one of the favorite desserts in most households. The best part of making ice creams at home is that you can choose the ingredients and customize the recipes to suit your taste buds and health needs.
Custard based or cream based?
Homemade ice cream can be either custard based or cream based. Custard based ice cream gives you an ample scope to use fruits, nuts, cookies and many other flavors. In fact, simple custard based ice cream acts as a base for other flavors of ice creams. You can make multiple ice creams from this custard-based mix. The texture that you get from a custard-based ice cream is immensely rich and smooth.
Cream based ice cream can be made with low fat or whole milk. Though its texture is not as silky-smooth like the custard-based one, these ice creams are ideal for diet-conscious people. Despite having somewhat rougher texture, cream-based ice creams too make magnificent treats.
Some common homemade ice cream recipes
The most common lip-smacking recipes of ice creams include vanilla, strawberry, chocolate chip, banana amongst others. The list is infinite. You can invent newer flavors as many as you like. Give wings to your imagination. You are the dessert chef here! Therefore, you are encouraged to use any ingredient that you feel would produce a beautiful and tasty delight.
Items you will need to make homemade ice cream
• Bowl: you need a bowl for mixing ingredients for your ice cream. It is better if you use a bowl big enough so that you can mix all your ingredients conveniently without spilling.
• Spatula or spoon: In order to get a smooth paste and a rich flavor for your ice cream, you need a spatula or spoon for mixing the ingredients well.
• Power-run Mixer: This comes in handy when you are preparing ice cream using ‘still freezing’ method. You will need to whip the ice cream mix several times in order to have desired silky texture. This whipping function is equivalent to the churning function performed by the ice cream makers.
• Ice Cream Maker: You can have either a manually operated or a power-operated ice cream maker for your home. Every ice cream maker has churns, which convert the ingredients into ice cream. There are some models of ice cream makers, which require you to use salt and ice. On the other hand, you will also come across those, which use a freezer bowl. This bowl has a double insulated wall. You can use your ice cream maker for a host of other purposes like making frozen beverages or yogurt.
• Container: Once your ice cream is ready, you will need a container to freeze it for at least 3 hours. The container should have a lid. A shallow container is always better than a deep one when it comes to having the perfect viscosity to this dessert. Make sure that the container fits properly in the freezer and receives uniform temperature all through, as uneven temperature can ruin your creation.
• Ice Cream Scoops: You will also need scoops to serve your fresh, chilled homemade ice cream. It is not recommended to use regular ladle for serving ice creams. These scoops let you scoop out the ice cream uniformly resulting in no wastage. Besides, these also provide an appetizing look while you serve your delicious ice cream to your family and friends. You can get scoops made of molded plastic or stainless steel.
How to make homemade ice cream
Why not try out a simple banana ice cream! You will need:
• ½ liter milk
• Custard powder
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 ripe bananas
Make a paste of the bananas in a bowl. As you make the paste add in milk and some sugar. Keep mixing until it becomes a good paste. Once you have the paste, transfer it into the ice cream maker and do as per the instructions given by the manufacturer.
As you start your wonderful journey
Ice cream making can be likened to an art. Consider yourself an artist on a mission to make the best ever recipe. The best part about homemade ice creams is the fact that no matter what fruit you use, you can be sure that everyone would make a beeline for your yummy creation.