Summer is Ice Cream Time: Part 1

I got a new ice cream maker for my birthday (since I had blown out the motor on the last one). So we knew we needed to make some homemade ice cream!

Lemon and Lime Ice Cream

Ingredients:

4 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel
3 tablespoons lime juice
Several drops yellow food coloring (optional)
Lemon and/or lime slices and curls, for serving (optional)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine milk, sugar, whipping cream, lemon peel, lemon juice, lime peel, lime juice, and, if desired, food coloring. (Mixture may appear curdled.)

Freeze in a 3- to 4- quart ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions.

Ripen 4 hours. If desired, garnish with lemon and lime slices and curls.

Makes 2 quarts (16 servings).

Source: Razzle Dazzle Recipes. You can find it here.

Notes: This is an oldie, but a goodie. We actually already posted it here. It is so smooth and refreshing. Quite a palate cleanser.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.

Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition information: 279 calories, 17.5 g fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 48 mg sodium, 28.4 g carbs, 0.3 g fiber, 3.5 g protein.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Elizabeth. You can find it here.

Notes: This was one of my favorites. I loved the texture. It was so creamy...and the cinnamon flavor was just right. So, so good.

 

Cannoli Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 ts. vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 3/4 cups good-quality ricotta
1/4 cup almonds
About 2 ounces dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa

Directions:

Place sugar, vanilla, salt, and milk in blender and blend until sugar is dissolved. Add ricotta and puree until very smooth; it should be a similar consistency to cake batter.

Pour in your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions to freeze.

In the meantime, roughly chop your almonds and chocolate into small chunks. About five minutes before the ice cream is done, add these.

Ripen in the freezer for 4 hours.

Source: Full Belly Sisters. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: The original recipe called for pistachios, but we substituted almonds because of my son's allergy to pistachios. This was so yummy. One of my favorites. My advice though is that you make sure to soften it plenty before serving it. It should be easy to scoop, if it is too hard to scoop when you serve it, it needs to thaw longer. The reason for this is that it needs to be soft in order for the ricotta to have a smooth consistency--otherwise, it will seem a little icy rather than creamy.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
3 graham crackers, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Mix first 4 ingredients with mixer until well blended. Freeze 4 hours or until almost solid.

Beat cream cheese mixture with mixer until creamy. Blend berries in blender until smooth. Add to cream cheese mixture with chopped graham crackers; mix well. Freeze 8 hours, or until firm.

Remove dessert from freezer 15 minutes before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly before scooping into dishes.

Recipe notes: You can prepare using Neufchatel cheese to make it a little lighter.

Variation: You can prepare using fresh or thawed frozen blueberries for Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

Source: Kraftrecipes.com. You can find it here.

Notes: This was really good, but I would make some changes in the future. I would use a little more whipping cream--at least 1/2 cup, but maybe as much as 2/3 cups.

Also, I wouldn't blend the berries until completely smooth, I would aim for more of a finely chopped texture. Also, I would wait to add the graham crackers until the very end.

I would freeze it in an ice cream maker to whip some air into the mixture and then either add the graham crackers during the last 5 minutes of churning, or I would gently fold them in at the end when I transferred the mixture to a freezer safe container to ripen.


Even so, this was very good, and we enjoyed it a lot!