Homemade "Super Premium" (Old Fashioned) Ice Cream

For a long time there was only 'ice cream'. It was made just the way you'd make it at home, with real milk, eggs, sugar, etc. Over the years manufacturers found ways to make it cheaper by using artificial ingredients (and by 'artificial' I mean just things that weren't in ice cream before--like guar gum, carrageenan, artificial flavors, etc.)

This caused the flavor and 'mouth feel' of ice cream to slowly degrade. It wasn't as good as it used to be, but we didn't notice because the trend was slow.

Then some companies like Ben & Jerrys and Hagen Das started making regular old-fashioned ice cream without artificial ingredients and people said 'Wow, this is great!' They were either too young to remember what it used to be like, or else they had forgotten what real ice cream tasted like. So maybe they shouldn't call it 'super premium', they should just call it REAL ice cream.

With that in mind we're going to make REAL ice cream. It doesn't depend on what kind of machine you have ( Automatic or manual, frozen container or rock salt style ), it depends on what you put into it and how you prepare what you put it into.

Okay, let's get started...

Step 1 Bill of Materials

What you'll need for this:

An ice cream machine. As you can see I'm using a Cuisinart although any style of ice cream machine will do. You'll need a machine of some sort.

Sugar - 1/2 cup
2 egg yolks
1 cup milk - optional
2 cups heavy cream - If milk it omitted use 3 cups
Fruit or flavoring - I'm using fresh straberries which have been washed, hulled and quartered.

You'll need a medium sauce pan, a spoon and a mixing bowl.

Comments

[tspeas]

Great recipe. The fresh berries look great. I would consider cooking any fresh fruit before it goes in to a frozen/cold desert. Depending on where the fruit comes from, it may have some bacteria on the surface. Microwaving for a few minutes should work.

[www.microbike.ie]

never seen any of our grandparrents using antibacterials and microwave/cook fruit before eating and they lived until 90 nowadays you wash your fruits and die from heart attack or stroke in 60...no logic..stupid idea!

[Sabata]

So following that same logic, we should not eat any fresh fruit (or vegetables), but rather cook all of it before consuming. Sheesh.

[egbertfitzwilly]

I believe the general consensus is that fresh fruits and vegetables should be, at the very least, thoroughly cleaned before eating. This will not, of course, guarantee that all pesticides and fertilizers ( include manure ) have been removed or that latent bacteria has been killed.

While cooking everything is err'ing on the side of caution, eating unwashed fruits and veggies isn't a good idea at all...

[bowow0807]

hey can i use the no ice cream machine method? as in mix the ice cream when the custard is partially frozen and mix then repeat

[egbertfitzwilly]

Absolutely. A great way to work off calories from the last batch is making the next batch. You might be able to use an old fashioned mixer if it has a slow speed and a bread kneading paddle.

[hanzindahouz]

Hey, I'm a little unclear on this step- "First carefully mix 4 tablespoons of the hot cream into the mixing bowl contents. Then slowly pour the egg mix into the hot cream mixing as you pour. Once everything is all mixed together well reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture begins to thicken enough to cover the back of a spoon." When you say, once everything is mixed together, are you referring to what's in the mixing bowl, are you mixing the egg into the saucepan, are you continuing to the remaining cream in the pan seperate from the rest of the ingredients? Perhaps I'm missing something but i'm really not clear on whats being mixed where.

[egbertfitzwilly]

The ingredients in the mixing bowl (the egg mix) re slowly poured into the saucepan containing the hot cream. Its not completely clear to me why the instructions call for first mixing the 4 tablespoons, perhaps to provide a bit of warmth.

[HandyMan1959]

This is to "temper" the eggs and help prevent cooking them. If you omit this step you will cook your eggs as you add them to the hot milk.

[Pie Ninja]

Is your dp Yanosh (sp?) from Ghostbusters 2?

[egbertfitzwilly]

No, Dr. Emil Lazarro from Buckaroo Banzai, Adventures in the 8th dimension.

[Pie Ninja]

They look a lot alike.

[ronmaggi]

Yea, but you would instantly recognize Yanosh from Ghostbusters 2, he was played by Peter MacNichol from Allie MacBeal.

[exhibit69]

It is called tempering. you do it to prevent the mixture from curdling.

[lucaszanotelli]

just made it. mine is cooling but i had a little taste and it seems to be superb. later i post how it tastes thick and frozed. btw, thanks a lot for the recipe.

[egbertfitzwilly]

Thank you for these kind words. It was challenging project but I somehow pressed on....

[egbertfitzwilly]

Also if you have one of those new style freezers where the bowl itself is frozen ( no ice or rock salt is added ) you want to chill the custard almost to the point of freezing. Otherwise you risk a 'soft' freeze and have to harden it up even further by putting in the freezer for a couple of hours.

[cofosho]

Wow! Looks great. I feel like I remember someone at my campus dairy saying that the grading (regular, premium, super premium) strictly had to do with the amount of air whipped in (more air equals more premium) and the amount of milk fat in the ice cream (more fat equals more premium). Am I right or just too lazy to wiki it and confirm?

[egbertfitzwilly]

I know its coupled to the amount of milk fat but can't speak authoritatively to the air bit. I always pretty much thought it was a marketing term. I suppose if one visits the Haagen-Daaz site they will explain in great detail how, exactly, their super-premium ice cream is superior to all other super-premium ice creams while I'm pretty sure the Safeway site will explain that their plain wrap ice cream is in every way equal to the super premium brands. And so on. I, not surprisingly, am of the opinion that my super premium ice cream is superior to all other super premium ice creams....On the other hand there is the timeless truth "An ice cream cone ain't much unless you don't have one"

[Mig Welder]

cool you gave lots of useful information. I am definitely trying this.

[egbertfitzwilly]

Thank you for your kind words. I also published a 30 second instructable for the Forbes contest on making Lemon Sorbet that you might find useful.

[lemonie]

Good stuff, now is the season! L