Homemade Ice Cream

With winter here (even if it doesn't actually feel like it much lately...with all the nice warm temps!) the cream we have been getting takes forever to churn into butter it seems like. So...instead of making it all into butter, I've been playing with it some, and turning it into different things like cream cheese, sour cream and...homemade Ice Cream!! It's an odd time of the year to be making so much ice cream...but the spring and summer is the best time to churn butter, so I have to play when I can with the cream. LOL

I've never really been a fan of homemade ice cream...yes I know, that's totally strange, but mostly we had vanilla growing up, and I'm not a big fan of vanilla, least not as the main flavor of something (although do like the plain store bought vanilla ice cream). But I've been playing with making other flavors and really like it now...as long as it's not Vanilla. LOL

I've made chocolate (which so far is my favorite I think), strawberry (LOVE that one too...which is strange, cause I never usually like strawberry ice cream from the store that well for some reason) and Vanilla bean. I can do without the vanilla, but it's really neat looking with those tiny black seeds dotted throughout it and DH loves it. I've actually never used Vanilla beans before, but purchased a bunch to make my own Vanilla extract with, and had to save a couple to try in ice cream.

I've got ideas for some other flavors, but haven't had time to try them out yet. LOL I love how easy this recipe is, and how I can use the same basic recipe, for all the flavors, just adding the different ingredients to make it taste different. One of these days I'm going to make my favorite kind...when I make sure DH has plenty that he likes, since he doesn't like my favorite, mint chocolate chip...course who knows if I'll like it in the homemade variety, but it's sure worth a try! :-))

Every time I start making something else with the wonderful raw milk we get from our cows, I fall in love with them just a little more. *giggle* Gotta love them when they give us so much...those giggle moments & lots of milk to turn into yummy food!

This is an easy yet yummy recipe.

Homemade Ice Cream
Printable recipe

3 cups raw cream

2 whole "free range" eggs

1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla

Add eggs and sugar to a blender and blend till well blended. Add the Vanilla and cream and run the blender just till it's mixed well.

Cool in the refrigerator several hours or overnight. Freeze in your ice cream maker and enjoy your homemade ice cream!

You can add other ingredients to make different kinds of ice cream. 1/3 cup cocoa powder for Chocolate ice cream. Strawberries added, (some thawed and puréed with the mix…some chopped still frozen, and added at the end of the time in the ice cream maker) make a wonderful fruity treat. Other fruits, nuts or flavors are just waiting to make you fall in love with homemade ice cream all over again!

Recipe Notes:

You can use a cup of kefir or yogurt in place of one of the cups of cream if you would like to, they would add some good probiotics to the ice cream.

Because the eggs are eaten raw in this recipe, I can only recommend using fresh from the farm free range eggs, not store bought eggs. If you use store bought eggs, do so at your own risk...in fact you really have to do that with any egg. It's best to KNOW your egg farmer and how his chickens are cared for.

With the sugar, less is of course best, you just have to go with what you like there. Using an unprocessed sugar would be better than white, but you gotta do, what you gotta do. Just make sure if you use white sugar, that you use white cane sugar to try and stay away from those nasty GMO's in the sugar beets!

Use the seeds of a Vanilla bean, instead of Vanilla extract for an extra yummy Vanilla ice cream. I love seeing the seed specks in the finished ice cream.

Adapted from a recipe found at gnowfglins.com