Berries the Best Way
Fresh-picked strawberries and creamy vanilla ice cream make a sweet frozen treat.
The first ice cream maker we owned was a wedding gift, and we had it for more than 25 years. It was an old-fashioned ice cream maker and made the creamiest, dreamiest ice cream you can imagine.
It was not a sophisticated machine. We would put the ingredients in the tall aluminum canister, put the paddle in it, snap the lid on top and place it in the surrounding tub. Then we filled the space between the tub and the canister with ice and rock salt. With anticipation, we plugged it in and let it spin for 30 minutes or so.
Sometimes the ice cream maker would seize up, and we had to get it spinning again, tapping it and adding more rock salt usually did the trick. The process was time consuming, but it always resulted in delicious ice cream.
Our old-fashioned ice cream maker had to be used outside because it was noisy and a bit messy, but we made lots of great memories while making ice cream together as a family. It was a bit like saying good-bye to an old friend when it finally stopped working after so many years.
For Mother’s Day, my two sons gave me a new ice cream maker. The new one is much simpler. It is small and compact, taking up very little space on my kitchen counter. My new Cuisinart Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker has quickly become one of my favorite kitchen tools.
It is easy to use and easy to clean … yes, it is easy to clean! It only has three parts: the freezer bowl, the plastic paddle in the center and the lid. That’s it! A quick rinse with warm soapy water, and you are done.
Deciding on a flavor of ice cream is never difficult. For us, it means a trip to the local berry farm. Juicy and sweet, strawberries are abundant and bursting with flavor now. We head to a nearby farm and can’t wait to fill our baskets with plump, ripe berries. It’s hard to resist sampling a few of these seeded gems as our baskets quickly become full.
Who can say no when it comes to homemade strawberry ice cream? No one in my house, that’s for sure. Just the sound of the ice cream maker whirling away makes everyone come running to the kitchen. And to know it is being made with fresh-picked strawberries … well, that’s hard to beat.
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servings
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- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
Ingredients
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- Put the milk and cream in a large bowl.
- Add the sugar, salt and vanilla and whisk until dissolved.
- Assemble the ice cream maker and turn it on. Pour the cream mixture into the top of the frozen bowl on the ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn for 20 minutes.
- Cap the strawberries and chop them into small pieces while the ice cream is churning. Add the strawberries to the cream mixture and churn for another 5 minutes.
- Turn off the machine, remove the paddle and cover the ice cream with plastic wrap. Place the ice cream in the freezer for one hour.
- When ready to serve, scoop the ice cream into bowls. Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream is creamy and perfectly sweet.
