Homemade Ice Cream (A First Attempt)

My partner bought me a food processor for Christmas last year and all I've ever used it for was making my own spaghetti sauce (which I might add is pretty awesome) and decided I needed to try it out a bit more. So, after I saw a post on another forum about using a food processor for ice cream, decided to try out a recipe using my over-powerful machine.

I used the recipe found here:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recipetemplateb.php?scale=1+qt&mid=82363


One food processor


Ingredients


A tip from the comments advised to add half the cream and all the sugar then the berries. Add rest of cream after all berries are in


SPIN!! (Used large metal blade)


All mixed and ready for the freezer. Will whisk on the hour until harden (to prevent ice crystals from forming)

Will post pics of the outcome. Hoping to serve as desert at a BBQ tomorrow!

I'm like the homemade ice-cream obsessive, I went through a big stage of making it a lot as I was considering retraining as a pastry chef/confectioner (don't ask!) so I must have made 500 batches at least.

There's generally 2 types of homemade ice-cream, philadelphia style and french-custard.
French Custard will normally give you a more creamy texture, whilst a philadelphia style is made without eggs so this means the ice cream is less rich, but it has a more intense flavour (generally). So you've technically made a philadelphia style one here, but I've not seen one which is just heavy cream like that though without another fat like coconut milk or peanut butter, which would worry me a bit! I guess they're assuming that the food processor whipping will take the place of the churn/emulsification. I suspect you'll have a texture issue when it's frozen and it might freeze quite hard (I'm really not trying to be a debbie downer!) Make sure you check it after 45 minutes and start breaking it up, there's some tips here - http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/

If you want to make Ice cream at home then the best book in the universe is by David Lebovitz - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580088082/davidleboviswebs
His philadelphia chocolate peanut butter is to die for (do make the pnb mix ins!) as is the fresh mint choc chip.

He's got some recipes up on his site. Don't be scared by the french style, it's really easy as long as you don't have the temp up too high, and don't skip the strain step.
This recipe would be a good one to try with your food processor - http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/09/quick-coconut-ice-cream-with-saf/

I have a magi mix as well, I use it for bread/dough a lot and for grating things, and slicing things really finely, but I'd love to be more creative with it! It does get used most days for something though

Oh thank you for all the tips!!
I think Im going to have to pick up those recommendations..

I love my food processor, but Im afraid to use it because its so powerful. I just wanted a £75 Jamie Oliver one. lol. I want to try to make crinkle cut potato chips in it (we received a free blade that will let you do this) and a few other things as well..  

Edit: Just checked it out.. Had to use fork as whisk is in the dishwasher atm. Its looking quite fluffy and what I would know of normal ice cream texture (well the bits that have frozen) When I serve it, I'm hoping to let it sit a bit to soften and be easier to serve..

Just over 3 hours or so in and it now has the consistency of very soft serve. Im not tasting any ice and just using a fork to break it up and stir it. Towards the outside of the dish is where its thickest at the moment. Still debating if I should wait till 2am and do another stir or just go to bed (Im currently up waiting for DP to return from a couple of drinks.....)



So far, so good.....

It's a shame Carrie doesn't post on UKY anymore. She is the Queen of All Things Ice Cream! I have an ice cream maker and an ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, so it's not too hard for me. However, before I had all those lovely gadgets, I made it exactly the way you have (except lemon, not strawberry), and it worked fine! It's not EXACTLY like ordinary ice cream, but it is still great! Enjoy it! 

Has anyone used the two can method?  It's a bit like the poor-man's icecream maker.  You put a sealed smaller can with the ingredients within a larger can.  You then put salt (usually rock salt, IIRC) in the space between, seal the larger can, then roll it about until the icecream sets.  I think people usually use coffee cans sealed with duct tape, so you don't have quite the variety to work with here, but if you found appropriate cans, you could mix it up in the food processor, then use the cans to skip the freezing and stirring step.  When I googled, I also found a method that uses plastic bags.  Again, you could get it all started in the food processor, then move on to the quicker freezing method:

http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/1214/how-to-make-ice-cream-made-without-a-machine
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Ice-Cream

Has anyone used the two can method? 

I've never heard of that! But it should work as it's pretty much the same theory as the old-fashioned hand crank ice cream maker we had when I was a child. That had an outer container which you filled with rock salt.

Has anyone used the two can method? 

I remember using that method when I was little - my dad would set everything up and we would take turns mixing it about until we got ice cream.  I remember it seeming to take a long time (then again, I was a kid, and I wanted my ice cream now darn it), but it was very tasty. 

Now they have a toy that does it.

http://www.firebox.com/product/1412/Ice-Cream-Ball

We used to do stir-up ice cream like what Kerri made, but we liked homemade ice cream so much - we ended up getting an ice cream maker & have never looked back.  We use it so much during the warmer weather months.  Our is the Philips one - not horribly expensive, you can get one in the £40-60 range (I actually received it as a birthday present).

Hubby initially balked at the idea of getting yet another kitchen gadget, but once he read that Nigel Slater said an ice cream maker is an essential part of kitchen kit, he changed his mind.  Because Nigel is the kitchen god, you know. 

I have used the two can method with kids I teach-- it does seem like it takes a long time though-- but that may be because I am dealing with kids attention levels

My favourite ice cream ever is made with gooseberry puree and whipped cream, then frozen in a dish just as you did, Kerri.  You do have to stir it, but it has a nice consistency and no ice cream maker necessary!

12 Hours later and its done.. Its a bit hard but scoopable When I serve it, may let it sit out a bit to soften a bit easier..



YUM.

Thanks for the tips will take into consideration. BTW forgot to mention, when it was in the food processor, I used my whipping tool (well the one for eggs or making mayo) to make it a bit lighter.. I dont know if it actually helped, but it is something done.

I think it looks fab! I would like to do this with the kids over the summer

I think it looks fab! I would like to do this with the kids over the summer

Thank you!! it was soooo easy to do (less than fifteen mins in total from measuring to being put in the freezer) and not tooooo messy either. Id think theyd have a blast doing it! Start in the morning and it would be ready by tea!

One tip I got from Alton Brown is to always chill your ice cream mixture in the fridge for a few hours before churning or freezer-and-forking it.