Farmgal with Homemade Ice Cream Seeks Friends...

Really, what is more Fourth of July than a hot summer day with homemade ice cream to cool you off?  I took this marvelous stuff to a reunion last week and made several friends almost instantly.  What can I say, loads of cream and egg yolks make people happy!

The best thing about this recipe is that it uses up several eggs.  If you are in a dilemma like me, with 60 chickens, using eggs suddenly becomes important!  The other appeal for me is that I get to use my 1960's ice cream maker that I picked up at a second-hand store for 5 dollars.  It's one of those old wood ones that you have to pack with ice and salt.  It does have a motor that is super finicky and I have been electrocuted once (luckily only once) while messing with it.  It's a fine piece of equipment (NOT) but it makes REALLY GOOD ice cream!!!

One thing that I have found with homemade ice cream is that the better ingredients you use, the better ice cream you will have, so use the best eggs and cream you can find.  I love custard based recipe's because they come out smoother and creamier.  I always use whole milk and cream; half and half, in my experience, comes out grainy.  One little tip: make this with plenty of time to spare.  After it is initially set up in the ice cream maker, put it into quart containers and freeze to get it to set.  Also, if you add a few teaspoons of alcohol before you final freeze, the ice cream stays a little softer and it is easier to scoop. 

Homemade Raspberry Ice Cream

Backyard Farmgals

2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp brandy (optional)

1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Combine the milk and the cream in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and bring just to a boil. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar and egg yolks until well mixed.

Turn off the heat and slowly drizzle the milk mixture, a cup at a time, into the egg yolk mixture, whisking continuously. Adding the milk mixture in a very slow drizzle will temper the eggs, slowly bringing them to a warmer temperature without cooking them. You can increase the drizzle to a little faster flow, still continuously whisking until all the milk mixture has been combined with the egg yolk mixture.

Pour the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, be sure to scrape the bottom and corners of the pan as your stir. Continue cooking until mixture thickens into a custard and coats the back of the spoon (DO NOT STOP STIRRING). A good test is to run your finger down in a line across the back of the spoon. If the line fills in, it's not thickened enough yet. This can take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes depending on the heat of your stove.  When custard is ready, pour it through a sieve into a metal or glass bowl.

Place bowl of custard into a larger bowl of ice water to help it cool, I put the whole thing (ice bath and all) in the freezer to get it cooled off faster - it takes about 45 minutes to cool it this way. You can cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Once chilled, churn the chilled custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

While the ice cream is freezing, you can make the raspberry syrup.  I used about a cup of frozen local raspberries from last fall's harvest and put it in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of sugar.  Turn heat to medium and stir the mixture.  Be sure to watch this so it doesn't burn.  After about 10 minutes, you should have a red "syrup-y" concoction.  Place this in an ice bath to cool. 

Once the raspberries are cooled and the ice cream is done, stir the raspberry syrup mixture into the ice cream, add a few teaspoons of brandy if you would like also.  Divide into quart containers and freeze until set. 

Bust this out for the fourth of July and, believe me, you will be a heroine!!!  For the kids, I like to place a scoop between two cookies and let the kids press it into their very own ice cream sandwich.  The best part of the ice cream sandwich is watching the little faces light up with delight as they press those cookies together.  This is a great memory maker, and it is worth all of the work just to see their faces!