Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream


Few weeks ago I sent an email to Ben & Jerry's PR asking for permission to publish this amazing recipe. We got it this week, and I thought that would be a lovely way to celebrate the arrival of warm weather—with a homemade ice cream!

Don't get intimidated by the presence of raw eggs. We tested the recipe many times, and the prep story was included in our celebration of Children's Book Week. The recipe is from the awesome Ben & Jerry's Book of Homemade Ice Cream and Desserts.

If you want to have a good story book for reading time with the kids while waiting for the ice cream to be ready, here's our recommendation: The Ice Cream King, by Steve Metzger. The book, illustrated by Julie Downing, was our choice to celebrate ice cream in our Children's Book Week.

Ben & Jerry's French Vanilla Ice Cream

These are the original ingredients plus some comments I added after making it more than five times with the Cooking Club at my first-grader's school. We also tested it at home with our kids, and they all had fun preparing it—and, of course, eating it.

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy—do it manually, like in the old times, for 1 to 2 minutes. The fluffier it gets, the better the final result. Kids might give a helping hand using the whisk. They love to use the noisy ball whisk, or a traditional one. During the classes at school, we pretended each kid was a machine, so they had to keep working continuously.

Whisk in the sugar, a little at time, and continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in cream, milk, and vanilla and whisk to blend.

Transfer to a ice cream to a pre-frozen drum and churn for about 20 minutes. We used different models of Cuisinart machines, and they all did a good job.

Serve right away. If you want a more solid texture, transfer ice cream to the freezer for the time recommended by your ice cream maker.

Serve it plain, with chocolate fudge, or with fruit salad and granola. It is absolutely rich—and delicious. 

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