Okay, here is my sharing about making ice cream with my Cuisinart ice cream maker, inspired by a recipe book in PDF format.
So, I’ve been wanting to make ice cream at home for a while now. Store-bought is fine, but nothing beats homemade, right? I finally got a Cuisinart ice cream maker and found this “cuisinart ice cream maker recipe book pdf” online. It looked pretty straightforward, so I decided to give it a shot.
First things first, I had to get all the ingredients together. The recipe I picked was for a classic vanilla bean ice cream. Needed some heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, egg yolks, and a vanilla bean. I already had most of this stuff at home, just had to grab a vanilla bean from the store. It felt like I spent half an hour just staring at all the different brands of cream, not even knowing which is best. Ended up just getting the store brand cause it was the cheapest.
Next, I started by making the custard base. I mixed the milk and cream in a saucepan and split the vanilla bean to scrape out the seeds. Threw the seeds and the pod into the milk mixture and heated it up real slow. While that was going, I whisked together the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl. Made sure not to heat the milk too much or it might curdle, it was pretty nerve-wracking at this part. When the milk was hot, I slowly poured it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Gotta do this part carefully or the eggs will scramble, and nobody wants scrambled eggs in their ice cream.
After that, I poured the whole mix back into the saucepan and cooked it over low heat, stirring non-stop, until it thickened up a bit. The recipe book said it should coat the back of a spoon, so that’s what I did. I ended up using my finger to feel when it was thick enough.
Once the custard was ready, I strained it through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl. This step is to get rid of any cooked egg bits and the vanilla pod. Then, I covered the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touched the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. I mean who makes these rules, but I followed it just in case.
Now came the waiting game. I popped the custard into the fridge and let it chill for a few hours. The recipe book suggested chilling it overnight, but I was too impatient, and it was already evening time, so I just let it chill for about 4 hours. After 4 hours, I checked and it was pretty cold so I figured it was good enough.
While the custard was chilling, I made sure the freezer bowl of my Cuisinart ice cream maker was properly frozen. It needs to be in the freezer for at least 24 hours before you use it. Luckily, I had done this the day before, cause I just had a feeling I would use it soon.
Finally, it was time to churn the ice cream! I assembled the ice cream maker, poured in the chilled custard, and turned it on. The machine started churning, and I just sat there and watched it go, pretty excited. It took about 20-25 minutes for the ice cream to reach a soft-serve consistency, just like the recipe book said.
Once it was done, I scooped the ice cream into a container and put it in the freezer to harden for a couple more hours. This part was tough because I really wanted to eat it right away. When I was scooping the soft serve, I did take a few licks, not gonna lie.
The Result
After a few more hours of waiting, I finally got to taste my homemade vanilla bean ice cream. And let me tell you, it was totally worth the effort! It was creamy, rich, and had a great vanilla flavor. Way better than any store-bought ice cream I’ve had.
Here’s what I learned from this whole experience:
- Making ice cream at home is actually pretty fun.
- It’s not as hard as it seems, but it does take some time.
- Following a recipe is crucial, especially when it comes to cooking temperatures and times.
- Homemade ice cream tastes amazing!
- It was a bit of work and waiting, but the ice cream was great. Totally worth it.
I’m definitely going to try making other flavors of ice cream in the future. Maybe chocolate next time, or strawberry… or maybe even something crazy like cookies and cream or mint chocolate chip. The possibilities are endless! This recipe book has lots of different recipes, so I’ll probably try those. But I might start checking other places for recipes too.
Anyway, if you have an ice cream maker, I highly recommend giving this a try. It’s a fun project, and the end result is delicious. Just be prepared to do some waiting! And get ready to do some dishes.
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