Tips for Making Homemade Ice Cream

If you're making homemade ice cream for the first time, you'll want to follow these tips for smooth, creamy, delicious ice cream.

These homemade ice cream recipes are simple, making them ideal for first-time ice cream makers. Two Simple Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients You Will Need:
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk

1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Combine all ingredients in food processor, and process until well blended. Pour into saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, for five minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature. Pour mixture into ice cream canister, and process according to instructions.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients You Will Need:

2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped into small pieces
¼ cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 can evaporated milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
2 cups heavy cream

Melt chocolate in saucepan over low heat. Stir in cocoa powder and sugar until well combined. Slowly stir in evaporated milk. Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously, until cocoa and sugar have dissolved completely. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.

Stir in vanilla and cream. Pour mixture into ice cream maker canister, and process as instructed.

Five Tips for Perfect Homemade Ice Cream

1. Use premium ingredients.
This is not the place to cut corners. Use the best ingredients available, and you'll taste the rewards for your investment.

2. Mix the ice cream often while freezing.
If you are using an ice cream maker, you'll notice the ice cream is in constant motion while it is freezing. If you make your ice cream using the still-freeze method, you'll want to make sure you process the ice cream mixture well before you freeze it, and again at the specified intervals. Make sure you process it enough to get it all mixed up, but not so much that it actually thaws into milk like a shake.

3. Freeze in an airtight container.
Use an airtight container to keep the flavor in and to avoid absorbing flavors from the freezer.

4. Don't make more ice cream than what you can use in a few days.
Homemade ice cream gets harder and less creamy every time you refreeze it, so only make as much as you can use.

5. Process hard ice cream in a food processor instead of thawing.
Most homemade ice cream will freeze harder than the stuff you buy at the store because it has not been whipped with as much air. This can make it hard to scoop. Instead of thawing it on the corner and having some melt while some stays as hard as a rock, process it in the food processor just until soft enough to serve.