I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!
That quintessential Summer treat, but not made in the typical way
What if I told you to throw away that electric ice cream maker?
Yup. The traditional ice cream maker is great for many things. Taking up space in the pantry. Holding my kids’ favorite ice pops in the freezie-donut thing. Acting as a sound machine for small children, with its droning loud hum as it spins & freezes your next batch of frozen goodness. But, would I say that traditional churning ice cream makers make the best ice cream?
Debatable. Let’s chat.
Oh. And also, I share an outstanding recipe for Lavender & Earl Grey Ice Cream (or, “London Fog Latte” flavor) at the end of the post. Stick with me.
Old technology, new application
The old electric ice cream churner that we know and love (and have, myself included), used to create your favorite ice cream. You know how this works. You make a batch of ice cream base in the flavor of your choosing, pour it into a frozen container (or maybe you’re really fancy and your model has its own refrigeration), then press the power button and make the whole thing spin around in slow, torquey circles. Your ice cream base will start gradually freezing into a thick slurry in about 25 minutes. Is it tasty? yes. Is it creamy? Sometimes.
The slow freeze means the formation of big, pesky ice crystals that detract from the smooth mouth feel we crave, and is the bane of all ice cream lovers. Unfortunately, pretty much all at home ice cream makers are woefully inadequate to the task of making smooth ice cream, and they take (what seems like) forever to churn out a product.
What to do, what to do? Well, if you’re my husband, you go out and buy a brand new and affordable (and not sponsored - let me put that right here) Ninja Creami, and convince your luddite wife (me) that this is the future. That this is a life-changing experience.
He’s right, you know.
Using restaurant ice cream maker technology, but packaged up into a more user friendly home version, this ice cream machine is incredible.
Why the Ninja Creami? Again, not sponsored.
This is how much I love this product. The Ninja Creami changes the system completely. Instead of a slow churn and freeze, it uses a set of blades to literally chop up a frozen block of ice cream base. Think ice-cube frozen. Instead of turning out ice cream where you have to create a base, put it in the ice cream maker, then freeze before eating, it takes something you might have frozen a month ago, and turns it into instant bliss. And not just ice cream base. You could freeze a tin of pineapples and make pineapple sorbet in 2 minutes. And it would be the smoothest, silkiest pineapple sorbet you’ve ever eaten!
The blades finely chop and aerate the frozen block, making the most silky, creamy ice cream I’ve ever had. EVER. The best part? You don’t have to wait to enjoy your ice cream after churning-and then-freezing-overnight. It’s ready now!
The Ninja Creami is small and compact. It’s affordable. And, it’s flexible enough to make sorbets, slushies, and even frozen yogurt. It can get a bit loud for the minute or so that you’re spinning the blades, but that’s the price you pay for fantastic ice cream in a snap!
Lavender-Earl Grey Ice Cream
serves 6
I have a thing for tea flavored desserts. From Thai Basil and Lime Ice Cream to chai infused scones, tea gives any recipe a distinct and gentle nuance. I’ve paired a high quality Earl Grey tea with food-grade dried lavender buds to brew in a 3-dairy-base with egg yolks, sugar, and a bit of honey. It’s stunning. We ate it so quickly that we didn’t even get a chance to take a photo!
Equipment
Ninja Creami
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups whole milk
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup nonfat milk powder
1 2/3 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks
1 Earl Grey tea bag
1/2 teaspoon food grade dried lavender flowers
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon honey
2 drops of Americolor "Lilac" soft gel paste (optional)
Instructions
Reserve one medium bowl and one large mixing bowl. Fill the large mixing bowl with ice and cold water. Place the medium mixing bowl inside (to create a cold water bath around it).
In a medium saucepan, add your milk. Pour in the sugar and nonfat milk powder, then whisk to combine.
Next, gently stir in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula. Do not whisk! You don’t want the heavy cream to froth – you’ll be making whipped cream instead of ice cream!
Place the saucepan over medium heat and allow it to warm to 110 degrees (or ‘just hot’).
In a small bowl, gently whisk the egg yolks. Once the milk mixture has come to temperature, take it off the heat and slowly add 1/4 cup of the warmed milk to the egg yolks. Whisk. This is called "tempering" the egg yolks slowly, and it lets the yolks warm up and avoid making scrambled eggs!
Add 1/4 cup of milk at a time while whisking, until half of the milk mixture is combined with the egg yolks.
After mixing, pour the dairy/egg back to the saucepan and return to medium heat. Whisk gently.
Add the Earl Grey tea bag, lavender, vanilla extract, and honey. Stir.
Bring the ice cream base to 165F, or ‘just about steaming’. Be mindful not to scald your base.
Carefully pour the ice cream base into the medium sized bowl fitted into the ice bath. Allow to cool for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After cooling, add the lilac food coloring if desired. Stir to combine.
Remove the medium bowl from the ice bath and fit a fine mesh sieve over the large bowl to strain your ice cream base. Gently pour and press down on the base, including the tea bag and lavender flowers to get the most flavor out of them! Discard the solids.
Pour into 2 of the Ninja Creami’s containers and freeze overnight.
After chilling, follow your Ninja Creami's directions to churn.
Topping suggestions; whipped cream, fresh strawberries, or caramel sauce.
Do you have a Ninja Creami?
Let me know what you think! Let’s trade recipes and share the fun!
I shared my thoughts in a reply to your post on Zoe Bakes’ question about favorite ice cream makers. In short, I completely agree with you! I own the Ninja Creami Deluxe, purchased from Costco for $179.99 which comes with THREE 24-oz. containers, and couldn’t be happier with the results this machine has produced (only ice creams and sorbets to date). I wasn’t thrilled with Ninja’s recipe booklet so began to modify (downsize) many other favorite recipes to fit in the 24 oz. Ninja containers. Highly recommend David Leibovitz’s recipe book, “The Perfect Scoop.”