The one staple of our pandemic diet has been ice cream. As the evening news gets more horrifying, a few scoops of creamy comfort helps numb my rising anxiety. After the waves of obsessive Cpvid-baking (banana bread, sourdough starter, pizza, granola, etc.), and timed to handle the hot weather, it’s time for a new kitchen project.
My husband showed up with a flat of Costco peaches, suggesting we make peach ice-cream. I went searching for my old Cuisinart ice-cream maker, and realized that I’d tossed it years ago. Somehow, I’d never mastered freezing the canister in time for churning and gave up the notion of being a home ice-cream maker. Besides, why try to beat the amazing products to buy at the store, especially when making ice cream takes time. But… since the rest of my cooking had stepped up a notch, why not try to improve my ice-cream game?
I set out to borrow a machine, and lucked out when a friend offered theirs. I should have been tipped off when he noted that he’d left it outside for me but that it was “very heavy”… He could have said it was worth it’s weight in gold- it is a gorgeous Italian machine that freezes and churns on the countertop in twenty minutes.
I’ve fallen in love with it, and may not give it back. Take a look at the Musso Lussino — price tag, $700. I hope you have a friend you can borrow one from!
I have made two batches thus far: peach and black plum, both from this basic recipe and flavor grid.
Melissa Clark has the best recipe “The Only Ice Cream Recipe You’ll Ever Need” – you have to pay for the NYTimes Cooking to see all the cool interactive features listed for incorporating flavors into the basic recipe, but here it is.
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 large egg yolks
- Your choice of flavoring (Here’s where you’ll need the app, because it details clearly how to prepare and incorporate anything from chocolate chips to peaches to bourbon).
PREPARATION
- In a small pot, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers’ instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until needed.
I also recommend ready David Lebovitz’s blog for all things culinary, but his ice cream recipes are dreamy and he has a great blog post about the various types of machines you can purchase (if you don’t want to spend $700!)
