5 Reasons to Try Making Homemade Ice Cream

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was overcome by a strong desire to try making ice cream (I'm pretty sure my friend Kristin Appenbrink is to blame). I usually resist hard against non-essential appliances but I couldn't shake the urge, so we headed out and bought this Cuisinart ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet maker with the goal of donating one of our existing countertop appliances in a space trade.

I'll admit, when I first flipped through the Cuisinart booklet, I was like, Oh no, you can't just pour a bunch of stuff down the hatch and go? There are multiple steps?! I had a moment of buyer's remorse. But we forged ahead and the reality is that the steps involved are simple. And the rewards? SPECTACULAR. So far, we've made two recipes straight out of the Cuisinart booklet to awesome effect: the dark chocolate sorbet (rich and creamy, almost couldn't believe it was sorbet) and the strawberry frozen yogurt (which we've made twice it's so good). I'm gunning for the coconut sorbet next and Laurel has a strong vote in for peanut butter cup ice cream. As you can see, I've been thinking a lot about ice cream these days and wanted to share 5 reasons why I think you ought to try your hand at making it:

1. It's a taste sensation

I'm referencing The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! here, but my point is, the small batch approach really results in a taste sensation. The strawberry frozen yogurt is the best frozen yogurt I've ever eaten and was so creamy it could pass for ice cream. (Note: I used Stonyfield's lowfat plain, which is wonderfully creamy as regular yogurt; I suspect that helped.)

2. It's a fun project with kids

With the two recipes we've tried so far, the prep work has either involved dumping yogurt into a strainer (lined with cheesecloth) or measuring out and mixing ingredients on the stove. Not difficult at all and fun for kids. The stove tasks, of course, should be supervised; Laurel is 8 and had no problem with them.

3. The process is a reminder of the good in slow

Given that I initially bristled at the multi-step process of making ice cream, I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the steps and overall delayed gratification. It proved to be a reminder of the good in slow.

4. You can adopt a pour down the hatch approach

I was talking to a friend about the ice cream maker and she said she tosses smoothie contents directly into the (pre-frozen) bowl and runs the machine to mix and freeze up the mixture and make it more treat-like. Totally trying this. Possibly today.

5. Ice cream makes an awesome gift

I'm super excited to start gifting ice cream to loved ones, whether it's for someone who needs a pick me up, or as a hostess gift. I've been thinking of going to a party store to get some cute cardboard pint containers, but recycled plastic tubs would also do the trick.

In a nutshell, I'm officially addicted to making ice cream and am super excited to experiment with more flavors. Though of course this doesn't mean I won't enjoy ice cream from local parlors. Because, you know, I'm generous like that.

Have you made ice cream at home? Did you enjoy it? What are your favorite flavors? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Featured photo by Alexandra Gorn on Unsplash