Ice cream cone season is already well underway, but what if you made your own homemade ice cream this summer? We guarantee you won’t want to go back. With an ice cream maker and a few ingredients, it’s much easier than you think!

 The basic ingredients

There are several variations of ice cream recipes, but a few ingredients almost always come up. 

• Milk and cream: The fats they contain bring flavour and creaminess to ice cream.
• Egg yolks: They act as an emulsifier and make ice cream creamier, more dense and     allow it to melt more slowly.
• Sugar: This is essential to give ice cream taste, but it also prevents it from turning into a block of ice or forming crystals, since sugar lowers the freezing temperature of water.
• Flavour: Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry; it’s up to you to add the flavour you like the most.

How to use an ice cream maker

An ice cream maker is an indispensable tool to obtain an ice cream with a creamy consistency. It is possible to prepare ice cream without using it, but the results will not be optimal.

How does it work? First, a custard is prepared as an ice cream base, then cooled. Next, it’s poured into the container of the ice cream maker, which freezes the preparation while stirring it with the help of blades. This step is called churning.

The cream must cool quickly so that the ice cream is fine and silky, without crystals. Depending on the recipe, the churning time varies from 15 to 30 minutes.

After churning in the ice cream maker, the ice cream is still soft. You can integrate the different flavours at this time, then put it into the freezer to harden it.

5 tips for good ice cream

1. A good dose of sugar: Some people might be tempted to decrease the amount of sugar in a recipe, but it’s better to stick to the required ratio, as it influences the texture of the ice cream, which should be creamy and supple.
2. Add cornstarch: It prevents the formation of lumps by keeping the eggs from clumping during cooking and also prevents the appearance of crystals.
3. A pinch of salt: By adding a little salt, you will enhance the natural taste of both the cream and the added flavours.
4. Serving temperature: You should serve ice cream at a temperature of -4°C to have the best texture. As a freezer is around -18°C, temper it for a few minutes before eating.
5. Storage: You can keep the ice cream in the freezer for about two weeks. After that, it can become granular and form large ice crystals. 

3 ways to adapt your ice cream

Without an ice cream maker: Freeze the preparation in a large shallow dish for two hours. Stir, and freeze again for an hour, then put the ice cream in a food processor and blend.

Egg free: Classic ice cream contains egg yolks to make it creamier, but this ingredient isn’t essential to its preparation. Simply remove them from the ingredients list.

Vegan: Although the texture and taste differ from the original recipe, it is possible to make an ice cream without dairy products. Use a creamy soy preparation (like Belsoy), which is equivalent to 15% cream, mixed with soy beverage and cornstarch. Or, for simple versions, prepare ice cream made from frozen bananas or sorbets that are made of sugar and fruit.

Cook with ice cream

Once the ice cream is made, it’s time to have fun! You can prepare a good bowl of natural ice cream, of course, but you can also integrate it into frozen desserts such as a pie or cake, or ice cream sandwiches for the ultimate sweet summer refresher!