Making Homemade Ice Cream in Your Ice Cream Maker

There’s something special about making ice cream at home in your ice cream maker, and it’s not just the taste.  As a kid, nothing caused as much excitement as seeing mom bring out the ice cream machine.  Making ice cream was always a family event.  Everyone helped, and everyone shared in the rewards when the ice cream was finished.  We always had great fun making ice cream together.

The ice cream machine we used was one of the big hand-crank types.  You can still find them today, but there are also fancier ones that are motorized and do much of the work for you.  They make the process easier, but take away some of the fun for the kids.  If your kids aren’t doing the cranking, you might prefer a motorized ice cream maker.

Basic ice cream only uses a few ingredients – milk, cream and sugar, although many recipes call for additional ingredients.  Recipes that require eggs are usually creamier, but require the eggs to be cooked in a certain way before adding them to the ice cream.  There are many free homemade ice cream recipes available online that you can find easily by searching for them in your favorite search engine.

The fun part, of course, is in the extras.  Think of all the different flavors of ice cream that are available in the store, and you’ll have just a hint of the possibilities available when making your own.  You can add absolutely anything your imagination can come up with, from flavor extracts and food coloring, to bits of candy, fruit or nuts.  Take a stroll down the candy and baking aisles of the supermarket for inspiration.

Make sure you include the kids in the ice cream making activities even if you aren’t using a hand-crank ice cream maker.  They will have fun helping you pick out flavors and add ingredients.  The treat is so much more enjoyable for them when they are involved in the process of making it, and it can be an educational experience for them as well.

Now you’re ready to make your own homemade ice cream in your ice cream maker.  Whether you use the old-fashioned type or a new Cuisinart ice cream machine, or one of the new motorized ones, making ice cream is great fun for the whole family.