madrid@auvax.UUCP (06/20/83)
The following is a recipe that has certainly been well-tested. Groups of school children make it (with very little supervision) as one of the activities during their visit to the Museum. Put into the canister: 3 cups whipping cream 2 cups milk 1 cup sugar 1 T. vanilla 1 t. salt Freeze as per machine instructions. This makes very rich, very delicious ice cream (and I don't even like ice cream.) A variation on this recipe is to add strawberries. Most frequently we have used about half a large package of the loose-pack frozen ones, but I'm sure fresh ones would work well in season. Just dump the strawberries (frozen or unfrozen) in with the rest of the ingredients. This makes strawberry ice cream that really tastes like strawberries and cream, not like something flavoured with pseudo-strawberry something. The above recipes are unusual in that most ice cream recipes require that you make a custard with eggs, sugar, and milk, and then freeze it. The simpler recipe means that you don't have to deal with dirty pots, that the whole process is quicker, and that the risk (however small) from salmonella infection transmitted by partially cooked eggs is eliminated. Ice cream making is a very forgiving process. You can vary it almost any way you want to. However, there are two things to keep in mind. We perceive the taste of cold foods less intensely, so you will want to flavour your mixture more strongly than you might think. And, if anything containing alcohol is added, it tends to act like anti-freeze. Use a liqueur or whatever, if you want to, but realize that it will make a softer product. When you make ice cream (especially with an electric machine), the result will be quite soft, like commercial soft "ice cream". If you want the hard stuff, freeze the canister for a few hours after churning. Nitty Gritty publishes a nice little paperback called (if I remember correctly) simply "Ice Cream". Their extra-super-special-super-rich-French- custard recipe is, in my opinion, less special than the recipe I have given. Their sherbet and fruit ices, however, are really good.