We all Scream for Ice Cream!
We will confess, we cheat when it comes to ice cream. We bought an electric ice cream maker. A Cuisinart. Simply put, it was more simple than mixing by hand every so often to get a nice creamy texture. We love simple! Don't you?
There are three reasons we make our own ice cream. We love it, sometimes can't get enough of it! We want a healthy version, you know, we want to know what we're eating. And finally, we need something to help us use up all this MILK!
Ingredients
Simply, if we were going to save cream from our goats milk, we would rather make butter. PERIOD! It would take a little while to get enough cream and no offense, we wanted ice cream sooner not later.
All Milk? Well, that really didn't work out for us either. Without something thick and creamy to add, the 'milk cream' was crystalized, not creamy. It doesn't last long even in the freezer and you have to constantly thaw and mix. We're simply people remember?
Cream? We already decided, we weren't buying cream.
Yogurt? Oh, how your eyes roll! Don't sigh, seriously. Yes, yogurt. One, we make it all the time and two, it's good for you!
Now the hard part, making up a basic recipe that we could adjust to our likes and tastes. Plus, a recipe that would last in the freezer without getting to crystalized AND taste good enough to want it!
Well, we did it! We found a way to make healthy, good, creamy, yummy, all we can eat ice cream! For a fraction of the cost to buy and best of all WE KNOW what we're eating! The ingredients are all ours...........nothing more, nothing less. We get ice cream, not frozen milk, its all natural, and all our own. Ice cream doesn't get sweeter than that!
Recipes........

2 cups raw goats milk
2 cups homemade yogurt
1/2 cup local raw honey
2 vanilla beans, scraped ~OR~
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Take two vanilla beans. Slice down the middle and scrape the fine seeds out. (If the beans are hard, you can simmer/stim them in a small pan on the stove. Add a little water, or alcohol, until soft and the liquid evaporates). ~OR~ substitute 1-2 tsp of Vanilla Extract.
Add your milk and yogurt to a half gallon glass jar. Add your honey and vanilla bean seeds. Mix thoroughly until it's all combined and you don't see any chunks of honey. Let this mix rest in your refrigerator for an hour or two.
Get out your ice cream machine, and follow your manufacturer's directions. Ours is simple, put the freezer bowl in place, add the mixer. Lock cover. Poor in your milk/yogurt mix and turn on. Let the machine do the work. It takes about 20 minutes or so. Once the ice cream is thickened and creamy, turn off and scoop the ice cream into individual pint containers. Place it in the freezer overnight.
An hour before you want it, take out a pint and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This gives it time to thaw enough so it isn't hard, but not enough to make it to soft.
2 cups raw goats milk
2 cups homemade yogurt
1/2 cup local raw honey
2 vanilla beans, scraped ~OR~ 1-2 tsp of Vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa
Follow the directions, just like the Vanilla Ice Cream above. An hour before you want it, take out a pint and place it in the refrigerator. This gives it time to thaw enough so it isn't hard, but not enough to make it to soft.
2 cups raw goats milk
2 cups homemade yogurt
1/4-1/2 cup local raw honey (adjust sweetness for jam below)
2 vanilla beans, scraped ~OR~ 1-2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 half pint of homemade Cherry Jam
Follow the directions, just like the Vanilla Ice Cream above, except you're adding the Cherry Jam and need to mix it well. An hour before you want it, take out a pint and place it in the refrigerator. This gives it time to thaw enough so it isn't hard, but not enough to make it to soft.
Try adding 1 or 2 of your favorite chocolate candy bars, all chopped up, into your ice cream maker during the last 5 minutes or so, next time you make Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream.
How about adding 3-4 TBSP of caramel into your ice cream maker the last 5 minutes, next time you make a batch of Vanilla. Or add the caramel at the beginning for a total caramel fix.
Just Saying...
Use your imagination! You know what you like, just figure out ways to make these recipes your own yummy versions. Any flavor creation you can think of, it's all up to you.
I'm screaming ice cream, how about you?
Blessings
Brenda Lee