ohdenny

My love for ice cream knows no bounds. Being able to create my own ice cream from ingredients I’m familiar with is something I’ve always wanted to do as I love making things from scratch (if it isn’t too troublesome that is). Last year, I purchased the KitchenAid Ice-Cream maker attachment and have been giddy with excitement waiting for Summer to come to test it out. Having also bought the Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, it was a good time to give it a go.

Cantaloupe Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart (~946ml)

Ingredients
1 large or 2 small cantaloupes (very ripe)
Juice of 1 lemon
Sweet Cream Base (below)

Method
1. Cut the cantaloupe in half and clean out the seeds. Scoop the fruit into a mixing bowl, add the lemon juice, and mash until the fruit is pureed. Drain the juice into another bowl and reserve. Cover the melon puree and refrigerate

2. Prepare the Sweet Cream Base and whisk in the fruit juice

3. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze  following the manufacturer’s instructions

4. After the ice cream stiffens (about 2 minutes before it is done), add the cantaloupe. If more juice has accumulated, do not pout it in because it will water down the ice cream. Continue freezing until the ice cream is ready.

Sweet Cream Base

Makes 1 quart (~946ml)

Ingredients
2 Large eggs
3/4 cup Sugar
2 cups Heavy or whipping cream
1 cup Milk

Method
1. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more.

3. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend

Impressions

The recipe is a little vague in the quantity of cantaloupe to include, if you’re unsure add a bit less (much less than my pictured cantaloupe puree actually). Even our small cantaloupes here result in a great deal of puree so add a bit at a time to ensure the cream base stiffens when it’s churning otherwise you may end up with a mixture too soft to become ice-cream. Mine didn’t set too firm when churning unfortunately, but still flavourwise it’s delectably rich, yet full of cantaloupe flavour. A great recipe that just needs more specific quantities to make it work 100% of the time.