Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Our Favorite {No Cook, Raw} Vanilla Ice Cream ~ 4 Variations


"Let's make ice-cream!" Royal shouted.
Eliza Jane loved ice-cream.
She hesitated, and said, "Well..."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

Our family loves ice cream! Because of this, I feel more comfortable serving our homemade versions since they lack all the fake ingredients sold in many ice creams today. If you knew some of the things (read #3 in this list and forgive me in advance for showing you) they use to substitute "real" flavor with in your sweets, you would cringe and attempt to make your own too! It is so easy. We are sharing four variations for a no-cook vanilla ice cream that should please every family in some way... 


"Almanzo ran after Royal to the ice-house. They dug a block of ice out of the sawdust and put it in a grain sack. They laid the sack on the back porch and pounded it with hatches till the ice was crushed."
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

This is a basic and beautifully tasty vanilla ice cream recipe. We try and use organic, less processed sugar as well as raw milk and farm fresh eggs. The result is perfect!

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream
  • 2 large eggs (make sure they are fresh)
  • ¾ cup of sugar (we used organic)
  • 2 cups of heavy cream (or whipping cream)
  • 1 cup of milk (we prefer raw)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Whisk eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, add in the sugar, a little at a time until completely blended in. Whisk another minute and add in your cream, milk and vanilla. Whisk everything together until completely blended in. Transfer mixture to your ice cream maker and prepare according to manufacturers directions. This recipe makes approximately 1 quart of ice cream.


"Alice came out to watch them while she whipped egg-whites on a platter."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

Vanilla Honey Ice Cream
  • Replace the sugar with 1/2 cup of honey in the "old-fashioned" recipe shared above.

"Eliza Jane measured milk and cream,
and dipped up sugar from the barrel in the pantry."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

Vanilla Ice Cream Made with Pure Goat Milk

When the girls are lactating, I sometimes make ice cream with their fresh, pure, raw milk (and zero cow cream). Goat's milk is naturally homogenized so you really can't separate the cream from it with great results but it does offer some creamy content for making ice cream (and is gentler for many people than cow's milk). However, it is more of an icier, soft-serve style textured ice cream.
  • To make this version, simply substitute goat's milk for all the cream and milk shared in the "old-fashioned" recipe above (for example, you would need 3 cups of goat milk to make 1 quart of ice cream).

"She made a big milk-pail full of yellow custard."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

Golden Vanilla Ice Cream

This is our favorite ice cream to serve with cobblers and fruit pies. I do hope you try this buttery and brown-sugary version of vanilla ice cream!
  • Replace the sugar with 2/3 cup of coconut sugar in the "old-fashioned" recipe shared above.

"They set the pail in the tub and packed the snowy crushed ice around it, with salt, and they covered it all with a blanket. Every few minutes they took off the blanket and uncovered the pail, and stirred the freezing ice-cream."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

Variations: You may include 1/2 cup of add-ins per quart of ice cream to the last five minutes of ice-cream making. Some ideas are mini chocolate chips, nuts, shredded coconut, chopped up chocolate bars, etc.


"When it was frozen, Alice brought saucers and spoons..."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy

Yield: All these recipes make approx. 1 quart of ice cream. You can safely double the recipes if you are using a 2 quart ice cream maker. In fact, I recommend it :)


"They could eat all the ice-cream and cake they wanted to..."
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy



The Inside Scoop: The first recipe we shared was adapted from the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book which we love. The remaining variations were tweaked by yours truly to create different dessert experiences.


Ice Cream ~ The Full Scoop by Gail Gibbons is a fun non-fiction picture book for children which you might want to check out. You can even do a mini unit study out of making ice cream! Don't forget to read the Farmer Boy excerpts on pages 205-206. You can try making it the old fashioned way like the book describes.

41 comments:

  1. Oh my word, I'm tryin' to forgive you for the link to see what's in store bought ice cream, but it may take awhile. o.O - just kiddin', of course. Actually, I'm not at all surprised which is why I make as many foods at home with real food ingredients as I can. That was a supreme gag moment to read about the beaver glands, though. Your ice creams look really delicious. I'll have mine with black walnut, please. :) Have a great week!

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    1. ~ smiles about the "gag moment" ~ It is sadly true, I have verified it on many sites and read it in books... To make your own everything is the best route these days... And black walnuts it is!

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  2. What a great to know- post!!! (ahem, #3) gross, gross!!!!

    Now... just to get us a 2 qt. ice cream maker! :)

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    1. Isn't it disgusting! I couldn't sleep for weeks ;)

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  3. Yum! I love ice cream...but I don't eat sugar anymore. Oh your pictures look so delicious!

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    1. How about the second recipe made with honey?

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  4. Okay...#3 gross...while drinking my coffee...even worse with store bought vanilla creamer, one of my last stand by store bought items (create a recipe please ;) ). But we do make our own ice cream, a little too often! Next time, I will be trying your's!
    Rebecca

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    1. Sorry :) I know... It is gross!!! Store bought creamer was a tough one for me to get rid of too... Hubby deemed it melted plastic and banned it from our fridge a few years back. I do heavy cream and raw honey now and love it just as much! It just took a week to detox my tastebuds to appreciate it ;) Nice hearing from you Rebecca!

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    2. So, I have finally gotten away from store bought creamer! I have been trying very hard to find something I like in my coffee instead of creamer and finally found something I love! I do maple syrup, cream and cinnamon! YUMMY!
      Rebecca

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    3. YAY!!! That is a huge step for any coffee-loving gal! And it sounds wonderful not to mention way healthier! A great way to start a new year by getting rid of all those unknown chemicals from those creamers (cinnamon itself boasts many excellent properties so I am going to try it)! I was glad to see your comment today. I hope all is going well with you!!! :)

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  5. We usually make our own ice cream too ~ mostly because we live so far out, if we don't have an ice chest already chilled with us, it would just be cream by the time we got home. Hubby loves those mini chips. I never thought about using honey - a dollop of honey ice cream in your hot cocoa in winter sounds heavenly:)

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    1. Honey ice cream removes much guilt from the eating experience :)

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  6. I am now craving homemade ice cream!
    Thanks for sharing!
    God bless,
    Chris

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  7. Oh, delicious! We LOVE ice cream and we've tried to make my own quite often:). It is just so much nicer than store bought. But I would like to try your recipe and variations, they look so good! I love how you used exerpts from Farmer Boy - it is my absolute favourite book and I've probably read it about 20 times! Thank you for sharing! Blessings, Kelly-Anne

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    1. We love the Little House series here too and I hope you give the recipes a try, they are tasty :)

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  8. Can using the raw eggs in these recipes cause sickness? Or are they free of that because they're fresh?

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    1. We have never had a problem but I do know we are using fresh eggs (because they are ours). Some family members make fresh mayonnaise with raw eggs (and again no problems)... And the first recipe was inspired from the Ben & Jerry Cookbook and I don't think they would print it if it was an insurance hazard. But like all things, you will have to use your own judgment. We have been eating it for years and love it :) But I do think a trusted egg source is key! Hope this helps!

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  9. Now that we have a source of raw milk, we make our own coffeemaker creamers. 1 pint raw half n half to 1/4 cup Torani syrup your choice. It is made with cane sugar no HFCS. I can't wait to try the Ice Cream. Yum Yum.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your recipe! The less HFCS, the better! Hope you like the ice-cream and glad to hear you found a raw milk source. What a difference it makes to drink real dairy :)

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  10. That looks so yummy. When my children were little I made quite a lot of homemade icecream. It was a family favourite :)

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    1. I think that even with an empty nest I will make it since hubby goes wild over it ;) Thanks for sharing Jo!

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  11. I love how you interspersed the quotes throughout. The ice cream looks delicious. I was intrigued with the honey -- sounds delicious! ~Pamela

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    1. Raw Honey sure makes it a guilt free dessert for me :)

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  12. After I read about the back end of a beaver being in icecream (ick, ptooey, yuck), I don't think I will ever buy ice cream again! ;-) Thanks for the recipes - at least I don't have to give up one of my favorite desserts! My favorite add-in is strawberries. I adore fresh homemade strawberry ice cream!

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    1. Glad to hear I wasn't the only one revolted! And thankfully fresh ice cream is easy to make and tastes WAY better! :) Fresh strawberry would be amazing!

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  13. Yum! Looking forward to reading those pages in Farmer Boy and trying it the old fashioned way!

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    1. I love the excuse of making ice cream as a home education project, don't you?

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  14. Great post. There's nothing more delicious on a hot summer night than some homemade ice cream. Congrats on being chosen as a featured post on this week’s Wildcrafting Wednesdays! I hope you'll join us again and share more of your awesome posts.
    http://www.herbanmomma.com

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  15. Oh, I have been looking around and I just love your blog. This ice cream looks fabulous. I will feature this tomorrow at Home Sweet Home.
    Sherry

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    1. Thank you Sherry :) I do enjoy your pretty blog!

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  16. Making a batch today! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

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  17. Mmmm... can I come over for ice crem, sweet friend :) My hubby loves homemade ice cream and we try and make it several times during the summer months. Your ice cream looks wonderful!

    Thanks for sharing with Roses of Inspiration. Hugs to you!

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  18. Jes this looks so good. thanks for adding it to this week's Our Simple Homestead Hop!
    http://oursimplelife-sc.com/our-simple-homestead-blog-hop-2/

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  19. Mmm, who doesn't love ice cream!? I've never tried making my own before but I definitely want to try this summer! Thanks for sharing at the Homestead Blog Hop, hope you stop by again this week.

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  20. Recipes sound delicious. Can you make in a Cuisinart ice cream maker as well as a traditional ice cream maker?

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  21. Congrats on being featured as a featured blogger at Wildcrafting Wed. This ice cream looks awesome especially in the heat of June here in Pa.

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