Just Makin’ Some Ice Cream

 

“Do you love it?” I asked.

Silent, solemn nods from 3 little people, devoutly devouring the homemade ice cream they’d been looking forward to for the last 3 hours.

Yesterday I made ice cream from  “Just Making Ice Cream“. Half way through the process, I called my friend and mentor-in-all-things-nourishing, Claire (she’s the one who has taught me that homemade ice cream is good for this pregnant mommy because of all the good fats and egg yolks!)

“I’ve got this awesome new ice cream recipe you’ve got to try!” I panted over the phone.

“Are you eating it right now?” she asked, suspicious of what sounded like a new form of torture: hearing someone eat homemade ice cream over long-distance.

“No, but I know it will be awesome because it has over a stick of butter in it!” I gasped out the words while renewing my whisking efforts with the egg yolks. (I get a little excited when trying a new recipe)

She laughed and encouraged me to enjoy myself on her behalf.

Although we’ve been making our own ice cream for 4 years, I’ve stuck to plain old vanilla or my favorite chocolate peanut butter because most recipes I find in cookbooks or online are dependent on sweetened condensed milk, unnatural sugars, or some other ingredient I don’t usually stock in my cupboards.

That’s why I was so excited about the book “Just Making Ice Cream“–every recipe is naturally sweetened and calls for whole, raw, or even cultured ingredients! (Yes, that means a whole section of recipes in the book are GAPS friendly, people!!!) This was my kind of ice cream!!!!

The book has got to be one of the most gorgeous ebooks I’ve ever opened–every page makes you drool. And every recipe is optimized for nourishment and happy, messy smiles for your whole family, no matter what flavor they love! Other highlights include:

• everything you need to know about the process of making ice cream (I’ve been doing this for years and I learned lots of new stuff!)
• instructions for substitutions and non-dairy alternatives
• 5 ways to make ice cream if you don’t have a machine (seriously!)
• how to choose an ice cream maker
• more ice cream varieties than I’ve ever seen in one place (over 70 recipes!)

I’ve tried making cookie dough ice cream before because it is Mr. Holden’s favorite. Alas, the efforts were lacking in the proper flavor and the chocolate was entirely too crunchy. But Marillyn’s recipe looked very promising, so I dove right in. I was excited to try a custard-style recipe, my basic ice cream recipe being a raw base. I ended up over-cooking the custard, but went back to the beginning of the book and found hints for not doing that again.

 

After putting the custard to cool, I mixed up the simple cookie dough recipe, put it in the freezer to harden, then we went for our bike ride. When we got back, I froze the mixture, adding the chocolate at the last minute using Marillyn’s great technique to keep it from being too, too crunchy. I chopped and folded in the cookie dough bites, and then popped the whole thing back in the freezer to ripen.

I fed the kids theirs, to rave reviews, and after they were in bed served Mr. Holden and myself generous bowl-fulls to enjoy together in the quiet of the evening. The flavor was phenomenal, and my man was pleased.  The ice cream had gotten quite hard, so next time I will use the added ingredient Marillyn recommended for keeping the finished product a bit creamier and softer. I’m simply delighted to now own the definitive guide to nourishing ice cream making, and can’t wait to try another recipe!

The hardest part will be deciding which…Cherry Swirl Cheesecake Gelato? Maple Cinnamon Pecan? Rainbow Fruit Sorbet?

Oh, help me!

Get your copy of Just Making Ice Cream here.