How to Make Homemade Ice Cream

Since many dairy companies have commercialized ice cream for selling in stores, there are few people who have ever tasted homemade ice cream. The taste of homemade ice cream is much richer than most ice creams that are sold in stores. Homemade ice cream is a sweet treat that is great for warm summer days during barbecues or just for a leisure evening with family and friends. Once you've had homemade ice cream you may never want store bought again.

In order to make homemade ice cream, you must have an ice cream freezer. These come as electric or hand-operated and can be purchased from a store like Wal-Mart or Target. Without an ice cream freezer, it will be very difficult to make homemade ice cream.

Homemade ice cream calls for several everyday ingredients that you might already have in your cabinet. To make vanilla homemade ice cream you will need the following ingredients: 1 quart of milk, 2 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ cup of flour, 4 eggs, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, and 1 ½ quarts of light cream.

Once you have gathered the ingredients that are needed to make homemade ice cream, then the preparation steps can begin. Start by scalding the milk in a medium saucepan. Next, the flour, sugar, and salt should be mixed together in a large bowl. Once these ingredients have been mixed together, add a little of the scalding milk to make a thin paste. After the paste has been formed, stir it into the pot of hot milk. Lower the heat on the saucepan to low and cook the mixture until it has begun to thicken slightly. This will take about 15 minutes. The mixture for homemade ice cream should be stirred constantly while allowing it to thicken.

Slightly beat the eggs, and then mix in with the hot mixture. Cook this mixture for two minutes over low heat. Make sure to constantly stir and avoid overcooking. Once the mixture has cooked for two minutes, let it cool in the refrigerator. After the mixture has cooled, add the cream and vanilla. The final step in making homemade ice cream is to pour the mixture into the ice cream freezer. It is best to only fill the freezer about two-thirds of the way because the mixture will expand as it freezes into homemade ice cream. Once the mixture is in the ice cream freezer, you should follow the manufacturer's instructions for how long the ice cream should be frozen before the homemade ice cream is complete.

You can make other flavors of homemade ice cream by adding in the flavor that you would like. For chocolate homemade ice cream, add four squares of unsweetened chocolate to the milk right before the first step of scalding the milk. You can also add fresh fruit like peaches or strawberries to have fruit flavored homemade ice cream. Once you have made homemade ice cream once, it will be easier the next time to be more creative with the flavor.