Ice-cream maker
This summer has been
averaging 1 to 3 degrees hotter than previous
summers on our farm. That doesn't sound like much...until you realize
that we spend a lot of time working outside and I'm still stubbornly
avoiding air conditioning. (Mark has AC in his man cave.)
Long term, we're
pondering all kinds of passive-cooling systems. Short term, the
solution was obvious --- an
ice-cream maker!
This little machine
makes a great product...as long as you put in a
little TLC during the freezing process. Unfortunately, the procedure
isn't set-it-and-forget-it. Instead, it's
necessary to run a firm spatula around the inside every three to four
minutes during the course of the freeze cycle.
Without that step, you
end up with ice cream stuck so hard to the
nonstick surface that you can't pry it loose and end up having to
slowly but surely scoop it into your mouth as it thaws. Oh, the
hardship! No, Mark, that's not what I'm doing while you're cooling off
in your man cave. Really....
Ahem, anyway. In case
you're interested in following suit, I'm still
using a slightly modified version of this
recipe. Mark got
sick of mint
and I realized I could downgrade the chocolate chips a bit (although
not much or the consistency goes off). The final recipe for use in a
two-quart ice-cream maker includes:
- 6 cups rich goat milk (divided)
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cocoa
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips
- 6 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
See the previously
linked post for cooking instructions and be sure to
cool overnight before tossing in the ice-cream maker. The end result is
soft-serve consisetency, so Mark and I like to ladle the contents into
eight individual-serving containers and put them back in the freezer
for 12 hours before eating. Enjoy!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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