Monday, July 26, 2004
OK, the second version of the blueberry ice cream worked:
Blueberry Ice Cream
Makes 1.5 pints (3 cups)
You need to have a chilled cylinder for a small hand-cranked ice-cream maker such as Donvier or Nordic Ware, ready ahead of time.
In a bowl, place about 1-1/4 cups blueberries and 1/4 cup water. Nuke for 2 minutes, stirring once. Drain off water.
Combine stewed blueberries and 1/4 cup fruit juice - grape, cranberry, mixed berry, something in the dark red to purple fruit family. I use cranberry-mixed berry. In a food processor or blender, puree the berries; they don't have to be completely liquified, small bits of blueberry are still fine.
Pour this into a measuring cup; it should be about 1 cup. (If it's slightly less, don't worry. If it's less than 3/4 cup, then add more juice to get near a cup of mix.) Chill it for about 45 minutes, until it is no warmer than room temperature, and it can be a little cooler.
In a bowl, combine the blueberry mixture, 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of evaporated milk. Stir till thoroughly blended. Stir in 1/4 cup small pecan pieces ("broken" or "chopped fine" or "pieces").
Pour entire mixture into the ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer's directions for stirring. Mine say "Turn handle twice a minute for 20 minutes" but different ones vary. The result will be soft ice cream. Put the ice cream into a bowl and freeze it, to harden it to the point where it can be scooped. This should be somewhere between an hour and 2 hours. It will not be as hard as commercial ice cream but it will be hard enough to form shaped scoops in a bowl; it won't be "soft" any more.
This makes about 6 servings.
FAQ:
You only have about 2-1/2 cups ingredients there. Why don't you have 3 cups of ingredients?
Because when you stir ice cream, you are stirring air into it, and it gains volume - that is part of the process. When finished, you will have ice cream up to the top of the cylinder. If you were to pour 3 whole cups of ingredients in, you would not be able to thoroughly mix and chill the mixture, because it would start expanding over the top of the cylinder.
Can I add other ingredients?
You can substitute other add-ins for the pecans; do not exceed 1/4 cup, though. Miniature chocolate chips work well, or other nuts instead of pecans. You can also add a bit more sugar, if the first time you try this it's not sweet enough for you. However, don't exceed 1/2 cup of sugar, or you'll have too large a batch for the small ice cream maker.
What if I have a larger ice cream maker?
You can double or triple this recipe, except for the juice. Keep the amount of juice at 1/4 cup, and double (or triple) all the other ingredients. Doubling the recipe will make about 3 pints (6 cups) of ice cream, which is a quart and a half; if you have a half-gallon ice cream maker, this amount should work. Tripling the recipe will produce a little over 4 pints, which is a little over half a gallon, so it won't work in a half-gallon maker but will work fine in a 3-quart or larger maker. Above tripling, the proportions of things start changing; if you want to make more than triple the amount, you'll need a different recipe and a different kind of ice cream maker.
Blueberry Ice Cream
Makes 1.5 pints (3 cups)
You need to have a chilled cylinder for a small hand-cranked ice-cream maker such as Donvier or Nordic Ware, ready ahead of time.
In a bowl, place about 1-1/4 cups blueberries and 1/4 cup water. Nuke for 2 minutes, stirring once. Drain off water.
Combine stewed blueberries and 1/4 cup fruit juice - grape, cranberry, mixed berry, something in the dark red to purple fruit family. I use cranberry-mixed berry. In a food processor or blender, puree the berries; they don't have to be completely liquified, small bits of blueberry are still fine.
Pour this into a measuring cup; it should be about 1 cup. (If it's slightly less, don't worry. If it's less than 3/4 cup, then add more juice to get near a cup of mix.) Chill it for about 45 minutes, until it is no warmer than room temperature, and it can be a little cooler.
In a bowl, combine the blueberry mixture, 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of evaporated milk. Stir till thoroughly blended. Stir in 1/4 cup small pecan pieces ("broken" or "chopped fine" or "pieces").
Pour entire mixture into the ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer's directions for stirring. Mine say "Turn handle twice a minute for 20 minutes" but different ones vary. The result will be soft ice cream. Put the ice cream into a bowl and freeze it, to harden it to the point where it can be scooped. This should be somewhere between an hour and 2 hours. It will not be as hard as commercial ice cream but it will be hard enough to form shaped scoops in a bowl; it won't be "soft" any more.
This makes about 6 servings.
FAQ:
You only have about 2-1/2 cups ingredients there. Why don't you have 3 cups of ingredients?
Because when you stir ice cream, you are stirring air into it, and it gains volume - that is part of the process. When finished, you will have ice cream up to the top of the cylinder. If you were to pour 3 whole cups of ingredients in, you would not be able to thoroughly mix and chill the mixture, because it would start expanding over the top of the cylinder.
Can I add other ingredients?
You can substitute other add-ins for the pecans; do not exceed 1/4 cup, though. Miniature chocolate chips work well, or other nuts instead of pecans. You can also add a bit more sugar, if the first time you try this it's not sweet enough for you. However, don't exceed 1/2 cup of sugar, or you'll have too large a batch for the small ice cream maker.
What if I have a larger ice cream maker?
You can double or triple this recipe, except for the juice. Keep the amount of juice at 1/4 cup, and double (or triple) all the other ingredients. Doubling the recipe will make about 3 pints (6 cups) of ice cream, which is a quart and a half; if you have a half-gallon ice cream maker, this amount should work. Tripling the recipe will produce a little over 4 pints, which is a little over half a gallon, so it won't work in a half-gallon maker but will work fine in a 3-quart or larger maker. Above tripling, the proportions of things start changing; if you want to make more than triple the amount, you'll need a different recipe and a different kind of ice cream maker.
