Fig, Cinnamon & Molasses Ice Cream

Ice cream is one of those things that can either be horrible — made of cheap fillers, refined sugars, and low-quality, hormone- and antibiotic-laden milk — or can be nothing short of lush.  It is, however, very difficult to find lush ice cream.  (The reason I joined a cowshare program to get top-notch, grass-fed, beyond-organic milk was so that I could bypass commercial products altogether.)  Now that I’ve been through several batches of various flavors and ratios, I can say that I’ve succeeded in my goal of making ice cream that tastes far, far better than anything you’ll find on the shelf…and is of far, far better quality.

If you’re aiming for Ice Cream Nirvana, here are some things to remember:

• Ice-cream makers are incredibly useful; the $30 or $40 you’ll spend on a machine is well worth it
• Read the instructions before using the machine — most of them should be frozen a full 24 hours before use so that they’ll be cold enough to turn the cream and milk into ice cream (I keep the bowl part of my ice-cream maker in the freezer so I can make a batch whenever the whim strikes me)
• Get the best cream and milk you can find, preferably from local, grass-fed cows (in Metro Detroit, we’re very fortunate to have Calder’s on many of our retail shelves; check out their “Natural Milk” and Half-and-Half for ice-cream-making purposes)
• Avoid using refined white sugar — instead, try honey, maple syrup, raw agave nectar, molasses, etc. (not only are these options much more nutrient-dense, they make intriguing flavor combinations with other ingredients)
• When it comes to using fruits, spices, nuts, creams, etc., let your creativity run wild!
• If you’re trying to lessen the amount of sweeteners you’re using, remember that pectin (found in jam) and alcohol can help lower the freezing point of the ice cream and therefore lessen the amount of sweetener you’ll need (aside from sweetening, the prime function of sugar is to lower the freezing point); also, using honey rather than sugar will mean that you’ll need less of it since honey is twice as sweet as sugar
• However you decide to sweeten your ice cream, in order to make its texture smooth and creamy, bear in mind that about 25% of the total ingredients needs to be sweeteners (for more on this subject, see food/science writer Harold McGee’s well-researched The Curious Cook)
• If you get your eggs from a good, clean source and don’t mind using them raw, adding egg yolks to homemade ice cream will make it even richer and creamier (and more nutritious)

Fig, Cinnamon & Molasses Ice Cream

Place the following in a blender and blend until smooth:

2 cups of half-and-half (for a thicker ice cream, use 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of half-and-half; for a naturally-lower-fat ice cream, use 1 cup of whole milk and 1 cup of half-and-half)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup fig jam (preferably without added sugar)
2 T. blackstrap molasses
1 egg yolk (optional)

Pour mixture into running ice-cream maker and proceed according to manufacturer directions.

Freeze and enjoy!

Blueberry-Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ice cream has to be one of the true joys of summer.  (If you’re like me and love pumpkin ice cream, it’s also one of fall’s pleasures.)  As much as I enjoyed the occasional scoop or two, however, I was getting dissatisfied with commercial ice cream–waaaay too much sugar and way too many unnecessary additives.  (Guar gum?  Monodiglycerides?  No, thanks.)  True to form, I got obsessed with the idea of making my own.  The result was membership in a cowshare program to get local, grass-fed, raw milk and cream; research into alternative natural sweeteners like honey, agave, and maple syrup; and a $35 investment in an ice cream maker.

The good news is, you don’t have to go quite that far to make some top-notch ice cream.  What you do need is the maker itself and then various proportions of the following:

* good-quality milk (whole, from grass-fed cows, preferably unhomogenized)

* good-quality eggs (from pastured hens)

* whatever fruit you might like to include (it’s easiest to work with frozen fruit that’s thawed out in the fridge overnight)

* whatever sweetener strikes your fancy (preferably honey, agave, or maple syrup)

* any other flavoring you’d like to add (vanilla, cocoa powder, cinnamon, top-notch chocolate, etc.)

Follow the directions given in your ice-maker kit in terms of proportions and churning/freezing time.  (I make a bit less than a straight substitution for the sugar to a natural sweeter:  if it calls for 1/2 cup of sugar, I use 1/3 cup of agave/maple/honey.)  The easiest way to prepare the base is to blend the fruit in a blender or food processor and then add enough milk and cream to reach whatever amount of total liquid the recipe calls for.  Then add your eggs, sweetener, and whatever other ingredients you’d like to include except for chunky/whole ingredients.  Those go in at the tail end of the freezing process.  Blend everything and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.  Continue per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Note:  homemade ice cream gets harder than conventional ice cream.  When first made, it has the texture of a curling soft-serve cone, but freezing will make it harden more than what you’re used to.  I actually prefer the texture of it–it’s more refreshing somehow, plus I know that the reason it isn’t perfectly scoopable is because of all the chemicals and fillers that aren’t in it.

Enjoy!