Customize your ice cream
I have a vivid memory of a neighborhood picnic some years back when the Flowers, a family a few doors down, busted out their old hand-churned ice cream maker. We kids on the block took turns at the crank, our arms aching, as we drooled at the thought of the frozen treat we were creating.
Trouble was I wanted mint chocolate chip, my brother had his sights on orange sherbet, Jimmy wanted chocolate and Karen was hoping for strawberry. We ended up churning out vanilla, a very tasty vanilla I'm sure, but still, we showed some level of disappointment at not having our flavor of choice.
It's the American way, after all, the right to pick and choose, right?
Fast-forward 30 years (give or take), and I realize how easy it would have been to satisfy our individual yearnings with a handful of add-ins on hand.
Associated Press Food Editor J.M. Hirsch is an avid fan of doctored ice creams.
“It's pretty simple really — buy a brand of chocolate or vanilla ice cream that you like, soften it, add to it whatever you like in whichever proportions you like, then refreeze and enjoy.”
His personal favorite: balsamic strawberry chocolate cookie ice cream. “Try finding that at the grocer,” he says.
In my house we've made chocolate mint ice cream with Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips (give them a quick chop, first) and fresh mint from our garden and stirred together a bright strawberry version using Daily Herald columnist Annie Overboe's strawberry preserves.
Online services let you customize ice cream right down to the fat content of the milk base, but that comes at a cost, not to mention a delay in satisfying your ice cream craving.
So, try Hirsch's simple method and list of suggested add-ins for making your own custom ice creams. None of the kids at your Fourth of July picnic will walk away disappointed, or with sore arms.