When it comes to frozen desserts, ice cream is considerably the go-to-snack. Since its creation, it has spread to many cultures which have gone on to make their own variation to the base. Previously, we covered a vanilla ice cream base made from a cooked custard that's churned and chilled in an ice cream maker. We also revealed a modern hack for simple cookies and ice cream that foregoes the process and strips it down to an unchurned three-ingredient recipe base.

Now we'll be looking at a popular variation that hits the closest to home, known as American-style ice cream.

Much like the three-ingredient base, this one doesn't require egg yolks. Hence, no custard cooking required. This recipe simply consists of a ratio of 3:2:1 of heavy cream to milk to sugar along with whatever flavoring of choice. Just whisk all of the ingredients together until it tastes smooth, then throw into the ice cream maker and churn. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.

However, a word of caution to those who plan on making their own ice cream the American way: Whatever you do, don't skip out on the milk. This is crucial for the smooth consistency, as too much butterfat in the recipe will leave it hard and grainy.

The recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
  • 1 cup (240 ml) milk
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract

The directions

  1. Pour the heavy cream and milk in a bowl and stir together until fully combined. Add the sugar and whisk until fully dissolved. Taste to test the smoothness. If it tastes grainy, keep whisking and taste testing until it eventually does. Whisk in the vanilla extract until fully combined.
  2. Place the bowl over an ice bath and chill for 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in a refrigerator for 3 hours.
  3. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and churn until it reaches the desired consistency for ice cream. Serve immediately or transfer to a container, cover, and freeze.

Serves: 6

Variations

  • Chocolate - Whisk 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder into the cream/milk mixture after all of the ingredients are added.
  • Pistachio - Substitute almond extract for the vanilla extract. Stir in 1 cup of chopped pistachio nuts into the cream/milk mixture after all of the ingredients are added.
  • Cherry - Stir in 1/4 cup of cherry juice with the heavy cream and milk. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of cherry liqueur after all of the ingredients are added.
  • Banana - Whisk puree from 1 banana into cream/milk mixture after all of the ingredients are added.
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