Homemade Ice Cream!

When I was a teenager my dad bought an electric ice cream maker. When my mom was at work, we'd mix up a recipe, pour it in, and hit the on switch. The motor in that thing was loud. So we'd put some tunes on, blast the volume higher than the ice cream maker, and dance around the kitchen. On top of all that, the ice cream was amazing. I've dreamt of homemade ice cream ever since. This fall with fruit from the summer's farmers' markets in my freezer I considered getting the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer. In the end I decided they were too bulky, and since I was trying to declutter my house I really didn't need another one-use electric appliance. Well, I must have talked a lot about ice cream makers while contemplating that decision, because my mother-in-law recently gifted me with a hand crank ice cream maker that had been gathering dust in her basement.

It's a Donvier Chillfast. I found manuals online for both this model and the current model. Unlike a traditional hand crank ice cream maker that requires rock salt and constant churning, the Donvier contains it's own liquid equivalent of rock salt (the directions assure me it is non-toxic) and the crank is turned a few times every 2-3 minutes for all of 20 minutes. I admit to having been a bit sceptical at first, despite the glowing reviews online. I was excited though to have an ice cream maker in my possession, and so yesterday I cooked up a pint-size batch of French Vanilla, left it in the fridge overnight as directed in the instructions, and then whipped up some ice cream while washing the lunch dishes today. Here it is, a pint of ice cream ready for the freezer.

It's wonderful. It's so creamy with that slight hint of egg that good French Vanilla has, and the flavors are so intense, which is what I remember most about homemade ice cream. Since summer fruit is a ways off, I'm going to try chocolate next, and the directions include a recipe for honey vanilla that sounds fantastic.