Not surprising, July and August rank as the top months for ice cream consumption. Everyone is trying to beat the heat.
After Sunday lunch, my husband said, “Do you know what I want? Some soft-serve ice cream.”
I just laughed since we had just polished off spicy Mexican food, but he wanted to cool down with ice cream.
While we didn’t drive across town for ice cream, we both love ice cream. We’re not alone either; each American eats 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, ices and other commercially produced frozen dairy products. However, creamy homemade ice cream is the best of all. Readers share some of their favorites today.
With today’s easy-does-it freezers, making the custard is the hardest part. When I was young, it was cranking the wooden ice cream freezer. Tiring quickly of that chore, I preferred to sit on towels on top of the freezer as my granddad cranked away. It was so cool, literally.
My grandmother always made strawberry ice cream because that was my mom’s favorite. Now, my husband’s grandmother opted for fresh peach, which is still his favorite ice cream.
Vanilla, however, is the most popular flavor (27.8 percent) in the United States, followed by chocolate, 14.3 percent; strawberry, 3.3 percent; chocolate chip, 3.3 percent and butter pecan, 2.8 percent. We can credit NPD Group’s National Eating Trends In-Home Database for that information.
A flavor not mentioned in the study rates high with New Orleaneans and Mississippi Coastians -- Creole cream cheese.
“My late sister, Joan Mavar Butirich, made this ice cream for many occasions during the summer,” said Maria Mavar of Biloxi, Miss. “It is absolutely delicious. The hard part is finding the Creole cream cheese. Years ago you could find it at any grocery store but now the only places that, I know, carry it are Dorignac’s Food Center in Metairie and Rouse’s in Ocean Springs.”
Now, this recipe is made the old-fashioned way.
Homemade ice cream
q 2 large cans Pet evaporated milk
q 2 cans condensed milk
q 2 cartons Creole cream cheese (see note)
q 1 pint half ‘n’ half
q Pinch of vanilla
q Fruit (she usually used peeled fresh peaches, my favorite)
q 20 pounds of ice
q Ice cream salt
n Pour all ingredients into an old-fashioned ice cream freezer. Best if eaten as soon as it is finished.
n Cook’s note: If you can’t find Creole cream cheese, which is a farmer’s milk cheese, you can substitute mascarpone cheese or a mixture of equal parts plain yogurt and sour cream as a suitable substitute.
-- Submitted by Maria Mavar
Richard Wilson of Picayune, Miss., shares recipes for vanilla and Butterfinger ice creams. He says they are both good ones.
“I have eaten a lot of homemade ice cream, but none I’ve eaten can compare to this,” he said.
Old family recipe for vanilla ice cream
(This is for a 1-gallon freezer.)
q 4 eggs
q 1 cup sugar
q 1 can sweetened condensed milk
q 2 cans evaporated milk
q 1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring
q Finish with whole milk
n In a large bowl, add eggs and sugar.
n Mix well.
n Add canned milk and vanilla, and mix well.
n Pour into freezer can.
n Add milk to within 2 or 3 inches of top of can.
n Stir to blend milk with rest of mixture.
n Freeze per your freezer instructions.
If you have a 1-1/2-gallon freezer, the following would apply:
q 6 eggs
q 1-1/2 cups sugar
q 2 cans condensed milk
q 3 cans evaporated milk
q 1-1/2 tablespoons vanilla
n Mix as per the 1-gallon recipe. You can add strawberries or peaches if you like. Mash berries or peaches and sweeten to taste.
n When ice cream is about half frozen, add fruit. This keeps the fruit from all settling to the bottom.
-- Submitted by Richard Wilson
“Everyone who has eaten the Butterfinger ice cream has raved about it,” Wilson said.
Butterfinger ice cream
q Two 8-ounce cartons Cool Whip
q 1 can condensed milk
q 1/2 gallon chocolate milk
q 6 regular Butterfinger candy bars, crushed
n Mix Cool Whip and condensed milk. Slowly add chocolate milk. Add crushed Butterfingers.
n Freeze per freezer instructions. You can use a 1 gallon freezer for this.
-- Submitted by Richard Wilson
Nedra Baldwin of Biloxi shares a recipe that she found in Mississippi Magazine, which is taken from Gwen McKee’s and Barbara Moseley’s new “Five Ingredient Cookbook.”
The easiest and best vanilla ice cream
q 1 pint half ‘n’ half
q 1 pint whipping cream
q One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
q 2 tablespoons vanilla
n Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
n Pour into ice cream freezer container; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Makes 8 or more servings.
-- Submitted by Nedra Baldwin
Barbara Parker of D’Iberville says her orange pineapple sherbet is yummy. Anything with pineapple has to be.
Orange pineapple sherbet
q 1 large can crushed pineapple
q One 14-ounce can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
q One 2-liter bottle orange soda
n Mix pineapple and milk in ice cream freezer and add soda to the fill line. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.
-- Submitted by Barbara Parker
Skillet cornbread?
Madelon Diaz is still looking for a skillet cornbread that is made on top of the stove. If anyone has a good non-stick recipe, please send it to me.
Coming next week
Check out readers’ chow-chow recipes. If you haven’t sent yours, you still have time to do so.
Andrea Yeager, can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net. Send contributions or requests to Cook’s Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi MS 39535-4567.
If requesting a recipe, include the name or describe it.
