Ice cream

Making a delicious ice cream is easy. Start by making the ice cream base, let it cool, pour it into a mould, and place it in the freezer. For the next 3-4 hours as it freezes, stir well at regular intervals – about every 30 minutes. Enjoy the homemade ice cream as it is in a bowl or cone or serve it as a delicious cold side to a freshly baked cake or pie.

The time it takes to make ice cream greatly depends on whether you are using an ice cream maker or not. With an ice cream machine, churning the ice cream should take 20-30 minutes. Whereas it, without an ice cream maker, usually takes 3-4 hours for an ice cream to freeze. Preparing and cooling it before pouring into either a mould or an ice cream maker requires approx. 20-25 minutes to cook and 1 hour to cool.

Homemade ice cream will keep for up to 2-3 weeks if kept in an airtight container. After this, the flavor and texture start to deteriorate. A way to tell if the ice cream is going bad is to look at its texture; it will begin to form tiny ice shards on the surface and under the lid. In the first stages of the process, you can remove these and still enjoy your ice cream. If the ice cream has large ice crystals or even chunks of ice in it, however, it is sadly time to throw it out.

Homemade ice cream should be placed in the freezer in an airtight container. Storing it in a shallow container rather than a deep tub is advisable. This makes it easier to serve as it is quicker to thaw. As such, you can enjoy it much quicker from the freezer. To secure your ice cream even further from freezer burn place a layer of plastic wrap between the ice cream and the lid of the container.

It is worth noting that homemade ice cream is naturally harder than store-bought ice cream as it does not contain stabilisers and additives to keep it soft and scoopable. However, our ice cream recipe contains egg yolks, which are rich in protein and fat, making for a softer and creamier ice cream. Also, storing your homemade ice cream in a shallower container will make it easier to scoop. Allow for 10-15 minutes to let your ice cream soften before serving. 

All types of ice cream become icy over time as ice crystal growth will occur naturally in any freezer environment. But your ice cream could also be icy because it has been churned for too long in an ice cream maker, creating larger ice crystals. Or because there is too much water in the base. This can happen more easily when making fruit ice cream as some fruits contain a lot of liquid.

The ingredient that thickens the base in our recipe for ice cream is the egg yolks. Egg yolks make an almost custard-like base. However, to achieve this custard base, the mixture must be cooked to just below a boil. As such, the reason that your homemade ice cream is not thickening could be that the base was not heated for long. The cooking time may vary depending on your stove but start with the recommended 2 minutes and remember to whisk constantly and not let the mixture boil as you wait for it to thicken.

It is easy and quick to make homemade ice cream with an ice cream maker, but there are some important things to remember. You need to cool the bowl for at least 12 hours before using the machine, cool the ice cream mixture for at least an hour before churning, and start the motor before pouring in the mixture. It is also important to remember not to overmix the ice cream as this may lead to an icy consistency.