Plastic Bag Ice Cream - Coffee Can Ice Cream

Kids absolutely love making ice cream. It doesn't matter how young or how old they are. Homemade ice cream is so yummy and they can make whatever kind of ice cream they like the most. This is a fun activity that isn't actually messy at all even thought it sounds like it would be. It can also be very educational. Read through the different recipes before you pick one to make. I recommend using rock salt. I have used kosher salt and the ice cream didn't come out quite as "icy" as I would have liked.

Plastic Bag Ice Cream Recipe


1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups crushed ice
4 tablespoons salt
2 quart size Ziploc bags
1 gallon size Ziploc freezer bag

a hand towel or gloves to keep fingers from freezing as well!

Mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in one of the quart size bags. Seal tightly, allowing as little air to remain in the bag as possible. Too much air left inside may force the bag open during shaking.

Place this bag inside the other quart size bag, again leaving as little air inside as possible and sealing well. By double-bagging, the risk of salt and ice leaking into the ice cream is minimized.

Put the two bags inside the gallon size bag and fill the bag with ice, then sprinkle salt on top. Again let all the air escape and seal the bag.

Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake and massage the bag, making sure the ice surrounds the cream mixture. Five to eight minutes is adequate time for the mixture to freeze into ice cream.

Tips: Freezer bags work best because they are thicker and less likely to develop small holes, allowing the bags to leak. You can get away with using regular Ziploc bags for the smaller quart sizes, because you are double-bagging. Especially if you plan to do this indoors, we strongly recommend using gallon size freezer bags.

Coffee Can Ice Cream

An alternative to the baggie method is to use coffee cans. The recipe is the same, and may be doubled or tripled because the coffee can will hold more liquid than the baggies. Put the mixture in a standard size coffee can and seal with the plastic lid, then place that can inside a larger "economy size" can. Pack the large can with ice and salt, and seal with the lid. Kids can roll the can back and forth on the ground (outside - the condensation will drip) until the ice cream is set. The time required to set the mixture will vary depending on the number of servings in the can.

What does the salt do? Just like we use salt on icy roads in the winter, salt mixed with ice in this case also causes the ice to melt. When salt comes into contact with ice, the freezing point of the ice is lowered. Water will normally freeze at 32 degrees F. A 10% salt solution freezes at 20 degrees F, and a 20% solution freezes at 2 degrees F. By lowering the temperature at which ice is frozen, we are able to create an environment in which the milk mixture can freeze at a temperature below 32 degrees F into ice cream.

Who invented ice cream? Legend has it that the Roman emperor, Nero, discovered ice cream. Runners brought snow from the mountains to make the first ice cream. In 1846, Nancy Johnson invented the hand-cranked ice cream churn and ice cream surged in popularity. Then, in 1904, ice cream cones were invented at the St. Louis World Exposition. An ice cream vendor ran out of dishes and improvised by rolling up some waffles to make cones.

http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/science/icecream051999.html

Plastic Bag Ice Cream

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)
Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
1 pint-size Ziploc bag
1 gallon-size Ziploc bag


1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.

2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.

3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1.

Ice Cream in a Bag

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk (it doesn't matter what kind, whole, 2%, chocolate, etc.)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon flavoring

Preparation Steps:

Add ingredients to a pint size zipper freezer bag and zip shut.

Place that bag in a larger (quart or larger) zipper bag and add ice to outside bag until bag is half way full.

Add about 6 Tablespoons salt (rock or regular) to the outer bag.

Zip outer bag shut and shake, turn, toss, and mix the bag.

In about 5-10 minutes you will have cold hands and yummy ice cream.

Flavor suggestions:

Vanilla
Chocolate
Mint
Root Beer
Variation:

If members of the group are allergic to milk, make ices instead! Substitute juice or juice drinks for milk.

Warnings:

Don't double this, it doesn't work.

Suggest ice cream makers wear mittens or gloves. Their hands will get very cold.

Be sure to wipe or rinse all the salt off the small bag before you open it. Otherwise, you will have salty ice cream instead of sweet.

http://www.outdoorcook.com/article1025.php


Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Week - Blueberry Ice Cream Parfaits

Sadly, blueberry week has come to an end. I am not sure how I managed to post about sloppy joe's last night. I was just starting that post to keep for a later date and it wound up getting posted without either of the recipes.

I want to end blueberry week on a high note. These parfaits sound absolutely heavenly. I haven't tried them yet but I definitely will. I have a large bag of blueberries in my freezer just waiting.... I can't imagine why I wouldn't be able to use frozen blueberries for this but I'll find out soon enough.

Tomorrow, I'm starting zucchini week. I have also been getting tons of zucchini from my sister's garden. Her hubby loves to grow vegetables. They are always so fresh and good. I can't stand to see them go to waste. When I think of all the years during my youth that I turned up my nose at zucchini and eggplant, it makes me sad. I've even got D eating zucchini and he has tasted the eggplant. As far as I know, my sister still does turn up her nose at zucchini and eggplant but two of her kids (at least) eat both! Good for them.


BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM PARFAITS
Serves 8
Active: 15 Min
Total: 5 Hr (includes freezing)

4 cups blueberries
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 qt vanilla ice cream
1 (10-oz) pkg frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
2 cups sweetened whipped cream or frozen whipped topping, defrosted
1 cup fresh raspberries

1. Place 3 cups blueberries, the sugar and lemon juice in medium saucepan; mash berries well with a potato masher. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer; cook 5 minutes. Pour mixture into a blender and puree. Pour into a 2-cup measure, cover and chill 2 hours. Place a 1-1/2 qt freezer container in freezer to chill.

2. Let vanilla ice cream stand at room temperature until softened. Fold chilled blueberry puree into ice cream until well blended. Scrape ice cream into chilled container in freezer; freeze several hours or until firm enough to scoop.

3. Puree thawed raspberries and syrup in blender until smooth; scrape mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds.

4. To make parfaits: For each parfait, spoon 1 Tbsp raspberry puree into a dessert glass and top with a small scoop blueberry ice cream. Top with 1 Tbsp whipped cream, and a few blueberries and raspberries. Repeat the layers. Top parfaits with a dollop of whipped cream.



The Creative Cook

Cheese Danish

TOPFENKOLATSCHE OR
CHEESE DANISH

My son has been a big fan of the cheese danish for a year or so. We have tried every version of cheese danish available in our local grocery stores. Most are not very good. Some are really bad. I got the "bright" idea to try making cheese danish from scratch to appease my son since most of the recipes I have posted recently are not his favorites. I tried a recipe that I got from an Austrian website. Did you know that cheese danish were Austrian? I thought they were from Denmark but apparently not. The recipe came out really great. I made them on Sunday and today (Tuesday) all but 2 are gone. I was unsure about how many danish the recipe would make. I rolled out only 9 danish but I had an excessive amount of filling. The next time I make the recipe, I'll roll out at least 12 of the danish. I hope you'll try this recipe and let me know how yours came out.


Topfenkolatsche (Cheese Danish)

Ingredients

Pastry

1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm milk ("blood warm", to be exact!)
1 3/4 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoon butter, melted
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ground or chopped almonds

Filling

2 tablespoon butter, soft
8 oz. cream cheese ('Topfen')
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon golden raisins

Pastry:

Proof yeast in warm milk. Sift flour and salt together into large bowl. Add sugar and stir in yeast mixture. Beat in egg and butter and work into a dough using a wooden spoon; dough should be smooth and elastic and not stick to sides of bowl. Cover bowl with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until double, about 1 1/2 hours. Turn dough out onto floured surface, punch down, knead until smooth and elastic. Roll out into rectangle about 1/2" thick. Cut into 3" squares. Arrange squares on greased baking sheets about 1" apart.

Filling:

Combine butter, cheese, egg yolks, sugar, zest and beat (or process in machine) until smooth. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Stir in raisins. Put 1 tablespoon filling into the center of each dough square and fold corners in toward center, pressing lightly to hold the filling in. Let rise in warm place for about 45 min. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush buns with egg white and sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 30 min. or until well browned.


I did pretty well at overcoming my fear of yeast with this recipe. The dough rose as it was supposed to! That is a great accomplishment for me. I did some reading about "proofing" yeast to find out what the recipe means by "blood warm milk". I found out that when you proof yeast you should be able to put your finger into the water or milk without it burning. I put the milk in the microwave for a few seconds and tested it to make sure it wasn't too hot.

I would also recommend using unsalted butter. I read an article written by a chef several years ago that said not to use salted butter when baking since you really don't know how much salt the butter contains. I think that is a good idea especially since so many people have high blood pressure and are on salt-restricted diets.

I left out the almonds, the raisins and the lemon zest because my family isn't partial to them. You can use them or not, it is your choice. Happy baking!

The Creative Cook

EASTER PIE

I have seen recipes for all sorts of Italian Easter pies on food blogs and recipe websites in recent weeks. There are sweet pies and savory pies that are made primarily around the Easter holiday season. But I haven't seen one like my family's ricotta pie recipe. That is why I decided to post this one. Last week, I had a discussion with my mother about Easter pies. She told me that this particular recipe was developed by my grandmother Lucia. Grandma grew up in an orphanage in Sicily. Because she didn't grow up in an family atmosphere, she didn't have any family recipes that had been handed down for generations. Grandma had to come up with her own recipes from scratch. This was one that she created because her kids (my mom, her brother and sister) didn't like the ricotta pies made with citron or pineapple. My mom helped me decipher the very vague handwritten recipe I found hidden in her old American Culinary Institute cookbook. The recipe simply said "ricotta - as much as you want; eggs; sugar; cinnamon." I had to figure out how much of each ingredient, how long to bake it, and what temperature to bake it at. I wasn't in the mood to make my own pie crust so I decided to cheat and use a store bought crust. I used graham cracker crusts because I thought they would work with the cheesecake-like consistency of this delicacy. I hope you enjoy this pie as much as my family does!

Ricotta Pie

32 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
2 graham cracker pie crusts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Put the first 4 ingredients into a large bowl and whisk them together. Pour the filling evenly into the two pie crusts.

3. Bake the pies for 1 hour. I combined a tsp of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and sifted it over the pies while they were warm.

Serve chilled.

The Creative Cook