I’ve recently started to miss some foods that I used to eat every few months or so – I guess my body is like “Hey, where’s that treat we had 4 times a year?” Two of the things, and really the only things, are pizza and ice cream. Pizza, I can fix with no cheese or vegan cheese and a load of veggies. Ice cream is trickier. First, I set out to find a healthier option in a pint I could buy at the grocery store. My problem is, I have to watch the fat level and the sugar level. I can find fat-free ice cream, but it’s high in sugar, or sugar-free but with whole fat. Smoothies are great, so I was thinking. . . why can’t we use our almond, rice or cashew milk for an ice cream base and use an ice cream maker?
So, we bit – we bought a new ice cream maker. Hubs and I both did our research and when negotiations ended, we settled on a mid-range 2-quart, reported to be semi-quiet: the Cuisinart ICE-30 Series.
I immediately liked the aesthetics of this model. It’s square with rounded corners, so it has a sturdy appearance. The lid is clear and the body is wrapped in stainless steel. Keeping things simple for assembly and for washing, it only has four parts: the base (body), freezer bowl, mixing arm and lid.
Today we used it for the first time. I looked at all the recipes in the booklet that came with it, but they were all made with eggs, whole milk or heavy cream and a cup or so of sugar. Then I checked on Pinterest and found a lot of recipes for the kind of ice cream you put in the freezer and stir occasionally, but not many for machines. Finally, I decided that if I can make a smoothie recipe, I can concoct one for ice cream. And I did. You can try it here at Maple Banana Cinnanut Vegan Ice Cream.
The Cuisinart ICE-30 is so easy to use. After freezing the bowl part of it (wrapped in plastic to prevent freezer burn) overnight – about 18 hours in our case – I mixed up all the ingredients in a big bowl, turned on the machine, and poured in my yummy mixture. Most of the recipes in the manual had a freezing time of 20 to 25 minutes, so I kept an eye on it throughout the freezing process, looking in through the handy opened-top lid, and turned it off at 25 minutes, which was exactly when it really thickened up. The consistency was like a thicker old-fashioned homemade ice cream. In the manual, they say if you aren’t happy with the consistency, you can pop it into the freezer for additional thickening.
We’re thrilled with our purchase – if you are a regular ice cream eater (or an irregular one like I am) who wants more control over your ingredients, I recommend getting one of these.
