The Homemade Ice Creams That Made Me Wonder Why I Ever Buy Ice Cream

Mentally, I’ve always placed homemade ice cream in the same category as homemade croissants. It’s a cool idea, in theory, but not something I’d ever do on a weeknight. That being said, I eat a lot of ice cream.

Most machines require freezing a giant bowl for like three days before you can even get started. Which is great if you’re organized. This is not a strength of mine. I’m more of an “I want ice cream right this second” kind of guy, so it’s nice that you only have to freeze the base 24 hours in advance. That makes it way easier to crank through several half pints a week.

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When Cuisinart sent me their FastFreeze™ 250th Celebration Limited Edition Ice Cream Maker, I figured I’d give it a shot. The interesting thing isn’t that it makes ice cream. Plenty of machines do that. It’s that you can make your own little concoctions. You can make high-protein ice cream if that’s your thing, or low-protein, high sugar options if you’re like me. The limited edition red, white, and blue lids are pretty sick as well for the 4^th of July, or just patriotism in general.

The first week I had it, I made three flavors that completely took over our freezer:

-Salted Strawberry

-Wild Texas Blueberry

-Brown Butter Thyme

My daughter and her friend argued over which one was best. They claimed the strawberry and the blueberry, and I gladly took my thyme.

Here are all three recipes, themed in red, white, and blue, of course.

Salted Strawberry Ice Cream

• 1 lb strawberries, hulled

• ⅔ cup granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ tsp kosher salt

1. Add strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan.

2. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until softened.

3. Blend until smooth and cool completely.

4. Whisk together strawberry puree, cream, milk, vanilla, and salt.

5. Pour into the Fast Freeze pint container.

6. Freeze until completely solid, at least 24 hours.

7. Process using the Ice Cream setting.

8. If crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons milk and process again. Top with crushed graham crackers.

Note

If your strawberries are particularly sweet, reduce the sugar by a tablespoon or two.

Wild Blueberry Ice Cream

• 2 cups wild blueberries

• ¾ cup sugar

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ¼ tsp kosher salt

1. Combine blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan.

2. Cook until berries burst and release their juices.

3. Blend smooth and cool completely.

4. Stir in cream, milk, vanilla, and salt.

5. Pour into the container and freeze 24 hours.

6. Process using the Ice Cream setting.

7. Re-spin if needed with 1 tablespoon milk.

Brown Butter Thyme Ice Cream

This was my favorite of the bunch.

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter

• 4-5 thyme sprigs

• 1½ cups heavy cream

• 1 cup whole milk

• ¾ cup sugar

• 2 tbsp cream cheese, softened

• ½ tsp kosher salt

Directions

1. Brown the butter over medium heat until golden and nutty.

2. Remove from heat and add thyme.

3. Steep for 15 minutes.

4. Strain out thyme.

5. While still warm, whisk in cream cheese until completely smooth.

6. Add cream, milk, sugar, and salt.

7. Blend with an immersion blender for 30 seconds to fully emulsify the butter.

8. Pour into the container and freeze 24 hours.

9. Process using the Ice Cream setting.

10. Re-spin once if needed.

Notes

The cream cheese acts as a stabilizer and helps keep the brown butter emulsified, creating a smooth texture. Learn from my mistake, which was not doing this part and having tiny little pieces of butter in my ice cream.

Why These Recipes Work Better for the FastFreeze

Traditional ice cream recipes often use egg yolks and a cooked custard because the machine churns while freezing.

The FastFreeze system flips that process. You’re freezing first and processing second, so simpler dairy bases perform incredibly well. The result is rich, scoopable ice cream without standing over a stove tempering egg yolks or washing extra dishes. I’ve found benefit in freezing multiple bases ahead of time so they’re ready to go when I’m in the mood, which is always.

And if you’re anything like me, the fewer opportunities there are to screw something up, the more likely you are to make ice cream on a weeknight.

Check out the ice cream maker here.