Ice Cream: It’s What’s for Dessert

I don’t know of too many people who don’t love ice cream. There are myriads of flavours, from the traditional like chocolate and vanilla, to tiger stripe (or tail) to blue bubblegum. I’m more of a traditionalist myself, preferring chocolate, vanilla, but often branching out to maple walnut, cherry or Neapolitan. Which brings up the subject of strawberry, or the attendant lack thereof if the supermarket freezer section is any example. Strawberry is harder to find in these parts than any other flavor (but let me know if there are any other shortages out there). I know something called Bordeaux Cherry got tough to find for a while. Is strawberry out of fashion now? One in our family is a devoted fan, and when you have to travel to 3 stores looking for it, well, you get the idea.

A couple of months ago, I was looking at my Air Miles account. What, pray tell, does this have to do with ice cream? Simple. I saw that I had enough points to maybe get something, so I started perusing the offerings. Voila! A Cuisinart ice cream maker. Cuisinart used to be my favourite manufacturer of kitchen goods, but the last several years have seen a serious drop in quality, to the point I usually avoid it at all costs. Gone are the days of food processors lasting years. Or bread machines for that matter. Think months. I reasoned however, it wasn’t costing me anything really, so what did I have to lose, other than the points? So I got online, quibbelled with the online form about my address (God forbid you should be rural), but finally said machine was ordered. It arrived a speedy 2 days later (I was impressed), and I tried it out. Strawberry was the order of the day.

I was very pleasantly surprised. The machine is simple to use, and works very well. You do have to freeze your bucket for about a day first. If you’re in a hurry, you could probably get away with 8 hours. You put your ice cream mixture in the bucket, turn it on, and away you go. About ½ hour later, you have soft serve; freeze for a firm or hard ice cream. Since the initial outing, chocolate has been on the menu, and was even better (in my mind). This outing will be chocolate chip mint. If you choose to make this one, make sure you chop the chocolate mint candies fine. This all being said, this is not quite like hand cranked, virtually no work, and quick. So. You need the machine. What was also amazing was the number of friends I have that had the Cuisinart ice cream maker, and decided to give theirs a go again (some haven’t seen the light since last summer). I can’t say I’m the first one to probably review this appliance, but at least I could spread the info. The recipes came strictly out of the owner’s manual, and who knows if they work for other machines. It also does frozen yogurt, gelato and sorbet. Ice cream makers have certainly come a long way since my first one, when you had to buy kosher salt and all.

The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker in stainless, also comes in colours like teal.