Homemade Ice Creams

The bad news? Hand-cranking ice cream on the front porch on a lazy summer day is history. The good news? Creamy, homemade ice cream can be yours everyday with minimal effort and equipment.

Today’s electric ice cream makers are available everywhere and cost less than 50 bucks. Most of them operate the same way—with a freezer canister that contains water (that is frozen). We keep ours in the freezer at all times, so it’s always ready to use. Once the ice cream mixture is poured into the canister, it’s placed on a base, which turns the canister, allowing the plastic arm inside to “churn” the ice cream.

We love our ice cream straight from the canister like soft-serve, but it does benefit from a stay in the fridge to harden it up (especially if you want discernable scoops).

For these scrumptious frozen desserts, none of which can be found in the supermarket, we went to our favorite food writers and ice cream experts Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. The good news? You probably have most of the ingredients on hand. The bad news? You’ll probably have to share.

By Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, food writers in Colebrook, Conn.