Buy an Ice Cream Maker in Winter
When you think of ice cream, you probably think of summer, holidays, and popping out in your flip-flops to get a scoop. Now that it’s freezing cold outside, making frozen food probably isn’t even on your mind. I’m here to tell you that you absolutely should do it.
I bought an ice cream maker while it’s absolutely freezing outside. Making ice cream takes time, after all. You have to make a crème anglaise, let it cool in the fridge, and then put it in your ice cream maker. It churns the ice cream for about 45 minutes, and then the ice cream needs to firm up further in the freezer. When the sun is shining outside, I look out the window and run onto the patio. There’s no way I’d then think about staying inside for hours for a scoop of ice cream.
Staying Inside
As soon as autumn arrives and it gets colder outside, all I want to do is stay inside and cook all day. So it’s the perfect time to remove the layer of dust from that ice cream maker, or to buy a new one. It doesn’t have to be very expensive, and Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are already just around the corner. I bought this one and I’m absolutely delighted with it. #nospon The freezing element does need to go in the freezer at least 24 hours in advance, but I just keep it in there as standard, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
Incomparable
And honestly, the ice cream you make with an ice cream maker is so much tastier than anything you can buy in a shop. They really aren’t even comparable. The very best thing is to take little bites straight from the machine when the ice cream has just finished churning. It’s still wonderfully soft then, almost like soft serve (you can make that with it too), and you’ve genuinely never tasted anything so delicious.
From Vanilla to Coffee
The first time you make ice cream, it absolutely has to be vanilla ice cream. That way you can really taste the difference; your homemade vanilla ice cream is truly a dream! Once you’ve got that under your belt, you can broaden your horizons with stracciatella, yoghurt, coffee, chocolate, pistachio, or even (black) sesame. The Perfect Scoop by David Leibovitz is a lovely book if you’re looking for delicious recipes.
Crank It Up
Go all out—it’s cold outside anyway, so you might as well stay inside with the heating turned up, a book on the sofa, and the reassuring hum of your ice cream maker in the background. And if you really can’t get used to the idea of ice cream in winter, why not bake a delicious warm pie to go with it? Or freeze it and take it out of the freezer as soon as the mercury starts to rise again.
