As our weekly yummies-and their-mummies cooking classes started up again here in Tribeca, the occasion called for celebration. We’ve often made things that most of the kids ate, but not all of them, but that wasn’t the case when we made maple ice cream.
The yummies used two plastic bags and a little elbow grease, and we had the ice cream mixed and served on cones in less than 10 minutes. The recipe was inspired by a recent family trip to Vermont, where the delicious ice cream they serve is known as “maple creamee”. Fresh milk, fresh cream, vanilla, and Vermont maple syrup straight from the farm. What’s not to like?
Maple Creamee
Inside Bag:
*1 cup heavy cream
*3/4 cup milk
*1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
*1/3 cup maple syrup
Outside Bag:
*1/2 lb. rock salt/coarse salt
*2 1/2 lbs. ice
Have your mini-chef hold a quart sized plastic baggie firmly open with her fingers. Pour in all the “inside bag” ingredients that you measured out together. Squeeze all of the air out of the baggie and seal, making sure that the zipper is completely closed. Set that aside.
Now, use a cup to fill the gallon-sized plastic baggie halfway with the ice. Pour in half of your salt on top of the ice. Nestle the sealed baggie of ice cream ingredients in the big bag. Pour the rest of the ice over it, and then pour the rest of the salt over that.
Seal the gallon baggie. Wrap a bath towel around the whole thing, and begin to shake shake shake. Take turns shaking and singing your favorite shaking song. After 5 minutes of shaking, like magic, you’ll have maple creamees.
**You can make the basic recipe and substitute or add all sorts of things. The Gordon-Lindenbaums had the brilliant idea to make “sprinkle ice cream” since sprinkles are so beloved and delicious. Experiment: you could make a simple syrup infused with lavender or lemon verbena to be fancy pants, or just substitute plain old sugar for the maple syrup and throw in a handful of mini chocolate chips or berries to keep it real.
