Icecream (and a giveaway)

• DateNovember 23, 2014
• Discussion6 Comments

I scream, you scream, we all scream for icecream!!

Who doesn’t love icecream?  That yummy, creamy, cool deliciousness that you can lick from a cone or savour off a spoon.   I know my munchkins and I sure do, but just how do you enjoy that great frozen treat when you are sugar free?  Easy…..you make your own!  But don’t I have to have a fancy icecream maker or churn or something I hear you say?  Nope, not at all.  You just need bowls, electric beaters and a freezer and you are good to go (plus some ingredients of course 😉 )  Scroll down if you just can’t wait for the recipe, but read on if you would like to know about the amazing cream I use and a giveaway where you could win a copy of my sugar free recipe book (plus you will still get to the icecream recipe 🙂 )

Ever since I was enlightened to the fact that saturated fats are actually good for you and that I should be using full fat dairy products instead of the tasteless low fat stuff, my family and I have been enjoying full cream milk and lots of cream.  Initially I was just going for the full fat ones from the supermarket (mostly just the home brand ones) which certainly tasted better than the low fat ones I was used to, but then I discovered the Maleny Dairies range of products.  Wow, the deliciousness scale is just through the roof with this stuff!  Ok, I am going to take you back to a childhood memory again….remember when you used to put empty glass milk bottles out at your letterbox with a token inside and the milkman would come around and swap the empty bottles for full ones?  Do you remember peeling back that silver top and inside would be delicious milk with a layer of cream on the top and it would taste soooo good?  Well that is the memory I get each time I twist off the gold top from the Maleny Dairies Farmers Choice Guernsey Milk.  This milk is THE best!!  It is pasteurised only, has 4% cream, is high in A2 protein and tastes bloody delicious!

Photo courtesy of Maleny Dairies

OMG, did I mention cream further back there…. don’t get me started on the cream!!  As if the milk wasn’t enough, the cream is the bomb!!  Imagine cream that is over 45% fat (unlike other supermarket creams that are only 35%).  And there is nothing else added to it, it is just pure delicious cream. This cream is the only cream I use now (and I get a bit cranky when my local IGA has sold out before I get there).  The thickness of the cream varies, sometimes it is runny and other times it is super thick.  Check out this one that I opened last week – no need to whip that!!  

When you do need to whip it, it whips very quickly so you have to be careful not to make butter (I have over-whipped it a couple of times 😉 )  Now I must actually apologise, because this post is a bit cruel to those people who are outside of the Maleny Dairies distribution area 🙁 .  If you are in South East Queensland then check out the store locator on their website to see if these yummy products are available near you.  I am sorry if you can’t get them, but maybe you have a local dairy that supplies to your area….it’s worth checking out.

So I promised a giveaway at the top of the page.  In conjunction with Maleny Dairies facebook page we are giving away 2 copies of my sugar free recipe book.  To enter, just head to this link and comment on the photo of my book as to why you would like to win a copy.  Of course while you are there it would be awesome if you could also “like” the Maleny Dairies facebook page to share the love.

Ok, so if you have stuck around for the icecream recipe, here it comes.  I am currently experimenting with different flavours, so I would love to know what your favourite flavour is.  Please comment below with your fav and I will see if I can turn it into a sugar free version for you.

Cheers, Di  🙂

VANILLA ICECREAM

Preparation: 10 mins plus 1 hour in fridge/freezer, then another 5-20 mins to churn or beat and another 2-4 hours (or overnight) in the freezer
Makes: approx 1 ½ litres

THE INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup dextrose
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
½ cup full cream milk
2 cups thickened cream

THE FUN PART 

• Beat/whisk eggs, dextrose and vanilla together on high speed until mixture is thick and pale (about 5 mins).
• Add milk slowly while beating on low speed. Once all milk is in, beat on high speed for 1 minute. 
• Add cream slowly while beating on low speed, until just combined.      
• If you have an ice-cream churn/maker, then refrigerate ice-cream mixture for at least an hour before churning. Churn for 15-20 mins then transfer mix to suitable container (old ice-cream container) and freeze until set.
• If you don’t have an ice-cream churn/maker, then transfer mixture to a suitable freezer container (I use 2 silicone slice pans) and freeze until almost set (about 1 hour), then transfer mixture back to bowl and beat again for a 2-5 mins then transfer mix to ice-cream container and freeze until set.