Last summer I got an ice cream maker for $20 at our local ALDI store. I was excited to try making homemade ice cream, but wasn’t willing to make an investment into my dream Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker until I figured out if ice cream making was something we would actually enjoy doing together. I am happy to say our little $20 purchase paid for itself over and over again since we enjoyed several fun varieties of ice cream.
Last week we had a new reason to break out our ice cream maker. We finally turned in the manuscript for, “The Good Life for Less,” to my Editor. My day has felt so divided between all of my client’s projects, my children and all of their school projects/activities, the book, and the blog. We all agreed that a party would be in order for this momentous family occasion. It is bringing a small fraction of my day back to me.
This cake batter ice cream is, by far, my favorite recipe for ice cream. There is no cooking of ingredients required, I usually have all of the ingredients on hand in my refrigerator, and the cake mix can be your own favorite variety or a cake mix that you need to use up in your cupboard. It is so rich and creamy and tastes just like your favorite ice cream shop, without the hefty price tag!
Top this ice cream with a few of your favorite sprinkles and find a reason to celebrate something in your family. Perhaps, it is the beginning of summer, a great report card, or just celebrating how awesome and amazing your child is. Party hats are optional, but sprinkles are not!
- 1 cup skim milk, well chilled
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup cake mix (you can use any variety of cake mix or brownie mix)
- Place freezer bowl of ice cream maker into the freezer. Chill the freezer bowl for a minimum of 24 hours.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
- Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.
- Whisk in cake mix, making sure there are no lumps.
- Pour mixture into the freezer bowl and let mix until it has thickened (about 25-30 minutes). Remove ice cream from freezer bowl and place into a separate freezer-safe container.
- Place freezer bowl and the ice cream into the freezer to further harden (at least three hours).
- Serve with your favorite sundae toppings.
Here are a few pictures of our Manuscript Done, Party for Four….
My hubby ran to the grocery store and picked up some party hats for us. My best friend contributed a bottle of bubbly grape juice for our little party. For our celebration dinner, I made my favorite Chicken Lo Mein, baked brown rice, steamed edamame, and this delicious ice cream. We finished our party, as all good parties should, with a little karaoke on our Craigslist-purchased Xbox. It was the perfect party with the perfect people!
You can always follow our family through Instagram! It is a fun little photo app for your iPhone or Droid. I am momadvice and would love to be friends with you on there!
Have you made homemade ice cream before? Have any recipes, techniques, or tools you use to make your family’s favorite summer treat?
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I got an Ice Cream Maker for Mother’s Day! Possibly as much a gift for my kids as for me, and they will be thrilled to make our own cake batter ice cream since they always order it at the store. We have chocolate and cookies and cream in the freezer from the Williams Sonoma kits my hubby also got me, but I am looking forward to making some completely homemade ice cream. Congratulations on your manuscript!
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Amy Reply:
May 14th, 2012 at 7:50 am
Congrats on your Mother’s Day gift! I bet you will have so much fun with it. I hope you like this ice cream as much as we do, Mary Kay!!
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Congrats, Amy!! You deserve a little party! We got an ice cream maker last summer and the kids have enjoyed it. They will love this recipe!! BTW, where did you get those super adorable wine glasses?
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Amy Reply:
May 14th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Thank you so much, Michele! The knitting wine glass was a sweet gift from my mother-in-law that she found at a local yarn shop. I use it all the time and it makes me so happy
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Congrats on the book! I just bought an ice-cream maker yesterday and am looking forward to trying it. I will definitely have to give your recipe a try.
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I love this! I’ve been making cornstarch ice cream lately (which is DELICIOUS), but it does require a cooking step – I was craving ice cream tonight and decided to use your recipe. It’s awesome! It tastes so creamy, you’d never know it was so easy to make – I know I’m supposed to let it ripen in the freezer for a few hours but I like my ice cream soft so I snuck a little bowl before it went into the freezer. Great recipe – super easy. I’m going to give this to my friend – she has a 2 year old who will love this, and she loves to help in the kitchen, this is perfect. Thanks!
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