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Tag:

ice cream

ice cream made with dandelions
DessertNourishing Recipes

Simple Homemade Dandelion Ice Cream

by From Scratch Farmstead May 31, 2022

When life gives you dandelions, make dandelion ice cream! If you are looking for the perfect spring recipe to wow your friends and family, this simple, homemade dandelion ice cream recipe is just the thing!

Jump To Recipe

When life gives you dandelions…

Last spring, when the dandelions began blooming in full force, one of our kids’ favorite activities was to pick bouquets full of these yellow flowers and then present them to me proudly. That sparked an idea. Why not turn those yellow flowers into something delicious? I knew that dandelion flowers were naturally sweet and almost honey like in taste. So I thought, why not add them into our homemade ice cream?

pulling apart dandelion flowers for baking

This dandelion ice cream experiment quickly became a family favorite. Not only did it taste great, it was a fun activity that everyone could be a part of. I simply tweaked our well-loved vanilla ice cream and turned it into this arguably superior creamy, yellow treat.

How to Make Ice Cream

Growing up, I had a daily ritual of eating a bowl of ice cream every night before bed. The idea that you could actually make homemade ice cream never crossed my mind. My love for ice cream continues and was well known by my family and friends. When Jim and I got married, one of my good friends gifted us our very own ice cream maker. 

My curiosity was piqued and our adventure into the world of homemade ice cream making began.

simple dandelion isce cream recipe

Making ice cream from scratch is actually very easy and only requires a few basic ingredients. Namely cream/milk, a sweetener, egg yolks, salt, and any flavoring. You will find that everyone has their own unique twists to make the perfect ice cream. But simply by blending these basic ingredients up and pouring them into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker will result in creamy, delicious ice cream.

Do You Need to Temper the Egg Yolks?

One common step in most homemade ice cream recipes is to temper the egg yolks. This is a process of cooking egg yolks in heated up milk or cream so they are cooked yet remain creamy and don’t turn into an unpleasant scrambled egg mess. No one wants that in their ice cream. 

Personally, I skip this step when we make ice cream and prefer to just mix in the egg yolks raw. Because we raise our own chickens, I feel very comfortable with the source of our eggs and trust them to be healthy. Plus, there are additional benefits that you get in raw yolks that are lost in the cooking process. 

However, if you feel more comfortable tempering your egg yolks, just add this step in and chill your tempered mixture before blending it with the rest of your ingredients and pouring into the ice cream maker.

How to Harvest and Prepare Dandelions

Our preferred method for doing this is to grab a bucket and fill it with the plucked off flowers from the dandelion stems. After you have filled your bucket to your liking, you have to pull off the bottom green casing from the flower. This green part will be quite bitter and not something you want in your ice cream. You may notice some white milky or fuzz like part of the flower. If that gets mixed in with the flowers, that’s totally fine.

pulling dandelion petals off of flowers

This process does take some time so it is a great one to invite your kids or a friend into, turn on the music, and have a dandelion flower separating party.

The Best Sweetener for Dandelion Ice Cream

You have options here. My preference and what I have included in the recipe is to sweeten the ice cream with honey. Dandelion flowers have a natural honey like taste and honey compliments them perfectly. Alternatively, you could use maple syrup or a combination of maple syrup and honey. Or plain old white granulated sugar works fine too.

Cream vs Half and Half vs Milk

My favorite proportion is to use 2 cups of cream with 1 cup of whole milk. However, there is room for some flexibility here. Mainly, you want to make sure you have enough cream to give your ice cream its signature creamy texture. If you want it even creamier you could use all cream or a mixture of half and half and cream.

dandelion flower ice cream

Can Dandelion Ice Cream Be Made Dairy Free?

While I haven’t personally tried making this specific ice cream dairy free, I have had great success making my vanilla ice cream dairy free by substituting the milk and cream for one can of full fat coconut milk.

Do I need to Have an Ice Cream Maker?

While I have heard of alternative options for making ice cream that may work very well, I only have experience making it with this ice cream maker. In our opinion, a basic ice cream maker is worth the cost and makes the process extremely easy. But, if you have had success using another method, I’d love to hear about it!

fresh picked dandelions

Keep Everything Cold

Before adding your ingredients to your ice cream maker, you want to make sure they are fully chilled. Especially if you choose to heat your cream/milk and temper the egg yolks, you want to cool everything thoroughly before using it. Adding cold ingredients verses warm or even room temperature will produce a better end result.

Dandelion Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups cream
1 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
1 cup dandelion flowers (just the yellow part! The green is quite bitter)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp arrowroot powder or tapioca starch (optional but I think it helps with the texture)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the container of a blender.
2. Blend until well mixed.
3. Pour into the frozen container of an ice cream maker.
4. Let churn in ice cream maker for 25-30 minutes until creamy ice cream is formed.
5. Store in freezer for a couple of hours before serving.

Some of the above links are affiliate links. This means we earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. We are so appreciative of your support!


Looking for other ways to use those dandelion flowers? Try serving this dandelion ice cream alongside our dandelion cake – another family favorite!

gluten free dandelion cake

Gluten Free Dandelion Cake

May 15, 2022

simple dandelion isce cream recipe

Simple Homemade Dandelion Ice Cream

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Maker Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

When life gives you dandelions, make dandelion ice cream! If you are looking for the perfect spring recipe to wow your friends and family, this simple, homemade dandelion ice cream recipe is just the thing!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cream

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 
1 cup dandelion flowers (just the yellow part! The green is quite bitter)

  • 1/2 cup honey

  • 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla

  • 1 tbsp arrowroot powder or tapioca starch (optional but I think it helps with the texture)

Instructions

    1. Add all ingredients to the container of a blender.

    2. Blend until well mixed.

    3. Pour into the frozen container of an ice cream maker.

    4. Let churn in ice cream maker for 25-30 minutes until creamy ice cream is formed.

    5. Store in freezer for a couple of hours before serving.
© From Scratch Farmstead
May 31, 2022 0 comment
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vanilla raw milk ice cream
DessertHome DairyNourishing Recipes

The Best Vanilla Raw Milk Ice Cream

by From Scratch Farmstead February 13, 2022

Made with super nourishing ingredients and oh so delicious, if you have a family milk cow or access to raw dairy near you, this raw milk ice cream is a must!

Jump To Recipe

homemade vanilla raw milk ice cream

For the Love of Ice Cream

Since I was a kid, a bowl of ice cream before bed was an everyday staple in my life. It was a habit like putting my shoes on before leaving the house. As I got older, my love for ice cream never waned. Instead of a standard cake at our wedding, it was imperative that we serve ice cream. We have planned trips and gone significantly out of our way to hunt down the best, homemade, and local ice cream shops.

In more recent years, since eating a real food diet, we have found joy in making our own homemade raw milk ice cream. It’s really an ideal farm or homestead food because the staple ingredients can be produced right there on the farm or easily sourced locally: milk, eggs, honey. While ice cream is typically considered a “junk food,” I beg to differ. When packed with raw milk, fresh egg yolks, local raw honey, I prefer to think of it more as a super nutrient dense treat.

raw milk vanilla ice cream with toppings

Why Raw Milk Ice Cream?

While any milk will work in this recipe, we prefer raw for a number of reasons.

1. We know where it comes from. Over the last several years, we’ve been either purchasing raw milk from small, local farms in our area or producing it ourselves once we got our family milk cow a couple years back. This is important to us because unfortunately the practices at many large-scale conventional farms are geared toward the highest production possible which often comes to the detriment of the health of the animal, consumer, and environment. 

For example, most conventional farms milk with Holstein cows, which were bred for maximum production. However, because of the properties and genetics, the milk from these cows also tends to be more difficult to digest and contains less cream and beneficial properties. We prefer milk from heritage cow breeds – we have a Jersey – which tend to be more digestible and super creamy. Whenever possible our philosophy is to source something local or do it ourselves, and it’s definitely worth the effort to consume quality milk.

2. More nutritious. Raw milk is a living food that contains more beneficial microorganisms, vitamins, and minerals. Back almost 100 years ago when technology wasn’t what it was today, it was nearly impossible to refrigerate and distribute milk in an efficient way. Because of this alongside poor hygienic conditions, raw milk was making people sick. The answer to this was pasteurization. This process heats the milk, killing all of these microorganisms in milk. Unfortunately, that means that it kills all the good stuff along with the bad. Heating milk has remained the standard practice. But when handled and stored properly, raw milk can both be significantly more nutritious and healthful.

3. It tastes better. While of course this is open to interpretation, everyone we’ve interacted with has agreed that once you are used to it, the taste of raw milk is far superior.

raw milk vanilla ice cream overhead

The Ingredients in Vanilla Raw Milk Ice Cream

  • Cream. Raw cream is a delicacy around here. Everyone knows that you never start pouring from the milk jar until some of the cream has first been removed to make butter, ice cream, and all the other delicious things only cream can make.
  • Whole milk. The combination of 2/3 cream with 1/3 milk makes the perfect creamy ice cream.
  • Egg Yolks. Like the raw milk, we prefer using raw egg yolks in our ice cream. That being said, we’d only use raw egg yolks from chickens that we know how they are raised and their conditions. If you prefer to cook your egg yolks, you could temper your eggs with your milk/cream and then refrigerate for a few hours before blending in the rest of the ingredients and pouring into your ice cream maker. 
  • Honey. We prefer to use honey to sweeten our ice cream. Both because of the health benefits of raw honey as well as its availability in our local area. Alternatively, maple syrup, organic cane sugar (or a mixture) would also work.
  • Vanilla Extract. Vanilla is important for two reasons. The first is obvious – for the taste. The second is that vanilla extract helps to give ice cream a lovely, scoopable texture. Vanilla extract is made by combining vanilla beans with alcohol. Alcohol remains a liquid at freezing temperatures and therefore helps the texture of ice cream to remain soft and scoopable instead of hard and frozen.
  • Arrowroot Powder (optional). For the same reason as the alcohol in vanilla extract, I find that adding 1 tbsp of arrowroot to ice cream improves the texture. Helping the raw milk ice cream to be soft and scoopable as opposed to hard and frozen.
  • Salt. 

Raw Milk Ice Cream Equipment

What do I need to make Raw Milk Ice Cream?

The two pieces of equipment that are helpful (but not necessary) are a blender and ice cream maker. The process of making this ice cream is so easy. Simply place all ingredients in blender. Blend until combined. Then, pour into ice cream maker and let it do its thing for 30-40 minutes until your ice cream is finished. 

Alternatively, you could mix the ingredients by hand, with an immersion blender or mixer. This is the ice cream maker that we have and find it completely worth it as we use it almost weekly. There are other old school methods of making ice cream with ice and salt that totally work too.

What about other flavors?

I love this vanilla raw milk ice cream recipe because while we normally just eat it as is, it’s also the perfect base to any other flavor you would like to create. If you’d like to add fruit, chopped chocolate, nuts, or some other mix in, just pour into ice cream maker a few minutes before it’s finished. It’s also super simple to play around with other combinations to make it chocolate, fruit flavored, or we’ve even done mint by steeping the cream/milk with mint leaves, then refrigerating until cold and continuing with the rest of your ingredients. Homemade ice cream is so fun to experiment with, try different flavors and combinations, and wow your friends and family.

Vanilla Raw Milk Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups cream
1 cup whole milk
6 egg yolks
½ cup honey
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp arrowroot starch (optional)
sprinkle of salt

Directions:

  1. Measure out all ingredients and pour into blender.
  2. Blend until everything is mixed.
  3. Pour into ice cream maker and let churn until your have a soft serve ice cream texture (roughly 30-40 minutes).
  4. Transfer to a storage container and freeze for at least a couple of hours before serving.

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? We’d love to hear in the comments below! For more recipes from our home dairy check out our dulce de leche, chocolate pudding, and crock pot yogurt.

Some of the above links are affiliate links. This means we earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. We are so appreciative of your support!

homemade vanilla raw milk ice cream

The Best Vanilla Raw Milk Ice Cream

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Maker Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Made with super nourishing ingredients and oh so delicious, if you have a family milk cow or access to raw dairy near you, this raw milk ice cream is a must!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cream

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 
6 egg yolks

  • ½ cup honey
  • 
1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 
1 tbsp arrowroot starch (optional)
  • sprinkle of salt

Instructions

    1. Measure out all ingredients and pour into blender.
    2. Blend until everything is mixed.
    3. Pour into ice cream maker and let churn until your have a soft serve ice cream texture (roughly 30-40 minutes).
    4. Transfer to a storage container and freeze for at least a couple of hours before serving.
© From Scratch Farmstead

 

February 13, 2022 0 comment
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From Scratch Farmstead
  • About
  • Homestead How-to’s
    • Family Milk Cow
    • Gardening
    • Chickens
    • Small Scale Farming
    • Buying A Homestead
    • Homestead Living
  • Nourishing Recipes
    • Home Dairy
    • Food Preservation
    • Breakfast
    • Main Course
    • Sides
    • Dessert
    • Sauces & Condiments
  • Natural Living
    • Skin Care
    • Home Essentials
    • Living On A Budget
    • Our Healing Journey
    • Homestead Skills
    • DIY
    • AGA Stove