all about ice cream — kaetochi's kitchen

we all scream for ice cream

scroll to the bottom of this page to check out all my ice cream recipes!

ice cream basics

Most of the ice cream recipes on this website are custard-based, which means they are made with egg yolks. The egg yolks allow me to create an extra creamy, smooth ice cream. If you’re a science nerd like me, you might enjoy this article exploring how eggs affect the texture of ice cream.

Ice cream that is made without a custard is referred to as Philadelphia-style ice cream. If you have an egg allergy or just don’t want to fuss with eggs, you can check out my Philadelphia-style or vegan ice cream recipes or experiment with omitting the eggs from my custard-based recipes.

what’s up the the lactose-free half and half?

I really freaking love ice cream, but I’m also lactose intolerant. That’s why all of my ice cream recipes include lactose-free ingredients! All of the wonderful dairy flavor and texture, and none of the discomfort. I’ve found lactose-free half and half at Safeway and at my neighborhood organic store.

My lactose intolerance is also why my foray into no-churn (no ice cream machine) recipes has resulted in vegan ice creams. Generally no-churn ice cream recipes require heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk, and I haven’t found lactose-free versions of either ingredient. Ditching the dairy was the best solution in that context.

why do all of your recipes include alcohol?

It’s a texture thing. Because I don’t use any stabilizers or corn syrup in my recipes, the ice cream will naturally start to get icy after spending more than a day in the freezer. Liquor has a very low freezing point, so adding a couple of tablespoons keeps the ice cream a little softer and discourages ice crystals from forming in your homemade ice cream. This isn’t enough alcohol to make it a “boozy” ice cream — my rough estimate is that my ice creams are about 1% ABV. (The giant exception to that is any ice cream recipe that actually has booze in the title, like my maple bourbon ice cream.)

Your ice cream will be just as delicious without the liquor if you can’t or don’t want to use it. You just might want to eat your ice cream within the first 48 hours if you’re as picky with texture as I am.

Note: a friend of mine successfully used corn syrup to prevent iciness! If you go that route, add a tablespoon of corn syrup instead of alcohol in the last few minutes of churning.