Homemade vanilla cherry ice cream.

There are much more involved recipes out there for basic vanilla ice cream (with eggs, and tempering, and resting, and specialty ingredients) but I’m lazy a fan of simplicity, and have used this basic recipe dozens of times and gotten compliments each time.

It’s easy to modify, and the girls have fun choosing what to add to the mix. This time it was fresh bing cherries, but chocolate chips, cookie dough, strawberries, oreos, caramel, mini marshmallows, chocolate covered coffee beans and brownies have all been a hit. We’ve also added food coloring, flavors, and folded in chocolate syrup for swirly ice cream. I’m kindof making myself drool right now.

For a 2qt ice cream maker (we have this one, a wedding present):
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar (You can use less – experiment to suit your taste)
2tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients in a large bowl, pour into the running machine, and wait 15-20 minutes. Once the ice cream has set/is the texture you want, pour in whatever additions you want, and let it run for a few more minutes. Eat right away as a soft serve, or spoon into freezer containers. If you want to fold in soft ingredients (chocolate syrup), do it now. Let it harden up for a few hours, and then prepare to want to lick the bowl.