Ben & Jerry’s, From Scratch

Surely we did not make Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from scratch…oh yes, we totally did.  It must be an overload of colorful produce that led us to this dire need for some ice cream.  What better way to enjoy ice cream than to make it from scratch.

When I bought Ryan an ice cream maker, I also bought him a Ben and Jerry’s cookbook.  I mean, if you are going to make ice cream, it should be pure heaven.

One flavor we have trouble getting around here is New York Superfudge Brownie.  It is not that they do not have it, it is just that it has awful freezer burn and the brownie bits are dried out.  If I am going to use up that many calories on a treat, it should at least taste exceptional, and thus we decided to make it ourselves. 

We started off by making the brownies.  So nice of Ben & Jerry’s to give us the recipe for the brownie too.

 

Nothing like starting with some baking chocolate.  Too bad we forgot it was unsweetened when we went to taste the mixture. 

We did a make shift version of a double boiler by taking a glass bowl and resting it on a pot of water.

Ryan handled the additional ingredients.

 

I helped out by adding in the chocolate mixture which we cooled just briefly in the fridge.

 

Then Ryan let me mix it all up.

 

So I was thinking cake pan, and not sure why, other than my correct sized brownie pan was in the fridge with food in it.

  

The result was a little extra cooking time needed to get the brownies cooked all the way through.

 

The brownie recipe did not disappoint.

The very next day we got started on the ice cream.  We had to let the ice cream bowl chill in the freezer for a period of time and that is why we took 2 days for this.  The recipe called for us to use their sweet cream base, with some additional vanilla.

 

Looks like it really wants to be ice cream.

 

So we poured it in and let it go!

 

Just before it was finished with the ice cream we added in frozen brownie chunks.  When making ice cream and adding in extras you want them really well chilled or they will be too warm and make trouble for the freezing of the ice cream mixture.

 

In those went, and up rose the ice cream.  Then we knew it was ready…or rather it HAD to be ready.

 

I transferred it to a storage container and let it freeze.  It took almost a full day for it to be harder like an ice cream.  Too bad by that time it was almost all gone!

 

There you have it, Ben & Jerry’s for a From Scratch Weekends adventure.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever made homemade ice cream?  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Before I forget, today is Registered Dietitian Day, so Happy RD Day to all those dietitians out there.