Cold weather creeps in during October, so there’s no better time to get out the ice cream maker!
What? While summer is prime time for making ice cream, there’s nothing to cheer up a gloomy, rainy fall day like making a batch of homemade ice cream.
This time of year naturally makes one want to experiment with pumpkin or apple ice cream. However, what’s in season doesn’t really matter when I make it. I’ve found that canned pumpkin (with no added ingredients) is just as tasty as homemade pumpkin purée.
For apple ice cream, I prefer to use a mix of applesauce and apple butter (both organic) for the best flavor. To me, ice cream should be flavorful and velvety – no nuts or chunks of fruit to interrupt the smoothness.
A great autumn homemade ice cream that reminds me of the recent season of summer – and a promise of that season rolling around again – is lime ice cream. Ironically, I insist on fresh fruit for this ice cream. My grandma Mallory in Missouri could have never made this when she was young because tropical fruit was a once-a-year expensive novelty, and then it was one orange as a Christmas gift.
This ice cream looks like vanilla with specks of lime. But it’s deceitful because each taste is like walking through a luscious lime grove. The secret ingredient? Frozen concentrated lemonade. It somehow boosts the lime flavor.
Lime Ice Cream
6 limes
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups whipping cream (heavy cream)
2 tablespoons lemonade concentrate
Zest 3 limes thoroughly. Put in a large bowl. Halve all 6 limes and squeeze juice until at least 1/2 cup is reached. Add to zest in bowl. Whisk in sugar, whipping cream and lemonade concentrate. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s recommendations. It can be served semi-soft directly when completed, or pack into a container, cover and freeze 1-plus hours for firm ice cream.
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