Vanilla Mint Ice Cream

I made ice cream a couple times earlier this summer - frozen custards that I cooked on the stove then had to cool for a couple hours before I could make them.  They were good...

But then I discovered something easier.

For the base: 1 cup whipping cream, 2 cups whole milk, 1/3 cup sugar

Then add whatever else you want.

Combine everything in a blender, and pour that stuff into an ice cream maker.  

Presto!  Ice cream.

(Note: if you are chopping or pureeing things in the mix, add the whipping cream only after everything is pureed.  Adding it sooner, bits of it turn into buttery chunks from all the blending.  Weird, but that's what we experienced.)

We have several herbs in our garden, so I thought it would be good to do a vanilla mint, using fresh spearmint from the pot.

In a blender, I combined:

2 cups whole milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed fresh spearmint leaves

Blend that together until the leaves are minced up.

Then add 1 cup of whipping cream.

Blend for a couple of seconds more.

Pour into ice cream maker, and chill according to the maker's directions.

Garnish with a sprig of mint for some charm!

Some people chill the ice cream afterwards for a couple of hours to let it become like store-bought.  I don't really like to let it get too hard.  When I made this ice cream, I put it into serving bowls and placed those in the freezer for about 20 minutes, just until we were ready to eat.  I like the softer texture.

Using the base in this recipe, I have also made Lemon Basil Ice Cream.  Just use lemon extract and fresh basil leaves, instead of the vanilla and mint.  It's pretty darn good!

Next up is Jalapeno Peach Ice Cream!