Forget the first green buds on the trees, or seeing the first robin of spring. Here in Vermont you know spring has arrived when the ice cream stands open again. Take last Saturday, the first gloriously sunny day in almost 2 weeks...
I had been heavily sidelined by a bout with pneumonia for over a week, and was finally climbing the hill back to wellness. For some reason, my biggest desire during my down time was to get a new bird feeder for the living room window. We are lucky enough to live right in the woods so song birds and feathered creatures abound.
Showered and bundled up with a hearty breakfast in my tummy, my husband took me off to the wide world for an outing. (Reading British children's books, didn't you always want to go on an outing? It always sounded so much better than going shopping).
Now, I don't think either of us was really thinking ice cream stand at this point but once we arrived at our local Big Box Store which happens to share a parking lot with a huge ice cream stand, we were definitely thinking frozen treats. Lo and behold, they were open and there wasn't even a line!
Oh, decisions, decisions! Would the chocolate make me feel best, or the strawberry cheesecake? Should I get the peppermint stick milkshake, or Caramel Caribou? Or would they have a version of my new favorite from the KAF kitchens, Cinnamon Ice Cream?
Alas, alas, no cinnamon ice cream to be found. What is a lady to do?! My knees may still have been feeling a bit weak, but I stood firm in my resolve. I ordered strawberry cheesecake, and made my master plan to whip up a batch of Cinnamon Ice Cream at home. Ah, the best of both worlds!
Join me in taking control of the ice cream spring madness and we'll make Cinnamon Ice Cream. It warms and cools you at the same time, and plays beautifully with the fruits of summer that will be showing up in our stores and farm stands soon.
In a small bowl, blend together
1/2 cup (106g) brown sugar, packed
1 cup (227g) milk
Mix until the sugar dissolves. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and whisk again.
Add 3 cups (680g) heavy cream, 2 whole eggs, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon oil (optional) and a small dash of salt.
Yes, you'll be adding raw whole eggs to this recipe. You can use pasteurized eggs, or liquid eggs to be on the safe side. I happen to get my eggs from the backyard coop, so I'm good to go.
Place the ice cream base in the freezer for an hour, or in the fridge for several hours to chill. Cold base freezes faster in your machine, making for a smoother finished ice cream.
Freeze the base according to your machine's directions. Here you can see the empty machine, then the ice cream after 5, 10 , and 20 minutes. No, no I swear there is just as much in there as when I started. Honest, I didn't sneak any tastes. Hey, why is my nose growing like that?!
The ice cream will come out of the machine at soft-serve consistency. You can eat it right away, or place it in a sturdy container and freeze for another few hours.
When I make ice cream, I try to make at least two batches at a time. I start early in the day and have them in the freezer by lunchtime. This makes for a nice choice come dessert time on the weekends.
Rich, creamy and just a little spicy. This is the only ice cream that I've ever had that actually warms me up as I eat it. Taste testers said it reminded them of old-fashioned cinnamon imperials. It's amazing to serve this with apple pie, or apple dumplings. I've been dying to try it on my oatmeal, and in a summer apple smoothie.
I'm always on the lookout for new ice cream ideas, so fill up that comment section and tell me what to try next. You there in the back, put down the keyboard though, I'm NOT making spinach ice cream!
Please make, rate, and review our recipe for Cinnamon Ice Cream.
Recipe in this post
