Nothing is better than homemade I’ve cream. Except maybe when you produce the milk for it, yourself! I make ice cream commercially in small batches, and know a bit about what makes a good ice cream. Most commercial ice cream is full of additives. Some help keep the ice crystal small to prevent freezer burn effect, Some prevent it from freezing too hard, and some act as a preservative. But none of these are necessary if you are making and consuming it within a couple weeks on your own farm!
Ice cream is a bit of a misnomer for a lot of the products you can buy. Technically it needs to be at least 10% milk fat to qualify as ice “cream”. Our Nigerian Dwarf milk is very high in butterfat content, and based on others’ milk testing results, can range anywhere from 8% to 12%. So it makes a lovely ice cream, even if it is technically an ice milk. The higher the fat the smoother the ice cream. You can add cream if you like, or just enjoy it the way it was created.
We make raw goat milk ice cream regularly for our family. The following recipe is basic and amazing.
Ingredients
3 c. raw goat milk
3/4 c. organic cane sugar or 1/2 c. honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Mix your ingredients well in a bowl with a whisk, until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour ingredients into your ice cream maker and freeze as per your machine’s directions.
3. Eat as soft ice cream of freeze for 2h minimum to enjoy as a hard ice cream!
Notes
Play around with other flavors too! Most chunky ingredients can be stirred in at the end of your freezing cycle, or you can add cooled liquid ingredients at the beginning of your cycle. Egg yolks can be added to give it a richer, custard flavor (follow specific cooking instructions for that option). Fruit is best macerated prior to adding, so that it doesn’t freeze too hard.
