Scream for Ice Cream

8 enthusiastic Cloverbuds, 3 awesome Amabassadors, and 1 hopeful 4-H PC gathered at the East Annex for an hour last night to try their skills at making homemade ice cream. The excitement in the youth ran high - they couldn't wait to learn about the process and try their ice cream.

We had a chance to tell everyone about our favorite kind of ice cream (mint, chocolate, and strawberry were among the favorites). Then we learned how farmers get milk out of the cow to use in our delicious ice cream. We talked about all the steps cream from the milk goes through to get to in order to become our ice cream.

Next, it was time for us to start our own ice cream making process! We added cream, sugar, and vanilla to a bag and mixed it all up. Then we put that bag (after it was sealed up tight) and put it in a bigger bag. We added ice and salt, sealed it up, and shook, rattled, and rolled that bag for 10 minutes! (What a workout!!!) Did you know that by adding salt to the ice we lowered the temperate of the ice, making it very cold and allowing our ice cream to freeze together quicker? There is even science in ice cream!!!!

We could hardly wait to try our creations!! We rinsed the small bag off so that we didn't get yucky salt water from the big bag into our ice cream. We picked some toppings and tried what we had made - it was delicious!!! The Cloverbuds loved their treat...and loved learning about how to make it. They got to take the recipe home so that they can make it with their families.

Here is the recipe if you would like to try it -

You will need

• 1 gallon zipper style bag (heavy duty freezer bag)
• 1 quart zipper-style bag
• 4 cups ice
• 1 cup ice cream salt or table salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup 18% light whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  

Instructions:

1. Pour the milk or cream, vanilla extract, and sugar into the small zipper bag. Squeeze as much air out as possible, mix well and seal the bag carefully.
2. Place the small zipper-type bag into the large bag. Cover with ice and salt. Seal the large bag tightly.
3. Shake, toss, and flip the bags for 10 minutes. If the bag gets too cold to handle, wrap it with a towel or pass it from person to person. If the mixture hasn’t frozen after 10 minutes, add more salt and ice.
4. Open the larger bag and remove the smaller bag. Wipe the smaller bag thoroughly before opening it so the salty water doesn’t contaminate the ice cream. The ice cream should be the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
5. Eat right out of the bag or serve in small cups.

Hope you enjoy your ice cream!!!