Ice creams, shakes and smoothies are those little guilty pleasures that we simply cannot resist in the summer months. Whether we are savouring them at the end of a meal or enjoying them between meals or as a snack, these exquisite products are even more delicious and healthy when prepared at home: let’s discover how to make mouth-watering and refreshing handmade desserts, whilst also taking a look at a few tips to ensure their correct storage.
Homemade ice cream recipe
Classic methods for making ice cream involve an ice-cream maker, yet it is indeed possible to make DIY ice cream both easily and quickly, even without the aid of a number of instruments and ingredients commonly found in the kitchen.
Even though classic recipes call for ingredients such as milk, pouring cream and eggs, you can in fact simply use frozen fruit to make a speedy, low-calorie, low-fat version. Simply blend your favourite frozen fruit with some plain yoghurt and add a little honey or sugar for a touch of sweetness.
You could, for example, use fruits of the forest, strawberries, peaches, apricots, bananas, pitted cherries or any other type of fruit that takes your fancy. Once you have obtained a uniform and even mix, the ice cream can be served right away. You can also make a ‘light’ health-conscious ice cream by using fat-free yoghurt and by substituting the sugar (or honey) for a teaspoon of stevia.
If you happen to have a juicer to hand, you can mix the juice obtained from the fruit with some yoghurt and place the cream in the freezer: before you know it, you’ll have a fresh and nourishing ice cream to garnish as you please, with chocolate shavings, rainbow sprinkles, syrups and creamy toppings.
Another recipe for homemade ice cream uses ice crystals to make up for the lack of an ice-cream maker. You can follow all the classic methods to make any flavour of ice cream, including creamy variants - such as chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut and coffee - as well as fruit-based versions, by placing your mix in a steel container, which has ideally been stored in the freezer for 24 hours beforehand. On placing the content in the freezer, ice crystals will begin to form, which will need to be broken at regular intervals of approximately 30 minutes by blending the mix with a food processor or powerful mixer. In doing so, in just 5 - 6 hours, you will have obtained an exquisite ready-to-eat DIY ice cream.
An additional option involves following the method to make any flavour of ice cream using an ice-cream maker, being sure however to add a tablespoon of run (or your chosen liquor) to the ingredients before placing the cream directly in the freezer: this blend of ingredients will prevent the mixture from freezing and will instead create a delectably creamy dessert.
How to make delicious shakes and smoothies
Shakes are thick and creamy drinks, rich in vitamins, proteins and mineral salts, which can be personalised in countless different ways to create mouth-watering refreshments. You only need two basic ingredients: fruit and milk. Cow’s milk can easily be substituted for soy, almond, kamut or oat milk, or any other plant-based substitute in the event of lactose intolerance or for those who follow a vegan diet.
Here’s a few tasty recipes for summer shakes:
- strawberry shake;
- banana and unsweetened cocoa shake;
- fruits of the forest shake;
- strawberry, banana and peanut butter shake;
- lemon, orange and ginger shake;
- peach, pear and kiwi shake.
To make your shake even more tempting, you can garnish it with fresh fruit, or add ice cubes to the blender to make a divine granita. For the most sweet-toothed among us, you can also combine the flavour of ice cream and a shake in one delicious drink: the smoothie.
What could be better than making a fabulous smoothie using homemade ice cream as your main ingredient? The sky’s the limit when it comes to smoothie-making, although the contents of your fridge certainly have some say on the matter: simply blend your favourite frozen cream with some fresh milk and add whipped cream, cocoa powder, fresh fruit, dark chocolate flakes or crumbled hazelnuts to taste.
Tips for storing ice creams, shakes and smoothies
Have you prepared homemade ice cream or shakes or do you need advice on how to store a tub of DIY ice cream? Let’s take a look at a few simple tricks to preserve the freshness of these delicious desserts without altering their flavour or risking the formation of ice.
Ice cream is best stored in the freezer at a temperature of approximately -21/-22°C. We therefore recommend that you adjust your freezer settings appropriately. It is well worth remembering that temperature fluctuations undermine product integrity: when you are ready to serve your ice cream, you should avoid exposing it to room temperature for more than half an hour and ideally allow it to soften slowly in the fridge.
Homemade ice cream does not usually require pasteurisation, since we recommend consuming it within a couple of days, so as to prevent the growth of bacteria. Homemade ice cream can be stored in the freezer for a maximum of one week. This is an especially important indication for creamy flavours that contain eggs.
Instead, shakes and smoothies need to be placed immediately in the fridge, once appropriately covered and sealed: these drinks must be consumed within a day, preferably within 4 - 6 hours, since the milk and fruit tend to perish and oxidise quickly.
Candy offers a vast range of fridges and freezers to safely store your food, enabling you to serve fresh produce as if just purchased. You will find fridges and freezers of all types and sizes, fitted with the very latest technologies in the refrigeration industry. Discover our complete catalogue and choose the best solution for your kitchen.
