Last week I brought you the first of two recipes I told you I would be trying, and this week I shall be bringing you the second. Mason jar ice cream comes from the New York Times, so I trusted it more than the random pretzel blogger who clearly had an agenda, but it still seemed deceptively simple. This is the recipe, in its entirety:
- Add 1 c heavy cream, 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, and a pinch of salt into a 16 oz Mason jar.
- Shake vigorously for about five minutes. The recipe said “until the cream thickens and almost doubles in size,” but as soon as you start shaking, you can no longer see inside the jar because it’s coated with heavy cream. Rather than deal with the mess of opening and closing the jar multiple times to check, just go for about five minutes- you’ll feel the difference.
- Freeze for a minimum of three hours.
I realized immediately what was happening here- they give it away in the second step, though they don’t spell it out. This is a magic no-churn ice cream because what you’re making, essentially, is frozen whipped cream. Your shaking the jar is whipping the cream- there’s the science!!
Having figured out the trick, I was a little dubious about how the consistency and taste would be. I figured it would be close to the filling of a grasshopper pie, but our grasshopper pie recipe (and probably others, but I’ve only made ours) also has marshmallow fluff in it, and I wasn’t sure how the lack of fluff would change things.
To ensure I really waited the full three hours, I made it right before I went to bed and let it freeze overnight. Overall, I would classify the experiment as a success, with caveats:
- The texture was better than I expected! It was definitely really creamy and smooth, though it was also much lighter than typical ice cream and it melted really quickly (again, it’s really whipped cream, so that makes sense). At the time of writing, I’ve only had a little bit, and I scooped it into a glass and ate it immediately- and even then, the last bite was almost melted. It’ll last longer if you serve it out of a chilled bowl or cup instead of something room temperature.
- You need a big Mason jar to give the mixture room to expand and mix with the air; however, that leaves a lot of empty space, and a Mason jar isn’t an ideal ice cream scooping shape. Combined with the above, everything starts to melt as you’re struggling to scoop a portion, so I’m doubling down on the “chilled glassware” suggestion (though I have an even better suggestion coming up).
- The original recipe mentions a bunch of mix-in options; I had a jar of raspberry jam and thought raspberries and cream ice cream sounded amazing. They said to do a tablespoon of jam, which I did, and it definitely wasn’t enough. Also, there’s no step to stir the ingredients, but if you add a mix-in you should.
- As soon as I opened the jar, I was hit by a wave of vanilla extract. Which is a great smell, but it ended up being a little overpowering, especially since I wanted to taste the jam. I would cut the vanilla significantly or completely if you want a different flavor, and I would consider adding only a teaspoon even if you just want vanilla.
- Shaking the jar was hard! My hands aren’t very big and I was worried I was going to lose my grip and fling it across the room. If you have small hands or have a condition like arthritis, this recipe isn’t going to be easy for you. Luckily, I had a completely different approach to the whole thing that’s nearly as simple and much more accessible.
- My modified version of this recipe, which I still have to test, uses all the same ingredients (less some vanilla, as mentioned), though I would recommend doubling it because we’re no longer constrained by the Mason jar. Put the ingredients in a bowl and use a stand or hand mixer to combine until the mixture is doubled in size/the consistency of brownie batter, like the original recipe says. This will also allow you to really ensure your mix-ins are combined, or you can fold them in at the end if you wanted to add whole berries or pieces of candy or a swirl of chocolate or peanut butter. Then put the mixture into a loaf pan or square cake pan, cover it with plastic wrap or tin foil, and freeze that. It’ll be easier on your hands and wrists and much easier to scoop out and serve afterwards- plus, like I said, you can make a lot more at once so it’ll last longer/everyone in the family can have some.
- The jar idea is still cute for its novelty, and I can see it being a hit at a kids’ party or a movie night- get all the jars; add themed labels (or just write names on the lids in Sharpie); add the cream, sugar, and salt ahead of time to minimize spilling and wrong measurements by confused guests; provide lots of options for mix-ins and flavors; and let everyone make their own personal jar of ice cream as soon as they arrive so they can enjoy them later on during the event. But if you’re actually trying to make ice cream at home because you just want some ice cream, do yourself a favor and get out the mixer and a better container!
Dinosaur Zealot 