The Ice Cream Jar Challenge (And Why Number Two Son Was Right…Again)

 

When summer rolls around, all kinds of new ice cream recipes and techniques suddenly seem to flood the Internet. Naturally, my intention is always to try every single one of them. Whether I actually get around to doing so is another matter entirely.

The other day, Number Two Son, Andrew, stopped by for his weekly visit and caught me pouring heavy cream, whole milk, and sweetened condensed milk into a Mason jar.

 “What are you doing?” he asked.

 “I’m making ice cream,” I said matter-of-factly.

 He watched as I screwed on the lid.

 “I’m going to shake it for three or four minutes until it gets thick, then I’ll put it in the freezer.”

 The look on his face…

 He stared at me as though I had just announced I planned to churn butter by riding around the yard on a horse.

 “Mom,” he finally said, “wouldn’t it be easier to stick an immersion blender in there and beat it instead of shaking it for four minutes?”

 “But it’ll be fun,” I reasoned.

 “Not after the first minute or two it won’t.”

 Why is that guy always right?

 Naturally, I refused to admit it while he was standing there.

 A mother has her pride, after all.

 But once he left, I decided to prove to myself that the internet couldn’t possibly be wrong.

 Three minutes later…

 My arm was tired.

The mixture looked exactly the same.

 It hadn’t doubled.

 It hadn’t thickened.

 It hadn’t become magical ice cream.

 It had simply become…cold dairy products in a jar.

 I shoved it into the freezer anyway.

A couple of hours later, I stirred in a handful of crushed Oreos and put it back in the freezer. Later that evening I had a perfectly respectable little spoonable ice cream. It wasn’t quite the towering pint of fluffy frozen goodness those online videos promised, but it was delicious.

Today, however, I decided to do things differently.

 This time I started with a pint Mason jar and added chocolate malt powder, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and a splash of vanilla. Then, instead of shaking the daylights out of it, I attached the whisk to my hand mixer, lowered it right into the jar, and turned it on.

Thirty seconds.

 That’s all it took.

 The mixture had doubled in volume, looked beautifully thick, and suddenly I felt just a tiny bit foolish.

 Apparently Andrew had been right.

 Again.

 Those videos showing overflowing pint jars packed to the brim with homemade ice cream? I have to believe a little movie magic is involved because that’s simply not how mine behaved.

 But this method?

 This one works.

 The chocolate malt powder gives it the nostalgic flavor of an old-fashioned malt from the neighborhood ice cream shop, and the finished dessert is somewhere between soft-serve ice cream and a thick malt. Rich, creamy, chocolaty, and wonderfully nostalgic.

On a blazing summer afternoon, I’m not sure there’s anything much better.

Frosty Chocolate Malt Spoon Ice Cream

 ½ c. heavy cream

⅛ c. whole milk

⅛ c. sweetened condensed milk

⅛ c. chocolate malt powder

Splash of vanilla extract

Crushed Oreos or mini chocolate chips

 Add the heavy cream, milk, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate malt powder, and vanilla to a pint-size Mason jar.

Using the whisk attachment on a hand mixer, beat the mixture directly in the jar for about 30 seconds, or until thickened and nearly doubled in volume.

 Fold in mini chocolate chips, if using.

 Freeze for 2–4 hours, depending on how firm you like your ice cream.

 Serve with a spoon and enjoy!

 Cook’s Note: If you insist on shaking the jar by hand because the internet told you to, I wish you the best of luck…and strong forearms.  

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