Caliberize Your Ice Cream

There is nothing more synonymous to and symbolic of summer than ice cream – and its delicious wonders are not limited to kids. But, as dirt-poor college students, sometimes we just don’t have the money to run to the store and buy some emergency ice cream. And as ingenious Berkeley students, we can always find a creative solution to any problem. In this situation, the solution is to make your own ice cream/popsicles/frozen sweets. Many of us have probably heard about or tried the “ice cream in a bag” trick (if not, continue reading and you will learn), but Caliber is here to help you go beyond this and really create some splendidly tasty and fun frozen treats.

There are many reasons for making your own ice cream/sorbet/frozen cupcakes/popsicles/etc:

1). It is cheaper.
2). It is more environmentally friendly: you produce less waste and avoid the costs related to transporting and maintaining the ice cream.
3). You can customize it. If you are compelled to add globs of peanut butter… and bananas… and marshmallows… and last night’s dinner leftovers, for that matter, to your mixture, go ahead! Time to experiment.
4). It’s a great bonding activity – it’s fun and yummy!

Here are a few general recipes and recommendations for you; these are meant as inspiration – the true fun lies in letting your creative juices flow and concocting something truly special and unique (hopefully in a good way). Share your thoughts, successes and failures, questions, or any of your own recipes in the comment section below.

The good ole’ “ice cream in a bag”:

Ingredients and materials (for an individual portion):

• ½ cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 4-6 tablespoons of salt
• Ice
• 1 large (gallon-size) sandwich bag
• 1 small (quart-size) sandwich bag

Directions:

Fill the large sandwich bag halfway with crushed ice and salt. Place the milk, sugar, and vanilla mixture in the smaller bag, and seal it securely. Put the smaller bag inside the bigger ice-filled one, and seal the bigger bag. Then – this is the fun part – shake/massage/agitate the two bags for fifteen to twenty minutes, but make sure the inner bag doesn’t tear! When you think your ice cream has an appropriate consistency, serve and enjoy.

Possible alterations:

• You can flavor your ice cream with an infinite number of things (for example, for chocolate ice cream, you can add cocoa powder or syrup; or you can go explore the grocery store for some exotic flavor extracts; or you can add items like chocolate chips or nuts to make the texture more interesting). Make it the ice cream you’ve always dreamt about!
• Instead of using two sandwich bags, you can also use two coffee cans. This enables you to roll, throw, and kick the contraption during the “shaking” step.
• Once you have the ice cream, you can make ice cream sandwiches by putting a scoop of ice cream between two cookies. It’s homemade CREAM!
• Vegan-ize your ice cream by using soy or rice milk instead.

Basic fruit popsicles:

Ingredients and materials:

• 2 cups fresh (or frozen) strawberries
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• ½ cup sugar
• Popsicle sticks
• Cups/molds
• Blender

Directions:

Mix the strawberries, yogurt, and sugar in the blender. Pour into the cups and place in the freezer When the mixture is partially frozen, place the popsicle sticks in the cups, then wait overnight for them to freeze into popsicles.

Possible alterations:

• This recipe uses strawberries, but, in truth, you can use any fruit, or a mix of several kinds, to make these popsicles. Again, you can also add chocolate chips or coconut or a number of different toppings to further embellish your treat.
• It doesn’t really matter what type of container you put your mixture in before freezing it. Experiment with the mold! You can try making ice-cube-popsicles, or goblet-popsicles, or beaker-popsicles… Just be aware that, the bigger the container, the less likely your popsicle will be frozen through and through.
• Make colorful striped popsicles by layering different mixes in the mold.

Snow cones:

Ingredients and materials:

• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cups water
• 1 package unsweetened powdered drink mix, any flavor
• Ice
• Blender

Directions:

To prepare the crush ice, blend the ice cubes in a blender. For the syrup: bring the water and sugar to a full boil, then remove from heat and add in the powdered flavor. Wait for it to cool to room temperature before chilling it in the refrigerator. Pour it on the crushed ice and enjoy!

Possible alterations:

• The fun part about snow cones is the color of the syrup – so try adding in some cool food dyes to your syrup mixture before placing it in the refrigerator.

As far as home-made frozen treats, the possibilities are endless with an appropriate amount of imagination and willingness to experiment. You can basically put any mixture of sweet, fruit-like or milk-like food items in the freezer – it’s hard to mess up a frozen treat. Try freezing juice, chocolate/strawberry milk, leftover yogurt, leftover jam or pie (mixed with milk or yogurt), applesauce (or a mix of any of these!)… Who knows, you may discover something truly great! Enjoy the summer, and make sure to share your experiences with us in the comment section.

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