I scream, you scream, ice cream!
August 25, 2011 by blakeeligh
It seems I’m surrounded by back-to-school news (including, um, this space), but I bet most kids are clinging to the last scraps of summer before they head back to the classroom. It’s the same at my house (even for my teacher husband who heads back a week before the kids do).
Summer hasn’t had its last gasp yet. We’re still working on our DIY popsicles, and this week, our kids gave DIY ice cream a shake.
We don’t have space for an ice cream maker in the World’s Smallest Kitchen, but I picked up this nifty low-tech Mugz Ice Cream maker at a recent trade show. Every year, the Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada releases its gold star recommendations for the top toys with the best play value. This hand-shaken ice cream maker by Mugz made the top 10 for 2011. It works with basic ingredients, won’t take up space in the freezer, and forces kids to work off their treat before they get to eat it, all for about $10. You can make slushies, ice cream or frozen yogurt with it, and it doesn’t take up any more kitchen space than a coffee mug.
The Mugz shaker is simple to use. Fill the base with about half a cup of crushed ice, 4 tablespoons of salt and 4 tablespoons of water. Salt slows the melting of the ice, and the combo of salt, water and ice can make the mixture even colder than the normal freezing temperature of water (I know, thermodynamics. I’ll stop now. See here for details). Snap on the metal basin and fill it with a few tablespoons of milk, yogurt, juice or yogurt, along with sweetener (like honey or maple syrup) to taste, screw on the lid and shake. Three minutes later—ice cream, or in our case, apple juice slushie.
The girls loved it, although I ended up with the last minute of shake duty. The frozen juice texture was pretty solid, but broke up nicely after a quick stir with a fork. We had similar success with chocolate milk and strawberry yogurt. The Mugz shaker doesn’t make a lot—about ¼ cup—but it’s easy to shake up successive batches.
If you can’t find a shaker, it’s easy to make with materials from around the house. There’s the resealable bag trick (or this cute how-to video). As a kid, I remember making the kick-the-can camp version, which uses two plastic tubs and a couple of energetic kids to roll it back and forth.
BC blogger Amber Strocel has a big thing for ice cream. In this post on Crafting My Life, she writes that she hopes making and sharing ice cream is a family activity that her kids will one day remember fondly. Amber uses an ice cream maker, and if her posted recipes are any indication, her kids are well on their way to bowlfuls of happy memories.
We’re pretty happy with our little shaker, but here’s the scoop on CanadianParents.com’s fave ice cream makers.
Do you make ice cream with your kids? What’s their favourite flavour?
Images via Ella Novak, Blake Eligh and Amber Strocel
4 Responses to “I scream, you scream, ice cream!”
These little ice cream makers look fantastic! Thanks for a great find – I’ll be picking some of these up for sure.
We’ve done the ice cream in a bag at our place. One word of warning – make sure you double bag it in case the vigorous shaking breaks the bag!
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I was given one as a bonus from Mastermind toys earlier this month. It worked well, but made such a teeny little bit of ice cream, it didn’t really seem worth the effort.
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[...] Though I’m loath to say goodbye to summer, I can’t deny that there’s a new chill in the evening air. How does that happen so quickly? Just last week, I wrote about ice cream. [...]
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[...] get a chance to try her Chocolaty Banana Boat and Apple Dumpling recipes. She even blogged about making her own ice cream (alleviating any fears I had that ice cream season was already [...]
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