1. Ingredient Quality
2. Hard to Find Ingredients
3. Liqueur and Ice Cream
4. Lactose Reduced Milk

1. Ingredient Quality

Use the best quality ingredients you can find: the better the ingredients, the better the ice cream.

Cream with fewer additives is best. Organic Valley Cream, available at Wild Oats, is just cream and carrageenan. I have not found a cream with fewer additives.

2. Hard to Find Ingredients

Hard to find ingredients are available at Penzeys.

3. Liqueur and Ice Cream

According to the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book, "Fresh ice cream... is initially a soft product... ice cream hardened in a home freezer tends to get icy."

I use 3 tablespoons of liqueur in many of these ice creams to keep them from getting hard as a rock in the freezer.

4. Lactose Reduced Milk

Using a lactose reduced milk, such as Lactaidâ„¢, has three impacts on the ice cream:
a) Lactose reduced milk tastes sweeter than regular milk, so less sweetener is required.
b) Less sugar causes a harder ice cream.
c) The lactose reduced milk gives the ice cream a grainy texture. According to a page at the Penn State Website: α-lactose can lead to a sandiness effect in ice cream.

© 2004 Drew Faber. All rights reserved. Used by permission.