I don’t think there’s anything in this world that I crave more than ice cream. And not just during the hot summer months: I crave it year-round. I’ve been behaving myself lately and indulging less often since I’m trying to lose weight and train for a half marathon, but I just can’t seem to give up my ice cream addiction. I was discussing this with one of my more health-conscious friends recently, and he shared a little secret with me: how to make banana ice cream using just frozen bananas! Simply place a couple of ripe bananas in the freezer for a few hours and then process them (love my new Cuisinart food processor) until smooth and creamy. To make it even easier, I peeled the bananas, sliced them, and put them in a ziploc bag before freezing.

That’s it! Who knew something so easy (and healthy!) could be such an amazing treat?! Of course, you can always add a little peanut butter or chocolate if you so desire, but I’m telling you, the bananas on their own are sweet enough. It’s a great alternative to throwing away those bananas that are just a little too ripe for my taste. Plus, it gives me another great excuse to use my beautiful tangerine Cuisinart 3-cup food processor!

It’s Summer! Personally, I think sorbets are so much more refreshing than ice cream when it’s hot out. Cannelle et Vanille has this recipe on her site and her beautiful images make me feel cooler already!

The recipe is perfectly simple for those sticky summer afternoons.

Peach Sorbet

500 grams peach puree
75 grams atomized glucose
110 grams water
65 grams sugar
3 grams sorbet stabilizer

Pineapple Sorbet

500 grams pineapple puree
70 grams water
75 grams atomized glucose
60 grams sugar
1.5 grams sorbet stabilizer

Kiwi Sorbet

500 grams kiwi puree
225 grams water
65 grams atomized glucose
120 grams sugar
2 grams sorbet stabilizer

Method is the same for all of them

Start by making the sugar syrup. Place the water and the atomized glucose in a small saucepan . Bring to a simmer. In the meantime, whisk together the sugar and sorbet stabilizer in a separate bowl . When the water comes to a light boil, add the sugar and stabilizer mixture, whisk and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil, pour the syrup into a bowl and let it cool slightly before refrigerating. Refrigerate the sugar syrup overnight.

Add the fruit puree to the sugar syrup, mix really well and churn in ice cream machine . Freeze.

In the summer heat, I crave ice cream all the time.  I’ve recently been looking into getting an ice cream maker and discovered there are a LOT of different options out here.  Here are of the different kinds of machines out there to consider.

 
Hand Crank Ice Cream Maker:  If you want to feel like you are putting the work into making your ice cream, then you can buy a hand crank machine.  This Aroma Ice Cream Maker features a die-cast hand crank and a solid pine bucket to make it feel old fashioned.  It will make 6 quarts of Ice Cream and at only $89 is a very affordable option.

Affordable Automatic Model: If you are looking for a basic model that will do the work for you, consider the Cuisinart Classic which can make both Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt.  It is completely automatic, all you do is flip a switch and it will do all the work for you.  You’ll get a lot less volume than with the hand crack model, this machine makes only 1 and a half quarts at a time.  But It’s also the lowest price of the ice cream makers I looked at, only $59.95.
Soft Serve Dispenser Type: A really unique type of ice cream maker that I found, also by Cuisinart, is the Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker.  This one is really cool because it makes soft serve ice cream and dispenses it like you see in ice cream shops.  Plus it has an area to stack ice cream cones, and three condiment dispensers for sprinkles, chocolate chips or whatever else you want to top your ice cream with.  I was also surprised at the price, which is only $100.  However, this machine is also the biggest of the three and would be the hardest to store when not in use.

Ice Cream Maker Attachment: While not the cheapest option, this one was intriguing to me – Kitchen Aid makes an ice cream maker attachment for their mixer.  For $79, you get a mixer attachment freeze bowl that fits any Kitchen Aid stand mixer made after 1990.  It will make two and a half quarts of ice cream and is the easiest to store.

I’m pretty torn on which of the four to get because they are all so diverse.  Which one do you think I should get?