Homemade raw ice cream not firming..

[tjlucca]

DD 5th Bday is tomorrow. She want's ice cream sandwiches instead of cake. So, she and I have been baking cookies and making ice cream using raw milk/cream and cane juice sugar, but it's not firming in the ice cream maker. I'm using the Cuisinart Ice R20. Any ideas?

[Kelilah]

Any time you make ice cream in the ice cream maker, it comes out slushy. You have to wait until it's mostly frozen, then pour it into a bowl or something and freeze it in your regular freezer so it can finish. It'll harden up in a couple hours that way.

[tjlucca]

Ahhhh, I see. That makes sense. Thanks Kelilah.

[Smokering]

Yeah, what she said. It threw me when I first got our ice cream maker... I thought it was "cheating" that we couldn't eat it straight from the churner. Let it get as hard as it can - it shouldn't be sloppy, it should get to a firm soft serve consistency.

Also, make sure your bowl is THOROUGHLY frozen before you mix the icecream. It takes longer than the manufacturer's instructions. You should be able to shake it and not hear any slushing - it should feel rock solid. And thoroughly chill the custard before freezing it.

Also, if you want the best homemade ice cream ever, get David Lebovitz' "The Perfect Scoop". FANTASTIC recipes - they do use sugar, but I guess you could adapt them? They make really creamy ice cream without tasting greasy or coating your mouth, and DH goes nuts for the chocolate ice cream or French vanilla with chocolate fudge ripple. Or white chocolate with dark chocolate straciatella. Or... pretty much any variant of anything chocolatey.