Soft serve ice cream?

[Fuhzy]

Just wondering if it's possible to make soft-serve at home or not. Also, what does everyone think about making ice cream with protein powder mixed in, for a bit more health?

[Mahk]

Maybe try putting flavored soy yogurt in an ice cream maker? Back in the day I actually preferred iced yogurt over ice cream.

[veggiemaya]

I actually just made some. I make it all the time in my vitamix. Tonight I used 1 cup of chocolate soy milk, 1/3 cup raw sugar, 2 tbsp powdered soymilk, 1 tsp vanilla extract and about 3 cups of ice. It does come out just like soft serve and its really tasty.

[pat sommer]

Soft-serve like what comes out of a Taylor machine at the fast-food joint is actually how all ice cream comes out of the churner whether electric or hand cranked. The ice cream is then left to harden a bit in the freezer. As the manufactures instructions indicate: put the product into fridge awhile then stir to get softer consistency once again.

Plenty of ways of cheating; I freeze banana slices and berries and either grate them through a processor or whiz them up in the blender. The trick with the blender is to start with liquid and continually drop in frozen pieces 'til the mixture is too solid to blend. Perfect soft-serve.

Regarding health: why tax the liver and the skeletal system with excess protein? How about adding beautiful colors of fruit for health? Avocado is surprisingly tasty in combinations...

Hope you have plenty of hot weather to enjoy your concoctions!

[Roxy]

I actually just made some. I make it all the time in my vitamix. Tonight I used 1 cup of chocolate soy milk, 1/3 cup raw sugar, 2 tbsp powdered soymilk, 1 tsp vanilla extract and about 3 cups of ice. It does come out just like soft serve and its really tasty.

Yum! That sounds delicious!

[Fuhzy]

Ah, sorry for being confusing. I am talking about making ice cream, storing it in a freezer, then when you take it out of the freezer it is soft serve, and not the hard stuff.

[Roxy]

I think it's got something to do with the amount of air in it doesn't it?

[pat sommer]

Those super fluffy spongy ice creams do not seem to need 'conditioning' in the fridge, Roxy, the way I remember Baskin Robbins did. Rich dense frozen desserts benefit from time out of the freezer and a good dose of elbow grease....

...lucky for me it's too cold to make ice cream interesting at the moment otherwise It could be a fattening thread for me!

[veggiemaya]

oh, yeah i am not sure how to keep it as soft serve. i'm thinking that might be very tough, if not impossible. i mean, i know that even in the past when i ate regular soft serve ice cream, if i ever brought it home and stuck it in the freezer, it would freeze up pretty solid. that is what happens to the ice cream i make, so i just stick it in the fridge a little before i am going to have some..its a small price to pay to have homemade, all natural ice cream. plus, it sure is a lot cheaper!

[Mahk]

Maybe put hard (soy) ice cream in a food processor for just a few seconds just prior to eating it?

[Sarah_]

Holy cow. You think it's possible to make ice cream in a magic bullet?!?!?! Sorry for the hijack, but omg yum.

[veggiemaya]

i never tried it in my magic bullet but its worth a shot. i can give you the recipe that i go by to make it in the vitamix but you may have to scale down a bit. there might not be that much room in the bullet.

1 cup soymilk
1/4 cup powdered soymilk
1/2 cup of sugar ( i use raw and a bit less than that)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups ice

my advice would be to try to use crushed ice cubes, might be easier on the blender. of course you can modify this by adding nuts or carob chips or using a different flavor soymilk. let me know if it works if you try it!

[Sarah_]

^ Thank you! I'll need to pick up some things for this and then I'll try it out!