Cheaper To Make Or Buy

Well the answer to that is both Yes and No.

For me it’s always been cheaper to make. I use all sorts of things. I use left over fruit, frozen fruit and even tinned fruit, or a combination of all of the above in my electric ice cream maker

If you live out in the country you can always go picking seasonal fruit, and I mean the free ones, like blackberries and those sorts of fruits that are in season.

If you use fresh seasonal fruit, that in itself can also keep the costs down. But I do find frozen and tinned fruit work great.

You can let your imagination run wild with this and throw in whatever you want, chopped nuts, almonds, chocolate etc. It’s great turning up to a friends house for dinner with your very own homemade ice cream.

If you are using blueberries in your ice cream maker a top top tip is to take the stones out first, you can lose a tooth if you do not. If you are throwing in nuts and stuff like that then it is usually best to throw them in at the end.

Remember also that making ice cream at home can be a lot healthier for you, because you do not need to make it so full fat. You can experiment using half fat and low fat, even no fat ingredients. Because the taste is so much fresher (you will not be using any additives to make it last longer) a lot of people find that they don’t need as much cream and fat to make it tasty for them.

In fact for young children it can be a great way to get them to eat fruit and nuts. The trick is to throw loads of fruit and nuts on a small scoop of low fat ice cream, so it does not really feel to them like they are eating fruit on its own.

At the moment my children are loving using the white mountain hand crank ice cream maker. Get them involved in it and you will start seeing them show an interest in making other dishes and foods. It’s great fun if you have them and some of their friends stuck in on a wet afternoon. Keeps them occupied for a while as you can stretch it out by getting them to learn about the ingredients. Where they came from and more. It can be quiet educational.