Enjoy your Halloween candy but not all at once with this easy ice cream recipe!
Every Halloween I allow my boys to eat 3-5 pieces of candy that night. The rest gets divided as follows: one half gummy/sour/hard candy donated to the service men and women overseas, and the other half (chocolate-based candy) gets chopped up and spun into an ice cream. To say that this is a hit with my boys and their friends is to put it mildly. At this point, the boys are excited to donate all of their candy to these two piles. The best part: not only do they not overindulge in Halloween candy, they get to enjoy it long after Halloween is over in proper portions. Even better: they eventually tire of it altogether after a few days and yearn for a different kind of sweet treat.
Equipment: cutting board; chef’s knife; wet measuring cup; dry measuring cup; measuring spoons; mixing bowl (optional); whisk; ice cream machine; rubber spatula
Ingredients: 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chopped candy
ILOC tip: another fun way to chop the candy is to use a mezzaluna and a mixing bowl and chop, chop, chop!
1. In a 4-cup wet measuring cup or mixing bowl, whisk the cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla until dissolved. Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
2. Churn the chilled milk mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions (generally about 20 minutes). Add the chopped candy in the last minute of churning.
3. Pour the ice cream into a container and store in the freezer for up to one month.
Makes 6-8 servings.
Sometimes it is okay to throw it away!
"I am in no way advocating being wasteful of food, but there are on occasion times when being a little wasteful is worthwhile. Gorging on Halloween candy to the point of being physically sick is not a requisite part of enjoying the holiday, in my opinion. At the same time, I take no pleasure in making my sons feel like they cannot enjoy when other kids are enjoying, or that they are being restricted unfairly. That's why I literally spin my point of view into ice cream! If they tire of it after a few days and I ultimately throw away half a batch of homemade ice cream a month later, so be it. They don't seem to need to devour every last drop to savor the flavor and the fun. Every once in a while, it really is okay to just throw it away."
