I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

People around the globe look to the United States as world leaders in a number of things. That list includes politics, scientific research and other important topics. And ice cream consumption.

The U.S. is the top consumer of ice cream in the world, but Americans aren't the only people enjoying the frozen dessert.

According to www.ice-cream-recipes.com, America edges out New Zealand, Denmark, Australia and Belgium on the list of the top ice cream-consuming countries.

Ice cream is not only tasty, it is big business. Making and selling ice cream is an $11 billion industry worldwide.

A few scoops of that $11 billion worth of ice cream is vanilla. Vanilla is the most popular ice cream in the world. But if people reach for a topping, chances are it is chocolate syrup, the most popular topping.

While people were enjoying commercial ice cream for years, Nancy Johnson made it easy for people to make the dessert at home. In 1946, she invented the first hand-crank ice cream maker, and now, they are available at almost every department store, and they are as inexpensive as ever.

With milk, cream, sugar and a few extra ingredients, homemade ice cream is not only easy to make, but also enjoyable.

Many recipes call for the ingredients to be "scalded" in a saucepan, but not boiled. After chilling the mixture, turning it into ice cream is as easy as plugging the machine in, adding ice and then rock salt. The hard part is watching it for 20-30 minutes, as the machine mixes and freezes the liquid into ice cream.

Recipes for homemade ice cream are only limited by your imagination. Fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries added to a recipe for vanilla ice cream make a great summer treat. Adding a dash of mint extract, green food coloring and chocolate chips can turn vanilla into green mint chocolate chip ice cream. Chocolate chunks and marshmallows turns ordinary ice cream into Rocky Road, an all-time favorite.

With the new ice cream machines available, messing up a recipe is nearly impossible. And if you don't have a machine, don't worry. Ice cream can even be made using two Ziploc bags and a minimal amount of ingredients.

Homemade ice cream recipes

Ice cream in a bag

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup milk or half and half

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons rock salt

1 pint-size Ziploc plastic bag

1 gallon-size Ziploc plastic bag

Ice cubes

Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.

Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag and seal it. Place the small bag inside the large one and seal again carefully. Shake until mixture is ice cream, about 5 minutes. Wipe off top of small bag, then open carefully and enjoy. Chocolate syrup or fruit can be added to the mixture.

This recipes is from www.kidsdomain.com

Vanilla ice cream

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended. Pour in the cream, milk and vanilla and whisk to blend. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Butter pecan

2 cups light cream

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

Combine the light cream, sugar, and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly over low heat until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Let the mixture cool and put it in an ice cream machine.

Stir in heavy cream and vanilla.

Freeze as directed by your machine's manufacturer. Add pecans after ice cream begins to harden.

Raspberry ice cream

4 cups fresh raspberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

Juice of half a lemon

2 eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

Toss the raspberries, 3/4 cup sugar and the lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended. Pour in the heavy cream and milk and whisk to blend.

Drain the juice from the raspberries into the cream mixture and blend. Mash the raspberries until pureed and stir them into the cream mixture.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.

Rocky Road ice cream

1 cup milk

3 ounces semisweet choco- late

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cups light cream

1/2 tablespoon vanilla

extract

2 cups heavy cream

1 cups mini marshmallows

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Combine the milk and chocolate in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the chocolate is melted, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Freeze in an ice cream machine, following manufacturer's direction. When the ice cream is almost done, add the marshmallows, chocolate chips and pecans.

Green tea ice cream

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons green tea

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup light cream

Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar melts, and simmer the syrup for 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of the syrup with the powdered green tea, then add that mixture to the syrup in the saucepan, and stir until evenly mixed. Add the light cream and heavy cream , pour into an ice cream freezer, and freeze according to instructions.

The above recipes are from www.dsupernet.net/~zaz/icecream