Prudent and Practical

Last Father’s Day I purchased a 1.5 quart Rival ice cream maker for D.  We’ve (I’ve) made ice cream an average of once per month over the past year.  We’ve made mostly vanilla – both quick and old-fashioned (custard) recipes, Oreo ice cream, and even a few different vegan recipes.

At the same time, we have frequently purchased ice cream at the grocer such as store brand and Blue Bunny, but realized it’s not “real” ice cream.  If you look at the front of the carton, it usually says something like “Vanilla Flavored Ice Cream.”  These often contain the dreaded high fructose corn syrup and a plethora of hard-to-pronounce words.  I’m assuming that Breyer’s vanilla and Haagen-Dasz brands are more expensive because they don’t have these things.

The following recipe is from the Rival 1.5 quart ice cream maker’s guide:

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

• 1/4 cup sugar ($0.13)
• 1/8 tsp salt (cost not calculated)
• 1 3/4 cup whole milk ($0.47)
• 2 eggs, beaten ($0.15)
• (Heat the first three ingredients together in a pot.  Add 1/2 cup of mixture to beaten eggs and mix. Add this mixture back to main mixture.  Chill for 2 hours.)
• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream ($1.27)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract ($1.16)
• (Add the cream and vanilla to the chilled mixture and stir together well.  Add to ice cream maker and chill according to manufacturer’s instructions.)

I even used a couple organic ingredients!  Although I’m addicted to sweets and vanilla, I thought that 1tbsp vanilla extract was too much in this recipe.  I will try using less next time.

DOLLAR$ & CENT$

1. Total cost = $3.18 / 12 half-cup servings (1.5 qt.) = $0.27 / serving
2. Breyer’s:  $3.39 / 12 half-cup servings (1.5 qt.) = $0.28 / serving
3. Haagen-Dazs:  $3.89 / 3.5 half-cup servings (1-ish pint) = $1.11 / serving

Of course, my cost may be different then yours.  I could cut the cost if I purchased the dairy in bigger sizes (not 1 qt. sizes) and used all non-organic ingredients.  When I look at the final cost, I think, “It’s not much cheaper than Breyer’s, more costly than Blue Bunny and store brand, and I have to prepare it.”  But then I realize:  the ingredients are natural and there are absolutely no preservatives or corn syrups in it, and that’s important to me.