When Emily Daggett Weiss set out to make movies in Fort Lee in 1909, movie technology was in its infancy. The film had to be threaded into the camera, the camera had to be focused and cranked by hand, and the crude black and white film had to be developed through many processes before the movie could be viewed. And that was without sound.
When I became interested in the process and problems of making movies in 2003, technology had advanced to where I had only to acquire a video camera, point and shoot.
Similarly, in Emily’s day making vanilla ice cream involved skimming the cream from the top of the milk bottle, firing up the stove, hand-beating the egg yolks, cooking and stirring the custard on top of the stove until it coated the back of the spoon (who knows what that looks like? Not me) and hand-cranking the ice cream maker until one’s arm was ready to fall off.
Nowadays you can make delicious vanilla ice cream (or whatever flavor you may wish) using your microwave oven with carousel, a portable electric mixer, and any of the good automatic ice cream makers now on the market. Here’s how it goes:
6 egg yolks (you still have to separate the eggs)
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups half and half
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
- cream the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until thick and light.
- Place the half and half in a microwave-safe casserole. Add vanilla and salt. Cook, uncovered, at full power (650 to 700 watts) for three minutes.
- Slowly mix the half and half into the egg yolk mixture, beating with the electric mixer until smooth. Return the mixture to the casserole.
- Stopping to beat once a minute, cook the mixture for 3 1/2 minutes more in the microwave. It will surely coat the back of a spoon.
- Bring to room temperature and then put in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, three hours at least.
- Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Delicious!
Irene Fleming's Blog 