I'd wager that a lot of people who invested in an electric ice cream machine over the past couple/few years can count on a hand or two the number of times they've actually made something with it.

I'd also bet that although they enjoyed the ice cream that they made and probably the act of making ice cream, it now just seems like a little too much bother, and hence the machine gathers dust, and ice cream is once again bought at the store.

Maybe I'm presumptuous, but this has been my experience, and I don't think I'm alone in my laziness! Because although making a quick Crème Anglais custard for an ice cream base only takes a few minutes, it's just a few too many minutes of bother, and it derails thoughts of fresh homemade ice cream just about every time.

But No More! I have recently discovered the joys of Philadelphia style ice creams (no eggs) and now that I can get a batch of ice cream a rockin' in 2 minutes flat, I'm once again enjoying my Cuisenart Ice cream Machine (A quick plug here…this is a great machine!) and once again about needing to punch a few new extender holes in my belt!

Philadelphia Style Ice Cream

Philadelphia style ice cream bases are not custard based. They are pretty basic and most consist of a few ingredients (milk, cream, sugar and flavorings) that just need to be mixed and dumped into your machine. Dead Easy – and an additional bonus is that with Philadelphia sty6le ice creams, you avoid that subtle but very unpleasant eggyness that sometimes creeps into custard style ice creams kept for too long in a freezer.

Here is a very basic and completely simple recipe for Philadelphia Style Ice cream This can be modified and adapted to suit your needs, creativity and available pantry

Philadelphia "No Egg" Ice Cream Recipe

• 2 cups of whipping cream
• 1 cup of milk (any kind skim, 1%, 2% or full fat will work here. I use full fat)
• ¾ cup of sugar
• Flavorings to taste

1. Add the milk and sugar to a sauce pan and heat and stir gently over medium low, until the sugar has dissolved completely. Turn off the heat and add in the whipping cream.
2. TaDA!

Pretty easy eh?!?

Add in a flavoring if desired (although the basic cream and sugar version does make a very nice delicate ice cream) and process as per usual in your ice cream machine.

A Raspberry Ice Cream Version

One of my favorite versions is Raspberry ice cream using this very simple base and some good homemade raspberry jam. Since the jam contains sugar, I reduce the sugar in the base to a half cup and all that you do is process the ice cream until it's almost ready in the machine, and then start dropping in spoonfuls of jam, tasting and adding until you get the flavor intensity that your after.

So, If you have never tried making Philadelphia style ice cream – Break out that old ice cream maker and get your creativity fired up for some always appreciated homemade ice cream. Laziness is no longer a reasonable excuse!