Snow Ice Cream

Snow Ice Cream is one of my favorite things in life. It is so simple a child can make it, and such a great treat that it should be enjoyed often. I remember having it as a kid and loving it. The winters in southeastern New Mexico are mild, so getting snow ice cream was a super treat. Now that I live in Colorado, I get to enjoy it several times each winter, and I plan on it every time we have a heavy snow.

The version I am offering here is for those that need to control their carbohydrate count, either for dietary or health reasons. Instead of using the Splenda, replace it with the same amount or more of sugar. I usually use twice as much sugar as Splenda, primarily because sucralose, the main ingredient in this sweetener is 10 times sweeter than sugar. You might want to taste the sugared version before adjusting it to suit your tastes.

The cream in the recipe is optional - I don't think that 2 percent milk is rich enough. Besides that, you gotta live once in a while!

Utensils:

1 large bowl - 12 cup capacity
1 large spoon
Glass - at least 20 ounce size

Ingredients:
Snow (mounded-over 12 cup bowl)
1/2 cup Splenda sweetener
1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 or more cups of 2 percent milk (varies)
1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream

Collect snow - find an object that has a large, flat surface and scrape THINLY to get only the best snow. Even though snow has some dirt, large quantities of dirt will really mess this up. In other words, if the snow is brown due to dust contamination - forget it until you can get some cleaner snow. Make sure you pile the bowl full of snow, as it will melt a lot during mixing.

Put the sweetener, vanilla, cream and 1 1/2cups of milk into the glass. Add some snow to it and stir. The snow will make the solution cold enough so it won't destroy all the snowflakes in the bowl - texture is a good thing.

Slowly pour in the milk mixture into the bowl, starting in the center. As you add the solution, move the snow around to mix it well. If the Snow Ice Cream still has white spots in it, put some more milk in the glass, along with some more snow and add this to the bowl, stirring as you go.

The ideal mixture will not be slushy, but will be like partially melted snow. See the photo for example. For best serving, put into chilled bowls - they keep it from becoming liquid too fast.

Have a great day and God Bless!