Ice cream in a bag

By Vanessa Greaves

It's a dessert! It's a science project!

It's way cool fun for kids. And it's a great hands-on project for when the kids are home and they're bugging you for something to do. We'll show you how kids can shake up their own homemade ice cream and sneak in a little learning while they're at it.

How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag

This no-cook recipe for vanilla ice cream makes about eight half-cup servings.

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream


• 2 cups half-and-half cream


• 1/2 cup white sugar


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 1 bag crushed ice


• 4 cups coarse salt

For each kid you'll need:

• 2 pint-size resealable plastic freezer bags


• 1 gallon-size resealable plastic freezer bag


• Gloves or towel to protect fingers

Directions

1. In a pitcher or large measuring cup, stir together the whipping cream, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla extract until sugar has dissolved.


2. Pour about 1/2 cup of mixture into a pint-size plastic bag and seal carefully, squeezing out extra air. Place each sealed bag into a second pint-size bag, again squeezing out extra air. Seal carefully.


3. Fill each gallon-size plastic bag about halfway with ice and add 1/2 cup coarse salt. Place one sealed small bag into the large bag, squeeze out most of the air, and seal the large bag.


4. Wear mittens or thick gloves, or wrap the bag in a towel to protect hands against the extreme cold. Shake and massage the bag for about 5 minutes or until mixture thickens into ice cream. Add more salt and ice to the outer bag if ice cream hasn't formed after 10 minutes of continuous motion.


5. Remove the outer pint-size bag before you open the inner bag so you don't get any of the salty ice on your ice cream!

How Does it Work?

The Science of Salt
Salt lowers the freezing point of the ice and creates an extra-cold brine that absorbs heat from the milk mixture, causing the mixture to freeze.

What's Shaking?
Why shake the bag? The motion creates smoother ice cream by breaking up large ice crystals and allows the ice cream to freeze uniformly.

Download the Instructions

Print out our step-by-step guide to making ice cream—no ice cream maker needed:

Hummingbird cake

This showstopping celebration cake tastes of summer, with pineapple and banana flavours, tangy cream cheese frosting and delicate edible flowers

Nutrition and extra info

Nutrition: Per serving (12)

Ingredients

Baking powder

Baking powder is a raising agent that is commonly used in cake-making. It is made from an alkali…

Cinnamon

A fragrant spice which comes from the inner bark of a tropical tree. When dried, it curls into…

Nutmeg

One of the most useful of spices for both sweet and savoury …

Banana

Probably the best known, most popular tropical fruit, their name probably derives from the…

The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition, packed with protein and a…

Pecan

Related to the walnut, pecans are native to America, and grow enclosed in a glossy, browny-red…

For the icing

• 200g full-fat soft cheese


• 150g softened, unsalted article" data-tooltip-w >butter

Butter

Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

Honey

Honey is made by bees from the nectar they collect from flowers. Viscous and fragrant, it's…

Orange

One of the best-known citrus fruits, oranges aren't necessarily orange - some varieties are…

edible flowers and dried pineapple rings, to decorate (optional)

Method

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil two 20cm, loose-bottomed cake tins and line the bottom of each one with baking parchment.

Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl, and add 1/2 tsp salt and the baking powder. Stir through the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and a very good grating of nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk the mashed bananas through the eggs and oil until well combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and tip in the wet mixture. Fold everything together until combined, then mix through the pineapple and pecans. Spoon the mixture into the tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 35-45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for about 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool down completely.

Meanwhile, put the soft cheese, softened butter, honey and sugar into a mixing bowl and beat together until just combined. Try not to overbeat the mixture or it will become too soft and runny. Chill for 30 mins in the fridge before using.

Put one of the cakes on a serving plate and spread with half the icing. Top with the other cake and smooth over the remaining icing. Finish with shavings of orange zest, edible flowers and dried pineapple rings, if you like. Will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.