Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I think the only downside of having goats is that they produce less cream than  cows. Not that I’d want all that milk to deal with, but I sure would love more cream. I’d love to have enough butter for both cooking and table use, not to mention make more whipped cream and ice cream. Some people think goats don’t produce any cream, which isn’t true. Click here to read my post on getting cream from goat milk and making butter.

What I do have a lot of is whey. Anytime I make cheese, I use the whey to make a simple ricotta cheese. (How-to for that here.) And because we adore ice cream (especially in summer), I borrowed an idea from the Italians to use my ricotta in place of cream for ice cream (called gelato – recipe here). This small amount is perfect for my Cuisinart.

• 2 cups whole milk (could use skimmed)
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Heat the milk, peanut butter, and sugar in a sauce pan, stirring until the sugar melts. Beat the egg yolks in a blender (or by hand) and s-l-o-w-l-y add the warm milk mixture (slow enough to not cook the eggs). Add the salt and vanilla and allow the mixture to chill. (While you’re waiting, use the egg whites to make the brownies. 😊 ) Churn and enjoy!

I find that the ricotta adds the same richness that cream does to ice cream and with very little fat (ice milk just isn’t satisfying). My ricotta is made from the whey of my skimmed milk mozzarella, and if skimmed milk was substituted for the whole milk in the recipe, you could have delicious low-fat ice cream. Substitute fruit for the peanut butter for even less!