Food is science, even when it doesn’t involve cooking! This recipe for ice cream in a bag takes about 20-30 minutes and combines chemical reactions, physical activity and a sweet frozen treat. Yum, science!
Note: you can add other ingredients to the ice cream, like crushed fruits or cookie crumbs. My own attempt, adding a diced peach, was unsuccessful, maybe because it added too much liquid. Feel free to experiment and report!
Supplies: Express Ice Cream
- 1 tbsp (12 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (12 cl) milk OR half-and-half OR heavy whipping cream (apparently non-dairy milk works too)
- 1/4 tsp (1 ml) vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (150 g) salt; 4 cups (960 g) ice
- small Ziploc bag (pint-sized or sandwich-sized)
- bigger sealable bag.
Instructions
In the smaller bag, combine 1/2 cup (12 cl) milk, half-and-half or heavy whipping cream, 1 tbsp (12 g) sugar and 1/4 tsp (1 ml) vanilla extract. You might add the other ingredients I mentioned above. Try to squeeze out as much air as possible, then seal tightly. You can put the bag in a bowl for ease of filling.
I didn’t have Ziploc bags on hand, so I tied mine well, taped the end shut, then put it in another bag because it’s not sturdy enough.
In the bigger bag, pour ice and salt. I’m using large ice cubes (about 40 of them) but smaller ice cubes or crushed ice will probably work better.
Put the smaller bag inside of the bigger one, nested in the ice and salt. Seal it well, because you’re about to move it move it!
It’s time to shake it. It will be cold, and your hands are warm, so I recommend holding the bag with oven mitts or a towel, or, like me, putting it inside a big tupperware, preferably with a lid (especially if, like mine, the bag is prone to leaking). You will now shake that bag for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how hot it is where you are. Shale it, turn it around, throw it lightly in the air, make up a little choreography. If you find that it’s still liquid when you stop, just keep shaking it; mine here took 10 minutes.
You should now have a portion of vanilla ice cream, that you can eat now or freeze for later. This recipe works because the salt makes the ice colder, enough to freeze your other ingredients. The shaking creates an emulsion, a mixture of two liquids that can’t blend together. There is a good explanation of the phenomenon here: click to view. Now enjoy that treat before it melts!
Hosted by Dale for Troop Bunsen
The chemistry in Troop Bunsen always gets a great reaction. Anything but basic, these campers are in their element both in the lab and around the campground. Need solutions? Troop Bunsen has you covered.
