The other day my sister Cindy and I went to the local hardware store to buy some canning jars. We were going to be canning applesauce, and I needed 1/2-pint jars. When I lived in the U.K. I had some really lovely Weck canning jars, but of course all of that got left behind when I moved back to Canada.
When we were on our way to the checkout with our case of jars what did we spy with our little eyes! Something new that we had never seen before!
The Dash My Pint Ice Cream Maker. I am quite familiar with Dash products. I own a few of them. I have some of their mini waffle makers and I have a waffle bowl maker and not that long ago I bought their egg boiler. (It sings to you when the eggs are done.)
I had no idea that they made ice cream makers! And they were on sale! Only $19.97. Regularly $32.00. So cute and such a cute color as well. We both could not resist, and we each bought one.
Part of the allure for me was the fact that it was so small. As a single person living on their own, I find buying a container of ice cream for myself a huge waste of money. I usually only get one serving from it and it goes back into the freezer where it crystalizes, and I end up having to throw it away.
And those little containers of Haagen Das are so expensive. I prefer Frozen Yogurt over Ice Cream as well, and that is nigh on impossible to get in a small container.
The pluses of buying this smaller machine really added up for me.
This is a small, pint sized ice cream maker, consisting of a small, motorized cap, with an on and off switch, and a removable paddle that snaps on and off easily. There is also a cooling container which holds the cooling bowl which is the part that gets put into the freezer to freeze before you make your ice cream.
It also came with a handy instruction booklet that has a few recipes in it. Their instruction booklets always have a few recipes in them.
In looking it up I discovered that this little ice cream/gelato maker also came within the top ten from the
Buyers Guide, with a rating of 8.3.
I have a larger Cuisinart Ice Cream machine that I have never used. Why? Because the insert takes up too much room in my freezer. It's really that simple.
I washed the cooling bowl on the day I got it and popped it into the freezer so that it would be ready to use whenever I felt inspired. Today I decided to do some frozen yogurt in it. I am trying to get more active probiotics into my diet and so I picked up some Activia yogurt at the shops. This was the pear flavor.
My sister had her doubts as to whether Pear flavored yogurt would be any good or not. I can tell you it is lovely and has nice chunks of pear in it. Plus, it is not that high in sugar and is pretty healthy,
I loaded the cooling bowl with a quantity (1 cup/245g) of the chilled yogurt and popped the cooling bowl into the cooling cup. Snapped on the paddle and turned it on so that the paddle was rotating. I then slowly lowered it into the cooling bowl, turning it to lock it in place as per the instructions in the manual.
I set a timer for about 15 minutes. There were no timings included, which is the only drawback that I can come up with. I went off to do a few other things and checked back at the end of that time. I thought it could use a bit longer and set the timer for a further 10 minutes.
I was really anxious to try the finished product. This was after about 25 minutes and to be honest I could have easily left it for another 5 or 6 minutes, but I didn't want my yogurt to be too hard. I was looking for more of a soft serve product.
It was more frozen around the edges of the container than it was on the paddle.
I scraped it into a dessert bowl to eat. You can see that it has a lovely texture. Smooth and frozen, with no visible ice crystals. I like.
The pear yogurt made for a lovely frozen yogurt. I am keen now to try other flavor favorites such as lemon or strawberry.
I am thinking you could also use plain yogurt and add a swirl of your favorite curd or fruit flavored jam or marmalade.
Altogether I was really pleased with this little workhorse and really enjoyed my frozen treat. So much so that I washed and dried the cooling container and popped it right back into the freezer ready to use another time.
Interesting note, you can also make fruit sorbets with this machine, using blended fresh fruit and either a sugar syrup or maple syrup. I am keen to try that as well. I wonder what an apple and maple would taste like.
The wheels are turning. I wonder what a frozen applesauce and yogurt combination would taste like?
I had some fresh Speculoos cookies in the cupboard and I crumbled one over top as I thought the flavor would work very well with the pear. I am thinking that I could have added a bit of ground cardamon as well, which would have been lovely with the flavor of the pear.
Altogether I have to say I am really impressed with this little ice cream maker. If you are a person who lives on your own and want to make smaller portions of ice cream, gelato, sorbets or frozen yogurt for yourself I highly recommend!
Easy to use with excellent results. Easy to clean as well and simple to store which is a huge positive in this small place that I live. If you are a person on their own, or a smaller family this is for you!
Note - I purchased this machine for myself and am under no obligation to Dash to provide any positive or negative feedback on this item. I am simply sharing my opinion of it with you and my positive recommendation.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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Now that looks like a nifty little gadget. I too have a full size ice cream machine that rarely gets used, but I could see me making a small amount of frozen yogurt 'on a whim' with this. You may have tried this already Marie, but full fat coconut yogurt or lemon curd yogurt both make gorgeous ices - not as healthy as the one you made of course!
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Those do sound lovely Alison. I will be on the lookout! I can see myself using this gadget frequently! It takes up very little space which is a real plus! xo
DeleteTry frozen yogurt and lemon curd or even lemon curd on its own. Thinking about lemon curd makes my mouth water. Sounds like a handy little gadget as I too rarely buy a pint of ice cream or frozen yogurt because I will scoff the lot in one sitting.
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