County fairs have sno-cones, convenience stores have slushies and the Hawaiian Islands have shave-ice. Bring those flavors home and add to a child’s excitement of a snowfall with this tasty treat. (Consider it a payoff after the kids help shovel.)
Simple and delicious, kids can modify and experiment with the basic recipe to suit their tastes.
Basic Snow Ice Cream
2 cups of base liquid; either milk, half and half, heavy whipping cream or sweetened condensed milk
1.5 cups sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
Large bowl of clean, fresh snow
Mix the cream or milk, sugar and vanilla together in a small bowl. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the mixture with scoops of snow, adding more snow until the ice cream reaches the desired consistency. Serve in a dish or scoop into an ice cream cone.
Try variations using chocolate milk, fruit jellies, juices or flavored syrups.
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of Iowa Outdoors magazine. Subscribe today or explore more on Pinterest on our Iowa Outdoors magazine board.