I’m Pregnant, and Can’t Stop Making Ice Cream With This Ice Cream Maker

People keep asking me two things: Do I have a name for my bundle of joy? And what are my pregnancy cravings? Both of my answers seem to disappoint friends and family because no, I haven’t settled on a name, and I don’t have any true “cravings” either. However, I’ve nay turned down a scoop of ice cream since entering the second trimester of this pregnancy, and while I’m not exactly pairing my cones with dill pickles, I’ve been embracing dessert so much that I decided to invest in an at-home ice cream machine to make my own. And I’ll never buy store-bought ice cream again.

Pregnancy might have been my gateway to making homemade ice cream recipes, but I’m hardly alone; in fact, market research reports show that demand for at-home ice cream makers is on the rise, especially in the wake of 2020, when interest in traditional home-making was at an all-time high due to COVID restrictions. Now that I’ve found the Cuisinart 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker, I feel obligated to sing its praises to anyone who often finds themselves running after the ice cream man. This $100 machine makes everything from soft serve, gelato, and sorbet to frozen yogurt and drinks. And it’s so unbelievably easy to use, I can’t wait to make ice cream with my daughter (in a year or two).

Cuisinart 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker

The best part about this homemade ice cream maker is that it churns out ready-to-go soft serve in as little as 20 minutes. However, it does require a bit of advance preparation. The inner freezer bowl has to be placed in the freezer at least 24 hours before making ice cream. I’ve gotten in the habit of immediately cleaning it after each use (most of the parts are dishwasher safe, but the bowl needs to be hand washed), then sticking it right back in the freezer so it’s good to go next time. The only other prep required has to do with the specific ice cream recipe you’re using. 

For my first batch, I went with the vanilla frozen yogurt recipe from the included Cuisinart recipe book, and it took less than 10 minutes to prepare in a mixing bowl before it was ready for the machine. Once I transported the bowl to the machine, I turned it on and set a timer for 20 minutes. It looked like it could use a little bit more churning time, so I ran it for another five minutes. It was still soft and somewhat liquidy, but definitely edible and quite delicious. To give it a better chance of achieving a firmer consistency, I transferred it to a container and froze it for another hour. Now, it was less fro-yo and more true, traditional ice cream. It was so good (and so satisfying knowing that I had made it) that I forgot to top it with sprinkles before housing it down. I also made vanilla ice cream, which only required whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar; it took just 25 minutes of churning for the perfect ice cream consistency.

I love that it does all the churning for you with the help of a fully automatic, heavy-duty motor and a powerful paddle that can handle up to 2 quarts of ingredients. The lid also features an open center (or ingredient spout) that lets you keep an eye on the ice cream as it mixes. Plus, you can use it to pour in your favorite mix-ins to create new combinations of flavors. Add anything from sprinkles to cookie crumbles, and the paddle will perfectly blend it in so that it’s fully blended into the ice cream more so than become just a topping. As someone who loves some crunch in their soft serve, it’s definitely my favorite feature.

Of course, I’m not the only one who’s obsessed with this ice cream maker; it has nearly 15,000 five-star ratings and has sold more than 10,000 times in the past month. “I will never buy ice cream from the store again,” one five-star reviewer wrote. Someone else who gave this ice cream maker a perfect five-star rating said, “This Cuisinart ice cream maker is awesome. What an improvement over the old fashioned ice cream makers. No more salt or ice needed and this thing [makes] soft-serve in about 20 minutes’ time.” Another shopper said, “I’ve owned this thing for just over a decade and have made countless batches of ice cream in it and it is awesome.”

By far and away my best purchase of the summer (and better than anything I could have ever listed on my baby registry), the Cuisinart 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker is the bee’s knees IMHO. At just $100, you’ll very quickly get your money’s worth in just a few batches of homemade ice cream, so whether you’re pregnant or not, I highly, highly recommend it. Buy it now at Amazon, and check out more ice cream makers and at-home ice cream-making accessories below.

Zicoto Set of Two 1.6-Quarts Reusable Ice Cream Tub Containers

Cuisinart Cool Creations 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker

Nostalgia Electric Ice Cream Maker

Balci Two-Pack 1-Quart Premium Ice Cream Containers

Ninja NC501 Creami Deluxe 11-in-1 Ice Cream and Frozen Treat Maker

Cuisinart Ice-30RFB Stainless Steel 2-Quart Freezer Bowl