Fat-Free Mango Ice Cream

I never really crave for ice cream, but I notice that every time when I do eat ice cream or get my hand on ice cream, it becomes a weight gain disaster because I would not stop eating until I get sick off of it.

I always read the nutrition information on ice cream so that I can at least cut out as many calories as possible. Even though the slow churn or fat-free ones are lower in calories, they add up when I eat the whole container! This leads me to making my own ice cream. It may not taste exactly the same as store bought ones, but it satisfies my habit of eating "whole".

On a side note, I remember having this unique "ice cream" at Creations Dessert in San Francisco. It was light, icy-liked yet have tiny bit of creamy-ness to it. The creamy-ness becomes more apparent after the ice cream cools in room temperature for a bit. Then after making my batch, I realized they are similar, which allows me to eat Creations' ice cream with less guilt next time.

In this recipe I use the mangoes from Mexico since I couldn't find the ones from Phillipine. I prefer Phillipine's mangoes because it's more aromatic and richer in flavor. Make sure the fruits you use in ice cream are really ripe and juicy, otherwise the cream will overpower the fruit flavor.

In the recipe below, feel free to use whichever kind of half and half you like, fat, low fat or nonfat. Just note that different fat content will results in ice cream with different consistency.

makes 1 1/2 quart

Ingredients:
4-6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups nonfat half and half
1 large mango
4-5 teaspoons lime or lemon juice

or

2 cup nonfat half and half
1 cup mango puree (sweeten to liking)
4-5 teaspoons lime or lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Dice up mango, and puree it with sugar in a blender. Cut some tiny cubes to add into ice cream later if wanted.
2. Add in half and half and blend.
3. Add lime juice and blend.
4. Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacture's instruction. Add tiny mango cubes last.
5. Store in container and soften before serve.

Remember to freeze it, not only because it's ice cream, but also because there's no perservative! Although, it's usually gone in a day or two.