The snow will start to melt as soon as you mix in the milk and sugar. Refreeze it if you want an icy snow cream.
Congratulations to those of you in the Mid-Atlantic – we made it through the weekend snowpocalypse! There is still snow everywhere of course, but the streets in Baltimore are somewhat plowed, there are a few cleared walkways on the streets, and you have most likely shoveled your driveway, an arduous chore when you’re moving 20+ inches of snow.
But there were a few bright spots to all of this snow. The snow sculptures like the couple sitting on a bench near the Monument on Charles Street were fun to look at, and there were more people on the streets than I have seen all winter.
Now we just have to get through the snow predicted for tomorrow and Wednesday. But there is another benefit you could look forward to, a great recipe idea that would be fun to make with kids: snow cream.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, the main ingredient in snow cream is snow. If you’re a little leery of giving fresh snow to your kids, I don’t blame you. I was hesitant at first too. But the key is to get to the snow before the people and the shovels and the dogs can contaminate it.
For this experiment, I gathered snow from my back porch right after the storm had stopped. I pushed away the top layer and used the fresh powder underneath. If you like, you can also fill a bowl with snow and keep it in your freezer until you’re ready to use it.
Then as long as you have milk and sugar – white or brown is preferred; natural sugars like honey immediately freeze up and stick to your spoon – this dessert is easy. Just stir everything together in a bowl using this recipe for snow cream to get ingredient ratios. For my snow cream, I used vanilla soy milk and white sugar.
What you get is a milky ice. Mine tasted exactly like frozen soy milk. I only made a small bowl, just enough to test the snow cream, but I ate the whole thing. And for kids who eat plain snow, imagine how excited they’ll be to eat that same snow mixed with milk and sugar!
Something to look forward to for Tuesday…
