Our story
Old-fashioned on purpose.
Hot Licks is an independent corner of the internet devoted to homemade ice cream: how to make it, what to put in it, and how to serve it so it disappears before it has a chance to melt.
Why we churn
Why bother making ice cream at home?
You can buy a tub for the price of a coffee, so why spend an afternoon making your own? Because once you’ve tasted the difference, it’s very hard to go back.
Homemade ice cream isn’t about being fancy or difficult. It’s about fresh ingredients, a bit of patience and the small thrill of serving something nobody else can buy.
- You choose what goes in. Cream, milk, sugar, eggs and real flavorings. No mystery ingredients, unless you count enthusiasm.
- Nothing beats fresh. Ice cream is at its best in its first few days, and homemade never sits in a warehouse or the back of a truck.
- Any flavor is possible. Seasonal fruit, the good chocolate, your favorite coffee beans, a splash of bourbon. The menu is whatever you like.
- It’s genuinely fun. Few kitchen projects get such a big reaction for so little effort.
How we got here
A short history of ice cream at home
Homemade ice cream is older than the freezer, the refrigerator and the ice cream cone. Here’s the scoop, in six chapters.
1700s
A frozen luxury
Ice cream recipes start appearing in cookbooks. Making it takes a pot of sweetened cream, a bucket packed with ice and salt, a great deal of stirring and access to an icehouse, so it’s strictly a treat for the wealthy.
1843
The hand crank arrives
Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia patents a hand-cranked freezer: a paddle turning inside a canister surrounded by ice and salt. The idea is so good that crank freezers built on the same principle are still sold today.
Late 1800s
The soda fountain era
Ice cream sodas, floats and sundaes become the treat of the day. Several towns still argue over who invented the sundae, which may be the most delicious dispute in food history.
1904
Cones hit the big time
Edible cones win over the crowds at the St. Louis World’s Fair, and suddenly ice cream is something you can eat while walking around.
1900s
The factory freezer
Continuous freezers and home refrigerators make ice cream cheap and everywhere. Mass production brings convenience, but also more air, more stabilizers and a lot less character.
Today
Back to small batches
Countertop machines with built-in compressors can churn a batch in under an hour, with no ice or salt required. Old-fashioned ice cream has never been easier to make at home.
The scoop on us
What we believe
1
Small batches beat big ones
A quart or so at a time is easy to handle, quick to freeze and usually gone long before it has a chance to turn icy.
2
Good ingredients do the heavy lifting
Fresh cream, ripe fruit and real vanilla will get you further than any clever trick or expensive gadget.
3
Every flavor deserves a try
Some of the best combinations sound strange on paper. Churn first, judge later, and write down the winners.
The small print
About hotlicks.net
hotlicks.net is a new, independent website about homemade ice cream. It isn’t an ice cream shop, and it has no connection to any business that may have used the Hot Licks name in the past.
Everything here is written for home cooks: ordinary kitchens, ordinary freezers, and anyone who thinks the best scoop is the one you made yourself. Questions, corrections and flavor ideas are always welcome.