Snow Ice Cream
Sugar, powdered milk, and clean snow. Dessert made from the ground you are standing on.
- calories
- 230
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 92
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 250 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- No cook
- Winter / snow
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Sugar | 1 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | reconstitutes to about 1 1/2 cups |
| Cold water | 1 1/2 cups | melted snow works |
| Powdered berry drink mix or freeze-dried berry powder | 2 tbsp | for color and flavor |
| Clean snow | about 8 cups | powder, not crust or slush |
Method
- Whisk the milk powder into 1 1/2 cups of cold water in your pot until no lumps float.
- Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cold liquid takes a minute, keep stirring.
- Add the berry powder a little at a time until the base tastes like something and turns pink.
- Scoop fresh snow into the pot and fold it in. Keep adding until it stops pouring and starts holding a spoon.
- Serve immediately. It goes to syrup fast, even in the cold.
This is the one recipe where the bulk of the ingredients is already on the ground. The base is nothing but sweetened milk, and the snow does the job that a churn and a freezer do at home: it aerates and freezes at the same moment you stir it in.
The original called for fresh milk, which does not survive a trip. Powdered whole milk reconstituted with cold water gets you the same fat and body without a cooler. Two things matter: use dry powder snow, because crusted or wet snow melts into slush on contact, and make the base sweeter than seems right. The snow dilutes everything, and a base that tastes correct in the pot tastes like nothing once it is folded in.
Packing
Sugar, milk powder, and berry powder go in one bag at home. In camp you add water and snow, nothing else.
Variations
- Instant hot cocoa mix in place of the sugar and berry powder makes a chocolate version.
- A splash of instant coffee dissolved in the base turns it into a snow affogato.
- Skip the milk powder and use powdered coconut milk to make it dairy-free.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/snow-ice-cream