A few years ago, I did some experimenting with making Root Beer Ice. I made a few posts about those experiments, but I never made a final post on the topic. We also took some horrible pictures of the root beer ice I made. This is kind of a final post, and hopefully more appetizing pictures.
If you are interested here are the older posts.
- Experimenting with Root Beer Ice
- Experimenting with Root Beer Ice natural flavor
- Experimenting with Root Beer Ice sugar free
Root Beer is one of those traditional American flavors. It especially pairs well with vanilla ice cream in a root beer float. My original purpose behind making root beer ice was to serve it with ice cream as a frozen root beer float. The root beer ice that I made is good enough on its own, but tastes even better with ice cream.
I tried two different root beer flavors. The first was a concentrate made by McCormick. That flavor was kind a little fake to me, but works ok. The second was an extract using natural flavors made by The Spice House. I think the natural flavor is superior. When it is being cooked, the smell of root beer spreads through the kitchen. It is a more mild flavor, and has less chemical undertones.
The only issue with the natural flavor is the lack of color. The McCormick concentrate has caramel coloring, and ends up making a darker final product. It looks more like the root beer you would buy at the store. I attempted to use food coloring to make my root beer ice brown. I must confess that I did a horrible job at it. The first batch I tried to dye turned out pink, and the second was a shocking color of green. I called it Radioactive Root Beer Ice.
Finally, I decided that the light brown color from the natural flavor is a strong point. It means that I am using natural things rather than artificial.
This recipe can be made using whatever root beer flavoring you have. The amount of flavor you use may need to vary depending on how strong the flavoring is. I use 1 tablespoon of the extract, which gives a mild root beer flavoring. If you want a stronger flavor you could certainly use more.
Root Beer Ice
Mix sugar, water and lemon juice in medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in root beer extract.
Refrigerate 2 hours or until chilled.
Pour into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix sugar, water and lemon juice in medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in root beer extract.
Refrigerate 2 hours or until chilled.
Pour into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.
I highly recommend trying the root beer ice with vanilla ice cream. Our family all loves it. It is a great summer time treat, especially on the very hot days.
-Joshua