Recently, my hubby surprised me with a new commercial quality compressor-style ice cream and gelato maker. Lest you think an ice cream maker is not a very romantic gift to give your spouse on a significant birthday, keep in mind he knows ice cream is my second favorite food on the planet, and that I’ve been pining for this machine for a long, long time. Unlike other ice cream makers I’ve used, the kind where the freezer bowl must be completely frozen before you can start a recipe, this model, the Cuisinart Ice-100 Ice Cream and Gelato Maker, allows you to make batch after batch of decadently delicious ice cream or authentic Italian gelateria-quality gelato, on demand. So, after preparing and chilling mixes for chocolate, espresso and pistachio gelato and one for black walnut ice cream, the machine and I commenced celebrating our newly-found collaboration. Each batch of dense and rich gelato churned out better than the next, with the ice cream, sweetened with pure maple (not pancake) syrup and studded with crunchy nuts, being impossible to stop eating once tasted. Thus began the love/hate relationship with my ice cream maker. I love it one day, hate it the next, then crave the facilitator of my addiction all over again. Regardless of the kind of ice cream machine you have, compressor-style or otherwise, these recipes will work for you. Oh, before I forget, there’s just one more thing – happy weight gaining.

Sue Ade is a syndicated food writer with broad experience and interest in the culinary arts. She has worked and resided in the Lowcountry of South Carolina since 1985 and may be reached at kitchenade@yahoo.com.