I had never heard of it. But last Saturday when we had the first snow of this season I ate Snow Cream for the first time. Like real snow with, well, not real cream, it was condensed milk.
I had never heard of it. My husband from California had never heard of it, my friend Krista from Minnesota had never heard of it, my friend Barbara from Virginia had never heard of it. It must be a southern thang.
In Singapore we have Ice Kachang, which is shaved ice with beans, sweet corn (yum) and jelly underneath the ice, and a mixture of brightly-colored syrups and evaporated milk dribbled over the ice. In Hawaii there are snow cones. These shaved ice comes from a block of ice made presumably with clean water.
Snow Cream is made from snow. From the sky. My daughter’s in-laws introduced this to me. Nothing more au naturale than this.
This was during my grandson’s first birthday and to celebrate it his grandparents and aunt came up from North Carolina to enjoy a combined Thanksgiving-Birthday-Christmas weekend. (This is what happens if you have a birthday right smack in the middle of holidays. Everything gets lumped together.)
When the weather forecast snow, Grandpa Mickey and Aunt Jennifer made sure they bought a couple cans of condensed milk during their drive up.
As I busied myself preparing a rib roast, we waited for more snow to fall. It took a while. Mickey kept urging for more snow, more fluffy, light snow for perfect Snow Cream. But snowfall was light, and it was wet and didn’t stick to the ground.
The snow stayed on our cars and in our backyard. Mickey did a quick check around the house to scout out the best snow to use. Here he is foraging:
Who knows where that snow in the salad bowl came from. He assured me it was only to chill the bowl. He’d be cautious to get good, clean snow.
The best spots to get the best snow was from the top four or five inches of snow on their cars, Mickey and Jennifer said. They should know. They are the Snow Cream expert gatherers. Mickey said his father did it this way when they were kids and that’s how he was going to get Snow Cream for us.
Out in our driveway, Mickey showed his experience. Very carefully, with the skill of a Japanese chef slicing sashimi, he scooped the snow from the car with my pancake spatula.
Then dessert chef Jennifer got to work. She scooped some snow into a small mixing bowl, poured some condensed milk on to the snow and gently mixed it.
Then a dribble of vanilla essence and more mixing.
Then more snow, more “cream” and more mixing.
And da-da! First Snow Cream of the season. It was delicious. Beats sticking your tongue out in the cold to catch snow flakes.
SNOW CREAM
No freezing required
Preparation time: 20 minutes
1 gallon fresh snow
1 14-ounce can condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Collect clean snow from top most layer from car, grass, street or roof. Place in large mixing bowl.
Transfer 2 quarts to a smaller, cold mixing bowl. Dribble cream over and mix gently with cold spoon. Add vanilla essence. Mix again.
Add more snow and mix well. Serve in small cups. Eat immediately.
Hey Mohkeed,
You are the bomb! I am in Ohio and currently experiencing an appreciable amount of snow. Your culinary activity will definitely warm my taste buds which sorely need thawing.
Be well and G-d Bless, give my best to the kids and Ted too.