How Your Ice Cream Maker Can Transform Into A Party Appetizer Hero

When it comes to home appliances, an ice cream maker may not be at the top of the list for convenience. Homemade ice cream might not seem as important as the fresh-baked, soft and spongy, or crisp and crusty loaves that the best home bread makers can provide. But, with an ice cream maker, you can produce the perfect flavor for any palate — that's often not available at the store. And you can go beyond chocolate and vanilla or the regular array of fruit-forward flavors, into the savory, or even use it for something other than ice cream. Much like the foods you can make in a rice cooker other than rice, there's a lot you can do with an ice cream maker other than just ice cream. Your home ice cream maker is perfect for frozen cocktails, or a great shortcut for a big batch of iced coffee. But, if you want to think completely outside of the box, you should be using your ice cream maker to make perfectly chilled, savory, appetizer dips.

If you're having a get-together or dinner party, using your ice cream machine to make a dip means you can focus on entertaining guests or finishing the rest of the meal, while your "chilled dip maker" is working on the appetizer. For this preparation, a sour cream or cream cheese base works great, but you may have to play around with the proportions to get it nice and creamy.

You can put just about anything in an ice cream maker, so let your imagination go wild. A nice, garlicky pesto with yogurt is an easy choice, or sour cream and chive. Most ice cream makers have settings for larger ingredients, so you could even think about adding chopped artichoke hearts or pickled vegetables. Just think about what ingredients will go well together, and read the instructions to be sure you're adding each ingredient at the right time in the process.

For most dips and ingredients that don't use large pieces, like a blue cheese or buffalo sauce base, you can simply use the regular ice cream setting. It will definitely come out icier than your standard dip, but it will be unlike any appetizer your guests are likely to have tried. However, because it is so cold, you may need to up the ante on flavor, as our taste buds are less flavor-perceptive to flavor with cold foods.

For the perfect display, you can put tiny scoops of the iced appetizer atop potato chips or crackers. But if you're worried about it melting too quickly, serving it in the ice cream maker bowl or basin will keep it cool longer. And if you're looking to expand the use of your ice cream maker even further, this is just one of many ice cream maker hacks to get the most out of your machine. Take your ice cream maker beyond simple sweetness, and experience the cool and savory side of things.