So here we have it, 52 Scoops!!!

That’s it!  Done!  Finito!  A year of ice cream making — a different artisan ice cream recipe for every week of the year — is complete!  So what do 52 flavours of ice cream look like?  Take a look at my year long compilation:

52 Scoops – a different flavour of ice cream for every week of the year!

Wow.  That was a lot of ice cream.

Over the last few of weeks, a number of people have been asking: What are you going to do after you finish 52 Scoops?

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MAKE MORE ICE CREAM, I SAY!!! 

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Don’t worry, 52 Scoops is here to stay.  While I might not be posting a new ice cream recipe every single week as I’ve done over the past year, I have plenty more recipe ideas up my sleeve, and I can’t wait to share them with you!  Follow @52Scoops on Twitter or subscribe to this blog to make sure you’re not missing out on any new posts.  Have a flavour idea?  Email me!

A few other questions have popped up quite frequently over the last few weeks:

Q: 52 weeks of ice cream making?  WHY???

A: It’s fun.  It’s tasty.  I can use local products and what’s in season, and I can minimize chemical additives.  Once you start making your own ice cream, there’s no turning back — what you make at home tastes far better than anything you can get at the grocery store.  It’s cheap too.  That salted caramel ice cream that costs $6 for a little scoop at a fancy ice cream or gelato shop?  (That’s over $30 a litre!)  You can make a litre of it at home for $2 or $3.

Q: So… how much weight have you gained?

A: I didn’t do an official weigh-in at the beginning of this project, so I’m not actually sure!  At Week #4, I eliminated whipping cream from my recipes for fear of wreaking havoc on my waistline.  I totally kicked up the exercise during the summer time — running stairs and hiking a lot.  There were some days I would hike the BCMC trail up Grouse Mountain three times in an afternoon!  Also, I actually only make half a recipe most of the time, and I often share the ice cream I make with my family, friends, and co-workers.  Overall, I don’t think there’s been a significant change in my weight.  My pants still fit.

Q: What are your favourite flavours?

A: Looking back over the past year, I would say my top two flavours are Hungarian Plum Dumpling Ice Cream and Mango Ice Cream with Chili Sea Salt.  There are numerous flavours tied for third place: Spicy Mexican Chocolate, Black Forest, Spiced Rum Raisin, Pomegranate, Tawari Honey, and Nutella.  It depends on my mood.  I’m sure my favourites will be continually changing as I experiment with more recipes.

Thanks to everyone who took a keen interest in 52 Scoops over the last year — blog readers, Twitter followers, ingredient donors, and, of course, ice cream tasters!  There’s lots more fun to come, I promise.