No-churn Ice Cream, 2 ways
I’ve never been one with a substantial sweet tooth. As a kid I often asked for dinner seconds rather than dessert. And even now, I’m a self-proclaimed choco-holic, but only if it’s 80% or darker, preferably 90%. So sometimes when I have people over for dinner, I totally forget to plan for dessert, and end up serving up some fresh fruit. Which, I suppose isn’t exactly a bad thing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good rich French buttercream on a dense cake or super smooth panna cotta or a perfectly flaky-crisp pastry. It’s just often not worth the trouble for me to make unless it’s a special occasion. And I feel blessed that it’s always been that way for me. (don’t you worry, I have other food vices, they just happen to not be so sugar-related) But when I learned that you can make ice cream at home without the trouble of pulling out the old ice cream machine and dealing with all of the different parts and knowing the churning timing (so many recipes say “about 10 minutes before the cycle is over, add …” but how am I supposed to know when T-10 minutes is when there’s no timer?), I was intruigued. My poor sweet-food loving husband deserves that every now and then. And this no-churn, minimal-work ice cream has become my go-to special occasion treat. It has the perrrrrrfect silky smooth mouthfeel, and I know what went into it. I always use this brand because as far as sweetened condensed milk goes, I feel the least bad about it. And I use local, grassfed, non-homogenized, low-heat pasteurized heavy cream. And this stuff whips up like a fluffy cloud. I can’t explain it, it just works differently. And it has this dreamy butter-yellow color from the grassfed cows. So cool.
This ice cream is decadent, super smooth, and versatile. The only thing I recommend is that because sweetened condensed milk is the essential ingredient, and you can’t use less of it without significantly sacrificing texture. So, you should offset the sweetness with something pleasantly bitter or bright and tangy. Today, I’m going to show you 2 ways I did just that: faux-coffee and raspberry creme. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I went with a substitute, which many coffee drinkers claim tastes very similar. But what do I know? I’ve never tasted real coffee. All I know is that Pero is really crazy awesome in this setting, and I highly recommend it.
In the second recipe, the addition of whole raspberries does compromise the texture slightly, but if you wait the proper 5 or so minutes after pulling it out of the freezer before digging in, and use a good ice cream scoop, you shouldn’t have any problems scooping it.
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Pero or other instant coffee substitute
- 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- sea salt
- 2 cups heavy cream, preferably low-heat pasteurized
- In a large bowl, combine the vanilla extract and Pero until dissolved. Add the sweetened condensed milk and a pinch of salt and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the cream, and with an electric mixer, start on low and whip until the cream starts to thicken. Then switch to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Do not overbeat.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the milk-Pero mixture with a rubber spatula. Transfer mixture to a loaf pan or other large enough container, preferably glass, level the top, and cover with plastic wrap pressed gently against the surface. Freeze until firm, at least 12 hours. Let ice cream stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Ice cream can be frozen in an airtight container for us to 2 weeks.
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- sea salt
- 2 cups heavy cream, preferably low-heat pasteurized
- 1 pint raspberries, separated
- In a large bowl, combine the vanilla extract, sweetened condensed milk and a pinch of salt and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the cream, and with an electric mixer, start on low and whip until the cream starts to thicken. Then switch to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Do not overbeat.
- Meanwhile, take about 1/3 of the raspberries and smash them with a fork. Leave the rest whole.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the milk mixture with a rubber spatula. Once combined, carefully add the smashed and whole raspberries into the mixture and fold until barely swirled and distributed evenly. Transfer mixture to a loaf pan or other large enough container, preferably glass, level the top, and cover with plastic wrap pressed gently against the surface. Freeze until firm, at least 12 hours. Let ice cream stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Ice cream can be frozen in an airtight container for us to 2 weeks.
Glasslock 8 cup rectangle food storage container
Organic Sweetened Condensed Milk
Comments
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Jill
September 23, 2015
Bless you for this! I do have a major sweet tooth, and it revolves in great amounts around chocolate and ice cream so this post is very delightful for me! I have Postum at home and I’m going to try this recipe this week!
Lillian
September 26, 2015
Jill, Try adding finely chopped chocolate! And then send me some;) Miss you, friend!
Karin
September 23, 2015
Love these! Do you think the recipes would work with a blender–like a Vitamix? Beautiful site! Miss you!!!
Lillian
September 26, 2015
Hi Karin! I think it would be best to do the mixing either with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Or even by hand. I think the high-speed blender would overwhip the cream too quickly. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Deanna Baker
September 23, 2015
So excited! Would it work to just do a half batch? We are working with small numbers in my house:)
Lillian
September 26, 2015
Deanna, You can absolutely do a half batch! Let me know how it goes!
Celeste peterson
September 23, 2015
Be still my heart.
Lillian
September 26, 2015
Celeste, you are hilarious.
Jill
October 6, 2015
I tried these this week, the faux coffee was phenomenal! I did pineapple instead of raspberry and it was a little bitter/acidic. My kids loved it still. I’m thinking I’ll try mango next. Great recipes!
Juventia
October 8, 2015
I’ve been wanting to make my own ice-cream for so long but unable to do so because I don’t have ice-cream machine. Oh now that I found that you can do ice cream without churning means no more excuse for me! I have to try your recipe out this weekend.