No-Churn Vanilla Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

Homemade ice cream, churned with a hand crank on the back porch, or even mixed up in your electric ice cream maker on the countertop, is certainly one of life’s great pleasures. I am not sure if I have a fonder childhood food memory than that of enjoying a bowl of melty peach ice cream – that we churned ourselves – with some friends, the summer after 5th grade. But what if I told you that you could enjoy that homemade ice cream texture and flavor without a hand crank or an electric ice cream maker? Yes: it’s true – no-churn ice cream is pretty magical that way.

Essentially, rather than make a custard on the stovetop (which is the foundation of most ice cream) no-churn ice cream calls for cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream and those three ingredients wondrously do all the work of the custard – and then some. They give the ice cream its creaminess, its stability and its wonderful mouthfeel. And they prevent the ice cream from getting icy, too.

And did I mention the assembly could not be easier? Cream cheese is whirled about in your food processor. Heavy cream is added and whipped to stiff peaks and then sweetened condensed milk is mixed in at the end. After the mixture is transferred to the pan (I like to use a loaf pan), hot fudge sauce (homemade or store bought) is swirled throughout. After about six hours in the freezer, the ice cream is ready to be scooped and enjoyed in bowls or cones on the back porch.

Now, if vanilla fudge swirl is not your thing, try swirling in half a cup of your favorite jam or macerated berries or caramel sauce. You can fold nuts into your homemade ice cream, as well as chocolate chunks. You can think of the first five ingredients of the ice cream as your “master” recipe and after that, it’s all up to you as to what gets added in. Finally (and thankfully) no-churn ice cream is the classic pantry friendly treat, as the ingredients are either already in your pantry (refrigerator) or easily found in the grocery store. But be warned: no-churn ice cream is so easy to make you may find yourself doing so over and over (and over) again.

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No-Churn Vanilla Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

What if I told you that you could enjoy that homemade ice cream texture and flavor without a hand crank or an electric ice cream maker? Yes: it’s true – no-churn ice cream is pretty magical that way.

Recipe Author Jessie Sheehan

Course Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 4 ozs full-fat cream cheese room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 cups heavy cream cold
• 14 ozs sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup hot fudge or chocolate sauce, homemade or store bought

Instructions

• Place a 9x5x2-inch loaf pan in the freezer while you assemble the ice cream.
• In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, process the cream cheese, vanilla and salt until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the heavy cream and process until stiff peaks form.
• Add the sweetened condensed milk and process just until combined.
• Transfer the ice cream to the cold pan and smooth the top. Dollop about 1/4 cup of hot fudge sauce over the ice cream base and use a fork to swirl it throughout, making sure the swirls reach the bottom of the pan. Then dollop another 1/4 cup of hot fudge sauce over the top and swirl it across the surface decoratively. This makes for the prettiest of ice creams.
• Cover in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight
• The ice cream will keep in the freezer for a week, tightly covered in plastic wrap.

This recipe first appeared in MainStreet Magazine.